On July 13, they visited the Desong Miao Painting, Tie Dyeing, and Miao Embroidery store owned by Long Biaorong, an inheritor of Miao embroidery. The words “discover beauty, appreciate beauty, and create beauty” came into view, and the walls are filled with Miao embroidery works.
In 2020, Long Biaorong was invited by the Baojing County Intangible Cultural Heritage Center to return hometown and opened this store with Miao painting master Liang Desong. As a representative inheritor of Miao paintings, a national intangible cultural heritage item, Liang Desong’s Miao paintings have great symbolic significance with exquisite brushstrokes and rich and bright colors. The Miao embroidery works made by Long Biaorong based on Liang Desong’s paintings depicting flowers, birds, fish, insects, dragons, and phoenixes are infused with artistic soul and become rare collectibles.
“These five embroidery pieces are based on paintings of Liang Desong, worth thousands of yuan,” said Long Biaorong. Nowadays, at the age of over fifty, she still insists on embroidering for several hours every day. She has participated in exhibitions and competitions with her embroidery products for multiple times on behalf of Xiangxi Prefecture.
At the Rural Women’s Plain Embroidery Co., Ltd., Wang Liangyu, a representative inheritor of Xiangxi Miao embroidery and a farmer painter, shared her love for painting and introduced plain embroidery, the second major branch of Miao embroidery.
Wang Liangyu has loved drawing since she was a child and always wins the first place in various art competitions. In the autumn of 1979, a sudden family calamity forced the 13-year-old girl to drop out. However, she didn’t drop her paintbrush. She continued to draw flowers, birds, insects, fish, fields, and mountains in the village. She painted at night for no time during the day, and drew with her fingers instead of brushes because of no money to buy paper and pens. With a tenacious spirit, she has become a well-known farmer painter.
After establishing a rural women’s painting studio, Wang Liangyu decided to integrate the themes of her paintings into embroidery. She said that there are actually two main branches of traditional Xiangxi Miao embroidery. One is the “colored embroidery” with colorful silk threads sewn on cotton and brocade. The other is plain embroidery consisting of black and white colors, with monochromatic silk threads embroidered on cotton and linen.
Wang Liangyu has a unique emotional attachment to plain embroidery. She has developed a unique craft that not only retains the traditional characteristics of Xiangxi Miao embroidery but also has her own styles by combining embroidery techniques such as cross stitch and lock stitch. She has also developed a series of plain embroidery works that showcase production and life scenes in rural areas.
These plain embroidery products were very popular in the market. By participating in exhibitions across the country, Wang Liangyu has opened up sales channels for her plain embroidery works which not only win the love of locals, but also are sold in Beijing, Shanghai and other places.
Miao embroidery plus tea culture
On the afternoon of July 13, the practice team came to Hangji Jinzhai in Lyudongshan Town of Baojing County to learn about the current development status of the local Miao embroidery industry.
At a Lyudongshan embroidery shop, Shi Yuanxiu, a female embroider, took out a tea-picking embroidery piece and explained her new idea for the integrated development of Miao embroidery and the tea industry. The golden tea industry is a pillar industry to increase farmers’ income in Baojing County. It has long been integrated with such cultures as Qin and Han, Warring States, Bachu, and Tusi.
In March 2017, Shi Yuanxiu, together with more than 30 female embroiders in the village, established a Miao embroidery cooperative to tell the stories of tea picking in the Lyudong Mountain area through Miao embroidery. Many tourists come here to pick tea, appreciate embroidery, and experience the cultural charm of Lyudong Mountain.
“With the local tourism industry developing, the demand for Miao embroidery works has increased, and there should be great development prospects,” said Shi Yuanxiu. Meanwhile, she took out her embroidered Miao clothing and tea-picking baskets, allowing the practice team to experience tea picking.
The practice team walked into the Morong Miao Village where Miao embroidery shops, silver jewelry shops, and specialty shops can be seen everywhere. On July 14, following Shi Zhen, a local tour guide, they visited a rural tourism company of Morong Miao Village in Guzhang County to know more about the integrated development of Miao embroidery and the tourism industry.
A Miao embroidery shop attracted many visitors to observe embroidery products, understand the characteristics of Miao embroidery, and purchase embroidered bags.
“A bag sells for over 80 yuan,” said Shi Zhen. Now, a corporate management model has been adopted in the village. The products made by residents are sold offline and online after quality testing.
At present, Morong Miao Village receives several thousand tourists every day, with over 10,000 tourists during the peak season, helping more than 3,000 residents to achieve employment.
Due to differences in various factors such as history, culture, and resources, the development of the Miao embroidery industry is also unique and regional. When integrating with different industries, Miao embroidery is no longer just a traditional handicraft that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Miao people, but also a backbone industry to increase villagers’ income.
