She ethnic craftswoman weaves dream into colored ribbons
(ECNS) -- Tu Guojia, a young craftswoman from a village in Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is an inheritor of the She ethnic ribbon weaving craft.
She began learning this skill from her grandmother at the age of 10.
The colored ribbons, renowned as a "living" cultural relic of She people, are weaved in colorful threads like red, green, yellow and white. They are very complicated in pattern and embroidered with auspicious Chinese characters.
"The ribbons were used as waistbands and belts at first and then gradually became decorations on traditional costumes," said Tu.
"Our ribbons have exquisite but complex patterns so that we have to design them before weaving. It usually takes a month to finish a common ribbon and a few months for a complicated one," said Tu.
Ribbons woven by Tu have a clear texture, simple but beautiful composition, and are highly ornamental. She has mastered more than 30 patterns in the past dozen years and has made innovations in color and pattern.
In order to promote this craft, Tu also teaches her friends as well as children from local kindergartens and elementary schools.
The young inheritor has got more chances to show her ribbon weaving craft and promote it through Beautiful Countryside Construction Initiative in China.
She also sells colored ribbons, traditional She clothing and accessories through live commerce and popularizes her culture and customs.