Changes

[[File:Hanagasa.jpg|right|thumb|320px|''Hanagasa'' dancers in ''bingata'' robes]]

[[File:Hanagasa.jpg|right|thumb|320px|''Hanagasa'' dancers in ''bingata'' robes]]

[[File:Ryusen.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Bolts of cloth being hand-dyed at a workshop in Shuri]]

[[File:Ryusen.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Bolts of cloth being hand-dyed at a workshop in Shuri]]

*''Other Names'': 形付 ''(katachiki, O: katatikii)''

*''Other Names'': 形付 ''(katachiki, O: katatikii)'', 花布 ''(Ch.: huā bù)''

*''Japanese'': 紅型 ''(bingata)''

*''Japanese'': 紅型 ''(bingata)''

''Bingata'' is an Okinawan resist-dye [[Ryukyuan textiles|textile]] design technique, involving bold, colorful patterns, often involving flowers, and often on a red or yellow ground. Traditionally, ''bingata'' garments were strictly limited to the Ryukyuan royalty and [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|aristocracy]].[[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] began promoting ''bingata'' as folk craft (''[[mingei]]'') in 1938, however, praising it alongside other Okinawan and Korean arts as a quaint, exotic, art produced by anonymous folk weavers and evocative of a simpler time; as a result, ''bingata's'' aristocratic associations have been all but lost today in the popular consciousness.<ref>Nitta Setsuko, "Oppression of and Admiration for Okinawan Textiles: Commercial Items and Art Objects," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref>

''Bingata'' is an Okinawan resist-dye [[Ryukyuan textiles|textile]] design technique, involving bold, colorful patterns, often involving flowers, and often on a red or yellow ground. Traditionally, ''bingata'' garments were strictly limited to the Ryukyuan royalty and [[scholar-aristocracy of Ryukyu|aristocracy]]. [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] began promoting ''bingata'' as folk craft (''[[mingei]]'') in 1938, however, praising it alongside other Okinawan and Korean arts as a quaint, exotic, art produced by anonymous folk weavers and evocative of a simpler time; as a result, ''bingata's'' aristocratic associations have been all but lost today in the popular consciousness.<ref>Nitta Setsuko, "Oppression of and Admiration for Okinawan Textiles: Commercial Items and Art Objects," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref>

''Bingata'' techniques and styles as known and celebrated today are said to have reached their mature phase by the end of the 17th century; though various dyeing techniques and styles existed in Ryûkyû prior to that time, it was only in the [[Edo period|early modern period]] that the particular techniques and styles today associated with "bingata" developed. The term ''bingata'', meanwhile, only became widely used in the late 19th or early 20th century; prior to that, the term ''katatikii'' (J: ''katachiki''), roughly meaning "with designs added," was the term most commonly used in Ryûkyû.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 158.</ref>

''Bingata'' techniques and styles as known and celebrated today are said to have reached their mature phase by the end of the 17th century; though various dyeing techniques and styles existed in Ryûkyû prior to that time, it was only in the [[Edo period|early modern period]] that the particular techniques and styles today associated with "bingata" developed. The term ''bingata'', meanwhile, only became widely used in the late 19th or early 20th century; prior to that, the term ''katatikii'' (J: ''katachiki''), roughly meaning "applying designs," was the term most commonly used in Ryûkyû.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 158.</ref> ''Huā bù'', or "floral cloth," was often used in Chinese-language sources referring to the Ryukyuan product.<ref name=chen92>Buyun Chen, "The Craft of Color and the Chemistry of Dyes: Textile Technology in the Ryukyu Kingdom, 1700–1900," ''Technology and Culture'' 63:1 (January 2022), 92.</ref>

Roughly 41 ''bingata'' garments associated with the royal family survive today,<ref>Along with fifteen ''orimono'' (woven garments) and one embroidered garment.</ref> including several which have been designated [[National Treasures]]. They are defined as ''bingata'' by the dyeing technique, and include garments made from a variety of materials.

Roughly 41 ''bingata'' garments associated with the royal family survive today,<ref>Along with fifteen ''orimono'' (woven garments) and one embroidered garment.</ref> including several which have been designated [[National Treasures]]. They are defined as ''bingata'' by the dyeing technique, and include garments made from a variety of materials.

==Creation and Style==

==Creation and Style==

The process is done by using [[persimmon]] juice as a resist, blocking out areas one does not wish to dye. Dye is then applied through stencils, by hand, one section at a time, to produce the designs.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Tokyo National Museum]].</ref> The stencils are made from soft, thick ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'' paper which has been strengthened with persimmon juice. More than 2,000 such stencils survive from prior to World War II, and each is inscribed with the year, the names of the studio (紺屋, ''kôya'') and client, and other information. The stencils were cut out on a dried tofu base known as a ''rukuju'' using a small chisel known as a ''shiigu''. The cutting and production otherwise of the stencils, dyeing the fabric, and other aspects of bingata production were all performed within the same studio.<ref>Gallery labels, "Churashima Textiles" exhibition, Shoto Museum, Tokyo, Sept 2019.</ref>

