——The straw revolution in the planned economy era
Prologue to public-private partnership: the harmony of abacus and straw
In the late autumn of 1951, in the auditorium of Ye County Normal School, ten straw weaving craftsmen looked at each other in bewilderment at the “Elementary Accounting” on the blackboard. Foreign trade cadre Diao Zhitang tapped the chalk and shouted: “We must put the ancestral craftsmanship into the balance sheet!” The first director who took over the Yuxin Straw Braid Factory would not have thought that the Soviet cost accounting method he forced the craftsmen to learn was quietly rewriting the thousand-year-old agricultural and sideline gene-when the “Shahe White” straw braid was affixed with the “Export Commodity Code CN370682”, Laizhou straw weaving was officially included in the national industrialization sequence. By 1956, the General Factory of Industry and Trade was established, and the collision of enamel rice bowls of 780 regular workers replaced the sound of copper coins in the braiding village in the past.
The collective creation of 100,000 peasant women: the economics of wheat ears in the people’s commune
In the frosty season of 1975, the fluorescent tubes of the grass handicraft factory of Xiyou People’s Commune were bright all night. Accountant Lao Zhang deduced the magic formula on the abacus:
(1 woman’s daily work points × 0.7 yuan) + (2 catties of wheat straw × 0.03 yuan) = 1.5 US dollars in foreign exchange coupons
Behind this equation is the micro-planned economy woven by 100,000 women in Ye County with their fingertips: 17 commune grass handicraft factories constitute the central nervous system, 300 production teams become peripheral synapses, and the kang head of each farmer’s house is the smallest production unit. When the experts from the Provincial Institute of Arts and Crafts marveled at the geometric precision of the “zongjiao pattern”, they would not know that these patterns were made by the hands of peasant women who were breastfeeding their children and pinching their braids at the same time – their apron pockets contained the “Straw Weaving Regulations” and the “Barefoot Doctor Manual”.
Straw weaving diplomacy: a flexible breakthrough in the cracks of the Cold War
In the butterfly effect brought about by Nixon’s visit to China in 1972, Laizhou straw weaving completed a gorgeous turn:
Trade period with the Soviet Union (1956-1960): using “worker-peasant friendship pattern” straw hats in exchange for parts of the Ural Machine Tool Factory
Asia, Africa and Latin America period (1961-1971): The Cambodian prince received the “Angkor Wat” tapestry woven with wheat straw
Western ice-breaking period (after 1972): San Francisco Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce ordered a batch of “Ping Pong Diplomacy” themed straw weaving handbags
File No. 037 of the County Archives shows that the total factory’s export volume exceeded 8 million US dollars in 1978, equivalent to 42% of the county’s fiscal revenue during the same period. These overseas straw braids not only exchanged Japanese polyethylene production lines for Shanghai Jinshan Petrochemical, but also became literary symbols of Beauvoir in the Left Bank Bookstore in Paris.
Institutional fission: From the work-point system to the budding of autonomy
In the spring of 1980, a silent revolution took place in the design department of the main factory: technician Wang Xiujuan secretly mixed the “ELLE” magazine pattern brought by Hong Kong businessmen into the “Workers, Peasants and Soldiers” series of straw baskets. When this batch of “illegal products” won an order of 300,000 US dollars at the Guangzhou Autumn Fair, the “Decision on Expanding Enterprise Autonomy” on the factory director’s desk was soaked by the morning dew. The slogan on the workshop blackboard newspaper quietly changed: “Output is the face of the plan, and innovation is the liver and gall of the factory” – this indicates that the planned economy straw weaving giant ship is about to sail into the deep waters of the market economy.
