Wu Yingji
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wu Yingji, Female, Miao, from Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Miaoxiu (Ⅶ-22). The tradition is documented in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Miaoxiu in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan: Its patterns, stitch methods, and design panels vary by region and fall into four broad types: elegant and beautiful, fine and dense, bold and rugged, and plain and refined. Its market prospects are broad, and it is of great significance in helping local women find employment and increase their incomes and in promoting local economic development. It has a long history: Tang-dynasty historical records already contain accounts of Miao ancestors wearing garments decorated with flower-and-bird patterns. Xiangxi (western Hunan) Miao embroidery carries historical information about the origins and migrations of the Miao people as well as their religious beliefs, and is an important avenue for the study of Miao history, culture, and artistic aesthetics.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wu Yingji is anchored in the documented technical standards of Miaoxiu in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Miaoxiu in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan: Xiangxi Miao embroidery is one of the outstanding representatives of Chinese Miao embroidery, a traditional fine art handed down from generation to generation by the Miao people of western Hunan. It is now distributed mainly in the Xiangxi region of Hunan Province, with the eight counties and county-level cities under the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, together with the Xiangxi Economic Development Zone, as its core area of transmission. Xiangxi Miao embroidery is widely applied to everyday items such as clothing, aprons, shoes and hats, head cloths, handkerchiefs, shoulder bags, baby carriers, purses, wallets, pillow ends, bed curtains, and door curtains. Its typical features are a fantastical decorative-art style, strongly contrasting pattern and color designs, and a variety of totemic emblems that give prominence to ideas. Its stitches form a distinctive system of their own, comprising eight major categories — xiu (embroidery), cha (insertion), kun (binding), sa (sprinkling), dian (dotting), tiao (picking), chuan (stringing), and bian (edging) — with more than twenty individual stitches. The composition of Xiangxi Miao embroidery patterns falls broadly into five forms: branch patterns, tuft patterns, horn patterns, border patterns, and square patterns. The color schemes of the patterns are markedly philosophical in character, and their content reflects people's mental images. In decoration, consideration is given both to the outer contour of the object and to color harmony, and, in accordance with the requirements of the artistic style, certain parts are weakened or strengthened to make the whole more vivid and forceful. The embroidery methods of Xiangxi Miao embroidery are chiefly three: freehand stitching, cut-and-paste embroidery, and drawn embroidery. Freehand stitching requires no models or reference patterns; the embroiderer relies entirely on memory and experience to stitch freely on the ground cloth. The ground cloth is generally black striped cloth, though pink or light-blue striped cloth is also used. This kind of stitching lets the embroiderer give free rein to imagination and individuality, so much so that 'visit a thousand homes and you will not find the same flower'. Freehand stitching demands a high level of skill and is used by the most accomplished embroiderers among Miao women. Most women, however, use the cut-and-paste and drawn methods; paper-cutting (cutting flower designs) has thus also become an essential skill for Miao women. Xiangxi Miao embroidery is transmitted mainly within families. At present, Xiangxi Miao embroidery has formed a development, production, and management pattern that combines research and development with processing, with enterprises as the backbone and farm households as the foundation, and its development momentum is good. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Freehand, cut-and-paste and drawn embroidery": Xiangxi Miao embroidery works in three ways: freehand from memory on black, pink or pale blue striped cloth, cut-and-paste, and drawn embroidery. "The eight stitch families": Its stitches form a distinct system of twenty-odd kinds in eight families: embroidering, inserting, binding, sprinkling, dotting, picking, stringing and edging. "Branch, clump, corner, edge and square patterns": Patterns fall into branch, clump, corner, edge and square forms; their colouring is philosophical, adjusted to the frame's shape and to the required artistic emphasis. "A thousand homes, never the same flower": Only expert women work freehand, giving full play to imagination so that 'one may walk through a thousand homes and never find the same flower'; most use cut-and-paste or drawn work, making paper-cutting a required skill.
Freehand, cut-and-paste and drawn embroidery
Xiangxi Miao embroidery works in three ways: freehand from memory on black, pink or pale blue striped cloth, cut-and-paste, and drawn embroidery.
The eight stitch families
Its stitches form a distinct system of twenty-odd kinds in eight families: embroidering, inserting, binding, sprinkling, dotting, picking, stringing and edging.
Branch, clump, corner, edge and square patterns
Patterns fall into branch, clump, corner, edge and square forms; their colouring is philosophical, adjusted to the frame's shape and to the required artistic emphasis.
A thousand homes, never the same flower
Only expert women work freehand, giving full play to imagination so that 'one may walk through a thousand homes and never find the same flower'; most use cut-and-paste or drawn work, making paper-cutting a required skill.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wu Yingji was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Miaoxiu, with Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Miaoxiu in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan as its declared area, and Huayuan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center 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
Historical origin
It has a long history: Tang-dynasty historical records already contain accounts of Miao ancestors wearing garments decorated with flower-and-bird patterns. Xiangxi (western Hunan) Miao embroidery carries historical information about the origins and migrations of the Miao people as well as their religious beliefs, and is an important avenue for the study of Miao history, culture, and artistic aesthetics.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wu Tongying | Taijiang, Guizhou | 04-1773 | Other regional school |
| Zhang Guiying | Leishan, Guizhou | 05-2600 | Other regional school |
| Wang Qiping | Guiyang, Guizhou | 05-2601 | Other regional school |
| Yang Meiyan | Jianhe, Guizhou | 05-2602 | Other regional school |
| Longnvsanjiu | Jianhe, Guizhou | 05-2603 | Other regional school |
| Wu Yingji | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhizhouhuayuan, Hunan | — | This page |
| Liu Zhongchang | Kaili, Guizhou | — | Other regional school |
| Wang Jinhua | Kaili, Guizhou | — | Other regional school |
| Shi Liping | Tongrenshisongtaomiaozuzizhi, Guizhou | — | Other regional school |
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。