Brilliant Fingertip Skills: Unique Skills Of Inheritors Of Intangible Cultural Heritage In Liangshan, Sichuan

Legushari, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of the Yi nationality's silver making technique, is making silverware. Photo by Wang Lei

Liangshan, Beijing, Nov. 7 (Wang Liwen) "Ding Dong, Ding Dong..." on the 6th, a crisp beating sound was heard from Liangshan National Stadium in Sichuan Province. In the intangible cultural heritage exhibition activity of "home heritage treasures · new trend of the times", legushari, the national inheritor of Yi Nationality's silver ornaments, was making silverware. Eagle Claw silver cup, Phoenix crown, chest plate... Each piece of glittering and exquisite silverware on the scene was made by the 66 year old man.

As the largest Yi inhabited area in China, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province is rich in intangible cultural heritage resources and distinctive ethnic characteristics, with 20 national and 114 provincial intangible cultural heritage representative list projects. It is understood that the intangible cultural heritage exhibition is an important part of a series of celebration activities for the 70 years since the establishment of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. At the exhibition site, the intangible cultural heritage works such as Yi lacquerware with the main color of "black, red and yellow" and green pottery works with different shapes were displayed. Meanwhile, inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, such as Yi People's silver ornaments, Lisu People's fire grass weaving skills and Buyi's costumes, were invited to show their "unique skills".

Legushari, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of the Yi nationality's silver making technique, is making silverware. Photo by Wang Lei

Legushari told the audience that the production of handmade silverware requires forging, carving, welding, pickling, rinsing, and drying. It usually takes more than a month to create a set of silver jewelry such as silver breastplate and silver headdress for Yi girls to marry and dress up. On the 5th, the silver ornaments made by legusha day were worn by many girls from Butuo county to perform at the state celebration.

"I learned this craft from my father when I was 12 years old. It was more than 50 years in a flash." As the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, legushari broke the ancestral system of Yi People's silver ornament production technology, which was "pass on the male to the female, pass on the internal not to the external", and opened up a way for hard-working craftsmen to get rid of poverty and become rich.

Xiong Guoxiu (second from the left) is in the exhibition area of Lisu People's fire grass weaving skills. Photo by Wang Lei

Most of the people who have been studying in Lisu district for half a year are more interested in weaving skirts than those of my 68 year old friends

In the intangible cultural heritage exhibition of "Homeland Heritage and new trend of the times", the audience is learning about Mosuo clothing. Photo by Wang Lei

Xiong Guoxiu introduced that the Lisu People's fire grass weaving technique is a national intangible cultural heritage, and its processing and production should go through more than 20 links such as picking, tearing, cutting, drying, drenching, soaking, arranging, bleaching, winding and weaving. Although the soft and white hemp cloth is strong and wear-resistant, warm in winter and cool in summer, due to the complex production process, the Huocao weaving technology once faced the problem of inheritance. In 2016, Xiong Guoxiu established a professional cooperative for the production of Lishu Huocao linen, Guoxiu embroidery in Dechang County, attracting more than 100 Lisu farmers to join in, so that the national culture has been inherited and protected.

(source: China News Network)