Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    BEAUTIFUL patterns in rich colors carefully woven into soft fabrics — Lu Brocade, or Shandong Brocade — comes closest to perfection in the hands of Xie Yangying, a second-generation heir to this traditional craft that originated in the southwest of Shandong Province. Lu brocade is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage and Xie, a Shandong native, has brought the weaving technique to Shenzhen where she has opened a workshop.

    She was also invited to show Chinese culture to visitors from around the world when the 26th Universiade was hosted in the city in 2011.

    Weaving threads

    into brocade

    Inside Xie’s small workshop, hand-woven pure cotton fabrics featuring dazzling colors and patterns are neatly placed in stacks.

    Xie is often to be found working at an old wooden loom. Her deft fingers move up and down — like a pianist on a keyboard, or an orchestra conductor with his or her baton — and the beautiful brocade comes to life in intricate patterns under Xie’s fingers.

    The patterns of Lu Brocade often reflect Shandong traditional culture and Xie said local people used to refer to it as “old homespun cloth,” “old coarse cloth” or “chequer-patterned cloth,” but it later became known as Lu Brocade due to its bright colors and beautiful patterns.

    Inheriting the craft

    Xie was born in 1975 to a poor rural family in the remote countryside of Shandong Province. She dropped out of school after junior high school because her family could not afford to pay her tuition. Xie’s mother would hand-weave cloth with an old loom for the family’s clothing and also managed to contribute to the household income by selling the cloth.

    Xie would carry out her tasks on the farm and would then come back to the home and watch her mother transform thread into fabrics — and then into beautiful cloth. Her mother encouraged Xie to learn more about the technique and, when she was about 10 years old, Xie started to learn weaving from her mother in her spare time.

    In the beginning, she thought weaving would be very simple, but she soon realized that it is much more complex — and that she could not allow herself to misplace even one single thread.

    Her mother was very demanding, but Xie did not give up. Instead, she was motivated to improve and spend more time to perfect her technique, sometimes spending the whole day at the loom.

    Spreading the tradition

    As technology has led to drastic changes in various production methods — as well as revolutionary changes to the lives of the general public — much of the labor that used to be performed by humans is now carried out by various machinery. Villagers in Xie’s hometown gradually stopped weaving cloth and sold their looms. But Xie and her mother were not deterred, and they were soon the only people in their village who continued the traditional weaving method.

    Years later, after Xie’s horizons broadened once she left her village, she realized that weaving was also an art, and she decided that preserving such an ancient craft was a matter of urgency.

    In 2006, Shandong Province listed the craft of Lu Brocade as an intangible cultural heritage, and the Central Government did so in 2008. Xie’s mother was recognized as a first-generation expert in the craft and Xie became a second-generation heir.

    In 1994, Xie joined people from her village in a migration wave to Shenzhen. She initially worked in clothes factories and changed jobs several times, but she never forgot about weaving.

    In 2008, she opened her workshop in Shenzhen and the next year she brought her old wooden loom from her hometown.

    Though Xie has never received any professional training, her mastery of the skills and artistic temperament have allowed her to make many beautiful products, and government agencies and organizations in Shenzhen regularly invite her to join cultural tours in communities and schools. She is also a regular participant in the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair and, in 2011, she moved her loom into the Universiade Village to display the ancient craft to athletes from around the world.

    Running a workshop is not an easy job but Xie said she takes pride in every piece of fabric she makes, however little she may earn from it.

    “I enjoy the feeling when people watch my cloth with appreciative eyes. In the Universiade Village, some foreigners complimented my work and I was very proud,” Xie said. “I feel fortunate that my mother taught me the handicraft. I learnt it to make a living but now I feel I must show the world that our ancestors left us such a wonderful inheritance.”

    I learnt it (the Lu Brocade craftsmanship) to make a living but now I feel I must show the world that our ancestors left us such a wonderful inheritance.”