In this event, we went to Luo Foo Senior High School in Fuxing District, Taoyuan City, to promote Taiya weaving and related culture. We led the school’s students in teaching and practicing the two methods of traditional Taiya weaving. (Plain weave and twill). The direct way to look deep into Taiya weaving culture is to learn to weave by yourself. From the weaving process, you could realize the culture and the meaning, or perhaps with your interest developed.

Ramie is the most important material in traditional weaving. But ramie is in scarcity now, and the yarns have been replaced with cotton yarns. After our discussion with Miss Wang, Hsiu-Ling of Luo Foo Senior High School, we hope we can restore the plantation of ramie in this school and carry on the traditional weaving culture. We took the students from Luo Foo Senior High School to Wulai to visit Miss Wang, Hsiu-Chin, who was planting ramie as we arrived. She is also experienced in the harvesting and production of ramie. She worked with the students in the ramie field to experience the picking, shaving, and simple twisting of the yarn in DIY. They also removed some ramie plants from growing on the campus of Luo Foo Senior High School. We hope these students can complete the whole process, from yarn production to weaving.

In addition, we also hope to combine the traditional Taiya weaving skills with modern technology. Through innovation, we hope to attract more people to weaving. So, we wrote the weaving simulator program by ourselves. Users can select the color of the yarn and the warping quantity to simulate the final look of the product and start working until the simulator gives satisfactory results.

In this event, I was responsible for a lot of liaison work and purchase. It is a very laborious process. But the positive effort and support of the school’s teachers and students made it really an experience. After the successful conclusion of the event, we are so relieved. This is a very special and fruitful experience.