Though luxurious silk is often associated with China, for the farmer working in the fields, this material was impractical and unaffordable. Thus for centuries the people wore cotton clothing, later using dyes to turn these simple fabrics into wonderful works of art. After years of development and with the expansion of the economy, the dye-resist method of adorning cotton became the main type of decoration in may rural areas by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Until the beginning of this century, clothes, quilt covers, scarves, curtains, and cloth wrappers were embellished with various indigo blue and white designs, giving rural homes a distinctive color scheme. The dye-resist method, often called batik in the West (a Malay word) and common throughout Southeast Asia and Africa, is the process by which a water-repellent substance -- such as wax, lime, bean or flour paste, is applied to a piece of cloth in a preconceived design. After the fabric is dyed, the substance is removed, either by boiling or washing, leaving white those areas that the dye could not penetrate. The fabric that emerges presents a bold contrast of creamy white and robust indigo. The minority women in China's south and southwest are especially noted for their bold batik pictures.

Though the use of bright red, brown, and a variety of other dyes later became more fashionable among the upper classes, today indigo, as one of the most durable and beautiful colors, still reigns supreme.

Like folk art all over the world, Chinese-folk textiles vary greatly in decoration and technique. Each village developed its own local style, which was further refined from family to family and daughter to daughter. In addition, each of China's minority nationalities, especially Zhuang, Yao, Maio, and Yi, has a particular decorative style and heritage which have increased the rich diversity of folk textile forms. These batik were custom-designed by Jade Dragon and created by one such minority group from the province of Guizhou, near Szechuan.