On October 24th, in Wuding County, Yunnan Province, Pu Yuzhen proudly displayed her hand-stitched masterpiece: a 21-meter long and 0.8-meter wide rendition of the famous “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.” As a representative inheritor of a national intangible cultural heritage project, she is committed to preserving the craft of Yi ethnic costume making and helping her community thrive together.

Born in 1957 in Wuding County, located in the central-northern part of Yunnan along the banks of the Jinsha River, Pu has made significant contributions to the preservation of her cultural heritage.

“Yi costume making has a history of over a thousand years and is considered a ‘core subject’ for Yi girls. I started learning the craft from my grandmother at the age of three and continued to seek mentorship,” Pu shared. Yi attire includes garments, shoes, and insoles, and the craft is intricate, with more than 180 types of embroidery techniques. Pu has mastered over 150 of these techniques, including挑布绣 (picking cloth embroidery), 火把针绣 (torch needle embroidery), and 堆绣 (pile embroidery).

To supplement her income, Pu opened a small workshop for Yi clothing in 1989. In 1990, after coming across a depiction of the bustling life in the Northern Song Dynasty in the “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” she decided to invest 2,600 yuan in a long piece of fabric and set about stitching this famous scene.

“The threads I used for the embroidery are spun by me, and I dye them using various plants and flowers, resulting in over 20 different colors,” Pu explained. “The main techniques I employed are斜纹针绣 (satin stitch), 打根绣 (root embroidery), and 十字绣 (cross stitch). The work took over seven years to complete and features delicate stitching and vibrant colors. I once received an offer of 1.6 million yuan from a foreign buyer, but I decided not to sell it—I want this piece to remain in China.” In recent years, she has also produced many large-scale works, with her “Hundred Blessings” piece being particularly popular.

In 2014, Yi costume making was officially recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage item, and in 2018, Pu Yuzhen was honored as a national representative inheritor of the project.

“My family’s life has improved thanks to the Yi embroidery products,” Pu noted. Many people come from afar to seek her mentorship, and she receives invitations from various places across the country to teach the craft of Yi costume making.

“In Wuding, I have over 2,000 apprentices, more than half of whom collaborate with me on a long-term basis. They bring me their finished costumes for sale.” According to Pu, the demand for her Yi garments far exceeds supply, with prices ranging from a few dozen yuan to tens of thousands, selling mainly across the country and some even overseas.