CCTV News:On May 18th, Wei Zuying, who went to Beijing to attend the National People’s Congress, packed her Miao Xiu products into a suitcase and brought the embroidery products representing Miao culture to the National People’s Congress again, which was the third time that her Miao Xiu products appeared in the Great Hall of the People.
Wei Zuying is the inheritor of Miao traditional embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage, and also a representative of the 13th National People’s Congress.
She studied art at the age of 6, and by the time she was 10, her embroidery skills had become famous in the village. In 2011, Wei Zuying and her husband decided to return to their hometown to start a business, set up a national embroidery processing factory, developed characteristic embroidery products, and promoted the employment of Miao women. In just a few years, the net income of the village has increased 10 times compared with five years ago.
In 2018, Wei Zuying was elected as a deputy to the National People’s Congress. Wei Zuying has been as solid as a needle and thread in his hand since he took office for two years. She took advantage of the slack season to listen to the voices of the villagers, summed up 140 opinions and suggestions of the broad masses of cadres and masses, and recorded more than 16 thousand words.
Wei Zuying said that the burden on himself is getting heavier and heavier, and the responsibility is getting bigger and bigger. The inheritance and development of national culture is also the focus she has been paying attention to.
From going out to work to returning home to start a business
Red scissors, exquisite embroidery pieces, booming mechanical embroidery beds, and fast-spinning thread dumplings … … Walking into the poverty alleviation workshop of ethnic embroidery production of Ma ‘an Village Zuying Embroidery Co., Ltd., a busy scene came into view.
Wei Zuying is the head of this company. From going out to work to starting his own business, Wei Zuying led the villagers out of a road of getting rich in cultural industries.
At the age of 20, Wei Zuying, together with her sisters in the village, embarked on the road of working in the south. She chose an embroidery factory in Guangzhou and learned machine embroidery while working.
In the local embroidery factory, Wei Zuying, who was engaged in manual embroidery before, was deeply impressed by modern equipment and automated operation. In 2011, Wei Zuying returned to Miao Village with technology and a used computers embroidery machine after hearing that his hometown had issued preferential policies to support migrant workers to return home to start businesses.
With the income from going out to work for many years and bank loans, Wei Zuying and his wife pooled 200,000 yuan to open an embroidery factory in the village. Modern embroidery machines have revitalized traditional embroidery techniques, and Wei Zuying has driven local women to achieve employment at home in the form of cooperatives, becoming embroidered mothers, forming a street of fine embroidery in Ma ‘an Village.
Ma ‘an Village, Douli Town, congjiang county is a famous Miao embroidery town in Guizhou. There is a custom in the village that a woman must wear a new handmade Miao Xiu dress when she gets married. "So most girls in the village can embroider." Wei Zuying said that many elderly people in Ma ‘an Village can find one or two wedding clothes from decades ago, which will only be worn on major festivals.
"Some embroidered mothers go to work on time every day, control the embroidery machine and get paid; Another part of the exquisite embroidered mother can complete hand-cut embroidery at home and get paid by piece. " Wei Zuying said that the combination of machine embroidery and hand embroidery can not only ensure mass production, but also pass on the craftsmanship from generation to generation.
Use Miao Xiu to lead the villagers out of poverty and become rich.
Driven by Wei Zuying, Ma ‘an Village Group not only established the "Zuying National Embroidery Professional Cooperative", but also formed a well-known "Boutique Embroidery Street". The original 34 members of the cooperative have transformed themselves into bosses.
"In the past, everyone worked for me. Now everyone can be their own boss and can also drive other women, so I don’t have to worry about it." Wei Zuying’s idea of driving women in the village to get rich goes far beyond this. She also wants to drive more people.
Wei Zuying was not satisfied from the "Zuying National Embroidery Professional Cooperative", which led everyone out of poverty at the beginning, to the "Zuying Embroidery Co., Ltd.", which now started the road to prosperity. She said: "Getting rid of poverty is the beginning, and we must work hard to get rich."
In April this year, with the policy support of the congjiang county Municipal Government, Zuying Embroidery Co., Ltd. set up a poverty alleviation workshop in the relocation and resettlement community for poverty alleviation in Mei ‘e. In the 6,000-square-meter poverty alleviation workshop, Wei Zuying is leading nearly 200 poverty-stricken households who have moved from poverty alleviation to poverty alleviation to inherit embroidery skills and embroider a better life.
"Years ago, I went to towns and villages in Congjiang, and the cadres and the masses were very concerned about how to protect national embroidery. Our embroidered mother has always asked me this question. I want to bring the voice of our masses to Beijing at these two sessions. This is my duty as a deputy to the National People’s Congress. " Wei Zuying said that he has the responsibility to drive everyone out of poverty and to develop national embroidery.
"Strengthen the inheritance of national culture and traditional handicraft skills"
In Wei Zuying’s view, national culture should not only be hidden in the depths of mountains, but also be pushed to a wider place. Under her leadership, after years of hard work, Ma ‘an Village finally realized a great change from "working tide" to "entrepreneurial tide".
"Now Miao Xiu is the main industry in Jiang Ma’ an Village. If you look at the embroidery street, it is the sound of embroidery machines. Everyone is rushing to work and has orders." Wei Zuying said, "Compared with the patient polishing of manual embroidery, embroidery machines can quickly complete large orders to meet the needs of different customers." Although mechanical embroidery beds are used, traditional Miao Xiu culture is the soul of these embroidery products.
During the two sessions in 2019, Wei Zuying put forward some suggestions, such as "building G242 National Road to ease travel difficulties" and "increasing support for encouraging rural women to start businesses". Now more than a year has passed, and real changes have taken place in their hometown. "Now there are fire pools in the villages, and the national highway has been completed, which has opened a way for our embroidery to get rich."
"As a rural woman, I am very happy that I can be a deputy to the National People’s Congress and go to Beijing to attend the two sessions of the National People’s Congress. I have the responsibility to drive the women in our village and even the county out of poverty and push our embroidery to the whole country and the world. " Wei Zuying said.
At this year’s two sessions, Wei Zuying suggested that the state should strengthen the inheritance of national culture and traditional handicrafts, compile them into books and incorporate them into local textbooks in the compulsory education stage, and encourage more young people to participate in learning and training. (Text/Kang Yanlong Proofreading/Jiang Cheng Source: Guizhou Radio and Television Station, Colorful Guizhou Network, etc.)