During the Spring Festival of 2024, Honghua Town, Tancheng County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, known as the "Hometown of Chinese Arts and Crafts", has embarked on a "fiery journey" again.
Whether it is an offline store, an online store, or a live broadcast room, orders are pouring in one after another.
Chinese knots are not only a handicraft, but also a symbol of traditional Chinese culture. They have beautiful meanings such as good luck, abundant wealth, and joy. They can be seen in weddings, celebrations, traditional festivals and other occasions.
Chinese knots displayed in the exhibition hall of Xuanranjieyi Farmers Professional Cooperative, Honghua Town, Tancheng County, Linyi City, Shandong Province.
Photo by Li Jieyi
As the largest Chinese knot production base in China, the Chinese knots produced in Honghua Town account for 70% of the Chinese market share.
In addition to being the best in the domestic market, the Chinese knots here are also exported to the United States, South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions.
At present, the annual output value of the town's Chinese knot products is around 1.8 billion yuan.
Why are the Chinese knots in Honghua Town so “red”?
"Inheritance + Innovation" brings "everlasting success"
Traditional Chinese knot weaving skills are Shandong provincial intangible cultural heritage, carrying a long history and rich culture.
Panpipa buckle, gourd buckle, chrysanthemum buckle... As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, learning to make Chinese knots has become a "compulsory course" for the daughters of local boudoirs in Tancheng. Generations of ingenious Tancheng farm girls have passed down the Chinese knot skills in their lives.
The staff is making Chinese knots.
Photo by Li Jieyi
The staff is making Chinese knots.
Photo by Li Jieyi
Walking into the Chinese Knot Museum located in Honghua Town, rich and detailed pictures and texts introduce the origin, development process and various weaving techniques of Chinese knots.
Different types of Chinese knots are neatly placed, displaying the characteristic culture and folk customs of Honghua Town, allowing visitors to feel the charm of traditional hand-made craftsmanship that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Customers are shopping at the Chinese knot exhibition hall of Xuanran Jieyi Farmers Professional Cooperative, Honghua Town, Tancheng County, Linyi City, Shandong Province.
Photo by Li Jieyi
In order to better develop this traditional handmade craft, local practitioners combine the latest fashion trends to design and launch many new styles.
The most popular style nowadays is the Chinese knot with "dragon elements".
Wang Tingsheng, chairman of Shandong Tancheng Xuanran Crafts Co., Ltd., said that there are dozens of "dragon element" Chinese knots produced this year, with different shapes and peaceful meanings, and are favored by consumers.
"We haven't stopped since New Year's Day, shipping 200,000 orders every day. Currently, Chinese knots with 'dragon elements' have been sold out. Now workers are working overtime to ensure the supply of customer orders."
"The dragon is a traditional Chinese mascot, which embodies the desire of Chinese descendants to unite, forge ahead, and take off. Based on traditional Chinese knot crafts, we have created cartoon dragons, mighty dragons and other series with 'dragon elements' for different groups. The Chinese knot is used to wish everyone a prosperous and prosperous world." Designer Wu Chengjun said.
Year of the Dragon Chinese Knot Ornaments.
Photo by Li Jieyi
Wu Chengjun said that he puts great effort into the design of new products every year.
"But no matter how it changes, we still need to retain the traditional essence of the Chinese knot. On the basis of inheritance, we should integrate modern life concepts to make the Chinese knot more beautiful, more contemporary and realistic."
The combination of inheritance and innovation activates the vitality of the Chinese knot, a thousand-year-old "flower of longevity".
Chinese knot artists in Tancheng County combine traditional knot techniques with cloisonné filigree, porcelain, peach wood carving, embroidery and other techniques to make Chinese knots more novel in style, full of ethnic elements and more peaceful in meaning.
At present, the Chinese knot production company in Honghua Town has applied for 17 appearance patents, and its products have developed from a single festive item to more than a thousand types in six categories, including ethnic style series, cloisonne series, and imitation jade series.
E-commerce empowers the creation of “Internet celebrity” products
When traditional craftsmanship that has been passed down for thousands of years catches up with the "high-speed rail" in the e-commerce era, "red" becomes a necessity.
