Chinanews.com, Lanzhou, August 31 (Reporter Feng Zhijun) In addition to wearing the Dragon Boat Festival, what other tricks can the sachet do?
In Qingyang City, Gansu Province, the "post-95" boy Zhang Yuchen and his mother Liu Lanfang combined the sachet embroidery skills to develop brooches, earrings, and zodiac pendants, allowing local folklore skills that have been passed down for thousands of years to enter the daily lives of contemporary young people.
"I learned needlework at the age of 8, entered the embroidery room at the age of 12, and embroidered mandarin ducks in the embroidery room. All kinds of stories are embroidered." This Qingyang folk song is a portrayal of Liu Lanfang's growth.
At the age of 56, she followed her grandma and mother to learn embroidering sachets, making pillows, shoes, hats, etc. at the age of 8.
In 2006, the Qingyang sachet embroidery technique, which was originally compulsory for local girls, was selected as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage due to its three-dimensional shape, bright colors and auspicious meaning.
The picture shows Liu Lanfang (in red) making sachets into an industry to provide employment opportunities for local women.
(Data map) Photo by Zhang Yuchen
Before becoming the representative inheritor of Qingyang's sachet embroidery skills, Liu Lanfang worked, set up fruit stalls, and opened small restaurants. Embroidered sachets are the only bright color in the boring life of busy living.
In 2002, Qingyang held the first Chinese Sachet Folk Culture Festival, and the sachet made by Liu Lanfang was very popular.
Soon, she went to Shanghai to participate in a folk culture fair, and the sachets were also sold out.
After returning, she immediately registered the company and embarked on the road of sachet business.
In order to expand the market, Liu Lanfang carried a large suitcase and ran the exhibition by train.
And every time she went to a city, she would visit folklore experts and chat with local old people, "What does everyone need from birth to marriage?" Along the way, she precipitated a set of market standards for colors and shapes.
In the nearly 20 years since he started his business, Liu Lanfang has designed 300 sachet series, which has spurred 20,000 Qingyang women to learn embroidery and obtain employment.
She was invited to give a lecture at Yale University in the United States, and the sachet was collected by a museum in Boston, United States.
However, before the rise of the Internet, Liu Lanfang had to travel to 12 cities a year, suffering from the rush to participate in exhibitions.
"After the Internet, the first reaction is that I want to catch this bus, and I can't be eliminated by it." In 2010, Liu Lanfang paid a lot of money to sign up for a website, but it didn't make much difference.
After the opening of the "Qingyang Xiangbao" Taobao store, she spent five years training a group of college students who understand the operation, and they treasure the products and the culture behind them.
In order to further inherit the sachet skills and culture, Liu Lanfang's eldest daughter Zhang Yuyao has specialized in embroidery for many years, while his younger son Zhang Yuchen is in charge of running the Taobao shop.
Zhang Yuchen, who graduated with a degree in intangible heritage management and protection, took over the Taobao store and actively participated in officially organized activities. Now the store has monthly sales of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan.
The picture shows Liu Lanfang's continuous improvement and innovation to make sachet brooches and sachet earrings that young people like.
(Data map) Photo by Zhang Yuchen
The small shop attracts sachet lovers from all over the world like a magnet: a Qingyang man who has lived in Beijing for more than 20 years bought sachets worth 2,000 yuan in one go; an old British Chinese who ordered sachets, Tiger head shoes and tiger head hats are to be given to the newborn baby in the family...
"The most interesting thing is that this summer, a Taobao buyer in the tourism industry specially opened up the Chengdu-Qingyang route and brought tourists to Qingyang to experience sachet making." Zhang Yuchen said with a smile.
Traditional Qingyang sachets are big and simple in shape, making it inconvenient for young people to wear and use in daily life.
To this end, Zhang Yuchen and the embroidery master made improvements together, reducing the proportion of the big crab sachets and designing them into brooches, which were sold out as soon as they were put on the shelves.
In combination with the popularity of Hanfu in recent years, they have also developed portable sachets and embroidered earrings, which have become the "heart love" of Hanfu fans...
The picture shows the daughter and son of Liu Lanfang (middle), both of whom have joined the inheritance of Qingyang intangible cultural heritage sachets.
(Data map) Photo by Zhang Yuchen
"In the future, I hope young people can wear our Qingyang sachet like fashion accessories." Zhang Yuchen believes that that day will not come too late.
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