Yunnan Ximeng: Intangible Cultural Heritage Innovation Belt Huowa Brocade Promotes Income Increase

"I like the Wa brocade. Over the years, I have been carrying out training, innovation, promotion and other activities, and driving a group of people to increase their income. I am very happy," said Li Xianlan of Ximeng Wa Autonomous County, Puer City, Yunnan Province, on December 4.

The picture shows that under the encouragement and training of Li Xianlan (right), some men also started to work on the Wa brocade. Photographed by Huang Xinghong

Ximeng Wa Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, is located in southwest China, bordering Myanmar, and is the birthplace of "The Awa People Sing a New Song". In 2021, the Wa brocade skills in this county will be included in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. Li Xianlan, born in 1965, is one of the inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage of this project.

"When I was 22 years old and went to Ximeng to engage in education, I liked the Wa brocade and learned how to make it. After retirement, I set up a company and a Wa brocade intangible heritage workshop, and devoted myself to the inheritance, protection, publicity and promotion of the Wa brocade." Li Xianlan introduced that the Wa brocade is a traditional skill handed down from generation to generation by Wa women, and the tool used in brocade is a waist machine made of bamboo and wood, The spinning materials used are mainly cotton and hemp, with black and red as the basic colors, and other colors as the auxiliary colors. The colors and patterns of the Wa brocade cover the essence of the traditional culture of the Wa people, and it is an important national cultural symbol of the Wa people.

The picture shows tourists selecting the Wa brocade products in Ximeng. Photographed by Huang Xinghong

Previously, the Wa brocade was mainly popular in the Wa area. In order to make the Wa brocade go to a larger market, Li Xianlan continued to improve and innovate. While retaining the ancient Wa brocade skills, he integrated more colors, patterns, etc., and launched a number of products more in line with modern aesthetic needs.

In recent years, Li Xianlan has trained more than 5000 people of the Wa nationality in Ximeng to make brocades. Among them, some men have been encouraged to learn brocade. In addition, she helped local brocade people find a market and led them to increase their income together. At present, Ximeng's innovative Wa brocade products, such as clothes, costumes and pendants, are exported to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities.

Su Yan, director of Ximeng County Culture and Tourism Bureau, said that in recent years, the county has continuously increased its policy support for the Wa brocade. Up to now, it has trained 50 inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage of the Wa brocade skills, and built a number of training bases, intangible cultural heritage workshops, and emerging cultural enterprises; It trained 3000 people to become brocade experts, and produced more than 20000 pieces of Wa brocade handmade products annually, with an increase of more than 8600 yuan per capita. Through "intangible cultural heritage+products" and "intangible cultural heritage+cultural tourism", the county has received more than 750000 tourists since 2022, driving the sales of products such as Wa brocades. Wa brocade has achieved creative transformation and innovative development in the protection and inheritance, and is continuing to provide momentum for rural revitalization.

(Source: China News Network)