Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township, Qianxi City, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, is a Miao ethnic settlement with distinctive ethnic characteristics, and has been named "the hometown of Chinese folk culture and art". On February 3, 2021, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Huawu Village in Qianxi County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province (now "Qianxi City"), he praised the intangible cultural heritage skills and culture of ethnic minorities such as Miao embroidery and batik, and had a cordial conversation with batik artist Peng Yi. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that what is national is what is global. Characteristic Miao embroidery is both traditional and fashionable, both culture and industry, not only to promote traditional culture, but also to promote rural revitalization, including Miao embroidery, including the national traditional culture of the inheritance and development.
"Rare Living Fossils of Ancient Civilizations"
The Miao people are an ancient people who migrated from the Central Plains to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and because there is no writing, the Miao people use needle and thread as pen and ink to engrave the creation myth, migration history and delicate emotions on the clothing. Therefore, Miao embroidery is not only a simple folk handicraft, but also a "wordless history book" that records the source of civilization, and has the important function of carrying cultural memory. The famous writer A Cheng praised Miao embroidery as "a rare living fossil of ancient civilization" in his book "Luoshu River Map - Exploring the Source of Civilization Modeling".
Historically, the Miao people have undergone several great migrations and formed multiple branches, and the embroidery patterns on traditional costumes and costumes have become important symbols of mutual distinction between various branches and mutual recognition within each branch. Different Miao branches, with different Miao embroidery expressions. Looking through the Miao embroidery pattern, we can observe the simple philosophy of life of this ancient nation. For example, a large number of butterfly ornaments appear in Miao embroidery, because the Miao people believe that butterflies are their common ancestor and mother goddess; There are a large number of sun patterns, cloud and thunder patterns, mountain and river patterns, broken branches and flowers and various animal patterns in the Miao embroidery patterns, reflecting their worship of nature; The gourd, pomegranate, sunflower, butterfly, fish and other ornaments in the Miao embroidery pattern imply their hope for a full house of children and grandchildren and a full warehouse of grain. Zeng Li, director of the Guiyang Miao Xinjiang Story National Costume Museum, included 100 ancient and authentic Miao embroidery traditional patterns in his book "Miao Embroidery Picture Source", each of which has an epic story.
In 2006, Miao embroidery was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in China. On the one hand, the historical and cultural value of Miao embroidery is reflected in the ethnic history recorded in its patterns and the simple philosophy revealed in the ornamentation, and on the other hand, it is reflected in the subtlety of its artistic presentation and craftsmanship. At present, there are 7 representative items of national intangible cultural heritage, including Huaxi Miao embroidery, Leishan Miao embroidery, Jianhe Miao embroidery, Kaili Miao embroidery, Taijiang Miao embroidery, Songtao Miao embroidery, and Xiangxi Miao embroidery. In terms of embroidery, Miao embroidery roughly includes flat embroidery, lock silk embroidery, flat belt embroidery, stem edge embroidery, seed embroidery, cloth paste embroidery, pile embroidery, tin piece embroidery, broken thread embroidery, braid embroidery, pick flowers, etc. Its style and techniques are very different, on the basis of embroidery, at the same time the use of batik, brocade and other decorative techniques, bright colors, rich patterns. General Secretary Xi Jinping praised during his inspection of Huawu Village: "Miao embroidery is both traditional and fashionable, you embroider it with a needle and a thread, how wonderful!" "What is national is what is global
Miao embroidery is both traditional and fashionable. Creative transformation and innovative development have given the Miao embroidery of the new era vigorous. On the one hand, we attach importance to the inheritance of the original flavor, pass on the things of the ancestors in their original locality, and conscientiously inherit the national intangible cultural heritage items, which is the root of Miao embroidery and the witness of history. On the other hand, it focuses on the needs of the market, continuously innovates and develops on the basis of traditional Miao embroidery, combines traditional skills with contemporary aesthetics, combines traditional hand embroidery with digital and intelligent production lines, and integrates Miao embroidery into people's daily life and fashion trends, so that it radiates new vitality and vitality.
