Hand-Made "Tientsin Rugs"

More and more people in the Republic of China are covering the floors of their homes with rugs and carpets as the standard of living rises and appreciation of comfort and beauty grows. Most of the rugs sold on the domestic market are mass-produced in Taiwan's factories, and owe their popularity to their low price. But of course, they lack the artistry and exquisiteness of the hand-woven rugs. These latter are also made in Taiwan, and a few local people are beginning to appreciate the value of what is still a predominantly export product. The most precious of these hand-knotted oriental rugs, as they are known, is the Tientsin version, formerly made in the mainland city of the same name, but now exported almost exclusively from Taiwan. Skilled weavers, whose fast hand movements must be matched by a sharp eye, keep the ancient art alive in Taiwan. The arduous nature of the work can be assessed from the fact that one square foot of a genuine Tientsin rug involves tying more than 8,000 knots. Not surprisingly, it takes a year of intense training before a worker is fully qualified. The young girl workers must also face the brutal fact that they will have to give up the work when they are older and their eyesight and dexterity begin to falter. Most workers are therefore women with an average age of 30. The Chungli rug factory of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen is the largest rug producer in Taiwan, with a monthly capacity of 10,000 square feet. Only the best-quality woolen yarn is used to make Tientsin rugs, after it has been dyed to fit in with the numerous designs which are popular with customers. To ensure that fine quality and beauty are achieved at the lowest possible cost, the factory has enforced strict rules on quality control and inspection. This enables defects in production to be found immediately and remedied. At present, the factory has more than l,000 designs worked out by specialists, although it can also copy those submitted by customers. As the work, the weavers are constantly watched and assisted by supervisors who are also part of the quality control system. After the weaving process is completed, the rug is trimmed and the wool around the flower or other pattern is cut short to give a three-dimensional effect. The rug is then washed with chemicals to make its surface smooth, soft and bright. All this hard work and care is not without reward--apart from the beauty of the product, its life can be as long as a century. Many foreign visitors to the factory are amazed by the skill of the weavers. One Arab tourist ordered a full month's output of the factory--not to engage in business, but to cover every square inch of the floors of his mansion. A 9ft. x 12ft. hand-knotted Tientsin rug requires the work of four weavers for 20 days, a fact which makes the price tag of US$1,100 seem reasonable. Among the more than 1,000 designs, perhaps the most exquisite and fascinating is the "one hundred birds visiting the phoenix." But all the factory's classical and modern designs are worthy of the craftsmanship put into the product. The VACRS factory also makes hand-hooked rugs (hand-made, but much less complex than the Tientsin variety) and machine-produced rugs using woolen or man-made fiber yarn. These cheaper models appeal more to people with only average incomes.