Li brocade weaving dream -- the ingenuity and persistence of three generations of Dongfang women weaver

Fu Renling (first from right), her mother (center) and her grandmother are weaving Li brocade at home in Yulong Village, Donghe Town. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Chen Yuancai.

On the evening of December 5, Beijing time, at the 19th regular session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO held in Asuncion, Paraguay, the traditional spinning, dyeing and embroidery skills of the Li ethnic group were evaluated and transferred from the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This also means that the traditional spinning, dyeing and embroidery skills of the Li nationality have been widely recognized and praised internationally, further enhancing its international status and influence.

Nowadays, through continuous innovation in inheritance and protection, and exhibition activities at home and abroad have been held successively, the ancient Li brocade has gradually integrated into modern life, become fashionable, young and international, and increasingly glow with the new era.

The closer you get to Yulongshan, Exianling and tropical rain forest, the more picturesque and beautiful it is.

Recently, the reporter entered the Dongfang Donghe Bailing Li brocade farmers' professional cooperative located in Yulong Village, Donghe Town, Dongfang City. In the house of about 20 square meters, a variety of Li brocade creative scarves, shawls, table flags, improved Li brocade cheongsam and Li brocade handbags, earrings, hats and other cultural and creative products are placed.

Fu Xianxiang, the head of the cooperative, sat on the ground with a loom tied to his waist, stretched his legs, stepped on the warp sticks, and then used the sticks and wooden knives to weave different colors of weft between the warp lines to create rich patterns. She is racing to produce an improved Li brocade costume ordered by a client. "In combination with modern aesthetics, the traditional patterns such as love birds, deer and protection gods were rearranged and set on the back, collar and sleeves, and then innovatively matched colors to create different flavors." She said.

Previously, Fu Xianxiang's eldest daughter Fu Renling wore this same Li brocade dress to participate in the "Hainan Culture into Finland, Norway and Russia" activity, which was concerned and loved by local people.

Starting from Fu Xianxiang's mother, the three generations of Fu Xianxiang still insist on weaving Li brocade, constantly improving Li brocade products, while driving the villagers to increase their income, it is also bringing Li brocade products to Russia, Finland, Norway and other countries, and pushing them to the international stage.

In the women weaver's dexterous hand, a piece of yarn slowly woven into a beautiful Li brocade. Photo by Hainan Daily reporter Chen Yuancai.

The commissary becomes the Li brocade cooperative

In front of this full of a variety of Li brocade products of the cooperative, in fact, its predecessor is a commissary. "The main reason for changing to a cooperative is that it makes money." Fu Xianxiang said.

Fu Xianxiang, 46, like many Li girls in her village, learned how to knit Li brocade from her family's elders when she was young. "I like the pattern on Li brocade very much, it is very beautiful and good-looking." She said that she had not read any books since childhood, but she was very interested in weaving Li brocade.

From the age of 8, Fu Xianxiang learned to weave Li brocade clothes and belts with his mother Fubai Xianxiang. For her at that time, weaving Li brocade clothing is for their own clothes to wear, is a part of life, never thought that this skill will bring her income, will change her future life.

Fu Xianxiang still clearly remembers the scene when her mother taught her to weave Li brocade. Her mother tied a string-wrapped loom to her waist and taught her to step on a stick and beat a weft knife. The cloth is spread on the leg by two sticks, and the sticks and wooden knives come back and forth between the colored lines, and the bright patterns and patterns fall on the cloth, and finally become a cylindrical skirt.

After starting a family, in order to support the family's expenses and better maintain a living, in a place close to home, Fu Xianxiang rented the the store and opened the commissary. "At that time, I made about 20 yuan a day selling snacks and groceries." "She said.

The commissary didn't make a lot of money, but it barely made a living until one people came along. "Unexpectedly, Li brocade can still sell money, the first time sold hundreds of yuan!" Fu Xianxiang now recall, she felt incredible. One day in 2014, a buyer from the Dongfang Basuo came to the village to buy Li brocade, and at a glance saw the Li brocade wall hanging she woven.

Since then, the buyer also took Fu Xianxiang to participate in exhibition activities, so that she harvested some orders, but also let her realize that Li brocade is very popular and has a market. And really let Fu Xianxiang decided to open Li brocade cooperative, it is another "noble person" in her life.

"Why not use the skills and creativity of weaving Li brocade to open a cooperative?" In 2018, Ji Jiagui, a poverty alleviation cadre who came to visit, saw the Li brocade woven by Fu Xianxiang in the commissary and became interested. That is, this sentence suddenly ignited Fu Xianxiang's entrepreneurial passion.

That year, Fu Xianxiang made a simple renovation of the store and turned it into a Li brocade cooperative, specializing in the production and sale of Li brocade products. At the same time, she also attracted more than 20 Li women from the village to join cooperatives, driving them to increase their income and become rich. In the following years, with the help of Ji Jiagui, she participated in many exhibitions and sales activities, and gained orders while becoming more and more famous.

Adhere to the right path and innovate and improve Li brocade products

The current annual income of the Lijin cooperative in Fu Xianxiang is more than 200,000 yuan. What is the charm of her tapestry? In this small cooperative society, the reporter found the answer: adhere to the right path and innovation, bring forth the new.

