Young man in China's Guangxi strives to revive intangible cultural heritages

Li Changlong, a young man in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has dedicated himself to promoting intangible cultural heritages of the Zhuang ethnic group for several years.

Li was born in Banchitun in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of Guangxi in 1995. The village is known for its rich intangible cultural heritages, such as the Tianqin, a traditional musical instrument of the Zhuang ethnic group, and Zhuang brocade, a brocade technique specific to the ethnic group.

An embroidery master teaches students how to weave Zhuang brocade, an intangible cultural heritage, in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Pang Wanwen)

Li's love for these two intangible cultural heritages started when he was a little boy. His brother is an inheritor of Tianqin, and his aunt is a promoter of Zhuang brocade. Under their influence, Li chose to return to his hometown to promote the Tianqin and Zhuang brocade after he graduated from college in 2016.

Since then, Li has been committed to enabling more people to learn about these two intangible cultural heritages.

In February 2021, Li was elected as secretary of the Shuangmeng village branch of the Communist Youth League of China, boosting his confidence to encourage young people to be the new force of carrying forward intangible cultural heritages.

In recent years, Jinlong township has vigorously promoted rural tourism with tourism products and activities related to Tianqin and folk culture to boost rural vitalization.

Li has established a Tianqin cultural performance team, worked with China International Travel Service (Guangxi) Co., Ltd., to provide study tours about intangible cultural heritages, and invited senior people who can play Tianqin and weave Zhuang brocade from his village to teach these skills to students and young volunteers.

Senior villagers who can play Tianqin, a traditional musical instrument of the Zhuang ethnic group, teach students how to play Tianqin in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Pang Wanwen)

Since last year, Li's performance team has staged more than 30 shows, and five batches of study tours about Tianqian and Zhuang brocade have been organized in his village.

In June 2021, Li established a Zhuang brocade workshop with inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage, attracting 21 embroidery masters from Banchitun.

"Many embroidery masters have joined the workshop. Consequently, we have improved the efficiency of weaving Zhuang brocade and increased the quantity of brocade products, which can better meet the needs of the market," Li said.

Li and embroidery masters have also incorporated fashionable elements into traditional Zhuang brocade and developed cultural and creative products including handbags, sachets, and interior decorative pendants.

Li Changlong (1st R) shows college students in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region how to operate a loom. (Chinanews.com/Pang Wanwen)

The village's diversified and market-oriented Zhuang brocade products have attracted an increasing number of customers, who buy them via China's popular social media platform WeChat and online fairs. Since 2016, the annual sales revenue of Banchitun's Zhuang brocade products has reached about 100,000 yuan (about $14,822.7).

"Cultural innovation and online fairs will inject more vitality into intangible cultural heritages," Li said.