Global Times: How Guizhou villagers revitalize Miao embroidery to eradicate poverty, revive traditional culture

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Feb 18, 2025, 05:23 ET

BEIJING, Feb. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestled in the misty mountains of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, where ancient traditions whisper through bamboo groves, the vibrant world of Miao embroidery comes to life with every stitch crafted by local artisans.

Guizhou has long been one of the most impoverished regions in China, grappling with a combination of geographical, economic, and infrastructural challenges that make daily life a struggle for many families. However, during China's monumental anti-poverty campaign - unprecedented in scale - Guizhou embarked on a transformative journey that harnessed local resources, introduced innovative methods, and revitalized traditional culture, ultimately achieving zero poverty by 2020.

For the villagers of Huawu in Xinren Miao Township, Guizhou's Qianxi city, the art of Miao embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage, was their magic weapon helping them shake off poverty and achieve prosperity.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, gave the thumbs up to using Miao embroidery to pass down ethnic, traditional culture, aid in the battle against poverty, and promote rural vitalization when visiting the villagers of Huawu on February 3, 2021, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi noted that "The treasures of ethnic culture are also the pride of the entire world. Miao embroidery is both traditional and fashionable, both a cultural treasure and an industry. It can promote not only traditional culture but also rural revitalization. Traditional ethnic culture like Miao embroidery must be kept alive and developed well."

Following the approach put forward by Xi, Huawu has made the ancient art of Miao embroidery a significant driver in the revitalization of rural industry, turning itself into one of China's beautiful leisure villages, Xinhua reported.

Return hometown to start own business

Yang Wenli, a 30-year-old woman born in Huawu village, still vividly remembers when Xi went on an inspection tour of the village's poverty-alleviation workshop to learn about the development of the Miao embroidery industry and the preservation of traditional ethnic culture.

"I was greatly encouraged. In the future, I will cultivate more excellent embroiderers and I hope that one day our Miao embroidery works can be showcased at more international platforms, allowing traditional cultures like embroidery and wax dyeing to be known and loved by more people around the world," Yang told the Global Times.

Yang was not originally involved in the industry. While she started to learn traditional Miao embroidery from an early age, she had not imagined that this local craft, which nearly every woman in the community was able to do, could lead to something greater than just making clothes for people.

After graduating from high school, in order to ease her family's financial burden, she found a job at an embroidery factory in East China's Zhejiang Province. It is at this factory that she encountered machine embroidery.

"A senior worker told me that the machine can embroider any pattern. I was dubious of her words. Then I drew a random pattern and gave it to her, and she embroidered it with the machine," she recalled.

That ignited a dream of mastering the use of such machines to create Miao embroidery in Yang's heart.

After a learning period at the factory, Yang became proficient in operating the embroidery machine. After discussion, Yang and her husband pooled their money to buy a second-hand embroidery machine and returned home to start their own business.

At first, Yang set up a small family workshop. In 2019, with the support and assistance of the local government, she established a Miao embroidery workshop in Huawu village.

"We returned to our hometown to start a business not only to earn money for a better life, but also to help more women like me find employment through embroidery. We want to ensure that the children here are no longer left-behind children like our generation," Yang said.

To this end, Yang provided free training in embroidery techniques and machine operation for local embroiderers, while also taking orders in the market to ensure that everyone had work and income.

Today, Yang has a design team to innovate the styles, colors, and accessories of Miao embroidery clothing, while also venturing into the cultural and creative sector by producing bags, scarves, and other products. She has also transformed her workshop into a new 1,600-square-meter factory, utilizing fully automatic sewing and embroidery machines.

Her workshop has, so far, created job opportunities for 22 villagers. The highest monthly salary of embroiderers in Yang's workshop reaches 8,000 yuan ($1,103), according to Yang.

Connect ethnic culture with fashion

As an intangible cultural heritage inheritor, Peng Yi has been thinking about how to pass on and develop Miao embroidery techniques since the day she started learning. A native of Huawu village, Peng has been deeply influenced by Miao batik and embroidery since childhood.

