China News Service Baise, February 7 (Xinhua) -- Guangxi's thousand-year-old brocade has become a souvenir.
Author: Chen Qiuxia, Chen Yanyou, Xu Liyuan.
Zhuangjin series of decorative paintings, wall hangings, ornaments, scarves, shawls, puppets, table runners. Walking into the Zhuang brocade factory in Jingxi City, Guangxi, Zhuang brocade products are dazzling, and colorful patterns are gradually presented on the brocade cloth.
Hundreds of gift boxes were customized, and we got busy two months ago. Zhuangjin bags, scarves, and dragon treasure puppets are particularly popular. Li Cunling, the national representative inheritor of Zhuang brocade skills and the director of Jingxi Zhuang Brocade Factory, said.
Li Cunling shows the Zhuangjin Longbao puppet produced by Jingxi Zhuangjin Factory. Photo by Chen Qiuxia Zhuang brocade is one of the four famous brocades in China, and it is a "living fossil" carrying the cultural memory of the Zhuang people, with a history of thousands of years. In ancient times, Zhuang Jin was offered as a tribute to the royal family. In 2006, the Zhuang brocade weaving technique was included in the list of China's national intangible cultural heritage.
Jingxi Zhuangjin Factory was built in the 50s of the 20th century, after nearly 70 years, has now developed into a collection of product research and development, tourism research and technical training as one of the enterprises, and shoulders the mission of Zhuangjin, hydrangea skills inheritance.
Li Cunling has worked in the Zhuangjin Factory for most of his life and witnessed the development of the Zhuangjin Factory. According to reports, the hydrangea and Zhuangjin series products produced by Jingxi Zhuangjin Factory are welcomed by the market for their unique technology, solid texture and bright colors, and are exported to Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
However, Zhuangjin Factory also faced the dilemma of difficult to survive. In the 90s of the 20th century, the modern textile industry developed rapidly, and the use of Zhuangjin gradually shrank, and the demand decreased sharply. "Zhuang brocade is made by traditional hand, each process takes a long time, the cost is high, the product is difficult to sell, many weavers find another way, there are only about ten people left in the factory. ”
It is urgent to innovate, change, and find new ways out. After taking over in 2005, Li Cunling led the workers to upgrade the equipment on the basis of the traditional craftsmanship of Zhuangjin and hydrangea, innovated and designed many new Zhuangjin patterns, and produced special products such as Zhuangjin cheongsam and Zhuangjin scarf, so that the traditional products burst out with new vitality.
Li Cunling is weaving brocade. Photo by Chen Qiuxia "We match colors according to contemporary aesthetics, and Zhuangjin products are completely different from people's impressions of 'old-fashioned' and 'fancy', which makes people shine. Li Cunling told reporters that some American merchants had customized a batch of Zhuangjin tea flags, coasters, napkins and placemats, with an order amount of hundreds of thousands of yuan. This makes her more optimistic about the development prospects of Zhuangjin.
In recent years, Jingxi Zhuangjin Factory has changed its marketing methods, expanded publicity through the new platform, participated in large-scale exhibitions at home and abroad, and cooperated with enterprises to customize high-end gift boxes, and the road is getting wider and wider. In search of new inspiration, on the eve of the Chinese New Year, Li Cunling took the opportunity of traveling to Thailand with his family and made a special trip to Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok to find local brocade products. "The weaving process and materials of Taijin are very similar to Zhuangjin. Thailand still retains natural plant dyes for dyeing, which is an environmentally friendly practice that is worth learning from. ”
Li Cunling believes that if the traditional intangible cultural heritage culture wants to go out of the mountains and into the world, it should work design, adhere to the craftsmanship, and integrate intangible cultural heritage into the lives of thousands of households. Intangible cultural heritage is integrated into fashion elements, and young people are more willing to accept it. In the past, the use of Zhuang brocade was relatively simple, mainly used for straps, quilt surfaces and sheets. Now, we're designing a new product to make it more versatile. The material and color have been improved, and it has become younger and more fashionable.
Li Cunling said frankly that the biggest problem facing the Zhuangjin factory today is that the inheritance of Zhuangjin skills is not received. "Our factory uses the master to take the apprentice to inherit the Zhuangjin skills, as long as there is a heart to learn, we are willing to teach each other. However, the process of Zhuangjin is very cumbersome, the work of the weaver is not easy, and the income is not very high, so it is difficult to attract young people. ”
It is Li Cunling's greatest wish to attract more young people to join Zhuangjin Factory and inject new vitality into the millennium intangible cultural heritage with the help of young people's creativity. She said she would make unremitting efforts to achieve it. (ENDS).
Editor: Liu Yanghe].