An eighty-nine-year-old grass weaving master surnamed Zhou teaches Xushuguan residents how to weave out a Xuguan mat. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]
Xushuguan, a town in Suzhou New District, Jiangsu province, is famous for its Xuguan mats and has recently launched a training class to promote traditional grass weaving skills among its local residents, local media reported.
An eighty-nine-year-old grass weaving master surnamed Zhou was invited to demonstrate how to weave the Xuguan mat to interested young trainees.
The mat grass used for making a Xuguan mat is usually planted in October and harvested around next year's Slight Heat, the 11th among China's 24 solar terms.
The harvest grasses are then air dried to form the raw materials.
The Emperor Qianlong in ancient China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) took a particular fancy to Xuguan mats and all his thrones were covered with them.
In recent years, in order to better inherit and develop the mat grass culture in Xushuguan, the local government has established a 30-mu (2 hectares) farmland for piloting mat grass planting and opened a mat grass culture museum.
A resident from Xushuguan town looks after the air-drying mat grass. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]
The mat grass culture museum is one of the measures that enables Xushuguan to promote local mat grass culture. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]
