Mongolian Embroidery
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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.
The Sönid, descendants of Jirugen Baatar
The Sönid trace descent from Genghis Khan's minister Jirugen Baatar, and their felt embroidery passes from mother to daughter within families.
Munguntsetseg's distance-learning recordings
The inheritor Munguntsetseg makes over two hundred pieces a year and transmits the craft through teaching and national distance-learning recordings.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Embroidery · Mongolian Embroidery.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Menggenqiqige (according to the official file of the associated inheritor): female, Mongolian, born August 1959, from Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Her embroidery art systematically carries on the traditional felt-embroidery techniques of the Mongols of the Xilingol grassland. Her skill is consummate and her style plain and unaffected; each year she makes more than two hundred embroidered everyday pieces or ornaments, which perfectly display the materials and craftsmanship of Mongolian felt embroidery and artistically present the production and life of the Sunid grassland, brimming with a rich nomadic cultural flavor and aesthetic appeal. She actively promotes and transmits felt-embroidery technique through taking on apprentices, recording content for the national distance-education project, and serving as an out-of-school tutor, so that this ancient ethnic felt-embroidery craft shines with the color of the present age. She is a representative inheritor of Mongolian Embroidery, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project from the fifth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Midai 04-1812
- Menggenqiqige 05-2696
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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