Horsetail embroidery is a special art form handed down from generation to generation among the women of the Shui ethnic group in Guizhou province, southwest China. Being considered a “living fossil” of Chinese embroidery, it is an exquisite art form which embodies great aesthetic value. Its unique characteristic lies in embroidery using horsetail and its meticulous, complicated yet deliberate procedures. It also bears crucial importance in the unique customs of the Shui ethnic group.
History and evolution of Horsetail embroidery
Long ago, the ancestors of the Shui ethnic group rode horses across towering mountains and endured countless hardships to find a place to settle, marking the beginning of their profound and legendary history. The Shui people sought their ethnic roots in such legends and regarded horses as noble animals, associating horses with their respect and longing for ancestors. Embroidery made from horsetails was extensively used in rituals, funerals, and religious ceremonies. When an elderly person in the family passed away, their horse would be buried with them, but the horsetail would be preserved. Shui women would use these horsetails to create exquisite embroideries, expressing their longing for the departed. Later on, Horsetail embroidery took on the meaning of love and became a token of affection, and gradually evolved into a precious gift for important occasions. Nowadays, Horsetail embroidery has great advancements in terms of colors, patterns, and techniques.
In 2006, Horsetail embroidery was included in the first batch of China’s national intangible cultural heritage list, greatly promoting its preservation. In recent years, the government and local community have been promoting Horsetail embroidery through various channels. Leading craftspersons have established museums, organized training sessions, and participated in commercial projects and international cultural exchanges with the support of government policies. However, due to its complex techniques and limited audiences, Horsetail embroidery remains a niche craft.
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Stories behind various embroidery patterns
There are various kinds of embroidery patterns being used in the Horsetail embroidery, such as the butterfly pattern symbolling protection of life, fish pattern symbolling the care of nature, bat pattern resembling the pursuit of good fortune… Generally speaking, the designs of these patterns embody a balanced and symmetrical beauty. During traditional festivals of the Shui people, men participate in horse racing while women dress up in elaborate Horsetail embroidered outfits, creating a beautiful and captivating scene.
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Crafting a piece of Horsetail embroidery
Horsetail embroidery uses horsetail as its primary material. It entails a series of intricate steps and techniques. First, the craftsperson employs their artistic vision to design the embroidery patterns and draw them on the cloth, ensuring their meticulous and harmonious arrangement. Subsequently, make robust and flexible yarns by spinning multiple strands of silk together with the spinning wheel. Moving forward, select 3 to 5 horsetails to form the core of the horsetail thread. Gently twist a yarn to wrap it tightly around the horsetails. When the horsetails are enveloped with yarns and forms a thicker “horsetail thread”, Put the horsetail thread through a big needle, then put a yarn of the same color through a thinner needle. Place the horsetail thread along the lines of the pre-drawn pattern and stitch the yarn around the horsetail thread to fix it to the pattern. Next, fill the gap between the pattern with various colored threads. Lastly, embellish and connect different embroidery pieces with copper plates, and congrats! your successfully accomplished your “Horsetail embroidery mission”.
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Different types of Horsetail embroidered products
Horsetail embroidery holds profound influence in the daily life of Shui people and bears special significance in their cultural customs. The wide range of Horsetail embroidered products available today encompasses both traditional costumes and fashion items adorned with embroidery. Traditional costumes encompass a variety of clothing articles such as garments, women’s waistbands, Horsetail embroidered shoes, children’s caps, and baby-sitting straps. Additionally, there are also beautifully crafted accessories such as purses.
Fashion items includes exquisite handbags, tea mats, decorative paintings, and even high heels. These contemporary offerings showcase the fusion of traditional craftsmanship with modern sensibilities, reflecting the versatility and adaptability of Horsetail embroidery in meeting the evolving tastes and preferences of the Shui people.
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Stories of Inheritors
I. Song Shuixian
Song Shuixian is one of the representative inheritors of the national intangible cultural heritage project on Horsetail embroidery of the Shui ethnic group. Song was determined to take on the responsibility of inheriting and preserving the Horsetail embroidery because she worried about Shui people losing their cultural identity. Though living on a meagre income, Song persisted in taking a large portion of her modest earnings to buy embroidery craftworks, which she all treasured up in her residence. She later turned her residence into the first family museum in Shui regions to exhibit the old craftworks she collected. It is open to the public for free, functioning as a window for local display and publicity of the culture of Shui ethnic group. Song’s work in protecting and commercializing the Horsetail embroidery has contributed to both the economic and cultural development of the Shui regions.
