The Predicament of Suzhou Embroidery: Implications of Intangible Cultural Heritage in China

AbstractSuxiu, “Suzhou embroidery,” is one of the major styles of traditional Chinese embroidery. In 2006, Suxiu was listed as the National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of China. Although the official media highlight the glory of Suxiu and its cultural significance as ICH, the industry has encountered great difficulties and challenges for the last 20 years. This paper explores the predicament of Suxiu and the far-reaching impacts of the China’s ICH policies on the embroidery industry. It argues that the state policies fail to provide community members with equal participatory opportunities in the heritage industry. Instead, it creates intragroup hierarchy and classification, favoring certain members while excluding others. More specifically, it examines local embroiderers’ different attitudes and reactions toward the ICH system, thus illustrating how the top-down policies affect the sociocultural process of recognition. It aims to offer a critical reflection on how China’s industrialization and ICH policies have transformed the nation’s handicraft industry.Keywords: EmbroiderySuxiu (Suzhou embroidery)Chinaintangible cultural heritagehandicraft industry Declaration of Interest StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1 Suzhou city locates at the center of the Wu region. The Wu region is a geographical and cultural space in the south of the Yangtze River. It mainly includes southern Jiangsu Province, Shanghai, northern Zhejiang Province, southern Anhui Province, and northeastern Jiangxi Province. People of the Wu region primarily speak the Wu langauge.2 The original document can be found online at: http://sfj.suzhou.gov.cn/sfj/basc/202001/6c300cf2e42e421db01bed34b4472a1f.shtml3 The Craftsman Certificate in this article refers specifically to the title evaluated by the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province. Craftsman Certificate has three levels in total: junior, intermediate, and senior. Honorary titles include Folk Craftsman and Master Craftsman. The title of Master Craftsman can be further divided into county, municipal, provincial, and national levels.4 Even for applicants seeking to apply for the lowest (county) level of ICH inheritor, there are prerequisite conditions that must be met. These conditions include, but are not limited to, possessing a craftsman certificate in the field of arts and crafts and having participated in two to three prestigious competitions or exhibitions. Using Suzhou as an example, the application process can be outlined as follows. In the first step, applicants who have obtained the craftsman certificates and achieved certain honors are required to proactively prepare application forms, visual materials, and other necessary documents, which are then submitted to the local cultural authorities or district-level industry associations. In the second step, after the submission of materials, the cultural administrative departments at the town (street) level, as well as the district-level industry associations, conduct an initial review of the application materials, provide their feedback, and submit the materials to the district bureau of culture, sports, and tourism. In the third step, the district bureau conducts a comprehensive review of the application materials, organizes expert evaluations of the projects, and selects the recipients through a combination of field visits and collective evaluations by the expert panel. In the fourth step, following a period of public notice, the final approval and announcement of district-level representative inheritors are made by the district government.5 According to Article 18 of the Measures for Identification and Management of Inheritors of National Intangible Cultural Heritage (2019). national-level ICH inheritors have the following obligations: (a) to carry out transmission activities and cultivate successors; (b) to properly preserve ICH-related objects and materials; (c) to cooperate with the competent cultural and tourism departments and other relevant departments in conducting surveys on ICH; (d) to participate in activities such as the promotion of ICH for public benefits. Article 19 states that the competent provincial departments of culture and tourism shall, in the light of the actual situation, set out the obligations of the nation-level ICH inheritors, clarify the transmission plans and specific objectives and tasks, and report them to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the records. The nation-level ICH inheritors shall submit an annual report on their transmission activities to the competent provincial department of culture and tourism (the original document can be found online at: http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2019-12/25/content_5463959.htm).6 The profession of embroidering has long been considered as marginal. Ordinary embroiderers usually started to learn embroidery at around 7 years old and most of them have low education background. Hence, embroidery is not the first choice for the second-generation inheritors, whose parents hope them to have better education and get a more decent job such as a teacher or civil servant. Only in recent years when their parents (the ICH inheritors) have accumulated abundant resources that the second-generation inheritors have come back to take over their parents’ embroidery businesses.7 In 1955, Zhenhu county established an embroidery distribution station, which is specifically responsible for the distribution of embroidery throughout the township. It mainly deals with the processing and production of quilts, table mats, cushions and other embroideries for export. Embroiderers who want to get embroidery work would go to the distribution station. After finishing the embroidery, they can take it back to the distribution station in exchange for remuneration.8 The opportunity for North Korean embroidery to become active in the Chinese market was due to the central government’s ‘eight-point code’ (baxiang guiding) in 2012. The policy imposes restriction on the behaviours of government officials. This has led to a massive reduction in the budget of institutional units and private enterprises, which are important sales channels for the Suxiu industry. As a result, shop embroiderers have chosen to replace Suxiu with North Korean embroidery in order to reduce costs.Additional informationNotes on contributorsYingqing ZhouYingqing Zhou is a PhD candidate of Fashion Design at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China. She received her MA in Textile at Royal College of Art. Her doctoral research focuses on textile design and culture. yqing_academic@163.comJunmin LiuJunmin Liu is a PhD candidate at the Center for Heritage and Museum Studies, the Australian National University. She received her BA in Chinese Philology at Peking University and MA in Chinese History at Columbia University. Prior to her studies at ANU, she worked as a voluntary teacher in Yunnan, Southwest China. Focusing on Yi migrant workers in Shenzhen, her doctoral research examines the roles of intangible heritage in identity reconstruction for ethnic minority groups in a migration context.