Traditional skills and cultural regeneration

Author: Ye Jihong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Su embroidery is a unique folk art and culture in China. This article employs sociological anthropology methods to conduct a micro-study of the women embroiderers and embroidery activities in Zhenhu, Suzhou. It takes you to Zhenhu to listen to the women's personal stories, understand the entrepreneurial journey of these women who left the land among the 8,000 embroiderers in Zhenhu after the reform and opening-up, showcase their production and social life, and trace the trajectory of their changing thoughts and actions to record this history of struggle and entrepreneurship. It interprets the embroidery culture of Zhenhu and protects traditional art.
Sitting alone by the silk window, embroidering, under the purple crape myrtle, the orioles sing yellow. To know the endless sorrow of spring, it is all in the moment the needle stops and speechless. This is the scene of a noblewoman in the Tang Dynasty poet Zhu Jiong's "Spring Woman's Lament": flowers pierce through the needle, colorful threads are abundant, delicate hands are smooth, and spring is lingering, a rich poetic landscape. Today, in the western suburbs of Suzhou, by the shores of Taihu Lake, there is an inconspicuous small town called Zhenhu. Among its 20,000 population, about 8,000 women embroiderers use their delicate hands to create a famous embroidery art town. "Every household in the village hangs embroidery frames, and mothers and daughters all practice needle skills" is the true reflection of the rural life here. This book takes you to Zhenhu to listen to the women's personal stories, understand the entrepreneurial journey of these women who left the land among the 8,000 embroiderers in Zhenhu after the reform and opening-up, showcase their production and social life, and trace the trajectory of their changing thoughts and actions to record this history of struggle and entrepreneurship. The embroidery activities of the women and related groups are the carriers of a vibrant embroidery culture. The activities surrounding embroidery reflect their autonomous development on one hand, and on the other hand, they showcase an ever-renewing embroidery culture, a rebirth of traditional folk culture.