Xu Yongliang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xu Yongliang, Male, Han, from Jingan, Shanghai, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-193). The tradition is documented in Jingan, Shanghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship in Jingan, Shanghai: The Shanghai line of the Chinese-style garment-making technique is centered in the Jing'an area, where the tailor shops of the Suguang garment-shop system plied their trade along the streets. After the Revolution of 1911, the banner women's robes lost their wearers, and the style was gradually revived after the 1920s, bringing the Su-style techniques of trimming, insetting, piping, flanging, knotting, and embroidery into the Western-tailored haipai qipao. The line carried on by the Longfeng Chinese Garment Co., Ltd. of Shanghai is precisely this lineage: when Xu Yongliang entered the shop in 1985, he took Gui Shunyuan as his master, studying the essence of the Suguang garment-shop craft; today he also teaches at the Shanghai Yifu Vocational School, moving the craft from the shop counter into the classroom. The qipao originated from the robes of banner women in the Qing dynasty; after the Revolution of 1911, the Manchu qipao were largely abandoned by banner women. It was only after the 1920s that the style saw some revival. At the same time, the Shanghai-style (haipai) qipao had evolved from the traditional robes of aristocratic banner women into a popularized women's fashion. By the 1920s, "Suguang garment shops" (Suzhou-Guangzhou-style ready-made clothing shops) had spread throughout Shanghai.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1965 in Shanghai. He is a national representative bearer of Chinese-style Garment Making Craftsmanship (Longfeng Qipao Hand-making Craftsmanship), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a craftsman of Longfeng hand-made qipao. In 1985 he joined the Shanghai Longfeng Chinese-style Clothing Store to make Chinese-style garments and became a disciple of Gui Shunyuan; he gained a comprehensive command of the finest techniques of the Su-Guang tailoring workshops and is highly skilled and versatile. He moved beyond the single type of frog closure (pankou) used in Chinese-style garments and created a craft-oriented series of pankou in more than a hundred varieties, highlighting the linear and sculptural beauty of Oriental dress. In May 2011, at the Shanghai Employees' Skills Showcase organised by the Shanghai Municipal Employees' Technical Association, he was awarded the title of crafts master. He actively takes part in public-welfare displays and promotional activities, and has been engaged by the Shanghai Yifu Vocational School to teach qipao-making techniques. Within the documented technical tradition of Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship in Jingan, Shanghai: The qipao of this period, however, underwent a qualitative change in style, method of cutting, and clientele; because this transformation took place in Shanghai, where Chinese and Western dress cultures converged, it came to be known as "haipai qipao" (Shanghai-style qipao). Haipai qipao absorbed Western tailoring methods, opening side slits and cinching the waist, all to express the curves of the female figure. Longfeng qipao is the essence of the haipai qipao and the authentic inheritor of the hand-made haipai qipao craft in Shanghai, retaining to this day the lingering charm of the Shanghai style. The Longfeng qipao-making technique originated in the Suguang garment shops; its history can be traced back to Zhu Linqing, the first-generation inheritor of the Longfeng qipao craft in the late Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, who came from a Suguang garment-shop background. In 1936 he founded the "Zhushunxing" Chinese-style garment shop, applying traditional Chinese garment-making technique to the haipai qipao, and became famous in Shanghai for his exquisite, fashionable, high-end qipao. The distinguishing feature of Longfeng qipao lies in its all-hand-made, high-quality, individualized fine craftsmanship; it carries on the nearly lost traditional techniques of the Suguang garment shops - trimming (xiang), insetting (qian), piping (gun), flanging (dang), knotting (pan), and embroidery (xiu). Carefully selected fabrics, patterns formed by hand through openwork (lou), relief carving (diao), and embroidery, and knot buttons (pankou) bearing auspicious meanings all embody the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture. This series of techniques can be called a unique mastery (jueji) in the field of Chinese qipao making. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The six hand skills: xiang, qian, gun, dang, pan and xiu": Six hand skills inherited from the Suguang tailor shop: applied bands, inlay, piping and couching at the edges, frog buttons for fastening and embroidery on top. "A series of knot buttons": The inheritor Xu Yongliang turned the plain knot button into a designed series of more than a hundred forms, emphasising line and shape. "Openwork, carving and embroidery": Openwork, carving and embroidery are worked by hand into the chosen cloth, pairing with auspicious knot buttons at the very heart of the decoration. "Western cutting with body shaping": Western cutting is used to shape and waist the body, setting the Shanghai qipao apart from the wide, straight robe of the Manchu banner women.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2012, Xu Yongliang was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship, with Jingan, Shanghai as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship in Jingan, Shanghai: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Jingan, Shanghai as its declared area, and Shanghai Longfengzhongshifuzhuang Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Xu Yongliang · National Representative Bearer Archive