As embroiderers' fingertips move up and down freely, mountains and rivers, auspicious creatures, blossoms and birds are woven into meticulous stitches, unfolding like a painting on the cloth.

The photo, taken on June 23, shows an ancient Huayao cross-stitch embroidery work.

On Huxing Mountain in Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan, a traditional handicraft skill—cross-stitch embroidery—has been handed down from generation to generation among Huayao women.

On June 24, several elderly Huayao women sit under the eaves, chatting while making cross-stitch embroideries.

Cross-stitch embroidery originated in the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE), and matured after the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1912). It features a unique "clear yarn" stitch technique, commonly known as "counting stitch," positioned by counting yarns and formed by cross-stitches. Using colorful silk threads, embroiderers create impromptu embroidery patterns on blue coarse cloths.

Shen Yanxi, a provincial-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage Huayao cross-stitch embroidery in Longhui County, embroiders a cross-stitch work on June 23.

A Huayao woman embroiders a cross-stitch work on June 23.

A cross-stitch embroidery work has patterns on both sides—the front has neat patterns, and the reverse has orderly stitches. The craft is so meticulous that even cross-stitch patterns on an ordinary tube skirt need hundreds of thousands of stitches, taking the embroiderer several months or even years to finish. 

In 2006, Longhui Huayao cross-stitch embroidery was added to the first batch of China's national-level intangible cultural heritage items.

The photo, taken on August 6, 2022, shows two Huayao women displaying their tube skirts with Huayao cross-stitch embroidery patterns.

In the villages of Huxingshan Yao Township, Longhui County, skillful Huayao women sit alone under the eaves, or gather in groups on lawns or in woods, laughing and chatting joyfully while weaving their reverence for nature and their hopes for life into tube skirts, headscarves, and belts.

Embroidering beautiful blossoms, also the unique romance and poetry of Yao women

On June 23, Huayao women demonstrate cross-stitch embroidery skills in the ancient forest of Chongmudang Village, Huxingshan Yao Township, Longhui County.

In the 1980s, Liu Qihou, a folk culture photographer, brought some Huayao cross-stitch pieces to Shen Congwen, a famous Chinese writer. Shen praised the works as "world-class cross-stitch."

On June 23, a Huayao woman weaves a colorful belt with unique Huayao patterns.

On June 23, some Huayao women showcase cross-stitch skills to tourists in the ancient forest of Chongmudang Village, Huxingshan Yao Township, Longhui County.

Without a written language, the Huayao people use cross-stitch as a medium for recording historical changes and customs. Their cross-stitch works are hence revered as "a wordless history book worn on the body."

"Every pattern has a story behind it—not only beautiful, but also a spiritual sustenance."

"This is the unique ethnic spiritual tapestry of the Huayao people, and also a thousand-year-long epic at the fingertips," Shen Yanxi said, while demonstrating cross-stitch skills at the cross-stitch skill training center. Shen is a provincial-level representative inheritor of Longhui County's Huayao cross-stitch intangible cultural heritage.

On June 23, Shen Yanxi shows a traditional Huayao hat (called "Paidian" in the Huayao language) with sun patterns and her traditional cross-stitch attire.

On June 23, Shen Yanxi explains cross-stitch skills at a training class.

After thousands of years of refinement and evolution, Huayao cross-stitch styles have evolved, with the patterns and colors refreshed to better cater to contemporary aesthetics of the public.

On June 23, two Huayao women shows Huayao cross-stitch tube skirts.

On June 23, a tourist tries on Huayao cross-stitch attire at a home-stay in Chongmudang Village, Huxingshan Yao Township, Longhui County.


On June 23, a tourist tries on Huayao cross-stitch attire.

In recent years, Longhui has made efforts in multiple dimensions, including mountain and countryside cultural tourism, digital protection, and intangible cultural heritage promotions on campus, to comprehensively empower inheritance and innovation of cross-stitch skills, and further, pave the way for this cultural heritage rooted in Huayao wood houses to step out of the mountains and onto the global stage.

On June 23, Feng Tangmei, a provincial-level representative inheritor of Longhui County's Huayao cross-stitch intangible cultural heritage, demonstrates cross-stitch skills in a livestream. 

On June 24, tourists wearing Huayao attires appreciate Wangxi waterfall in Huxing Mountain, Longhui County.


The photo, taken on August 24, 2023, shows Huayao girls performing traditional Huayao dance.


On June 23, a Huayao woman embroiders a cross-stitch work.

On June 23, Shen Yanxi explains cross-stitch skills at a training class.

On June 24, students learn cross-stitch skills at the Central School of Huxingshan Yao Township, Longhui County.

On June 23, some Huayao women exchanged ideas at a cross-stitch training class.

Excellent traditional culture will continue to be handed down for thousands of years, never ceasing, through every stitch and every thread.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Xinhua