Dai Baolian – Master of Folk Embroidery in Wenshan City, Wenshan 

Personal Background

Birth and Family:
Dai Baolian (代宝莲), female, Han ethnicity, was born in 1919 in Baiwuhe Village (白五合村), Matang Town (马塘镇), Wenshan City (文山市), Yunnan Province (云南省). She later married into Dazhai Village (大寨), Leshichong Township (乐诗冲乡). After her husband’s death, she remarried into a Li family in 1952 and had two sons and two daughters.

Skill Inheritance:
From a young age, Dai Baolian learned sewing and embroidery from her mother. She became highly skilled in creating traditional handmade crafts such as baby carriers, aprons, pillowcases, fabric sachets, children’s shoes, and hats.

Features of Embroidery and Fabric Art

Fabric Craftsmanship:
Her fabric creations often feature monkeys as the central motif, symbolizing the saying “monkeys picking beans drive away measles,” which conveys a wish for children’s health and protection against evil spirits.

Pattern Design:
Besides embroidery, she also excels in pattern design and can independently draw intricate floral, bird, and insect designs, showcasing her comprehensive artistic abilities.

Social Contributions

Helping Others Selflessly:
Most of her embroidery works were made to help neighbors and villagers rather than for commercial sale, embodying the simplicity and generosity of traditional folk artisans.

Cultural Preservation:
As a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor (recognized in 2017), Dai Baolian’s skills represent the unique style of folk embroidery in Wenshan (文山) and play a vital role in preserving and passing on local traditional culture.

Current Status and Influence

Although there is no recent public update on her personal status, her embroidery techniques continue to influence the local community. In recent years, new generations of embroidery inheritors, such as Wang Lufen (王陆芬), a National People’s Congress representative and Yi embroidery leader, have emerged in Wenshan Prefecture (文山州), pushing ethnic embroidery toward broader markets through industrial development.

Methods of Heritage Transmission and Promotion

Master-Apprentice Transmission:
Dai Baolian nurtured a group of young embroidery inheritors through traditional master-apprentice teaching. She not only taught embroidery techniques but also explained the cultural background and emotional significance of Zhuang (壮族) embroidery, ensuring the continuity of the craft.

Community Teaching and Activities:
She actively participated in community cultural activities, organizing villagers to learn Zhuang embroidery during the agricultural off-season. By holding embroidery competitions and folk activities, she sparked young people’s interest in embroidery.

School Education:
In collaboration with local schools, she carried out “Embroidery into Campus” programs. She regularly taught students, integrating Zhuang embroidery into school arts education through special interest groups.

Cultural Promotion and Innovation

Cultural Activities and Exhibitions:
Dai Baolian frequently participated in cultural activities, showcasing the unique charm of Zhuang embroidery and providing platforms for young apprentices to display their talents.

Innovation and Integration:
While maintaining the traditional characteristics of Zhuang embroidery, she also introduced modern design elements to make her works more appealing to contemporary aesthetics.

Combining Economy and Culture

Industrial Development:
Dai Baolian helped promote local economic development through her embroidery skills, transforming her artworks into commodities and increasing villagers’ income. She also utilized cooperative models to integrate resources and scale up embroidery industry development.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Rural Revitalization:
By actively participating in intangible cultural heritage protection activities and linking embroidery with rural revitalization efforts, she brought new vitality to Zhuang embroidery in modern society.

For Chinese version please go to:
http://www.ynich.cn/view-ml-13111-2642.html