When travelling to a different town, province, or country, one usually goes to the unique and special attractions of that particular place. Normally, these are attractions or activities that you cannot find in your own hometown. Itineraries for travel vary, but they typically contain exploring urban cities, visiting different nature spots, hiking, appreciating scenery, swimming at beaches, and various other activities. As a historical town, Lukang isn't exactly a place that offers the most exciting attractions, but what it does offer is a deep cultural and historical experience that is different from any other place in Taiwan. Aside from the historical architecture, I found that the best thing in Lukang are the experts of various old professions. These are traditional professions that can now be done with machines or other modern means, but these experts still choose to learn and practice the traditional methods of creating their products, many of which are done by hand. It takes incredible diligence, hard work, patience and skill to be able to make a living from these professions.
One example of these professions is tie dyeing. One of the experts we met, Teacher 潘瓊慧, creates dye naturally from various plants. With this dye, she can tie dye anything, from shirts, to curtains, to handkerchiefs, and so on. When I was in grade school, I vaguely remember trying to tie dye something, but this was so long ago that I can no longer remember if the outcome was good or bad. I was really excited to being able to try it once more, and to make something on my own.
For this experience, we started with plain white shirts. Teacher started the session by showing us the different designs that we can create on our shirts, and demonstrating how to make them. Each design had its own corresponding method of how to create, and it was up to us to choose which design we wanted to make.
The one I wanted to make was the design that can be found on the curtains of the work space. I also found that the method of creating this design was fairly simple, so I chose it in the hopes that I will not mess it up.
To create this design, you have to fold the shirt sideways many times, like making a paper fan. You can make the folds as big or as small as you wish. The spaces between the folds matter as well, since the more folds and smaller spaces between folds that you do, the more areas of the shirt will be dyed. Meanwhile, the less folds and bigger spaces between folds that you do, fewer areas of the shirt will be dyed. You can also alternate between the direction of the folds, to have alternating patterns on the shirt as well. For example, for the first part of the shirt, you can start the fold downwards, then upwards, and so forth, and for the second part of the shirt, you start the fold upwards and so forth. You tie a string around everything twice, with the second time being extra tight to make sure that dye does not seep through the string.
Once you are done with creating the design, you are now ready to dye. You have to wet the whole shirt with water, then dip it in the dye six different times. Each time you dip, it has to be in the dye for three minutes, and you have to massage it for the whole duration. so that the dye can be better absorbed. The more times you dip, the darker the color will be. After each time you dip, you squeeze out the excess dye and then hang it to dry a bit. Once it's no longer dripping or extremely wet, you can dip it again.
After six times, you can wash it with water and finally remove the string or wood or whatever you placed and see the design that you made. You then rinse it one last time.
Before wearing, it's suggested to launder it properly and wash it with detergent. But if you want the color to last, you can wait six months before washing it. This is so that the color can set longer. You also should not dry it under the sun so that the color can last longer, as the sun dulls the color.
While dyeing my shirt, I was extremely nervous, because I had no idea if I was doing it correctly and if my design would turn out right. Part of the experience is really not knowing how your work will turn out, so the reveal is that much more exciting. After I was finally able to see my own work, I was incredibly proud, satisfied and happy that the design I prepared actually worked really well. It was such a huge relief for me to see that it was a success.
It was extremely fun to try this experience. This shirt that I created is something that I will treasure forever, and will always remind me of my time here in Lukang. The shop is open from Friday to Sunday every week, so anyone who comes to Lukang on those days can come and try it! Just from trying, you automatically get a practical and memorable souvenir from Lukang! Not only is it a great learning experience, but it's also a good way to support the experts who work so hard in practicing and perfecting their profession. I think that everyone should experience the excitement and suspense that comes with tie dyeing shirts, and this place is a great place to learn.
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