[Commentary] On the afternoon of May 29, the temporary markets on both sides of the sidewalk of Mulian Street in Chengdu, Sichuan are very lively. The fruit area, jewelry area, clothing area ... all stalls are neat and clean. At the corner of the market, Chen Zaiying, the Shuxiu embroiderer, is broadcasting the embroidery live throughout the booth.
[Same period] (Shenxiu embroidered mother Chen Zaiying) What I think is, after shooting these works embroidered by myself, let everyone see the beauty, and also need to equip it with music. (Currently) still studying, as much as possible anyway. My live room is also my studio, I just moved the studio to the live room.
[Commentary] Chen Zaiying, 49, lost his left hand due to a childhood accident. In 2007, she always loved traditional culture and started to learn the skill of Shu embroidery with the help of the Paralympic Federation. Due to the many steps of Shu embroidery and the high requirements for manual techniques, Chen Zaiying suffered a lot. Many people call her "one-armed embroidered mother".
[Same period] (Shu embroidered embroidered mother Chen Zaiying) Like I embroider this fan, you have to hold this hand like this all the time, and hold it all by this hand. If this hand is loose, it wo n’t work. If you loosen it, you wo n’t be allowed to drop the needle. Said this man is in pain. Anyway, sometimes it hurts like this one. Sometimes it hits or breaks like this. It's right, it recovers again, and it starts doing again.
[Explanation] The sale of Shu embroidery is Chen Zaiying's current main source of income. Originally, she rented a fixed booth in a scenic spot in Chengdu, but affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the number of foreign tourists has greatly reduced, and she can't afford the rent because of her straight business, so she chose not to renew this year.
Under the normalized epidemic prevention and control situation, Chengdu is allowed to set up booths without affecting residents, traffic, or disrupting the order of the city appearance and environment. Without fixed booths, the occasionally set bazaars in various districts of the city helped Chen Zaiying to keep the "rice bowl".
[Same period] (Chen Xiying, Shuxiu embroiderer) Since we have n’t gone out to do business for a few months, the government has introduced this (policy), and now there are no violations. We put some bazaars outside and run roadside roads to manage these. We feel a little income. At least we can maintain our lives. This way is still very beneficial to us.
[Commentary] Today, Chen Zaiying's 24-year-old son Xie Chengyu has taken over the craft and is one of the very few young male heirs in the Shu embroidery industry. Every time when embroidering Shu embroidery, Xie Chengyu will set up his mobile phone next to the embroidery frame, then point the camera at his mother, and broadcast the entire live broadcast of the embroidery. And knowledge of color.
[Same period] (Xie Chengyu, inheritor of Shu embroidery) We do Shu embroidery and handicrafts, and many people do not have much contact. If it is definitely just started (live broadcast), the popularity is not very good, so I want to sell while embroidering, but also let people know how fine this Shu embroidery is, and its value. Because they are all made by hand, how long it will take, and whether its price is worth the price, so that more people can understand this thing.
Chen Xuanbin and He Xi report from Chengdu
Editor in charge: [Tao Guangxiong]