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Horsetail embroidery: Living fossil of Shui people

CCTV.com

11-30-2016 18:31 BJT

Horsetail embroidery is a distinctive handicraft that uses horsetail hair and silk thread as raw materials. It has been passed down by the Shui women of Southwest China's Guizhou province for generations. To promote Guizhou culture, some of the unique works of embroidery will be on display in Beijing next week. We meet one of the inheritors of the handicraft from a small village in Guizhou.

Although no records can be found of its history, the folk handicraft is thousands of years old and represents the wisdom of the Shui people.

Horsetail embroidery is a distinctive handicraft that uses horsetail hair and silk thread as raw materials. It has been passed down by the Shui women of Southwest China

Horsetail embroidery is a distinctive handicraft that uses horsetail hair and silk thread as raw materials. It has been passed down by the Shui women of Southwest China's Guizhou province for generations.

Wei Taohua began learning horsetail embroidery from her mother at the age of three. Her works has been exhibited around the world to promote the handicraft. This time, two of her embroidery pieces have been chosen for an upcoming exhibition in Beijing.

"I hope these two embroideries will introduce the culture of the Shui ethnic group to other places in the country," Wei said.

The embroidery method involves entwining pieces of horsetail hair around a silk thread to create different patterns.

 The relatively strong horsetail hair can protect the patterns from becoming deformed, and, horsetail hair is non-perishable and durable.

The relatively strong horsetail hair can protect the patterns from becoming deformed, and, horsetail hair is non-perishable and durable.

The relatively strong horsetail hair can protect the patterns from becoming deformed, and, horsetail hair is non-perishable and durable. What's more, it has natural oils which are good for maintaining the luster of the surrounding silk threads.

"I chose white horse tail which goes with the white silk thread. They have to be twisted hard to hide the tail. Longer tail thread is better," he said.

More than half of China's Shui people live in Sandu in southwest China's Guizhou province. Its unique geography makes horses very important to the Shui people.

Before the 1990s, the Shui community was sealed off from the outside world. And embroidery was the most important leisure activity there.

In 2006, horsetail embroidery was listed in China's first group of intangible cultural heritages. Despite changes in times and environment, the concept and stylized symbols of this ancient handicraft remain basically unchanged.

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