Menggenqiqige
01 · Lineage & Regional School
She is the fourth-generation inheritor of Yanjilamu, a family of Mongolian embroidery. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mongolian Embroidery in Sunitezuoqi, Inner Mongolia: With the transformation of traditional animal husbandry and changes in ways of life, the local area has further enriched the community of inheritors and broadened the scope of transmission by holding training sessions, competitions, and exhibitions. Sunid Mongolian embroidery contains rich cultural connotations and symbolic meaning, reflecting the beliefs, values, and customs of the local Mongolian people. It is a crystallization of the wisdom and creativity of the Mongolian women of the Sunid tribe, an inseparable component of ethnic and regional culture, and possesses artistic, aesthetic, social, and cultural value. Sunid Mongolian embroidery is distributed across the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and other areas; it originated in the Xiongnu period and developed in the 13th century.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Female, of the Mongolian ethnic group, born in August 1959 in Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Her embroidery systematically carries on the traditional felt embroidery of the Mongolian herders of the Xilin Gol grasslands. Her skills are accomplished and refined and her style is pure and unadorned; each year she makes more than two hundred items of everyday embroidered ware or ornament, perfectly displaying the qualities of Mongolian felt embroidery materials and craft and artistically expressing the features of production and daily life on the Sonid grasslands, so that her work is filled with the strong cultural atmosphere and aesthetic sensibility of nomadic culture. She actively promotes and transmits felt embroidery, bringing the ancient ethnic craft into the contemporary era by taking apprentices, recording programmes for the national distance education project and serving as an off-campus tutor. Within the documented technical tradition of Mongolian Embroidery in Sunitezuoqi, Inner Mongolia: The Sunid tribe descends from Julgenbataer, the civil and military minister of Genghis Khan, and its felt embroidery has a distinctive style of its own. Felt embroidery begins with the making of the felt itself. Felt is mostly made in late summer and early autumn. A flat piece of grassland is chosen; once a template felt has been laid out, the wool begins to be spread. After the wool is spread, it is sprinkled with warm water until thoroughly dampened. The template felt, now covered with wool, is rolled onto a wooden rod, wrapped on the outside, and sewn shut at both ends; rings are fitted to the two ends of the rod, pulling ropes are attached to the rings, and the roll is dragged along so that it turns as it goes. After rolling for eight or nine li (roughly four to five kilometers), the felt is pressed into shape. Once back, the template felt is peeled away and the felt is squeezed over and over, so that it becomes thicker and denser. Felt embroidery also requires camel-hair thread. Felt embroidery patterns include auspicious motifs, floral designs, the five domestic animals, fresh flowers, and flying birds. Types of felt-embroidery craftwork include yurt doors, felt tent coverings, saddle pads, felt boots (felt socks), seat cushions, various embroidered felt bags, lamb-collecting bags, and camel saddles. Sunid Mongolian embroidery is an art of embroidery that arose from nomadic life; its subjects, content, expressive techniques, and artistic forms all fully display the life and production characteristics of the nomadic people, carrying a strong grassland cultural atmosphere of the Sunid region. This project has been passed down from generation to generation among the Mongolian women of the Sunid tribe, mostly transmitted from mother to daughter within the family. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Making the felt": Felt is laid out on flat grassland in late summer, wetted, rolled round a pole and dragged some four kilometres before being pressed firm. "Camel-wool thread": The stitching thread is spun from camel wool, giving the felt a soft yet durable contrast and marking Sönid work apart. "Five livestock and auspicious motifs": Motifs range from auspicious and floral designs to the five livestock and flowers with birds. "Tent doors and felt coverings": Products include tent doors and coverings, saddle pads, felt boots and socks, cushions, embroidered bags and camel saddles.
Making the felt
Felt is laid out on flat grassland in late summer, wetted, rolled round a pole and dragged some four kilometres before being pressed firm.
Camel-wool thread
The stitching thread is spun from camel wool, giving the felt a soft yet durable contrast and marking Sönid work apart.
Five livestock and auspicious motifs
Motifs range from auspicious and floral designs to the five livestock and flowers with birds.
Tent doors and felt coverings
Products include tent doors and coverings, saddle pads, felt boots and socks, cushions, embroidered bags and camel saddles.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
She is a representative bearer of Mongolian embroidery, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Sunid Mongolian embroidery is distributed across the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and other areas; it originated in the Xiongnu period and developed in the 13th century.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midai | Bohu, Xinjiang | 04-1812 | Other regional school |
| Menggenqiqige | Sunitezuoqi, Inner Mongolia | 05-2696 | 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。