Bi Yueying
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Bi Yueying, Female, Yi, from Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Yi Embroidery (Ⅶ-78). The tradition is documented in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yi Embroidery in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Yi (Sani) embroidery, also called “Sani cross-stitch embroidery” and known in the Yi language as “Nawo,” is a folk embroidery art popular in the settlement areas of the Sani branch of the Yi people in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and it occupies a very important place in the daily life of the Sani people. It guides the needle and thread along the warp and weft of the cloth, forming patterns with diagonal cross-stitches, and includes many techniques such as single-sided picking, double-sided picking, plain-color picking, and multicolor picking; the items embroidered are mostly everyday articles such as backpacks, tablecloths, curtains, floral head wraps, floral aprons, and garment borders. Sani villages in the Shilin area still maintain the family tradition that girls learn embroidery from childhood, and the village embroiderers generally divide their time between farm work and embroidery; at festivals and market days their embroidered wares are often displayed alongside Yi costume. It is said that Yi (Sani) embroidery originated in the Tang and Song dynasties and matured during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Female, of the Yi ethnic group, born in December 1954 in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Taught directly by her grandmother and her mother, she began learning embroidery at the age of eight. Over more than fifty years of practice she has acquired a skilled and highly individual command of embroidery. Her work is mainly cross-stitch, with regular and symmetrical patterns and brilliant colouring, forming a distinctive style that emphasises counted stitching over fine surface stitching and lends otherwise plain motifs rich layers of expression and meaning. Besides her mastery of sewing and embroidering traditional garments, she has also codified the classic traditional motifs and colour schemes together with the traditional wrapping and layering technique used for headscarves. Within the documented technical tradition of Yi Embroidery in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Yi (Sani) embroidery, also called “Sani cross-stitch embroidery” and known in the Yi language as “Nawo,” is a folk embroidery art popular in the settlement areas of the Sani branch of the Yi people in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. It occupies a very important place in the daily life of the Sani people. Sani women learn embroidery from childhood, and each has skill at her fingertips. Through generations of transmission and continuous development, Sani embroidery art has become ever more refined. Sani embroidery guides the needle and thread along the warp and weft of the cloth, forming patterns with diagonal cross-stitches; it includes many techniques such as single-sided picking, double-sided picking, plain-color picking, and multicolor picking. The items embroidered are mostly everyday articles such as backpacks, tablecloths, curtains, floral head wraps, floral aprons, and garment borders. Sani embroidery has fine, dense stitches, consummate workmanship, ingeniously conceived patterns, well-balanced composition, and bright colors, fully displaying the intelligence, talent, and artistic creativity of the Sani people, and bearing a distinct ethnic style and local character. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Four ways of crossing": The stitch follows the warp and weft in diagonal crosses, worked single-faced, double-faced, in one colour or a colour per grid. "Heavy on crossing, light on the needle": Bi Yueying's style is heavy on the cross and light on the finishing needle, giving plain motifs range and depth. "The wrapped headcloth technique": Beyond garment stitching she has codified the classic motifs, colour schemes and the wrapping technique of the Sani headcloth.
Four ways of crossing
The stitch follows the warp and weft in diagonal crosses, worked single-faced, double-faced, in one colour or a colour per grid.
Heavy on crossing, light on the needle
Bi Yueying's style is heavy on the cross and light on the finishing needle, giving plain motifs range and depth.
The wrapped headcloth technique
Beyond garment stitching she has codified the classic motifs, colour schemes and the wrapping technique of the Sani headcloth.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
She is a representative bearer of Yi (Sani) embroidery, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She has taken part many times in intangible cultural heritage exhibitions and exchange activities, and her works have won repeated awards and been collected by a number of museums. She is active in transmission work, has been specially appointed as an expert by universities in Yunnan, and is a representative and influential bearer in her locality. She has many apprentices and trainees, several of whom have become provincial, municipal and county-level bearers.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
It is said that Yi (Sani) embroidery originated in the Tang and Song dynasties and matured during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bi Yueying | Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 05-2692 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。