Meng Lanjie

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Meng Lanjie, Female, Unspecified, from Heiheshiaihui, Heilongjiang, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Oroqen Paopi Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-112). The tradition is documented in Heiheshiaihui, Heilongjiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Oroqen Paopi Making Craftsmanship in Heiheshiaihui, Heilongjiang: The roe-deer-hide craftsmen of Aihui District are scattered among villages along the river and at the forest edge, taking work household by household; weddings, funerals, and the return from a hunt all call for new hide goods, so the craft's field of use is broader than mere cold resistance. The two inheritors, Meng Lanjie and Ge Changyun, one learned needlework from her parents, the other learned hide work from her aunt. The Oroqen of the Aihui District area of Heihe have hunted for generations in the deep mountains and dense forests of the Lesser Khingan Range; the uses of roe-deer-hide work are drawn out in great detail: quilts and bedding, overcoats, leggings, hats, gloves, and pouches each have their own requirements for material and stitching, and the hide parts taken for boots and hide-quilts are not the same.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Oroqen ethnic group, born in November 1948, a native of Heihe, Heilongjiang Province. A national representative bearer of Oroqen Roe-Deer Skin Making Craftsmanship, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She is an Oroqen roe-deer skin craftswoman. Influenced by her parents from childhood, she developed a deep love of needlework. Through unremitting effort she quickly mastered the sewing techniques used for birch-bark and roe-deer skin products. During training sessions she paid out of her own pocket for tools and roe-deer skins, and she cooked for trainees who had come from other places. As a result of this training the roe-deer skin skills of Oroqen women improved markedly. Under her guidance this traditional skill of the Oroqen people has been carried on. Within the documented technical tradition of Oroqen Paopi Making Craftsmanship in Heiheshiaihui, Heilongjiang: The Oroqen ethnic group's animal-hide crafting craft is a unique handcraft of the northern hunting peoples of our country, with a strong ethnic and regional character. The Oroqen people have lived by hunting for generations, long eating beast meat and wearing beast hides, and in this process created a highly distinctive animal-hide handcraft. The craft process of the Oroqen animal-hide crafting includes hide collection, tanning, piecing-cutting and sewing, dyeing, ornamentation, embroidery, etc.; the finished products produced can be divided by use into categories such as apparel, daily articles, and religious implements. Roe-deer-hide culture is a unique culture produced by the Oroqen under specific historical conditions. The roe-deer-hide daily articles of the Oroqen in Heilongjiang Province and the Oroqen Autonomous Banner of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region include quilts, overcoats, gloves, hats, leggings, boots, pouches, shoulder bags, etc.; these articles are mainly made with a zhadao (piercing knife) and some other unique tools. The making of roe-deer-hide articles is an initiative by which the Oroqen people make full use of the animal-hide culture they themselves created to resist the cold, protect themselves, adapt to the environment, and survive actively. The Oroqen people of Aihui District, Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province have hunted for generations in the deep mountains and dense forests of the Lesser Khingan Range. The Oroqen have no written script of their own, so the animal-hide crafting craft and its products became the carrier of Oroqen hunting culture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Recorded Process Steps": The craft process of the Oroqen animal-hide crafting includes hide collection, tanning, piecing-cutting and sewing, dyeing, ornamentation, embroidery, etc.; the finished products produced can be divided by use into categories such as apparel, daily articles, and religious implements. "Joining birch bark and roe-deer hide": Bark for stiffness and roe-deer hide for supple warmth, joined with flat, dense seams. "Sewing the quilted hide": Quilts are built from several panels with a lofted centre and hide-strip bound edges. "Making hide hats and boots": Small close-fitting items cut from neck and limb skins, then decorated with bone plaques and shell fastenings.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In order to carry out the transmission and protection of roe-deer skin products, she went from door to door visiting households despite illness.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Meng Lanjie · National Representative Bearer Archive