Blue calico is a traditional hand-printed product with a long history. Legend has it that a young man named Mei accidentally fell and fell into the mud. His clothes turned yellow and could not be washed, but people liked them after seeing them. Then he told it to his good friend Ge. Later, they specially dyed the cloth yellow and had another chance. When they hung the cloth on the branches to dry, they were accidentally blown to the ground by the wind. There happened to be a pile of Polygonum multiflorum on the ground, which is now called Isatis indigotica. There is an ingredient called indigo in it, which can dye the cloth blue. When they found this cloth, the yellow cloth had turned into a flowered cloth, which was "black and blue", they thought.

Nantong lanyin

Nantong, Jiangsu Province is located in the beautiful and rich alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta, bordering the Yellow Sea in the east and the Yangtze River in the south. It has a mild climate, beautiful scenery and outstanding people, and is known as the "land of Chongchuan". Nantong has always been a land of outstanding people, where Wuyue culture, Jingchu culture and Qilu culture blend together, forming a unique regional cultural style of Jianghai Plain. In the history of more than 1000 years, Nantong people have created and developed colorful and well-known folk crafts. Such as tie dyeing, colorful brocade, whistle kite (board kite), block printing, craft gourd, etc.

Nantong blue calico is one of the most representative folk handicrafts. Nantong Blue Calico Museum, founded by Wu Yuanxin, is listed as the heritage base of China blue calico, and the printing and dyeing techniques of Nantong blue calico declared by him are listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Nantong is also named as the hometown of blue calico, and these honorary titles are inseparable from Wu Yuanxin's continuous research in the field of blue calico for more than 30 years and his persistence in inheriting the tradition.

Nantong folk blue calico began in the Ming Dynasty and has been passed down to this day. Through the unremitting efforts of generations of folk artists, especially contemporary folk craftsmen, it has moved from a single home textile fabric product to a variety of fabric products, from practical life to various decorations, from fields to cities, reaching unprecedented glory.

20 13 Nantong blue calico was selected as one of the 20 "Jiangsu symbols".