Types of Handicraft Pha Sinh Kan, Nan’s Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 1 Pha Sinh Kan, Nan’s traditional textile, is a traditional wisdom of the Tai Lu people which is woven with Kan bundle technique to create the stripe pattern on the textile. The seams are sewed in Tai Lu style while the plain red, dark red, or brown fabric is used to weave the top and the tail of the Sinh together. Purple, blue, black, pink, and magenta are the most popular colors of Sinh Kan. Silk and cotton, or silk-cotton mix is used while silver and gold silk yarn are inserted to create beautiful design which indicates the social rank or status of the wearing person. Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 2 Identity reflecting wisdom and engineering skills The uniqueness of Kan pattern or Kan bundle is that the pattern design applies the same technique with that of tie-and-dry (Mudmee). Making a bundle before dyeing is to design the pattern, which is similar to Mudmee pattern. Lai Kan pattern is the small pattern which is different from Pha Lai Nam Lai which the pattern is always modified. Sinh Kan has various names in each region; some call “Sinh Ta” whereas some call “Sinh To Teen To Aiw” (the traditional skirt that its top and tail is sow with a plain fabric); it is named followed the appearance. The word “Ta” means a grid: as Sihn Kan has the stripe across the fabric. The word “Kan” means a striped pattern, not a plain fabric. The word “To Teen To Aiw” is to expand the top and the tail of the Sinh with another piece of fabric to make the three parts followed the traditional custom: top, body, and tail. There are other different names of Kan pattern. For example, if the Sinh has the unclear pattern, it is named “Sinh Ta Mud”. If it has one stripe, it is called “Ta Laew” while having two stripes is named “Song Laew”. Besides, the lines or stripes may be developed using the bundle technique with two color cotton before dyeing; this is called “Pun Kai”. Sinh Ta or Sinh Kan Lai Pun Kai has two combined colors as same as Khai (Khai is a long green seaweed in the Khong River or Nan River that is cookable) which the top and the tail are on the same dark plain color fabric or the grey unbleached cloth. Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 3 Generally, Sinh Kan is woven with silk and fabric; the top and the tail is in the same piece of cotton or silk-cotton mix followed Thai weaving fabric, called “Sinh Kan Thor Luad” (Luad means custom. It identifies social status of people, as it thoroughly). is said: “Cotton is for general people while silk is for the upper class people.” Cotton is the fabric Currently, Pha Sinh Kan in the customary that is widely used while silk is used by the elites Tai Lu culture in Nan Province is normally found that woven by the females who are in the royal in Baan Don Chai and Tha Wang Pha District, Nan palace or living in the elite’s house. Its pattern was Province, where the community preserves the beautiful and exquisite with the silver and gold silk traditional weaving. Numbers of women in the yarn inserted. Sinh Kan Mai is woven for the elites community teach their female children to weave only because it is quite expensive and the pattern in order to carry on the wisdom of Tai Lu ethnic marks the privilege such as floral pattern. group. Pattern created from Mud Kan or Mud Mee, both for the whole fabric with the red top and tail Sinh Kan or Teen To Aiw weaving has been and the combination with Khid technique, Lai Muk, developed to catch up with social prosperity. or colored stripes, make the horizontal pattern on Presently, Sin Kan is woven with one piece of the fabric. Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 4 Most of them migrated from Xishuangbanna to Nan Background of Tai Lu Province since 200 years ago. An evidence in Nan weaving - Nan (Pha Sinh Kan) annals shows that Luang Sumorn Dhevaraj marched to defeat La, Phong, Chiang Khang, and Luang Phu Lu or Tai Lu is the terms for people who Kha in 1812 (B.E. 2355) and herded 6,000 people to speak Tai language and are reside in the southern Nan. In 1853 (B.E. 2396), King Ananta Worraritthidej Yunnan in China, the northeast of Shan States defeated Chiang Rung and Chiang Tung. King in Myanmar, the upper north of Thailand, the Suriyapong Paritdech defeated Pong, which was northwest of Laos, and the north of Vietnam. dominated by Chin Haw, in Xishuangbanna in 1856 (B.E. 2399), and herded thousands Tai Lu people to In Nan Province, the areas where Tai Lu Nan, Chiang Muan and Chiang Khum (which were people are living in are Tha Wang Pha, Pua, Chiang under Nan Administrative District and presently in Klang, Thung Chang, and Chalerm Phra Kiat District. Payao Province). Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 5 “Mud Kan” or “Khad Kan”, in Tai Lu while the weft is cotton or silk. Its outstanding is language, means to bundle the yarn to design the the combination of Mud Kan and Khid technique or pattern before dyeing; it is called “Mud Mee” in the Mud Kan pattern for the whole fabric. Lao language. The group of Tai Lu people who Sinh Pong is woven with Khid or Mud Kan were living in Tha Wang Pha, Pua, and Chiang Klang technique in striped or plain pattern. The pattern District, Nan Province applied Mud Kan or Khad is even. “Pong” possibly derive from the structure Kan technique to weave the striped silk and cotton that has the check pattern horizontally. Sinh Pong Sinh. The popular colors are indigo, purple, and with Mud Kan pattern is called “Sinh Pong Kan”. pink. Sinh Man is called followed its structure which is There are two types of traditional Sinh in woven with Khid or Mud Kan technique in colored Nan Province, Sinh Pong and Sinh Man. It has two striped pattern with two seams, as same as Sinh seams and its body and tail are connecting. The top Pong. However, the interval of the pattern is is extended with the red fabric. The warp is cotton uneven. Sinh Man with Mud Kan pattern is called “Sinh Man Kan”.ความเชื่อและเรื่องรา Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 6 A grandmother who weaved Pha Sinh Belief and story about Tai Lu’s Tai Kan Lu told that in the old day, there was way of life no electricity or water utility in a village. Young Tai Lu women stayed home and weaved on the Textile is one of the priorities of Nan balcony or at the undercroft. When a guy visited, people’s life for the purpose of usage such as they had to be careful to avoid the gossip from clothes or for dressmaking. It is simply woven and the neighbors. If the woman was satisfied with the mainly uses the plain color. The weaving does guy, she spent the time during weaving with him. not perfectly deliberate while the texture may be On the other hand, if she did not want to make rough for durability purpose. The pattern is simple friend with him, she would follow the advice of the in black or navy blue color with the horizontal red elder people. They believed that the guy would or orange stripes. Other types of textile such as use the black magic to her. To prevent this, the loincloth, sack, or blanket consider the utility rather female had to weave the Sinh with two seams and than the beautiful appearance or color. Another wore it by putting one to the middle front and type of textile is to use in special occasions such another one to the middle back. It was believed as Pha Sinh to wear or use in merit making event that the misplaced seams prevent the black magic and special ceremonies that the special deliberate completely. costume is required. Some textiles take a month or several months to finish weaving. Importantly, all textiles have to reflect the ideal, belief, and tradition and culture of the weaver’s community. Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 7 Methods of making Pha Sinh Kan Tai Lu To make Pha Sinh Tai Kan Lu, the same weaving equipment with general textile weaving is required. They are: An original wooden loom A wooden shuttle, bar (Pae), beater, roller, loom A cotton thread A small reel for weft yarn and big reel for warp yarn. Pha Sinh Kan,Nan’s 8 Weaving method name), which is presently quite rare. Therefore, a Put the cotton yarn on the equipment plastic rope is used instead because of its using “Kang Won Kan”, (Nan dialect) or “Kang Khin availability. Kan” (Tai Lu language). To create the pattern bundle the space Stretch the cotton yarn on a Kang, from the top designed for white color in small bundle. Then, to bottom. tie Mud Mee pattern at the interval which can be To create Mud Mee by using the Kang, the warp done in two ways: tie all patterns in one bundle or or weft bundle technique is applied. Spin the yarn tie it separately and make the pattern in weaving as the pattern designed, which mostly are Krue step later. The benefit of weft Mud Mee (Mud Mee Chum, Krue Jai, and Hub pattern.