In a Miao embroidery workshop in Shibadong Village, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, 72-year-old Shi Shunlian completed the final stitches of a traditional tiger-head hat and gently placed it on her 6-year-old granddaughter's head. The hat features vibrant colors and the tiger head looks endearingly expressive.

Embroiderers craft tiger-head hats in the Miao embroidery workshop in Shibadong Village. (Photo/Tian Jiajia)
 

The tiger-head hat is a thousand-year-old folk adornment for Miao children in Xiangxi. The hat embodies how the Miao people invoke the tiger's majesty to pray for children's healthy growth. Recently, the tiger-head hat has garnered widespread attention both at home and abroad. Its rise in popularity is not a stroke of luck, but the result of the perseverance and preservation of intangible cultural heritage skills by three generations—the old, middle-aged, and young—of Miao embroidery artisans. Shi Shunlian was the Party secretary of Shibadong Village. In 2014, she took the lead in establishing a Miao embroidery cooperative in the village. "I never imagined our tiger-head hats would become a nationwide hit and reach the world," she said.
 
Through decades of dedicated efforts, Shibadong Village has revitalized its resources of Miao embroidery intangible cultural heritage, transforming "fingertip skills" into a "fingertip economy" and building a stage for young intangible cultural heritage entrepreneurs.
 
Chen Guotao has played a key role in promoting Miao embroidery from small workshops to a large-scale industry. In 2022, she founded a company and established a "cultural inheritance + market innovation" dual-driven approach. "We have preserved the Miao people's traditional dog-tooth stitch, three-dimensional tiger-head techniques, and some auspicious patterns. On this basis, we integrated modern aesthetics into design improvements," Chen explained.

Embroiderers share their views on the designs of embroidery works. (Photo/Feng Shi)
 

Today, the Shibadong Miao embroidery base has formed a complete structure of three-generation inheritance and revitalization. The elder embroiderers, represented by Shi Shunlian, stay true to their original aspirations and remain grounded in the local cultural context, to reinforce the foundation of Miao embroidery inheritance. The middle-aged embroiderers, represented by Chen Guotao, commit deeply to the workshops and strictly control quality, to polish the industry's reputation. The younger force, represented by post-2000s designer Li Wen, strive for breakthroughs and gain prominence with youthful creativity.

"A small tiger-head hat strings together the perseverance and innovation of three-generation embroiderers—the elder generation preserve the craft, we, the middle-aged, refine the quality, and the younger innovate designs and make it a hit," said Wu Manjin, head of the Miao embroidery base. "Initially, we sought sales channels and scrambled for orders, but now orders are queuing up at our doorstep. We have the confidence to bring Miao embroidery to new heights!"

"As young inheritors, we must take up the baton, preserving the cultural lineage while creating new ideas for the times, so that Xiangxi Miao embroidery can truly step out of the mountains and reach the world stage," Li said.

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

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: Chinanews