Miao embroidery is both national and global. Miao embroidery beyond the national handicraft outside the great beauty, gradually amazed the outside world, by the world to see. In the 80s of the 20th century, Sasawa Torimaru, a researcher at the Industrial Technology Center of Japan, came to China to visit and accidentally came into contact with Chinese Miao embroidery, and she was shocked by the rich textile technology and culture of the Miao people. Then she began to travel around the large and small Miao villages in Guizhou, China, to record the folk costumes and handicrafts of the Miao people. His daughter, Tomoko Torimaru, was influenced by her mother and then joined the work, and the mother and daughter carried out fieldwork for 30 years, and wrote the book "A Stitch and a Thread: Guizhou Miao Costume Handicraft". In October 2003, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission launched the "Colorful China - Chinese National Costume Exhibition" as the opening ceremony of the France Chinese Culture Year, staged at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Miao embroidery as the opening display, the world-famous fashion design master Pierre ·Cardin in the audience was deeply attracted. On September 24, 2023, the "China Miao · Art Exhibition" hosted by the Guizhou Provincial Government was launched in Milan, Italy. Hundreds of Guizhou Miao embroidery treasures made a stunning appearance, with complex and exquisite patterns and delicate embroidery handicrafts, showing the long-standing artistic style of Guizhou Miao embroidery, and becoming the focus of attention on Milan fashion Monday in the spring and summer of 2024. People in the international fashion industry praised the beauty of Miao embroidery's craftsmanship and appearance.
It is both a culture and an industry
Miao embroidery is both a culture and an industry. In 2013, the Guizhou Provincial Government issued the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Splendid Plan for the Handicraft Industry with Women's Characteristics", and for more than ten years, hundreds of thousands of embroiderers, painters, and dyers have relied on their own skillful hands to live a splendid new life of managing the family, carrying the baby, embroidering flowers, beautifying themselves, and enriching the family. In 2021, the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government issued the "Action Plan for Accelerating the High-quality Development of Guizhou Miao Embroidery Industry", proposing that "through the efforts of about three years, the Miao embroidery industry will be built into a leading domestic and internationally renowned advantageous industry, and the goal of industrialization, fashion, internationalization and branding will be initially realized", and the focus on the implementation of the "six major projects" to ensure the realization of the goal has effectively promoted the collision and integration of ancient culture and modern civilization. Guizhou Province focuses on doing a good job in the Miao embroidery cultural industry, and establishes a leading group for the development of Miao embroidery industry in Guizhou Province led by provincial leaders, actively cultivates the main body of Miao embroidery business, and supports the establishment of the Miao Embroidery Industry Association; Build a basic pattern database, collect Miao embroidery patterns and register copyrights; Promote Miao embroidery culture into schools, villages, and communities, and organize and carry out the Guiyin · Miao embroidery vocational skills competition; A series of intangible cultural heritage experience spaces, such as the Miao Embroidery Cultural Center and the Huawu Miao Cultural Space, will be built to provide a knowable and sensible experience scene for Miao embroidery to enter modern life.
The Miao embroidery cultural industry is booming, and it has played an important role in promoting poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. Huawu Village has become a typical case of intangible cultural heritage helping rural revitalization. Cultural tourism, folk religion, rural revitalization and other departments at all levels have worked together to build characteristic pastoral villages in Huawu Village, "Huawu Miao Embroidery Workshop" and other projects, and create a large-scale Miao song and dance live stage repertoire "Miao Yun Huawu", and jointly create the "Huawu Miao Embroidery" brand. In Guizhou, Miao embroidery helps rural revitalization, and Huawu Village is not an exception. "Miao Embroidery Helps Employment and Poverty Alleviation - A Case Study of Intangible Cultural Heritage Development in Shibing County, Guizhou Province" was selected as the 3rd Global Best Case of Poverty Alleviation, and "Miao Embroidery: Embroidering a New Life of Employment and Prosperity - A Typical Case of Guizhou Wushui Yuntai Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" was selected as a typical case of the 2022 Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop...... Miao embroidery, "embroidered with a needle and a thread, how wonderful", embroidered a more and more wonderful new life!