During her learning process, she developed a dream of promoting and revitalizing these ancient art forms. In 2015, to connect ethnic culture with fashion and bring it into the homes of many, Peng went to pursue a master's degree in ethnic and folk art at the Guizhou Minzu University. After graduating, Peng returned to Qianxi and established a company.

For Peng, inheritance is the most important aspect. She carefully taught her students the techniques of Miao embroidery and batik, requiring them to submit one or two batik paintings and a small piece of embroidery each week. She discussed each piece with her students, guiding them to adjust their techniques, and collaboratively researching and developing new technologies and products.

She also continuously visits other inheritors of intangible cultural heritage and folk artists, participates in various exhibitions, and works hard to promote the embroidery and batik products of Huawu Village.

"I firmly believe that traditional Miao embroidery and batik will continue to write more fashionable stories. We not only need to preserve Miao embroidery and batik, but also strengthen and expand the ethnic handicraft industry, allowing the lives of our elders and fellow villagers to flourish like the patterns of Miao embroidery and batik," Peng told the Global Times.

Today, Peng's studio has innovated over 100 batik and Miao embroidery cultural and creative products, including clothing, office supplies, and home decorations.

"The development of embroidery and batik needs to keep pace with the times; only through continuous innovation can more people appreciate these works, allowing the art of batik and embroidery to flourish," she stressed.

Join to save the ancient craft

Luo Yang, from East China's Shandong Province, was one of those who were attracted by the charm of traditional Miao embroidery and batik, thus deciding to join the industry to help preserve the culture.

In 2009, Luo went to a primary school in Qianxi as a voluntary teacher. It was during this year of teaching that she discovered the unique charm of Miao embroidery and batik.

After 2010, Luo went to work in Shanghai, but Miao embroidery and batik kept lingering in her mind. After getting married in 2021, she discussed her dream with her husband who supported her and later went to Qianxi with Luo to promote Miao embroidery.

The couple discovered that while Miao batik are exquisite, the inheritance of this art form faced challenges due to the acceleration of industrialization and urban-rural integration.

Many young people left their hometowns for work, leaving behind the elderly and children in the villages, and the techniques at that time struggled to enter the market. The younger generation was reluctant to learn, putting this ancient craft at risk of disappearing, Luo explained.

"I studied art design and have over a decade of experience in the advertising industry in Shanghai, which makes me think that I can do something to help the protection, inheritance, promotion, and development of the two intangible cultural heritages," Luo told the Global Times.

Thus, Luo established a company to start her entrepreneurial journey, while her husband Yang Ming, who is now the principal of a primary school in the Gaojin township, Qianxi, focused on promoting intangible cultural heritage in schools.

"I took senior Miao wax dyeing artisans, most of whom are dubbed as 'old aunts,' in the village to visit places where the industry of Miao embroidery and batik is more developed. They gradually understood that batik is not outdated, but a craft that is still loved by many people and can create practical value. This restored their confidence in their ethnic traditional technique," Luo said.

She said that the moment she saw some of these "old aunts" were willing to pick up their wax knives again, her eyes were filled with tears.

Now, Luo routinely organizes batik and embroidery training in her company, and invites professional teachers to teach new techniques. She has also taken Miao batik works to exhibitions in bigger cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

In 2023, a large-scale Miao batik and embroidery work titled "Miao Rhythm: Flame of Inheritance," designed by Luo and Yang, made a stunning debut at the Hangzhou Asian Games Museum. With its unique artistic charm and cultural value, the work was permanently preserved by the Asian Games Museum.

According to Yang, the Miao embroidery products her workshop creates are sold to countries including the UK, France, and India, and are popular among local customers.

In the summer of 2024, Yang managed to secure a cross-border order. "At that time, several foreign tourists visited our workshop. They were very interested in our Miao embroidered hats. They ordered 1,000 hats and later added another 3,000."

Now, Yang's daughter has also fallen in love with this traditional craft and has become a new generation of inheritors. "She says she wants to be a designer when she grows up. I think that is great. I told her that when you become a designer, you can combine advanced design concepts with traditional Miao batik and embroidery to create more beautiful things and continue to pass on this traditional craft."