"This is a new 3D model released this year. The large size is just right to hang next to the TV. It is very festive." Li Na, a villager in Dayuan Village, Honghua Town, is delivering the goods live, using a local accent to introduce Chinese knots to people all over the world. netizens.
She told reporters that Chinese knot sales have been booming recently. Four to five hundred orders can be sold during a two-hour live broadcast, with a transaction volume of about 20,000 yuan.
The staff conducts a live broadcast selling Chinese knots.
Photo by Zhang Chunlei
A search for "Honghua Town Chinese Knot" on the Douyin platform revealed more than 150 related users, including 203,000 fans of "Fuyuanxiang New Year Goods Warehouse", and Chinese knot shipments have reached more than 100,000 pieces.
It is understood that "Fuyuanxiang" is one of the three major brands owned by Wang Chao, the head of Linyi Qiaoyi Electronic Commerce Co., Ltd.
Talking about his own business in China, Wang Chao said that it was the "Four Goose Project" in his hometown that allowed him to realize his entrepreneurial dream.
In 2022, Linyi City issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the "Four Wild Geese Project"" to inspire all kinds of talents to take root at the grassroots level and help rural revitalization.
Wang Chao, who returned to his hometown after graduating from university, actively responded to local calls and organized his e-commerce team to register and operate more than 10 stores on Tmall, JD.com, Alibaba and other platforms, creating "Fuyuanxiang", "Jubao" and "Home". Brands such as "Hefushun" have annual sales of more than 20 million yuan, becoming a model for young people to return to their hometowns to start businesses.
The staff conducts a live broadcast selling Chinese knots.
Photo by Li Jieyi
In recent years, Tancheng County has built Chinese knot e-commerce service outlets and training bases, explored three "e-commerce +" rural revitalization models, and has cultivated nearly 300 Chinese knot e-commerce merchants, radiating more than 30 surrounding villages to engage in Chinese knot production, driving about 26,000 people are employed at home.
At present, online sales have become the main method of local Chinese knot sales.
"It not only broadens the sales channels, but also allows us to understand customer needs and listen to customer suggestions at the first time. Only by catering to their interests can we achieve the goal of 'I have what others don't have, and I have the best when others have' and break into a larger market. " said Chinese knot designer Yan Shuyue.
Industrialization development has become “popular” all the way
Taking advantage of the "Handmade in Shandong" trend, Tancheng County has built a Chinese knot industrial park with high standards, creating a large-scale Chinese knot handicraft display and trade market that integrates product trading, display, and technical exchange, and promotes the concentration of projects and industries in the park.
At present, Tancheng County has become China's largest production base, processing base and sales base for Chinese knot handicrafts.
China Knot Industrial Park, Honghua Town, Tancheng County.
Photo courtesy of Tancheng County Party Committee Propaganda Department
China Knot Industrial Park, Honghua Town, Tancheng County.
Photo courtesy of Tancheng County Party Committee Propaganda Department
In order to increase the added value of products and enhance industrial competitiveness, Chinese knot production companies in Honghua Town are paying more and more attention to brand building.
From imitation, OEM to independent brands, each brand here has its own cultural elements and innovative personality, but they have a common name - Red Flower Chinese Knot.
In 2020, the "Safflower Chinese Knot" brand was approved for trademark registration by the State Intellectual Property Office, and its "red" has spread across the country.
Local practitioners are making Chinese knots.
Photo courtesy of Tancheng County Party Committee Propaganda Department
In the past, Chinese knotting, as a traditional handcraft, had no unified technical requirements and uneven quality, which was not conducive to industrial development.
In 2022, Tancheng County and the Shandong Provincial Fiber Quality Monitoring Center comprehensively considered the safety and braiding quality of Chinese knots and formulated a group standard for Chinese knots.
"This standard fills the gap in domestic Chinese knot product standards, provides a basis for quality evaluation of Chinese knot production, and provides technical support for promoting the high-quality development of the Chinese knot industry." said Liu Siheng, deputy director of the Tancheng County Inspection and Testing Center.
Local practitioners are making Chinese knots.
Photo courtesy of Tancheng County Party Committee Propaganda Department
With a long history, novel styles, e-commerce empowerment, and industrial agglomeration... the "red" Chinese knot with half the sky has become a beautiful business card of Chinese culture with the attitude of a big industry.
Author: Wang Caiyi