Huang Daopo rose from the labouring class to become one of the most famous women in the ancient Chinese textile industry. She was the first to promote and improve the weaving techniques she had learnt in Yazhou. She also invented a set of tools for fluffing, spinning, wheeling and weaving, all of which increased productivity in the textile industry.
Background
She was born during the Chunyou period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Huang Daopo grew up in a poverty-stricken peasant family. She was sold into marriage by her family when she was about 12 years old. Besides working in the farm during the day, the young girl also had to late into the night. Her parents-in-law and husband treated her badly. Unable to bear the ill-treatment she received, Huang Daopo decided to escape one night. She hid in a ship moored at the Huangpu River and disembarked at Yazhou in Hainan.
Career
Huang Daopo was an ordinary working woman. She was the first to promote and revamp weaving techniques. She invented a set of equipment for fluffing, spinning, wheeling and weaving to raise productivity and efficiency. She pioneered the technique of mixing yams and colours, integrating them to promote the famous Wunijing blanket. She promoted the development of the cotton textile and in Songjiang, and made remarkable contribution development of China's textile industry.
After living in Yazhou for more than 20 years, Huang Daopo returned to Songjiang because she missed her hometown. She taught the local people cotton spinning and weaving techniques which she had learnt from the people in Lizhou. She summarised her own learning experiences and came up with some fairly advanced textile technology. The people in Songjiang were able to make a comfortable living with the skills and techniques Huang Daopo taught them.
Wunijing was under the control of the Yuan Dynasty at the time. The Yuan rulers demanded that the local people supply them with 10,000 bolts of cloth every year. However, the conditions and level of technology were not favourable for production. The people worked hard but barely produced enough for the government. The working class was always living in poverty.
After Huang Daopo returned to Songjiang, she imparted her spinning and weaving techniques to the locals. At the same time, she also popularized and improved many textile machines so that their efficiency was greatly increased. She invented new equipment for weaving, including the fluffer, spinner, wheeler, and weaver that raised the productivity of the textile industry. She also devised and propagated a new technique of weaving patterns of plucked twigs and phoenixes by matching colours and jacquard designs. Using this technique, the locals could produce colourful and attractive blankets, clothes and handkerchiefs.
Huang Daopo also taught a method of mixing different yarns and colours and of integrating different styles, which was later enhanced and improved by the textile workers in Songjiang. The Yazhou blanket that Huang Daopo taught the local women to make became the famous and popular Wunijing blanket sold everywhere in the country.
Huang Daopo's cotton weaving skills were spread to many places. During the later years of the Yuan Dynasty, more than 1,000 households were involved in weaving. Consequently, the people who lived off the infertile land were able to enjoy better lives.
