Embroidery Revival Pays off in Rural Hubei County
- Home
- News
- People
- In-depth
- ACWF
Embroidery Revival Pays off in Rural Hubei County
ByLiu Kun and Li Hongyang January 24, 2022A college graduate who longed for a slower life returned from Wuhan to her hometown in Huangmei County, Hubei Province, and started a career based on its rich embroidery tradition.
Hong Li, 35, has trained about 100 rural women in the county to embroider for her workshop, which sells their art across the province.
Huangmei embroidery, a national intangible cultural heritage, was handed down thousands of years ago. The skill uses multicolored silk threads to form patterns of flowers or animals on scarves, clothing, curtains and tents.
In the old days, there was a saying that a good wife in Huangmei had to master the skill. Hong learned it from her mother and grandmother when she was a teenager.
"The embroidery patterns reflect simple life ideals and the aesthetic tastes of ordinary people," she said. "It is increasingly rare and should be treasured as a work of art."
For example, art pieces usually feature fish to express a wish for wealth or a phoenix as an auspicious omen.
After Hong graduated from Hubei University of Technology, she learned other embroidery skills from masters in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, Wuhan, Hubei's provincial capital, and Shanghai.
In May 2020, she founded a company with her partner, selling Huangmei embroidery pieces made by her and other local women.
"I made embroidery my career because I had always longed for a slow-paced life, especially when I saw grannies spending whole mornings doing embroidery at their doors," she said.
"However, stitching is challenging and requires endurance and patience. The fingerprints on two of my fingers have almost been erased due to the work."
Her confidence in the career was boosted when someone who loves the embroidery asked Hong to make tailor-made decorations for an entire house.
Hong's stitching product patterns have grown from 10 to about 100, and her workshop earns about 1 million yuan ($157,800) a year.
Each woman who contributes crafts to her workshop earns at least 2,000 yuan a month. Local women who used to work as migrant workers or were unemployed learn stitching from Hong.
"At first, I chose it out of my desire for a slow life," she said. "But now, I feel obliged to pass it on."
She plans to expand production, but said that is difficult because traditional Huangmei embroidery relies on pure handiwork, which is both a selling point as well as a barrier for growth.
"Pure handiwork is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so we can't increase the output immediately," Hong said.
In addition, some people prefer to buy a machine-made embroidered piece rather than a handmade one though the patterns and quality look similar, as the handmade one would usually cost more. "It is difficult to resist the impact of modern industrial products," she said.
Hong is designing semifinished products that can be put onto a production line. She also plans to establish more training bases and hold creative skills competitions to revive the craft.
(Source: China Daily)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Comments
Magazines
Projects
- 2023 Women Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer...
Photos
- People Enjoy Blooming Tulips in Jinan, East...
- Flowers Bloom Across China in Spring
Special Coverage
Related articles
FTX customers to get money back after catastrophic crypto collapse
FTX says that nearly all of its customers will receive the money back that they are owed, two years2024-05-09Missing Kansas women confirmed dead, kids safe, 4 charged with kidnapping and murder
GUYMON, Okla. (AP) — Two Kansas women who went missing on a trip to Oklahoma to pick up children for2024-05-09Embracing the spring season: Hulun Lake in north China
As the majestic Hulun Lake in Inner Mongolia, north China awakens from its winter slumber, it is bur2024-05-09What do women want? Mandarin pop song lyrics reveal a shift, study shows — Radio Free Asia
Mandarin song lyrics written, performed by and aimed at Chinese women have seen a dramatic shift in2024-05-09Andy Murray to return from ankle injury at Geneva Open this month
GENEVA (AP) — Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray is set to return from his ankle injury at t2024-05-09Commanders hire Dave Gardi as senior VP of football initiatives
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Commanders hired Dave Gardi as senior vice president of football2024-05-09
atest comment