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Yang Li, the leader of rural culture and tourism in 2023, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Miao embroidery at the municipal level, the chairman of Guizhou Qianxiu Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Development Co., Ltd., the representative of the 13th People's Congress of Guizhou Province, and a member of the Jiusan Society, was awarded the titles of "38 Red Flag Bearer" in Guizhou Province and the first "Guizhou Embroidery Craftsman" in Guizhou Province.
▲ Yang Li is exchanging Miao embroidery skills
"Sister, you have to learn a good craft to live a good life!" When she was young, her grandmother often said this to Yang Li. Yang Li, who was born in a Miao village in Tongren, Guizhou, spun and weaved with her grandmother since she was a child. At that time, Yang Li may not have thought that she would relay the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage Miao embroidery in the future and lead the villagers on the road to prosperity.
As an adult, Yang Li, who walked out of the mountains, taught at a university in Chongqing. Later, because of her son's illness, she changed the course of her life and resolutely decided to return to the countryside and stay by her child's side. In order to alleviate the financial pressure, she and her sister opened a small shop in their hometown and started a business in handicrafts such as Miao embroidery. As her son's condition improved, Yang Li had more energy to devote to her career.
In 2010, Yang Li established Guizhou Guizhou Embroidery Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Development Co., Ltd., founded the "Guizhou Embroidery" brand, and is committed to the protection, inheritance and development of Miao embroidery, leaf vein embroidery and other crafts and Guizhou's traditional weaving, dyeing, embroidery and other intangible cultural heritage skills.
"Guizhou is a province inhabited by many ethnic groups, all ethnic groups thrive on the land of Guizhou, and Guizhou embroidery is a treasure of various ethnic groups in Guizhou to inherit their national culture in the form of embroidery." Yang Li said. Through more than 10 years of study, she has restored and improved the leaf vein embroidery skills that have been lost for thousands of years in Guizhou, and sorted out more than 20 kinds of stitches for Guizhou embroidery.
In 2022, the company operated by Yang Li will invest in the construction of the "Guizhou Embroidery Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Base" with the integrated development of culture, tourism and agriculture in Lula Village, Bijiang District, Tongren, with the industrial development model of "village collective + company + villager", establish the "Guizhou Embroidery Workshop" in the resettlement area and the main urban community, and establish the "Guizhou Embroidery Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum" in the ancient city of Tongren. The company has developed and produced more than 70 kinds of products in three categories, including intangible cultural heritage crafts such as Miao embroidery, leaf vein embroidery and Guizhou embroidery, supplemented by Guizhou traditional weaving and dyeing intangible cultural heritage crafts. The model of "building bases in intangible cultural heritage villages, building workshops in communities, building platforms and windows in ancient cities, and expanding sales channels through short videos and live broadcasts" has brought a new atmosphere to local development.
▲ Yang Li taught the villagers the extraction process of kudzu hemp
With deep affection and friendship for her hometown, Yang Li insisted on teaching students and villagers about the public welfare inheritance of traditional Guizhou embroidery, homespun weaving, printing and dyeing and other skills. She is convinced that "rural women can earn their own money and live with more dignity". Over the past 10 years, in order to help women engage in handicrafts and work flexibly at home, she has trained more than 3,000 people and driven more than 200 embroidery girls to work, so that they can realize their dream of "carrying a baby, embroidering flowers, earning money, and raising a family". She was pleased to see that the children were accompanied by their mothers, the elderly were no longer lonely, and the village was more beautiful.
Relying on the Lula Village Qianxiu Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Base Project, Yang Li was selected as the 2023 Rural Culture and Tourism Leader assessed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. She couldn't hide her excitement, but at the same time put pressure on herself, she said: "It's a spur, an encouragement, and a motivation for me, I have to work harder and do better." ”
After being named a leader in rural culture and tourism, Yang Li received financial support and encouragement and help from relevant local departments. The training of rural culture and tourism leaders has broadened Yang Li's knowledge horizons and strengthened her confidence in development. Yang Li's husband, Yang Guangqing, was selected for the 2020 Rural Culture and Tourism Talent Support Project assessed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Yang Li told reporters that the husband and wife came together because of their common dream of revitalizing the countryside. "I am willing to work with him to protect the countryside and build the countryside together, and lead everyone to grow old happily together." She said.
Enjoy 200 acres of lotus fields, buy cinnabar handicrafts, and participate in research projects...... Nowadays, the construction of the Qianxiu Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Base Project has added color to the ancient village of Lula, and the deep integration of agriculture, culture and tourism has allowed more people to discover the beauty of the ancient village. Through projects such as research and rural intangible cultural heritage experience, more and more villagers in the village have benefited from it, and their lives have become more prosperous.
▲ Yang Li taught her apprentice Yang Xinyu the cinnabar dyeing process with a history of thousands of years
In recent months, Yang Li has opened a self-media account under the name of "Village Flower Sister Qian Embroidery Yang Li", and she and her apprentice Xiaoyu shuttle through the village, showing traditional weaving, dyeing, embroidery and other production techniques in short videos. At the same time, she also hopes to expand sales channels through live streaming.
Talking about why the young girl Xiaoyu was selected in the village for training, Yang Li expressed her thoughts: "People are there, and the craftsmanship is there; People are gone, craftsmanship is still there. We can't just throw it away in our generation. She believes that intangible cultural heritage originates from the countryside and can only survive in the countryside have vitality and give back to the countryside, and the story of "protecting the countryside and inheriting intangible cultural heritage" will continue to write a new chapter......
Comments:
Yang Li adopts the model of "intangible cultural heritage village construction base, community construction workshop, ancient city platform to build windows, short video, live broadcast new media to expand sales channels", revitalize regional cultural and tourism resources, enrich business formats, stimulate consumption potential, explore the way on the road of rural revitalization, play a leading and exemplary role, and the Guizhou embroidery intangible cultural heritage industry base project has become a typical example of the integrated development of agriculture, culture and tourism.
(Photo provided by the interviewee)
Editor-in-charge: Wu Yue