摘要
SHANDONG Province, also called "Lu," produces traditional hand-woven cotton fabric known as "Lu Jin ("Jin" means brocade in Chinese). Lu Jin has a soft texture and is made in various designs and colors. Although machine-made cotton fabric is easy to buy here, local people, particularly women, prefer this kind of cloth woven in the old style handed down by their ancestors. In the countryside of Southwest Shandong, a girl usually begins learning how to weave cotton brocade as a child and old women are often still busy at the loom. In Jiaxiang County, for example, there are more than 10,400 looms, 74,000 spinning wheels and 90,000 capable weavers, producing 6 million meters of hand-woven fabric annually. Lu Jin is a suitable dowry for local girls. Usually, a girl begins selecting designs and weaving for her dowry two to three years before marriage. When she gets married, she carefully puts the fabric in the cupboards she will bring
