Xie Liyu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Xie Liyu, Female, Han, from Xiamen, Fujian, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Xiamen Zhuxiu (Ⅶ-128). The tradition is documented in Xiamen, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Xiamen Zhuxiu in Xiamen, Fujian: The project now has its core area in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, spreading to Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and other places in the Minnan region; it is also found in the Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province and in various countries of Southeast Asia. Because of regional cultural differences, its products each have their own character: Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Southeast Asia focus on footwear, wall hangings, and bags, while Zhangzhou and the Chaoshan area of Guangdong focus on altar-table drapery, bedroom curtains, bags, and formal dress. At the same time, it promotes flexible employment and foreign trade, and is of far-reaching significance for advancing the integration of culture and tourism and for promoting cultural exchange along the Belt and Road. Xiamen bead embroidery took shape in Xiamen, Fujian, in the late Qing and early Republican period, and has a history of more than a century. Its rise was directly related to Xiamen's opening as a treaty port for trade: glass beads, shell beads, and iridescent film from the Philippines, the Nanyang (Southeast Asian) region, Europe, and America were imported by sea, and local embroiderers combined them with the stitches of Suzhou and Guangdong embroidery, creating this new type of embroidery with the arrangement of beads and thread in which 'moving points form lines and moving lines form surfaces'; a stable industry and export network took shape between the hometowns of overseas Chinese and the docks.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Xie Liyu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Xiamen Zhuxiu in Xiamen, Fujian. Within the documented technical tradition of Xiamen Zhuxiu in Xiamen, Fujian: Xiamen bead embroidery is a traditional handicraft that uses hollow glass beads of various kinds and iridescent film as materials, applying eight major techniques to embroider patterns of light and deep relief; it took shape in Xiamen, Fujian, in the late Qing and early Republican period and has a history of more than a century. Xiamen bead embroidery takes velvet cloth, leather, and similar fabrics with cotton lining as its ground, and selects hollow glass beads of varied forms and iridescent film as the beading material. Using techniques such as flat stitching, raised stitching, string stitching, granule stitching, random-needle stitching, vertical bead stitching, and layered-film stitching, and the arrangement of 'moving points forming lines and moving lines forming surfaces', it works through contrast, balance, symmetry, and relief to embroider patterns with a shallow-relief effect. Its craft process is complex, comprising many steps: designing the embroidery draft, color matching, designing the stitch method, joining the lining to the cloth, die-cutting the materials, stretching the cloth on the embroidery frame, embroidering the pattern, and pasting the inner surface. The patterns of Xiamen bead embroidery include both traditional auspicious motifs and modern abstract designs, and it is especially adept at creating patterns that reflect the local character of Xiamen and its maritime culture and art. Its products are highly varied, including art decorations such as wall hangings and ornaments, and applied items such as footwear, garments, and bags. Unlike other embroidery types, Xiamen bead embroidery exploits the visual transformations produced by the texture of its materials under light, achieving a brilliant iridescent visual effect and a three-dimensional relief tactile effect, and fully expressing the richly colorful yet harmonious character of folk art. Xiamen bead embroidery is the product of the blending of multiple cultures against the background of maritime culture; it is an important carrier of folk culture in southern Fujian (Minnan) and is of great significance for promoting, inheriting, and spreading traditional Minnan culture. It combines artistry with practicality; it is a representative craft category of Xiamen and has value for cultural exchange. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Records of Process Steps": Its craft process is complex, comprising many steps: designing the embroidery draft, color matching, designing the stitch method, joining the lining to the cloth, die-cutting the materials, stretching the cloth on the embroidery frame, embroidering the pattern, and pasting the inner surface. "Beads to line, line to surface": Flat, raised, strung, grain, loose, upright and overlapped beadwork, arranged bead by bead until the lines carry a shallow relief. "Eight techniques and the materials": Hollow glass beads and iridescent film, worked in eight techniques on velvet or leather backed with cotton, cut to pattern and stitched on a frame. "Eight workshop stages": Eight stages from design and colour matching to backing and facing, with every shade matched point by point to the drawing.
Archival Records of Process Steps
Its craft process is complex, comprising many steps: designing the embroidery draft, color matching, designing the stitch method, joining the lining to the cloth, die-cutting the materials, stretching the cloth on the embroidery frame, embroidering the pattern, and pasting the inner surface.
Beads to line, line to surface
Flat, raised, strung, grain, loose, upright and overlapped beadwork, arranged bead by bead until the lines carry a shallow relief.
Eight techniques and the materials
Hollow glass beads and iridescent film, worked in eight techniques on velvet or leather backed with cotton, cut to pattern and stitched on a frame.
Eight workshop stages
Eight stages from design and colour matching to backing and facing, with every shade matched point by point to the drawing.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Xie Liyu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Xiamen Zhuxiu, with Xiamen, Fujian as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Xiamen Zhuxiu in Xiamen, Fujian: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Xiamen, Fujian as its declared area, and Xiamen Zhengrenzhuxiu Craft Transmission Workshop 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
Xiamen bead embroidery took shape in Xiamen, Fujian, in the late Qing and early Republican period, and has a history of more than a century. Its rise was directly related to Xiamen's opening as a treaty port for trade: glass beads, shell beads, and iridescent film from the Philippines, the Nanyang (Southeast Asian) region, Europe, and America were imported by sea, and local embroiderers combined them with the stitches of Suzhou and Guangdong embroidery, creating this new type of embroidery with the arrangement of beads and thread in which 'moving points form lines and moving lines form surfaces'; a stable industry and export network took shape between the hometowns of overseas Chinese and the docks.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xie Liyu | Xiamen, Fujian | — | 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。