The sun-dyed persimmon becomes more and more beautiful. Xinpu persimmon dyeing workshop has been working for ten years, and the green persimmon juice has become simple and fashionable.

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Xinpu Town, Hsinchu, is an important producing area of persimmons in China. In the past, persimmons were eaten directly or made into persimmons, but persimmons were also important dyeing materials. Xinpu Persimmon dyeing Workshop was founded ten years ago, using persimmon dyeing to make handbags, clothing, long clips and other accessories. In recent years, young people from Xinpu and other places have joined the dyeing workshop to inject new vitality into persimmon dyeing, making simple persimmon dyeing look neat and fashionable.

Walking on Xinpu Street, you can see persimmon dyed cloth hanging on rice shops and incense shops, and even coffee shops and hand beverage shops can see persimmon dyed cloth, making the image of persimmons in Xinpu town clearer and calling people to visit.

Clothes made and designed with persimmon dyed cloth (Photography _ Lin Yijun) Persimmon dyeing is spawned by the pillars of the persimmon shop. The first persimmon dyeing workshop in Taiwan is in Xinpu.

Hsinchu County is the fourth largest producer of persimmons in Taiwan. Compared with the traditional persimmon dyeing traditions in Japan and South Korea, almost all Taiwanese persimmons are used for food. It was not until 1994 that persimmon dyed persimmons took the road.

Xinpu persimmon dyeing originated from a pillar in a persimmon shop. Zhong Mengjuan of the Xinpu Persimmon dyeing Culture Association recalls that in 1993, the Zhengong Office originally wanted to do courses with local characteristics. When he came to explore the persimmon shop, he saw many marks on a pillar in the persimmon shop. "when persimmon women make persimmons, they will get persimmon juice on their hands, and they will get up and hold the post, and then the persimmon juice will stay on the pillar."

At that time, the staff of the town office were very surprised and came up with the idea of developing persimmon dyeing, but at that time no one in Taiwan dyed persimmon, and most of the cloth was dyed blue or plant. The staff of the town office invited Professor Chen Jinglin from the Tiandan workshop for tutoring, which opened the way for persimmon dyeing in Xinpu town.

Zhong Mengjuan, Director-General of Persimmon dyeing Culture Association (Photography _ Lin Yijun) plants fade after being dyed in the sun, and persimmon dyed cloth looks better.

When asked about persimmon dye, Zhong Meng smiled. "when the work was finished for the first time, everyone thought it was not good-looking, but it became beautiful only after two years." She recalls that at that time, she didn't look good because she didn't know anything about persimmon dyeing. Because there was no persimmon dyeing in the past, people imagined plant dyeing, but persimmon dyeing was different from common plant dyeing. "Persimmon juice has tannin and gum, and other plants will fade after being dyed in the sun." but persimmon dyed in the sun will be darker and very good-looking. "

The tannin and colloid in persimmon juice have excellent coloring and color fastness in dyeing cloth, while the persimmon dyed cloth without mordant dyeing (used for fixing or changing color) gets darker and darker in the sun. When you come to the drying field behind the persimmon dyeing workshop, you can see pieces of persimmon dye cloth drying in different shades of color. The mother in the community who is helping to sort out persimmon dye cloth explains: "the gum in persimmon juice will make the cloth stiff. Later, you have to soften the cloth before you can use it. If you want different colors, you need different sunshine time."

Generally speaking, a piece of persimmon dyeing cloth needs about 7 complete sunshine days, and the more the color is exposed, the better it looks, which also gives persimmon dyeing a reputation of "sun dyeing". After persimmon dyeing, the persimmon cloth is fixed with copper acetate, iron acetate and so on. As a natural dye, persimmon dyed cloth without NPE, plasticizer and other environmental hormones has the advantages of dirt resistance, odor prevention, coolness and so on.

Persimmon dyed cloth with the reputation of "sun dyeing", because persimmon contains gum and tannin, it will not fade after the sun, but it will look better and better (photography _ Lin Yijun) the most unripe persimmon juice in midsummer, which is the most suitable for persimmon dyeing.

There are 9 mainstream varieties of persimmon in China, from Niuxin persimmon, stone persimmon to pen persimmon, what kind of persimmon is suitable for persimmon dyeing? Zhong Mengjuan says that any persimmon can be used for persimmon dyeing, but the most suitable material is Liu and medium well's persimmons, about the fresh green persimmons that are still on the trees every July or August. "at first, the material was the abandoned persimmon peel produced in the persimmon making process, but it was later found that the persimmon with the most juice was the immature persimmon."

Zhong Mengjuan explained that most of the persimmons grown in Xinpu are sweet persimmons for fresh consumption, while most persimmons are made from astringent persimmons in central and southern China. The raw materials of persimmons are persimmons from September (about medium well), but at this time, persimmons are almost ripe, and most of them are pulp. Less juice can be extracted. "A hundred jin of persimmon can only extract about 30 to 40 jin of persimmon juice."

Fresh green unripe persimmon juice is green, fresh persimmon juice immediately dyed cloth, it will look transparent and colorless, but after a few days, persimmon dyed cloth will slowly develop color. On the other hand, the persimmon juice extracted from the persimmon dyeing workshop is usually kept for a period of time before it is used. Zhong Mengjuan said that Korean persimmon likes to use fresh persimmon juice, while Japanese persimmon likes to use old persimmon juice. Persimmon juice condenses because it contains pectin for a long time, but old persimmon juice will taste, so persimmon dyeing chooses a compromise route. At present, persimmon juice is usually squeezed within a year or two.

The persimmon juice used for dyeing persimmon cloth comes from the green persimmon (photography _ Lin Yijun) association with a maturity of about six or seven points, and the persimmon dyeing workshop has come over the past ten years, and the simple persimmon dyeing cloth is becoming more and more fashionable.

The persimmon dyeing workshop is the base of the Persimmon dyeing Cultural Association. The colors from the inside to the outside are all sun-dyed colors, and the whole is low-key and simple. Zhong Mengjuan recalls that this base was not easy to come by, and it also relied on the assistance and support of all parties along the way. When the class began in 1994, teacher Chen Ching-Lin used persimmon skins as materials and plants to dye persimmons. In the process, he also taught visual courses such as color science. "at that time, the plan was funded by the district public office. Until 1998, when the county cultural bureau planned to review it, the censors were stunning."

With the encouragement of the committee members, the Persimmon dyeing Culture Association was established in February 1999. In July of the same year, the mayor thought that there should be a base, and the persimmon dyeing workshop was born. "so the students who came to class expanded from elementary school mothers who liked handicrafts to community mothers." Since then, Zhong Mengjuan has been the director-general of the Association and the head of the persimmon dyeing workshop, which has been a commitment for ten years.