Taiwan · Weaving / Ritual Craft
賽夏族儀式織物 (Saisiyat zu yishi zhiwu)
The Saisiyat people of northern Taiwan produce a specific ritual textile used exclusively in the pasta'ay (矮靈祭) — the biennial spirit ceremony held every two years (and a grand ceremony every ten years) to propitiate the spirits of the Ta'ay people (a shorter-statured neighboring group believed to have been killed by Saisiyat ancestors). The pasta'ay textile bears a specific shrimp pattern (karaw) that appears on no other Saisiyat textile — woven only by women designated by the community for this purpose, and used only during the ceremony. After each ceremony the textiles are ritually stored rather than washed — the accumulated ceremony history is considered to remain in the fabric. The karaw shrimp pattern has a specific weft float count (each shrimp body requires exactly 7 weft floats — no more, no less) that is non-negotiable: fewer floats and the pattern loses the shrimp character; more floats and the pattern grows too large for the ceremony textile dimensions.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Taiwan national ICH list; pasta'ay ceremony separately listed
Lanshan (藍衫 — 'blue garment') is the Hakka Chinese community's defining textile tradition in Taiwan — the deep indigo-dyed cotton or ramie cloth worn as the daily and ceremonial garment of Hakka women in Hsinchu, Miaoli, and Taoyuan…
Taiqi (台漆 — 'Taiwan lacquer') is Taiwan's indigenous lacquer tradition — distinct from Japanese urushi (CRAFT-0460), Chinese mainland lacquer, and Burmese hman-zi (CRAFT-0425) — developed in Lukang from Fujianese lacquer techniques adapted…
Liuli (琉璃) is Taiwan's contemporary cast art glass, adapting the ancient pâte de verre (paste of glass) casting technique to Chinese Buddhist and Taoist iconography; it was established in 1987 by Loretta Yang and Chang Yi through their…
Budaixi (布袋戲 — 'cloth bag theater') is Taiwan's most beloved performing art — a glove puppet theater tradition brought from Fujian Province in the 19th century and developed into a distinctly Taiwanese art form.
Gong deng (宮燈 — 'palace lantern') is the Beijing court lantern tradition brought to Taiwan by mainland craftspeople in 1949 — now more actively practiced in Taiwan than the Beijing tradition it descended from.
Sanyi Township (三義鄉) in Miaoli County is Taiwan's — and arguably Asia's — densest concentration of wood carving studios, with over 200 carving workshops producing sculpture, furniture, and architectural elements.
Phuti karpas (ফুটি কার্পাস) is the specific cotton variety that produced Dhaka's legendary muslin — a cotton so fine that a full sari (5.5m) could be folded and passed through a signet ring, or stored in a matchbox.
Shital pati (শীতল পাটি — 'cool mat') is the fine reed mat tradition of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh — woven from the murta plant (Schumannianthus dichotoma), whose reed fibers produce a mat of extraordinary coolness against…
Ala-kiyiz (Ала-кийиз — 'colorful felt') is the second major Kyrgyz felt tradition — distinct from shyrdak (CRAFT-0698) in that the decorative pattern is formed during the felting process itself, not cut from finished felt.
The hand-crafting of Nicaragua's iconic rocking chair — a wooden frame, traditionally in hardwoods such as mahogany, cedar, or teak, joined and shaped by hand, then fitted with a hand-woven cord or rope seat and back — centered on the town…
Tāniko is the Māori tradition of finger weaving — producing geometric patterned borders for cloaks (kākahu), belts, and decorative panels without any loom.
Shyrdak (Шырдак) is the Kyrgyz felt mosaic tradition — producing the elaborately patterned floor mats and wall hangings that are the primary decorative textile of the Kyrgyz yurt.