Yu Xiang: The Forerunner of Reform and Opening-up in Wheat Straw
Looking back at this epic of straw weaving industrialization, the most moving thing is not the foreign exchange earning figures, but the details hidden on the back of the production report:
The “Quality Accident Record” of Yuxin Factory in 1953 shows that the No. 3 workshop was deducted half a month’s salary for mistakenly weaving “Laizhou Flower” as “Chrysanthemum Pattern”
In 1979, straw braid samples produced in the Kuomintang-controlled area in 1947 were found in the warehouse of the main factory. After comparison, it was found that the new process increased the utilization rate of wheat straw by 67%
In 1980, Xiguan Village took the lead in the “family piecework system”, and women used the income from straw weaving to buy the first Venus TV
These grass snakes and gray lines, long before the horn of reform and opening up was blown, laid the groundwork for the birth of “Laiyin” – when the tide of market economy came, the quality control system, foreign trade response mechanism and mass production network tempered in the era of collectivization will eventually burst out with amazing energy.
Laizhou straw weaving: Oriental glory woven with warp and weft
–An epic coronation of grassroots skills
Crown jewel: Three consecutive national certifications
2005 State Council conferred the title of “China’s Straw Art Capital”, establishing the industry’s supreme position
2007 Selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage, the skills were upgraded to civilization genes
2011 Won the “China Well-known Trademark” + “Geographical Indication Certification Trademark”, completing the ultimate transformation from agronomy to national quintessence
Trophy Showroom: Grand Slam winners in the arts and crafts industry
Hundred Flowers Award Hall of Fame: Leather straw weaving basket won the first prize, straw box and flat woven cushion won the second prize
National Excellent Packaging Award double cup: “Hope Cup” and “Excellent Packaging Cup” witness the design revolution
International certification: Won the title of “National Key Cultural Export Enterprise” in 2012, straw weaving has become a flagship for cultural exports
Digital hegemony: Forty years of industry Domination
Export hegemony: Since 1983, it has been ranked first in the country in terms of straw weaving exports, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade’s honorary certificate is ironclad
Industrial radiation: From 1975 to 1990, it led 86 counties in Shandong to form a straw weaving industry belt and built a Qilu craft matrix
Global layout: Products cover 80+ countries and regions, and are endorsed by high-end customers such as the Macau Foundation and NASA
Breaking the circle moment: A fantasy journey from the field to the temple
Buddhist leader’s poem: In 1982, Zhao Puchu wrote the inscription “Cao Cao can accomplish great things”, which gave the craft a philosophical height
Diplomatic etiquette: Wheat straw stickers are collected by APEC heads of economies, and straw weaving has become a flexible diplomat
Contemporary art revolution: The wheat straw “Fuchun Mountain Dwelling” exhibited in Macau in 2015, the auction price exceeded traditional fine brushwork
Product empire: the dual rule of practicality and art
People’s livelihood matrix: from tea mats to carpets, 12 categories and 300+ daily necessities, mastering the discourse power of global home aesthetics
Art revolution: Wheat straw stickers achieve the hair-level presentation of “Tiger Roaring Picture” through 18 micro-carving processes
Material hegemony: original straw weaving × leather × synthetic leather mixed weaving technology, Defining new standards for light luxury handicrafts
Future Declaration: The interstellar journey of the king of intangible cultural heritage
Laizhou straw weaving, which holds 286 patents, is reconstructing the industry ecology with “intangible cultural heritage + technology”:
Space straw weaving: Cooperating with aerospace agencies to develop a space storage system for wheat straw fibers
Digital twin: Blockchain technology enables the full traceability of each work “from wheat field to exhibition hall”
Carbon neutrality pioneer: Each exported product comes with a carbon absorption data certificate, leading sustainable fashion
In the past forty years, Laizhou straw weaving has completed the transition from agricultural and sideline industries to national cultural symbols. It is not only a global straw weaving industry standard setter, but also a textbook for the modernization of traditional Chinese craftsmanship-when you see straw weaving installation art at MoMA in New York, encounter straw handbags at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and discover straw weaving screens in Ginza, Tokyo, this is the gentle declaration of the Eastern agricultural civilization to the world.