Axiwuzhimo
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Axiwuzhimo, Female, Yi, from Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yi Embroidery (Ⅶ-130). The tradition is documented in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yi Embroidery in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: It is distributed mainly in Ganluo County, Zhaojue County, Yuexi County and other areas of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and radiates to the surrounding regions. The history of Yi embroidery runs parallel with the process by which the Yi people shifted from gathering, fishing and hunting to farming and settled life; embroidery and dress must have arisen together, before the convention could exist of using patterns to mark lineage, family and age grade. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the women's dress of the various branches of the Yi people in Liangshan has gradually formed three main colour schemes of "black, red and yellow", and embroidery accordingly became the principal means of distinguishing branches and status; in recent years, driven by the national and local intangible cultural heritage protection projects, Yi embroidery has once more come out of the mountains, becoming a key category for export and industrialisation.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Axiwuzhimo is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yi Embroidery in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan. Within the documented technical tradition of Yi Embroidery in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: Yi embroidery is an outstanding traditional folk craft of the Yi people. It has a long history, exquisite workmanship, distinctive modelling, fine patterns and magnificent colours, and is rich in local character; with its distinctive ethnic decorative style it has become a remarkable flower in the embroidery art of China's ethnic groups. Yi embroidery generally uses flat-woven cloth of woollen, kapok and hemp textures as its ground; the embroidery threads include cotton thread, bulked coloured yarn, mercerised thread and gold thread; the common techniques include picked-flower work (tiaohua), appliqué, coiling, threading, locking and mending flower work. Its patterns consist chiefly of animal, plant and natural motifs such as the sun, flowers and grasses, the fire-steel (fire flint), ferns, oxen and sheep, and animal teeth. In colour, blue and black serve as the ground, with red, white, cyan, green, blue and yellow as the pattern colours. The technique and colouring of Yi embroidery have distinctly local features: Ganluo County relies mainly on picked-flower, appliqué, lock-stitch and coiling embroidery, with an elegant and archaic colour scheme that is brilliant but not vulgar; Yuexi County focuses on inlay embroidery and animal-tooth patterns, with a predominance of blue and green; Zhaojue mainly uses appliqué and picked-flower embroidery, with goat-horn and fire-steel patterns as the principal motifs, worked in red thread. Yi embroidery is applied mostly to the headscarves, floral hats, collars, shoulder yokes, front panels, cuffs, waistbands, capes and skirt hems of Yi dress, and also appears on everyday articles such as satchels, triangular bags, sewing kits and sachets. The layout of the embroidery shows technical skill, giving consideration to both aesthetics and durability: collars, cuffs and garment corners, for example, mostly use mending and locking flower work, deliberately reinforced to resist wear; headscarves, chest panels, trouser hems and triangular bags mostly use picked-flower work and embroidery for beauty's sake. Yi embroidery, with its brilliant colours, natural patterns, distinctive modelling and fine workmanship, is an outstanding traditional folk craft of the Yi people. Traditional Yi embroidery is transmitted in the form of mother-to-daughter and master-to-apprentice transmission. Yi embroidery contains the way of life, customs, folk beliefs, history, culture and aesthetic tastes of the Yi people, embodying their ethnic feeling and their hopes for a better life. It conveys meaning and feeling through form, and is the outward expression of the Yi people's inner emotions and sense of beauty. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Sun, firesteel, cattle and sheep": Sun, firesteel, fern, cattle, sheep and beast-tooth patterns run in continuous repeats suited to sleeves, collars and aprons. "Black and blue grounds": Dark blue and black grounds carry red, white, green and yellow flowers, the bright stitches standing out against the heavy cloth. "Six working methods": On wool, cotton or hemp plain weave, six methods — picking, patching, coiling, threading, lacing and darning — are worked in cotton, bulked acrylic, mercerised and gold threads. "The three main counties": Centred on Ganluo, Zhaojue and Yuexi in Liangshan, the craft now supports rural income and social stability alongside its cultural role.
Sun, firesteel, cattle and sheep
Sun, firesteel, fern, cattle, sheep and beast-tooth patterns run in continuous repeats suited to sleeves, collars and aprons.
Black and blue grounds
Dark blue and black grounds carry red, white, green and yellow flowers, the bright stitches standing out against the heavy cloth.
Six working methods
On wool, cotton or hemp plain weave, six methods — picking, patching, coiling, threading, lacing and darning — are worked in cotton, bulked acrylic, mercerised and gold threads.
The three main counties
Centred on Ganluo, Zhaojue and Yuexi in Liangshan, the craft now supports rural income and social stability alongside its cultural role.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Axiwuzhimo was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yi Embroidery, with Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yi Embroidery in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan as its declared area, and Liangshan 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
The history of Yi embroidery runs parallel with the process by which the Yi people shifted from gathering, fishing and hunting to farming and settled life; embroidery and dress must have arisen together, before the convention could exist of using patterns to mark lineage, family and age grade. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the women's dress of the various branches of the Yi people in Liangshan has gradually formed three main colour schemes of "black, red and yellow", and embroidery accordingly became the principal means of distinguishing branches and status; in recent years, driven by the national and local intangible cultural heritage protection projects, Yi embroidery has once more come out of the mountains, becoming a key category for export and industrialisation.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Axiwuzhimo | Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan | — | 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。