A skilled embroidery artist from Daye County, central China's Hubei Province, has been revitalizing the traditional art through online and offline training programs that have enabled many local residents to use the craft, helping them secure jobs and even start their own businesses.
Liu Xiaohong, a skilled embroidery artist, began learning the traditional Daye Embroidery - a recognized provincial intangible cultural heritage from the southeastern region of Hubei - from her grandmother at the age of 12.
Traditionally used in daily clothing, Daye Embroidery caught Liu's attention during a trip to Beijing over 20 years ago, where she discovered that embroidery artworks could fetch surprisingly high prices, prompting her to reassess the modern value of this ancient craft.
"I took my embroidered works to a market in Huangshi. Back then, one piece could sell for several hundred yuan. And a screen could fetch as much as 800 yuan (about 117 U.S. dollars), which greatly inspired me," said Liu.
Liu boldly innovated and developed four new embroidery techniques. Her pieces have won awards at national and provincial embroidery skills competitions. In recent years, she set up an online brand, which integrates popular trends into embroidered products, and gained over 300,000 followers on online platforms by uploading free tutorial videos.
"Through online platforms, our annual sales revenue has hit nearly 2 million yuan (about 280,000 U.S. dollars)," said Liu.
In order to help more people earn a living through embroidery, the local government supported Liu to establish a handicraft skills training school, which has so far trained over 10,000 students. Thanks to the promotion of Liu's embroidery brand, more than 2,000 women in Daye city have either found employment or started their own small businesses through embroidery.
Chinese embroidery artist helps increase locals' income in Hubei
