Driven by this passion, over the past three decades Liu has visited every Tujia village in the region, gaining a thorough understanding of different styles and weaving techniques and collecting over 220 patterns that are still commonly used today. “Time and money permitting, I plan to compile all of them in a book. I would never let them disappear,” enthuses Liu, speaking of her recent discovery of some 70 previously unknown patterns.

The 1980s and the mid 1990s was a golden period for the development of Tujia brocade. “I was among the first to put Tujia brocade into large scale commercial production,” says Liu. Since 1981, Liu has held the positions of technique consultant and director of brocade factories in Huayuan County and Zhangjiajie City. She established brocade workshop in cooperation with the Arts and Crafts Research Institute of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture’s Light Industry Bureau. “The more I am engaged in the brocade business, the bigger my passion and sense of responsibility grows. I want to not only discover and collect traditional patterns, but also design new patterns suitable for modern times. I want to devote my life to Tujia brocade,” says Liu.

However, changes such as the improvement of living standards and the development of tourism, as well as the new fast pace of modern life and commercialization, have all affected Tujia brocade. Traditional Tujia brocade weaving is time-consuming, and the brocade workshop established by Liu and her sisters in 1995 had slack sales. With no promise of a positive future, fewer and fewer people want to weave traditional Tujia brocade, and Liu has been anxious about the possibility of the craft disappearing. In order to keep the skill alive, Liu has insisted that her daughter-in-law learn it and keep up its practice. “We should let people see traditional Tujia brocade so we can save the craft from dying out,” says Liu.

Liu has also brought some of her own innovations to the craft, such as introducing silk to make the colors brighter. To make it sturdier, she increases the usual 300 warp threads running along the length of the brocade to 500. She has also designed many new patterns. “We should come up with new patterns to meet the demands of modern taste, but I stick to traditional techniques for the new patterns,” says Liu. Liu’s room is filled with books about arts and crafts, and she hopes to draw from the experience of others in preserving traditional arts and combining tradition with modernity, to help pull her workshop out of difficulty. Liu’s skill and dedication has not only rewarded her with a steady living, but also with recognition from authorities and the academic world, who have looked to her as an essential figure to preserve this cultural treasure. More than 100 pieces of Tujia brocade reproduced by her have been collected by the ethnic affairs commissions of Guizhou and Hubei provinces and Hubei University of Nationalities as artistic treasures. Hubei University of Nationalities and Jishou University have designated Liu’s workshop as a research center. Just last year, the local government launched a program to teach more people brocade weaving. Liu, who already instructs over 200 apprentices from the surrounding areas, was invited to be its teacher. “I love to share what I know with those who like and want to make Tujia brocade,” says Liu.

By Jiao Feng

Source: Chinatoday

Editor: Liu Xiongfei