A piece of brocade wall hanging called "Kapok Open" quickly attracted the attention of reporters.

More than 40 people in traditional Li costumes, boat houses, coconut trees, kapok trees, cattle. In the wall hanging "Kapok Open" of Li brocade about 2 meters long and 50 centimeters wide, some Li people are weaving Li brocade, some are dancing bamboo poles, some are feeding cows, some are carrying pigs, and some are setting off firecrackers, etc. The characters and scenes are lifelike and vivid.

This is Fu Xianxiang's original and proud work. "Kapok Open" reproduces the scenes of the traditional festivals of the Li people, such as the day before the Spring Festival, the 15th day of the first month and March 3rd, and the Cow Festival. She won first prize in the 2020 Dongfang Entrepreneurship Competition with her work. She said the work, which takes about five months to complete, sold for more than 10,000 yuan each and has already sold five.

"What I like, I want to knit, and I want to show the picture that comes to my mind through Li brocade." Fu Xianxiang says that out of love, she designs new patterns based on traditional patterns such as geometric figures, deer, love birds, protection gods and centipedes. For example, she woven the picture of Li people playing in Dongfang Exianling, the pictures of the 12 zodiac signs and so on.

Different from other people, Fu Xianxiang is constantly thinking and creating, integrating the natural scenery of Dongfang City and the cultural elements of Li nationality mythology and traditional Li nationality festivals into his creation, which gives people a bright feeling.

Since it was a new pattern and there was no template to refer to, she needed to pay more than others. "Repeated polishing is a common occurrence." "She said with a smile. Every time she conceived, she always stared at the ceiling, and when she was fascinated, she could not hear her family talking to her.

Fu Xianxiang also draws inspiration and nutrition from traditional Li clothing, rearranging and combining its patterns, and she is good at color matching, making her Li brocade clothing more fashionable and modern.

"The modified version of Li brocade cheongsam and overcoat is more popular among young people." She said that according to customer feedback, she gradually improved the pattern design, length and size, style matching, color matching and other aspects to meet the increasingly diverse needs of customers.

At the same time, in order to maintain the original taste of Li brocade, Fu Xianxiang insists on using plant dyeing, using the process of false indigo, sapwood, yellow ginger, mallow and other plant dyeing, dyeing blue, brown, yellow, purple, red, green and other colors of cotton.

Fu Xianxiang's mother Fubai Xianxiang, although 66 years old, in the case of cooperative orders, will also receive orders. "My mother is good at weaving traditional Li brocade patterns, and she can weave them quickly and well." Fu Xianxiang proudly said with a face.

Let the world see the beauty of Li brocade

Fu Renling, the eldest daughter, quit her job in Haikou in 2020 and returned to her hometown to help take care of cooperative affairs.

"When I was a child, I used Li brocade as a toy. Later, when I was in my teens, my mother began to teach me how to knit Li brocade, but I found it quite difficult." Fu Renling admitted that choosing to return home was influenced by her mother.

"I want to follow my mother's path and work hard on the design of cultural and creative products to make Dongfang's Li brocade more competitive." She said that she has developed a series of cultural and creative products such as Li brocade handbags and earrings.

After returning home, Fu Renling often took the cooperative's Li brocade products to participate in various exhibitions and sales activities inside and outside the province such as consumer goods fairs. In the event, she demonstrated her weaving skills and let the world see the beauty of Li brocade.

At the end of December 2023, Dongfang City officially released the "Dongfang Women Weaver" brand. The first exhibition store of the "Dongfang Women Weaver" brand opened in Dongfang Grand Theatre. Fu Renling, her mother Fu Xianxiang and her grandmother Fubai xianxiang were awarded the title of "Dongfang Women Weaver" brand co-creation plan partner. "The cooperative society will provide Li brocade products to the brand operating companies and help brand building." Fu Renling said.

From July 4 to 5, 2024, the 2024 "Dongfang Women Weaver" e-commerce system construction project - personal IP cultivation training activity was held.

In the class, the e-commerce teacher from the brand operating company - Shenzhen Linglong Time and Space Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd. taught Fu Renling and other women weaver to register an account, shoot videos, produce content, upload and publish, install equipment, open live broadcast, etc., so that they could master the e-commerce operation process and open Internet publicity and sales channels.

"Through this training, we know how to do self-media, how to shoot videos, and have the opportunity to let more people know our Li brocade works." Fu Renling said she had registered the "Dongfang Weaver Girl ~ Ling" Tiktok. She attracts traffic by posting videos of the cooperative's Li brocade products, the process of weaving brocade, the process of making dyes and sharing her personal life.

Since July this year, the brand operating company has hired professional photographers to follow Fu Renling and tell the story of her and Li brocade through some videos, and posted them on the specially registered "Li brocade of three generations" Tiktok.

"I'm looking forward to it! I hope that through the spread of Douyin, more people will know the beauty of Li brocade and receive more orders." Fu Renling said that now we are mainly to attract fans' attention, and later will start to live with goods, catch the live "fast lane", and help the Li brocade industry "out of the circle". (Reporter Zhang Wenjun)