Study on the technology of jacquard leno weave grass cloth

As a traditional hand-woven fabric called the "living fossil of ancient Chinese textiles", grass cloth originates from the ancient kudzu fabric and grass fabric about six thousand years ago. It is formed by our ancestors through continuous exploration and creation. Grass cloth culture is a part of Chinese excellent traditional culture and has some kind of historical, scientific, and cultural values. Although the inheritance and protection of grass cloth has become a hot topic since 2008 when grass cloth weaving techniques were included in the "Second Batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List", jacquard leno weave grass cloth still lacks necessary attention. Nowadays, with the decreasing of market demand and the aging of old craftsmen, the inheritance and development of jacquard leno weave grass cloth is in a dilemma. To make matters worse, the young generation is reluctant to learn and inherit this skill. In order to clarify the core skills of jacquard leno weave grass cloth, enrich the research system, and promote the inheritance and development of grass cloth and its traditional weaving techniques, this study takes jacquard leno weave grass cloth and its techniques from Longchang, Sichuan and Rongchang, Chongqing as the object. Based on the materials collected from the two representative grass cloth production areas, this study analyzes the implicit textile science connotation of jacquard leno weave grass cloth from three aspects; woven fabrics structure, loom and weaving techniques. It is found that there are various types of jacquard leno weave grass cloth. They are the mixture of three shuttles horizontal leno weave and 1/2 glassing weave, the mixture of five shuttles horizontal leno weave and 11/12 glassing weave, the mixture of seven shuttles horizontal leno weave and 111/112 glassing weave. It is of vital importance for craftsmen to make the jacquard leno weave grass cloth with a special machine. This machine is transformed from the loom used in the weaving process of the plain weave grass cloth through adding two ropes, four healds and three extra pedals. In the specific weaving process, the craftsmen follow certain rules and step the main pedal at the back of the loom and the three additional pedals underneath the loom to form the three openings, the twisting shed, the natural shed and the opening shed. Meanwhile, with the cooperation with weft insertion and beating-up, the fabric of the jacquard leno weave grass cloth can be woven. The development of society, as well as changes in consumers aesthetics and needs, have made the inheritance and development of traditional handicrafts with excellent cultural and technical genes face great challenges in the new era. At this time, grasping the core skills of these traditional handicrafts may be a meaningful and effective way to protect our outstanding traditional culture and skills, because the core technologies are relatively stable genes of these cultures and skills. These research results can provide a reference for the research and protection of traditional handicrafts and traditional culture.