Last Friday, a training class has been opened in Hunan for those who are interested in learning the art of brocade perfected by the Tujia people. The project was done in the village of Ling Xi and supported by Amity Foundation, Yongshun County Party and the United Front Works Department as a means to assist the Tujia people out of poverty.
The project of assisting the Tujia people and protect the Tujia brocade technique is based under the three year Sui Ning, Yong Shun management and development project. At least 12.37 million yuan is allotted for the project and Amity Foundation adds in 4.69 million yuan for the budget. Additional funds would be provided by the local government and programs would be done to assist in social development and villager training. As part of the program, the “Tujia brocade art inheritors” training class was added as an additional platform for development.
At least 40 women, according to the website of Amity Foundation, have taken part in the Women’s Development Association and joined the two-month professional training to perfect their skills in the Tujia brocade technique and also learn other means on how they can develop like learning how to fish or protecting the Tujia brocade.
Yongshun has been the home of the Tujia people for a thousand years and several settlements of Tujia in the areas of Zushi Dian, Bai shou Tang, and the Mao Gusi. These people also possess many cultural relics and weaving techniques no longer practiced at the present time.
The Amity Foundation has long been supporting these villages since it was established in 1985 in Nanjing. The group is founded by a group of Chinese Christians from all walks of life and for the past 30 years, they have been participating in assisting rural communities and helping them with their poverty alleviation and development. They are also working on supporting the preservation of historical legacies.
Since 2007, the group had initiated public welfare projects and promotional campaigns to introduce the Tujia cultural heritage. The notable example of this effort is the training brocade skill and traditional ethnic song and dance seminars in Ling Xi, Ta Wo and the Da Ba Township in order to promote women’s association for the advancement of construction projects that would allow Tujia traditional culture to flourish.
In July 4, 2015, the Yongshun Chieftain was named the representative of the entire town when the Chinese heritage of the Tujia was included in the UNESCO world heritage directory. The people remarked “if there was no Amity project, the city would just be one part of the village. With the Tujia traditional culture project, we were able to learn how to do the Tujia brocade again, practice and introduce our songs, dances and even the Mao goose.”
