Horsetail embroidery is a special embroidery technique that has been passed down from generation to generation by women of the Shui tribe with horsetail as an important raw material. Its production process is cumbersome and complicated, the finished product is antique, gorgeous and exquisite, strong and durable, inherited in Sandu for thousands of years, has the reputation of embroidery "living fossil", and is also one of the national intangible cultural heritage.
Recently, the reporter came to Bansu Village, Zhonghe Town, Sandu Shui Autonomous County, which is known as the "first village of horsetail embroidery", and saw Pan Zhengyong, the inheritor of Qiannan Prefecture-level intangible cultural heritage, who was wrapping a few horsetail hairs with thread.
"This is the first step in making horsetail embroidery, where white silk thread is wound around the horsetail hair to make a horsetail thread. Then use the horsetail thread to embroider on the drawn pattern. Pan Zhengyong told reporters.
Pan Zhengyong is the legal representative of Sandu County Jiaqing National Arts and Crafts Development Co., Ltd., and also serves as the chairman of the Horsetail Embroidery Special Committee of the Qiannan Prefecture Intangible Cultural Heritage Association, a member of the board of directors of the Qiannan Prefecture Women's Handicraft Association, and the president of the Shuiwei Village Horsetail Embroidery Cooperative.
Pan Zhengyong's family is a family of aquarium horsetail embroidery, inheriting horsetail embroidery skills from generation to generation. "I have heard and witnessed horsetail embroidery since I was a child, and I have been taught and carefully nurtured by my mother, and I have had a strong hobby and interest in horsetail embroidery since I was a child. Pan Zhengyong said.
In order to better inherit the horsetail embroidery skills, she has participated in the horsetail embroidery ability improvement and product innovation training course, Qiannan Prefecture ethnic and folk arts and crafts personnel ability training course, Guizhou Province ethnic areas characteristic handicraft training and other training, systematic learning and practice of horsetail embroidery production technology, ethnic handicraft pattern design, art art, the application of water book in horsetail embroidery and national tourism commodity marketing.
In July 2017, in order to carry forward the aquarium horsetail embroidery skills, Pan Zhengyong founded Sandu County Jiaqing National Arts and Crafts Development Co., Ltd., the company is mainly engaged in horsetail embroidery craft skills training, inheritance of aquatic horsetail embroidery skills, research and innovation of horsetail embroidery crafts and business of national costumes, processing and sales of ethnic handicrafts. She is good at horsetail embroidery research and development, design, painting production, has a strong artistic innovation ability and strong organization and management ability, she designed a series of innovative research and development of horsetail embroidery works won many honors inside and outside the province. In December 2021, it was rated as the representative inheritor of the aquarium horsetail embroidery, a representative project of state-level intangible cultural heritage, by Qiannan Prefecture.
From poverty alleviation to rural revitalization, Pan Zhengyong led the company to take the initiative to participate in the development of rural revitalization, continuously recruited registered card households to work in the company, and solved the employment of aquatic women at the doorstep of the household in the way of order production, increasing family economic income. At the same time, the company actively organizes and carries out horsetail embroidery skills improvement training, improves the horsetail embroidery craft skills of embroidery girls, inherits national skills by teaching horsetail embroidery production technology, and spreads aquarium culture by selling and promoting horsetail embroidery products.
Under the leadership and influence of Pan Zhengyong, the people around him have also embarked on the development of horsetail embroidery.
Wei Xuan, Pan Wenshou, Wang Yan, etc. in the same village, through Pan Zhengyong's master-apprentice style to lead them to learn and participate in the company's horsetail embroidery skills improvement training, etc., step by step to improve their skills, now have their own stores, can independently undertake horsetail embroidery orders, to achieve entrepreneurship. Up to now, the company has trained nearly 1,100 embroiderers, driven nearly 1,250 women to achieve employment, and made positive contributions to the revitalization of hometown and rural areas and the consolidation of poverty alleviation.
At the same time of economic development, the company also participated in the Shenzhen Cultural Fair, Guangzhou International Fashion Week, Inner Mongolia International Fashion Show and various public welfare exhibitions, national product exhibitions and catwalks organized in the province, and successively participated in the "National Rural Handicraft Embroidery Competition" and other various exhibitions and competitions inside and outside the province Nearly 100 times, won more than 10 commendations, intended to show the Aquarium horsetail embroidery handicrafts to the whole country and the world, and spread the Aquarium ethnic culture.
Talking about the future development, Pan Zhengyong said that he will continue to expand the scale of the company and build the company into an aquarium horsetail embroidery inheritance and protection base integrating production, processing, sales, display, experience and research.