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Ramie 
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     Ramie is a plant from the nettle family of the bast fiber group, native to China (9). It is also known as grass linen, grass cloth, and China linen. Ramie has many stalks from 1.9-2.4 meters tall and is perenial. Its leaves are bright green on the top, and white with hairs on the bottom. Ramie grows best in well-drained sandy soil in warm moist climates, but benefits from cold winters (8,7), and is harvested by hand when the lower part of stalk turns brown and tips of a new stalk appear (9).
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      The stalks are cut and then stripped of their leaves before being soaked in water (11). Unlike with some hemp processes this is not to encourage the break down of the skin. They are only soaked to keep the stalks moist. If the stalks are processed the day of the harvest soaking is unnecessary (7). After they have been soaked, the bark is then stripped from the stalks and then it too is soaked in water. The bark is later removed from the water, and, while wet, it is scraped until the green pith of the bark and plant resin is entirely removed and all that remains are the translucent fibers. After the pith is removed the fibers contain about 25-30% gum. Scraping appears to be a traditional technique used for the highest quality fabrics (11), but the gum can also be removed chemically or microbially (7). The degummed fibers are then bundled and dried to be later further divided down to the individual fibers to be died and woven (11). For the finest fiber, Ramie can be spun according to the spun silk system, which involves spinning fibers thread by thread and is very labor intensive (7).  


     Legend says that about 2,000 years ago emperor sujin’s daughter was in the Noto region when she created thread using wild ramie and taught weaving (5). Ramie was at one point believed to have been introduced to Japan with the Yayoi invasion (3), but fragments of garments and patterned potsherds have been found on the isle of Kyushu dating back to 21,000 B.C.E. that proves those theories incorrect (1). Ramie was one of the primary fibers used for textiles from the time that it first came to common use, which I suspect was around the time of the Yayoi invasion, 300 B.C.E., until cotton began to be successfully commercially grown in Japan, which was around the 15th century or the late Nara period (10,7). It is currently used for industrial sewing thread, filter cloths, fishing nets, packing materials, canvas, suit-cloth, and mat-edge cloth among other things (9,2). China is currently the biggest cultivator of Ramie, but it is also cultivated in Japan (7). A particularly fine fabric made from Ramie, called Noto-jofu, is produced in the Noto peninsula and was designated as an intangible cultural asset of the Ishikawa prefecture (5,4). Even today in some places Ramie fabric continues to be made by hand using traditional processing methods (11).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman%27s_katabira

    
     Ramie fibers are strong. Fiber made from Ramie doesn’t loose shape or shrink when washed. It becomes stronger when wet and more lustrous the more it is washed (9). The fibers take dye easily and resist bacteria and mildew (8). Due to the stiffness of the fibers they can be woven into an open weave, meaning that they breath easily and are ideal for hot and humid climates. It would seem like Ramie is a miracle fiber that wouldn’t loose out to anything in a humid climate. However the processing is too difficult, and therefore expensive, for it to last long as the fabric of the commoners after cotton was introduced. Ramie fibers cannot be removed with the bacterial fermentation of retting, they must undergo decortication which involves pounding or scraping (9,7). In ancient times this meant far more labor for the farmers or producers, and in the industrial age it meant more specialized tools that could not be as gentle on the fibers. Fibers extracted through industrial mechanical processes are 5-6 inches on average, while fibers extracted by hand, by scraping the bark can be about a yard long or the length of the stalk (9,11). The fiber generally resists mechanization of production. The fibers are brittle and not elastic (9). This is not much of a problem if the fibers are around a yard long, but fibers that have been removed industrially and are only around 5 inches on average will require a higher number of spins per inch and therefore are much more likely to break. Far too much of the crop is lost when the process is mechanized for it to be practical, and when the process is done by hand it is far too labor intensive to be affordable for the general public. For that reason, Ramie only lasted as material for commoners until the introduction and commercialization of cotton.

Sources

  1. Hays, J. (2019). JOMON CULTURE (10,500–300 B.C.): CLOTHING, MUSIC AND BODY ADORNMENT | Facts and Details. [online] Factsanddetails.com. Available at:https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/japanese-textiles [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  2. Leavline, E.J., D.A.A.G. Singh, S. Prasannanayagi and R. Kiruthika, 2015. A compendium of nano materials and their applications in smart nano textiles. Res. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 5: 44-59.
  3. Major, J. (2019). Japanese Textiles. [online] Fashion-history.lovetoknow.com. Available at: https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/japanese-textiles [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  4. Mitsuhiro, K. (2006). Fine Ramie Cloth, Noto Peninsula Japan. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o9y3W9xkK4 [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  5. Notojofu.com. (2019). English Site – 能登上布. [online] Available at: http://notojofu.com/eng/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
  6. PARK, Y. (2019). Yoshinogari's History : yayoi Trivia : YOSHINOGARI HISTORICAL PARK. [online] Yoshinogari.jp. Available at: http://www.yoshinogari.jp/en/contents2/categoryId_5.html [Accessed 20 May 2019].
  7. Seiko Jose, S. Rajna and P. Ghosh, 2017. Ramie Fibre Processing and Value Addition. Asian Journal of Textile, 7: 1-9.
  8. Teresinha (2017). Ramie | Wild Fibres natural fibres. [online] Wildfibres.co.uk. Available at: http://www.wildfibres.co.uk/html/ramie.html [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  9. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britanica (2019). Ramie | plant. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/plant/ramie [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  10. Wiki.samurai-archives.com. (2017). Cotton - SamuraiWiki. [online] Available at: https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Cotton [Accessed 6 May 2019].
  11. YouTube. (2009). Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXbotKCG_M [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].

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