Hemp fiber woven from grass is a kind of thick rain gear, which can be worn on the body to shelter from the rain like clothes. It is also made of palm leaves, called brown clothes. Hemp fiber is usually made into two pieces: a coat and a skirt, which are worn on the body and used to shelter from the rain together with the hat on the head. This kind of rain gear is very convenient to wear and work.
In the late 1960s, with the appearance of chemical fiber products, it ended its historical mission and became tourist souvenirs and indoor decorations. The earliest and most widely used primitive raincoat in ancient China was called bó shì, and later it was called hemp fiber. Appeared in the pre-Qin period.
Guan Zhong mentioned in his article, "Take off your clothes and you will succeed. You have to wear Maopu first, get ragged and covered all over, and expose your skin violently, and be as sensitive as possible in the fields. This is the costume of farmers in Qi State when they do farm work on rainy days. From what Guan Zhong said, it seems that the rain-proof effect of cassock is not ideal. Although farmers wear cassock, their bodies are still wet by rain.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhao Wei, a scholar of the State of Wu, interpreted it as a bun. In the Qing Dynasty, Hao Yixing's "Prove Custom" said it more specifically: the case was a bun, and the farmer sheltered from the wind and rain, which is today's bun. Compared with rain gear such as umbrella cover, hemp fiber not only has good rain-proof effect, but also can free up two hands to work. Not only farmers like to wear it in rainy days, but fishermen often wear it when fishing in rainy and snowy days.
Cultural connotation
Although the shape of hemp fiber is simple, it is endowed with an image corresponding to the appearance of the characters. The combination of hemp fiber and hat can drive away the birds and animals that stand in the field and destroy crops. Hanging on the wall can suppress evil spirits; Putting charcoal wrapped in hemp fiber at the bottom of the well can not only sterilize and filter, but also suppress evil spirits.
In Hakka, whoever builds a new house, the main beam in the middle of the main hall will be wrapped with hemp fiber when it reaches the upper beam. Hakkas believe that wrapping the main girder with hemp fiber will definitely promote Yue Long Tengda. In this case, hemp fiber is not only used to shelter from the wind and rain, but also exists as a ceremony.