Secrets Behind the Legendary Chi-Pao

A woman clad in a gossamer fine silk, the ultra elegant qipao gown that so accentuates her grace and femininity. It's a sight that universally enchants, sparking reminiscences that span generations. In her novel Aloe's Wood Incense the First Brazier, representative writer of Shanghai literature Aileen Chang describes the costume of the maid Ni'er. It's a white summer blouse and loose black pants made of yam-beared canton gauze, the exotic fabric that Chang, known as the Qipao Belle, most favoured. Xiqiao Town in the Nanhai district of Guangdong's Houshan City is famous for its light textiles, but most of all for the traditionally hand-woven, plant-dyed and finished yam-beared canton or watered gauze. It's a fabric that originates here. Watered gauze is available at the Su Liang Ji drapery in downtown Houshan. Shop proprietor Xian Dafeng has devoted years to researching watered gauze, which disappeared in the 1970s. Through stringent analysis of salvaged garments made in the 1950s, he rediscovered the raw silk yarn that watered gauze is made from and restored it to the market. The so-called plum rains fall at the end of April when fruit ripens. Xian Dafeng and Zeng Kangzhong, owners of this watered gauze dry-aged gauze, are worried about the imminent change in the weather. Few days between early April and late October bring weather suitable for airing the yarn. The sweltering summer heat embrittles it and there's insufficient sun on rainy days. Xian Dafeng and Zeng Kangzhong are both well aware of the negative impact of these natural factors. Xian Dafeng has just received a call from Luo Yang in Chengdu requesting a batch of watered gauze, but he can't oblige because bad weather has prevented him from sun-drying his yarn. Born in the 1990s, Luo Yang is a respected qipao designer in Chengdu. Apprenticed to a master qipao tailor shop at age 17, expert guidance and the many insights he gained there have made Luo a consummate couturier. The charm of Chengdu, a city traditionally brimming with vigor, has been enhanced over time by contemporary sartorial and architectural trends. If I pull this part for you, your hand won't be able to lift it up. I tried it just now, but my hand can't lift it up. This part needs to be folded in half. Yes, fold it in half and it'll be fine. Once you get up here, this part is straight. If you look at it from the front, your waist and hips will be gone. If you look at it from the front, the front curve is straight. The color of the lipstick is a little redder. It's very red. Yes. You can dye it however you want. But you can exaggerate it a little bit. You can dye it with gold or silver. In addition to cutting fabric according to each figure, Luo Yang's qipao tailoring reflects the times as well as his designing acumen. This is why he's known as Luo San Cai or Triple Treasure Luo. Of the multitudinous qipao fabrics available on the market, Luo Yang is partial to four shans watered gauze, especially that produced by Xian Da Feng. As they are amid the busiest months of the year, Xian Da Feng and Zhang Kang Zhong must air some watered gauze without delay. While bad weather has delayed the drying process, an even bigger problem is their dwindling supply of the vital dye yams. 41-year-old fisherman Liang Changlin is from Ou Tang village, located along the upper Xijiang River on the Tropic of Cancer. As dye yams flourish in Ou Tang's diverse climate, terrain and hidden woods, he can keep Zhang Kang Zhong's gauze drying factory supplied with them all year round. During the closed fishing season, he and his team go to the mountain to dig yams. The dye yam is an essential dye stuff for watered gauze. Commonly found in Guangdong and Guangxi, it's a perennial twining vine with ten enriched tubers, similar to the taro. After scything a narrow path along the mountain's contours, Liang Changlin and his fellow villagers find an untrodden area deep in the distant forest. Spying the largest dye yam they've seen this year under a thicket of weeds, he and his team start digging it up. Blossoming at our feet, the earth lives and breathes a fearless beauty that nourishes us, physically and spiritually. It is now up to us to give back what we take. Lin Jiumei is the only woman among them. This seemingly effortless digging work is actually a punishing test of physical strength and endurance, but she appreciates the money it earns for her family. Liang Changlin and his team must carry the 500 or so kilos of dye yams for five kilometers to the foot of the mountain by nightfall. They are to be shipped downriver to Zeng Kangzhong's factory on the lower reaches of the Xijiang River. Zeng Kangzhong and his workers must shred and soak the dye yams with all possible speed. Workers pour the dye yam juice into the water tank and then add the raw silk yarn. After making sure the juice has saturated and stained every inch of it, they hoist it up and let it drain off. After naturally dehydrating, the fabric is then taken to the air drying yard. The drying yard is a well-maintained manicured flat lawn. The stained gauze is spread out, pulled taut and laid flat to be sun-dried. Most of the workers here are from Nanning in Guangxi. They sleep and eat at the factory and they carry out this established work routine every day. No fixed meal times for workers here and they're content to eat plain fare. In the end, the rain that Xian Dafeng and Zeng Kangzhong so dreaded doesn't come. They think themselves lucky to have been able to dry such a large quality of gauze at its preliminary stage. The weather in Chengdu is pleasant at this time of year with much less rain than Guangzhou. Today, an honoured guest from afar enters Luo Yang's qipao studio. She is Ikuko Sugita, a famous Japanese breeder of the American short-haired cat. Admiration for Luo Yang's reputation prompted her to order a Chinese-style qipao in watered gauze. Ikuko Sugita intends to wear the maid to measure qipao next year at an awards ceremony. A qipao tailored in watered gauze ingeniously integrates elegance and glamour. One of nature's surprises, the fabric owes much to the painstaking watered gauze production procedure. It's 4am when Xian Dafeng arrives at the factory and dozens of workers are already locked in the busy rhythm of spreading dredged river mud over the silk yarn. The mud contains iron that reacts with the accumulated tannins on the yarn's dried surface. After a second airing, the mud is washed away, leaving the sun-dried side a deep shade of black. This is when the watered gauze achieves its unique appearance. The combined chemical reactions of dye yams, water, dredged river mud and sunlight eventually transform the white silk yarn into quality watered gauze. Xian Dafeng gives the fabric pride of place in his Su Liang Ji. No two pieces of watered gauze are alike, but this isn't important. What matters is that someone is fashioning it into a qipao. But Yang balances the femininely fine stitching required of his profession with overtly masculine hobbies. Luo Yang would never make a qipao with a hem ending above the knee, but he does lift the waistline of a long qipao to create for its wearer a graceful vase-like curve. The side openings start from the tip of the middle finger. They subtly flatter in appropriate degrees the innate grace and beauty of oriental women. Luo Yang excels at both designing qipao and understanding women. To him, a woman's greater susceptibility to her emotions gives her a better perception of life. This is reflected in both her attitude and style of living, which enriches the qipao with a distinct vitality. Today, 4Shan watered gauze is exported to the world from Xian Dafeng's Su Liang Ji. On a wall in his shop hangs the motto, the lifespan of fabrics depends on the story they carry. May they ever accompany us through time. Having revitalized the complex watered gauze process, this is the conclusion Xian Dafeng has reached. Nowadays, our market is starting to see people imitating this style, but it's not something that's made by hand, it's something that's done by an expert. So if we want to protect a tradition and a traditional product, we need to let people know the true meaning of it. From Xian Dafeng's restoration of watered gauze techniques, to Liang Changlin and his fellow villagers digging of dayams, to Zhang Kangzhong and his workers' sun-drying of watered gauze, and to Luo Yang's making it into a qipao for the woman it best suits, each step promotes crystallization of the national culture. The fruit of a process of collective handiwork by scores of people, the qipao is an evocation of the grace and beauty of Chinese women.