The process is done by using [[persimmon]] juice as a resist, blocking out areas one does not wish to dye. Dye is then applied through stencils, by hand, one section at a time, to produce the designs.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Tokyo National Museum]].</ref> The stencils are made from soft, thick ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'' paper which has been strengthened with persimmon juice. More than 2,000 such stencils survive from prior to World War II, and each is inscribed with the year, the names of the studio (紺屋, ''kôya'') and client, and other information. Each ''kôya'' maintained its own collection of stencils, and passed them down through the generations. The oldest surviving stencils today date to [[1796]].<ref name=chen92/> The stencils were cut out on a dried tofu base known as a ''rukuju'' using a small chisel known as a ''shiigu''. Some are negative designs (O: ''shiruzigata'') in which the background was cut away, leaving the pattern, while others are positive designs (O: ''somezigata'') in which the pattern is cut away, leaving the background.<ref name=chen93>Chen, 93.</ref> The cutting and production otherwise of the stencils, dyeing the fabric, and other aspects of bingata production were all performed within the same studio.<ref>Gallery labels, "Churashima Textiles" exhibition, Shoto Museum, Tokyo, Sept 2019.</ref>

It is believed that ''bingata'' technique and styles first emerged due in large part to the influence of Japanese dyed fabrics which were brought into the Ryukyuan royal court as gifts from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. By the 19th century, if not earlier, ''bingata'' garments began to show the influence, too, of the latest Japanese commoner fashions; for example, motifs of flowered roundels appear both in Okinawa and in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo around the same time.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 73.</ref>

Fabric to be dyed is laid out on a long narrow board. The stencils are placed atop it, and then a spatula is used to spread a resist paste (J: ''nori'' 糊) made of glutinous rice, rice bran, salt, water, and lime over the fabric, through the stencil. This is then repeated, typically with the same stencil being placed again and again repeating across the length of the cloth. ''Gojiru'' liquid made from ground soybeans is then applied as a sizing, allowing the cloth to accept the pigment in a more advantageous way. Finally, the dyer applies mineral pigments mixed with ''gojiru'' directly to the cloth in the desired locations with a short stubby brush. Pigments are sometimes applied in multiple layers, to produce more intense colors, shading, or outlines. A solution of alum is then used to fix the colors, before the resist-paste is washed off, leaving an undyed background ready to be dyed. Resist paste is then applied carefully over the birds, flowers, and other colored designs, leaving just the background exposed; the background colors are then applied with a brush. Alum is applied again to fix the colors, and the resist is finally washed off again.<ref name=chen93/>

Garments with wide sleeves are known in [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] as ''ufujin'' (lit. "big/wide garment") or ''ufusudijin'' (lit. "big/wide sleeved garment").<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 72.</ref>

Garments with wide sleeves are known in [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] as ''ufujin'' (lit. "big/wide garment") or ''ufusudijin'' (lit. "big/wide sleeved garment").<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 72.</ref>

==History==

==History==

In the early modern period, up until the [[Ryukyu shobun|fall of the kingdom]] in the 1870s, three lineages dominated the formal production of ''bingata'' for the royal court: the Takushi, Gusukuma (now known as Shiroma), and Chinen families.

Some have suggested that ''bingata'' technique and styles first emerged due in large part to the influence of Japanese dyed fabrics which were brought into the Ryukyuan royal court as gifts from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. By the 19th century, if not earlier, ''bingata'' garments began to show the influence, too, of the latest Japanese commoner fashions; for example, motifs of flowered roundels appear both in Okinawa and in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo around the same time.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 73.</ref>

Takushi Jino was a young up-and-coming craftsman in the royal court when it was abolished in the 1870s; in the 1920s, at the age of 61, he was interviewed by scholar [[Kamakura Yoshitaro|Kamakura Yoshitarô]], providing one significant portion of Kamakura's defining prewar study on ''bingata''. Sadly, by the 1920s, Takushi had unbound family records on dyeing techniques and had used the pages in wall screens, an indication of just how far traditional craft had fallen from its place of importance.<ref>Buyun Chen, "The Craft of Color and the Chemistry of Dyes: Textile Technology in the Ryukyu Kingdom, 1700–1900," ''Technology and Culture'' 63:1 (January 2022), 88.</ref>

 

 

Takushi Jino was a young up-and-coming craftsman in the royal court when it was abolished in the 1870s; in the 1920s, at the age of 61, he was interviewed by scholar [[Kamakura Yoshitaro|Kamakura Yoshitarô]], providing one significant portion of Kamakura's defining prewar study on ''bingata''. Sadly, by the 1920s, Takushi had unbound family records on dyeing techniques and had used the pages in wall screens, an indication of just how far traditional craft had fallen from its place of importance.<ref>Chen, 88.</ref>

 

Shiroma Eiki and Chinen Sekihiro, descendants of court craftsmen, led a revival of ''bingata'' during the post-WWII Occupation period, with the support of the American Occupation authorities, who sought to patronize and promote Ryukyuan culture.<ref name=chen92/> They and/or their successors have been named [[Living National Treasure]]s or otherwise formally recognized as "holders" of this cultural tradition.

==References==

==References==