74. The Dyehouse

Scores of plants were used to dye in the Ming-Qing Period (such as safflower, logwood, sophora flower, gallnut, etc.). The colour matching hue of the dyestuff was up to 704 types. The workers in the dyehouse operated by hand with the help of "a vat and two bamboo sticks," the silk thread and fabrics were soaked to be kept dying repeatedly in the dying vat, and the experienced workers could tell the ideal result by hand and eye. Show is the old device used to grind up the dye material.