Original title: Brushed Ye Zhong: Fingertip Inheritance of "Thousand year Tibetan Embroidery"

Ma Wei, an all media trainee reporter of China Women's Daily

"In 2000, my father took me to visit the Sichuan Museum and saw two Tibetan embroidery works of Master Zongkaba. At that time, I was shocked. It turned out that Tibetan embroidery also has such exquisite works, and our Tibetan embroidery is amazing!" This experience not only enabled Lamao Yezhong, who was born in a Tibetan embroidery family, to accept Tibetan embroidery from his father's generation to generation from the bottom of his heart, And he was determined to inherit Tibetan embroidery. Since then, this Tibetan girl born in Demang Village, Shagou Township, Guinan County, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai Province in 1986 has started her career in Tibetan embroidery.

In the rugged Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Lamao Yezhong weaves the gentle and delicate side of the plateau with a needle and a thread. From the time when he was 14 or 15 years old and followed his family to learn how to thread a needle, to the time when he was determined to do a good job in Tibetan embroidery and finish the embroidery work independently, to the time when he became a representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Tibetan embroidery in Guinan, Qinghai Province, and then he became a veteran of the Tibetan embroidery industry, not only inheriting the intangible heritage at his fingertips, but also "embroidering" a better life.

On April 23, Lamao Ye Zhong was checking the cloth. Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Yan/photo

Inherit Tibetan embroidery skills and tell good cultural stories

Tibetan embroidery, originated in the 9th century AD, is called the three major arts of Tibetan Buddhism together with Tangka and Duixiu. It is one of the most distinctive embroidery schools in the traditional culture of Chinese ethnic minorities, and is famous for its beautiful colors, smooth lines, vivid characters, and exquisite workmanship.

The experience of visiting the Sichuan Museum touched Ye Zhong a lot. In 2006, she took the initiative to work in the Tibetan Embroidery Company founded by her father. In order to let Tibetan Embroidery go out of the plateau, she began to study how to innovate Tibetan Embroidery technology and make traditional Tibetan Embroidery glow with new vitality.

How can the traditional Tibetan embroidery skills be combined with the current aesthetic elements? Lamao Ye Zhong believes that good Tibetan embroidery works should not only conform to the aesthetics of modern people, but also combine traditional skills with national culture to better express.

In order to bring forth new ideas in Tibetan embroidery, Lamao Ye Zhong kept thinking and went to the library to read relevant books whenever he had time. With the help of the local government and peer friends, she actively "went out" to participate in various training and cultural exchange activities, which gradually opened her mind.

"After learning the outside stitches, color matching and other courses, I became more and more aware of the outside world. After understanding the stitches of the four famous Chinese embroideries of Xiang embroidery, Suzhou embroidery, Guangdong embroidery and Shu embroidery, I also became more aware of the characteristics of Tibetan embroidery. While making bold innovations, I must adhere to my 'personality' and tell our own cultural stories," she said.

Everything comes to him who waits. In 2017, the Tibetan embroidery products "Tibetan Embroidery Sachet" and "Tibetan Embroidery Pendant" series independently designed and developed by Lamao Yezhong were welcomed by the market because of their unique design, distinctive local characteristics and strong national characteristics, and won the silver medal of the tourism souvenirs category in the 2017 Great Beauty Qinghai Tourism Commodity Competition.

The skill is getting mature, but the progress of Ye Zhong has not stopped. From the passive inheritance of the Tibetan embroidery family to the plucked Ye Zhong who actively chose the Tibetan embroidery industry, he deeply realized the charm and development prospects of the Tibetan embroidery industry, but also knew the hardships of entrepreneurship. "If the Tibetan embroidery industry wants to become bigger and stronger, the product design, quality, category, etc. need to keep improving."

Make good products to let more sisters see a different world

Lamao Ye Zhong believes that the establishment of industrial brands must have representative works. Since 2018, she and her father have been engaged in the creation of Gesar Tibetan Embroidery Scroll.

In order to ensure the high quality of the works, Lamao Ye Zhong and his father invited domestic experts to discuss with scholars, participate in the project research and development, lead the painter to draw more than 200 pictures, select the appropriate version, and convene more than 50 embroiderers to participate in the embroidery production. The total investment of the project reached 28.18 million yuan. This Tibetan embroidery work is 1 meter wide and about 260 meters long. Due to its long size, it has increasingly high requirements on the site and shelves. Lamao Ye Zhong led the team to develop the seamless inlay technology, which has made a more comprehensive upgrade to the embroidery shelves, and applied for an invention patent and a utility model patent.

While making good products, Lamao Ye Zhong and his father did not forget to lead the masses to become rich through Tibetan embroidery. They provide employment opportunities for women in agricultural and pastoral areas by building a platform for learning technology, mastering skills, and increasing income and entrepreneurship.

"In recent years, we have trained more than 1000 employees, and many of them have opened their own shops, increasing their economic income; the average monthly salary of more than 60 working embroiderers can reach about 4500 yuan; More than 80 embroiderers can make products to subsidize their families without leaving home... Today, more and more women are participating in the Tibetan embroidery industry. These embroiderers not only have their own skills, but also have changed their behavior. They are becoming more and more confident. Many young people want to join this industry, which will play an extremely important role in promoting the development of Tibetan embroidery. " When asked about the influence of the Tibetan embroidery industry on his hometown sisters, Ye Zhong knows everything about it.

"Seeing that women in agricultural and pastoral areas live a good life by Tibetan embroidery, I think what I have done is very meaningful." Lamao Ye Zhong said that today, Qinghai's embroidery industry has formed a development model of "company+farmers". Embroidery artists work at home and increase their income.

Turning to the future, Lamao Ye Zhong said that she would continue to lead her hometown's embroidery women to improve their embroidery skills, drive more embroidery women to join the Tibetan embroidery industry, expand the income of sisters, let more sisters see a different world, continue to contribute to the industry of inheriting and carrying forward national intangible cultural heritage, innovate in the inheritance, and let more people understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture.