Production Procedure＞ Production of Shenjiang Clothes

Production of Shenjiang Clothes

1.Introduction

We study historical stories in order to figure out the charm of the Shenjiang. The clothes of the Luzhou Shenjiang include five categories: gown, armor, plain clothes, half-armor, and monk robe. The gowns are for nobles; the ones for the males are called gowns and for the females are called phoenix gowns. The armor includes civil armor, military armor and civil-military armor. The civil armor is made with loose cuffs, but the military armor is not. The civil-military armor is a combination of civil armor and military armor, and only Xiqin Prince and General Tiandu wear civil-military armors. The civilians wear plain clothes. The General Qi and General Ba Shenjiang statues in Luzhou wear regular plain clothes, except those of Heyi She and Yuqing Temple.

General Gan and General Liu of Heyi She wear half-armor, covering the revealed inner frame with red or green cloth. The monk wears the monk robe; in Luzhou area, only Bodhidharma wears the monk robe. According to Master Lin, there is no business producing Shenjiang clothes in Luzhou, so they have to order from the Jiayi area and assemble in Luzhou.

 

2.Production Flow

Step 1: Choose the fabrics.
Step 2: Embroider the fabrics. Must follow the rules as follows: left is more important than right, both sides even, dragon for male and phoenix for female, words written from inside out.
Step 3: Measure the Shenjiang statue.
Step 4: Draw the design in terms of the measurement.
Step 5: Tailor the fabrics, mainly made of golden threads and color embroidery threads.
Step 6: Make the clothes.  
Step 7: Iron the clothes to give it dimensional look.
Step 8: Put the clothes on the Shenjiang statue.
Step 9: Make the lap of the skirt.
Step 10: Assemble the lap of the skirt to cover the frame revealed on two sides of the Shenjiang statue.


3.Perspectives:
Yuang-ting Tseng: I used to think there was only one type of Shenjiang clothing, but now I learn the types of Shenjiang clothes can be so detailed. It’s amazing! It seems that making a Shenjiang statue is not an easy job. It takes so many complicated steps to make the Shenjiang clothing, very different from what we wear. The masters follow the rules closely to make the Shenjiang clothes; no wonder they look so gorgeous.
Po-hung Wang: I realize now that every single step of Shenjiang clothes-making requires carefulness. I used to think they were made from machines or put together like puzzles. If I were the one to make the clothes, it would seem troublesome and I would mess around. They work very hard!

Hsin-yu Li: I didn’t know it takes so much work to make the Shenjiang clothes until now. They even have to measure the statue for making the clothes. I thought it could be done sloppily, but it actually requires a lot of patience for making the Shenjiang clothes!
Kuan-ting Ho: Now I know it is such a complicated job making the Shenjiang clothes! I feel I want to thank the Shenjiang clothes tailors. I used to think one tailor makes a Shenjiang’s clothes. After listening to the instructor, I learned many tailors do one together.
Pin-yu Wu: The people who embroider Shenjiang clothes must have studied the background and historical stories about the Shenjiang. I think that must be very tiring. If I had to make one, I might have fallen asleep before starting. When thinking about this, I really admire them!
Ming-hsien Hsu: Finally, I realize the Shenjiang clothes involve a gown, armor, plain clothes, half-armor, and monk robe, five categories. I also learned that before making the Shenjiang clothes, it was necessary to measure the size of Shenjiang statues and study the historical stories of the Shenjiang. Otherwise, any mistake cannot be fixed. There are two ways to wear a Shenjiang: sleeves first then body, or body first then sleeves.
Shun-wei Huang: I’ve heard that the clothes used to be very expensive. According to Master Lin, it costs at least twenty thousand for a set of Shenjiang clothes in current days, but the quality cannot be as good. In the modern days, the clothes are put on Shenjiang statues piece by piece, but they only needed to wear Shenjiang statues.