Profile:
Donglan, the 2021 Rural Culture and Tourism Leader, Secretary of the Party Branch and General Manager of Xinjiang Lanpai Cultural and Creative Industry Co., Ltd., won the titles of "Outstanding Communist Party Member of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region", "38 Red Flag Bearer of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region", "Representative Inheritor of Xibe Embroidery of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region" and other titles.
▲ Donglan Photo provided by the interviewee
In the production workshop of Xinjiang Landai Cultural and Creative Industry Co., Ltd., the computerized embroidery machine is busy working, and exquisite peonies are blooming on the cloth. They not only combine the essence of Xibe embroidery, but also show a unique modern charm. The founder and general manager of the company, Dong Lan, is committed to using the power of science and technology to inject new creativity and vitality into the traditional embroidery art.
"I returned to my hometown to start a business because of my persistent pursuit of national culture. At the same time, I hope to change the fate of rural women by learning a skill that will lead to self-confidence, self-reliance and self-reliance. Donglan is of Xibe nationality, majoring in computer management and applications in college, and has worked overseas for a long time, and then responded to the country's call for "entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship", giving up high salaries and returning to his hometown to start a business. Her company started as a small embroidery workshop and has grown into an enterprise with an annual output of 200,000 products, helping hundreds of rural women to increase their incomes.
▲ Donglan and folk artists discuss embroidery stitching Photo provided by the interviewee
In 2021, Donglan's "Intangible Cultural Heritage - Embroidery of the Chinese Nation" was selected as a support project for rural culture and tourism leaders, which strengthened her determination to contribute to rural development. "I have benefited a lot from being selected for this project and becoming a leader in rural culture and tourism. In particular, through training and exchanges, I learned about the dynamics of cultural and tourism integration in first-tier cities and the strategy of rural cultural integration, learned from the advanced experience of my peers, and provided new ideas for solving women's employment. Donglan said that under the trend of industrial integration, she is committed to the exploration of the industrialization of Xibe embroidery, and thinks about the docking of intangible cultural heritage with smart cultural tourism and rural revitalization. The project provides an information-rich platform, eliminates geographical restrictions, allows everyone to get in touch with advanced knowledge, learn from the experience of leaders, improve their horizons, and integrate new knowledge into production and life. Through the project, she brings her skills to the villages, where she trains local women at the grassroots level and solves the problem of flexible employment. Intangible cultural heritage workshops have blossomed in various villages, allowing rural women to not only learn skills, but also get in touch with the production process of orders and goods.
When excavating and reproducing the traditional embroidery patterns of the Xibe people, Donglan found that some traditional designs were on the verge of being lost. To this end, she and her team have made a complete pattern database, and tens of thousands of pattern data have been sorted out and mined. At the same time, she also developed Xibe embroidery pattern making and drawing software, and introduced a computerized embroidery machine, integrating ancient skills with modern technology to give a new life to traditional Xibe embroidery.
The pattern and size can be easily selected by the computer, and the exquisite pattern that could be embroidered in a few days can now be completed in only one hour with the help of the computerized embroidery machine, which greatly improves the production efficiency. Taking embroidered purses as an example, it takes two days for an embroiderer to use the traditional manual method, and with the help of a machine, at least 300 purses can be produced every day.
"In the field of embroidery, we have realized the marketization and large-scale operation of computerized embroidery machines, while hand embroidery is precisely positioned in the high-end custom market. The two-pronged approach, on the one hand, inherits the exquisite skills of hand embroidery, and on the other hand, promotes the innovative application of computerized embroidery machines. Donglan said that our team deeply excavated the essence of the intangible cultural heritage ethnic needle method and developed a set of advanced computer embroidery machine programs. The program converts traditional patterns into digital plate making, combined with a large computerized embroidery machine, to achieve efficient and accurate mass production to meet market demand.
▲ Donglan participated in the intangible cultural heritage into the campus activity Photo provided by the interviewee
Donglan said: "Taking scientific and technological innovation as the endogenous driving force means higher quality. We accelerate the digitalization, intelligence, automation and efficiency of the Xibe embroidery industry through scientific and technological strength, and form a competitive open and innovative business system. In recent years, the company has applied for 10 patents, obtained 3 copyrights including pattern-making software, and was selected as a national demonstration base for the productive protection of intangible cultural heritage.
"Handicraft is the continuation of inheritance, and technology is the pursuit of innovation. The inheritance of intangible cultural heritage does not lie in the use of computerized embroidery machines, but in the transmission of skills. With the help of modern scientific and technological means, we can better promote the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage. Looking forward to the future, Donglan hopes that under the promotion of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Rural Culture and Tourism Leaders Support Project, more and more leaders engaged in the protection of intangible cultural heritage will join the team of rural revitalization.
Comments:
Donglan's deeds embody two spirits - the spirit of innovation and the spirit of hard work. By combining traditional skills with modern technology, she not only inherits and promotes national culture, provides employment opportunities for rural women and cultivates talents, but also accurately locates the embroidery market in the process of skillful integration of manual embroidery and computerized embroidery machines, promotes Xibe embroidery to move towards digitalization, intelligence, automation and efficiency, and helps national products shine on the international stage.
Editor-in-charge: Wu Yue