II. Wei Taohua
Wei Taohua is another representative inheritor of the Horsetail embroidery. Good at designing and making Horsetail embroideries, she is a famous Horsetail embroidery artist in Sandu Shui Autonomous County. In 2006, Wei participated in the “Renowned Guizhou Craftsperson” competition and won the Grand Prize and the title of “Leading Craftsperson of Guizhou”. Afterwards, she used the prize money to set up a shop in Sandu County to produce and sell her own Horsetail embroidery handicrafts and requited the local community by selflessly teaching all her craft skills to the local women and calling for more people to participate in the production. Families in Shui regions have shaken poverty with the help of Wei and her shop, and more importantly, women’s status have been greatly enhanced in this process.
III. Wei Jiagui and Pan Shui-ai
Wei Jiagui and Pan Shui-ai have also made a great contribution to the preservation of the traditional culture of Shui ethnic group. In 2007, the couple set up a museum to showcase their collection of Horsetail embroidery treasures such as straps, shoes, purses and children’s caps, which has had a great impact on the community and has been noticed by the government. Their museum has been ranked “the most concentrated and complete family museum displaying the culture of Shui ethnic group” by local administrations.
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Commercializing Horsetail embroidery to improve the lives of impoverished locals
In recent years, the San Du County government has actively promoted the commercialization of Horsetail embroidery, utilizing this intangible cultural heritage to help lift local residents out of poverty.
Shi, along with the other twenty embroiderers working in a poverty alleviation workshop, is catching up on the orders for the Horsetail embroidered apparel in Snowflake Lake village, a newly build settlement for impoverished residents.
“In the past, I could only labor on the family farm at home and didn’t earn much money since I had minimal schooling and no employment. I now make a daily trip here to perform my Horsetail embroidery. With a two-hour lunch break, I start work at 8:30 am and finish at 6:30 pm. I never imagined that I would work for a living,” Shi, who is overjoyed, said, “I can do Horsetail embroidery at home, and now my day is extremely satisfying. It’s easier than performing agricultural labor before, and I make at least 2,000 yuan a month.
Shi’s story exemplifies the positive impact of poverty alleviation efforts through Horsetail embroidery, which extends far beyond individual cases. In order to provide accurate and effective support to Horsetail embroidery craftspersons like Shi, the Chinese government has implemented a comprehensive county-wide census of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) projects and inheritors, aimed at further funding the industry. Collaborating with the government, enterprises have undertaken training programs for inheritors, encompassing cultural, technical, and market aspects, thus facilitating the commercialization of Horsetail embroidery. Local governments have also introduced tax incentives for tourism products and implemented policies to attract foreign investment, creating an environment conducive to the growth of the industry. Additionally, practitioners of Horsetail embroidery are actively utilizing the Internet as a platform to promote this art form, further expanding its reach and influence.
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Horsetail embroidery’s contribution to female empowerment
The year 2006 held extraordinary significance for Wei Taohua. She became one of the leading inheritors of the newly designated national-level Intangible Cultural Heritage, “Horsetail embroidery.” Utilizing the government’s awarded bonus, Wei Taohua organized training classes and leveraged her family’s influence in the community to attract dozens of women, achieving scaled training for practitioners. Over the years, the training classes persists to this day and its scale continued to grow. Through the process of learning the craft, impoverished women developed the mindset of economic independence, transforming the traditional practice of male-exclusive management of family assets. It enabled local women to enjoy economic independence for the first time. In addition to the individual efforts of inheritors like Wei Taohua, both the government and enterprises have made substantial efforts to empower local women through the utilization of Horsetail embroidery. An example is the “Talented Moms” project initiated in August 2022, a collaboration between China Telecom and the China Women’s Development Foundation. Currently, it has established 13 workshops, 2 intangible cultural heritage exhibition centers, and 1 embroidery product hub in 9 provinces nationwide, providing support for over 5,000 low-income women to engage in home-based employment. According to local government data, there are now over 20 Horsetail embroidery-related enterprises with an annual output value of over 38 million yuan, addressing employment issues for more than 3,000 local women.
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