Villagers inspired to preserve charm of Dong ethnic culture

Born and raised in a Dong ethnic village in Southwest China's Guizhou province, Lu Yongmei started to learn at the age of 6 making Dong cloth, a traditional handmade fabric boasting a history of more than 1,000 years.

Noticing that villagers' interest in this craft was declining, Lu, together with several like-minded partners, founded a farmers' cooperative in 2014. Their goal was to preserve the craftsmanship and let more people know the economic value of traditional handicrafts, helping villagers, especially women, improve their livelihoods.

To date, Lu, now 40, has organized over 40 skills training sessions, providing free instruction to more than 3,000 participants and enabling over 1,200 villagers to earn incomes without having to leave their children and hometown.

When President Xi Jinping visited Zhaoxing Dong village in Liping county of the southwestern province on Monday afternoon, Lu proudly introduced to him the Dong cloth indigo dyeing process, which involves spinning, weaving, indigo dyeing and embroidery.

"The president praised our batik craftsmanship, saying that the cultures of ethnic minority groups are an integral part of Chinese culture," Lu said.

She said that Xi also asked her if batik only comes in indigo.

"I explained that while this was true in the past, years of experimentation have allowed us to dye the cloth in diverse colors using different ingredients. Considering the varied market demands, our development would be quite limited if we only produced indigo items," she said.

The farmers' cooperative now boasts over 200 members from more than 100 villages in Liping and has developed over 600 cultural and creative products, including more than 200 types of batik handicrafts.

During the trip, Xi said that equal importance should be given to preserving both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

"Stilt houses, ancient villages, intangible cultural heritage instruments, the grand song of the Dong people and batik craftsmanship all embody the unique charm of this ethnic culture — both deeply traditional and remarkably stylish," he said.

Xi also said that areas with large ethnic minority populations should preserve their distinctive culture and let it shine through the integrated development of culture and tourism.

Lu Yanyu, head of a local performance group consisting of over 30 young people, was among the hundreds of villagers who welcomed Xi with the grand song of the Dong ethnic group.

As a cultural symbol that has been passed down through generations for over 2,500 years, the song was designated by UNESCO as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.

"We pass down the song: the elders teach it, the younger ones sing it, and the children learn it," Lu said.

According to Lu, the grand song faces challenges in terms of inheritance as more young people leave the village for work, which is why she founded the performance group.

During the day, group members engage in their own farming or household work, and at night, they gather at the drum tower to sing the grand song together.

"We are deeply encouraged by President Xi's recognition of our efforts in preserving intangible cultural heritage. In the future, I will strive to bring more villagers together and share our Dong culture with a wider audience," Lu said.