Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery

Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery

Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery is a protected geographical indication product.

Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery is a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

　　Sandu County in Guizhou Province is China’s only autonomous county of the Shui ethnic group, located in the southeastern part of Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou. Shui Horsehair Embroidery is a unique embroidery technique passed down through generations of Shui women, using horsehair as a key material. This distinctive folk craft, exclusive to the Shui people, is found in Shui villages across townships including Sandong, Zhonghe, Tingpai, Tangzhou, and Shuilong.

　　The Shui Horsehair Embroidery technique is unique, and the embroidered products are exquisitely made—some media even praise it as the “living fossil of embroidery art.”

　　Throughout the long course of history, the ingenious Shui women have created a colorful array of ethnic folk crafts. The renowned Shui Horsehair Embroidery stands out as a unique art form, hailed as the living fossil of Chinese embroidery and considered a marvel of the world.

　　It serves as a valuable artistic resource for studying Shui folk customs, traditions, totem worship, and ethnic culture. Recently, Horsehair Embroidery was included in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage listings, offering better opportunities for the preservation of this ancient and primal art form.

　　Embroidery is a popular folk art in Shui regions, with a long historical tradition and broad public appeal. Its artistic designs are rich and varied, fully reflecting the Shui people’s perception of life and their relentless pursuit of beauty. There are many types of Shui embroidery techniques, including flat embroidery, horsehair embroidery, hollow embroidery, drawn thread embroidery, knot-thread embroidery, and spiral embroidery.

　　There are no historical records documenting the origins of Shui Horsehair Embroidery, but it is a technique that has been passed down for over a thousand years and is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Shui ancestors. Traditional Shui festivals—such as the Duan Festival (equivalent to the Han Chinese New Year)—include horse racing customs, indicating that horse breeding and racing have a long history. Over time, Shui women developed the art of using horsehair for embroidery. During traditional festivals, while men compete in horse races, women dress in horsehair-embroidered finery to join in the celebrations, creating a beautiful and touching custom.

　　It is likely that the custom of horse breeding and racing among the Shui people gave rise to horsehair embroidery. In fact, this embroidery method—using silk threads wrapped around horsehair to create patterns—has two notable advantages: first, horsehair is relatively stiff, helping the patterns maintain their shape; second, horsehair is resistant to decay, making it durable. Additionally, horsehair may contain oily components that help preserve the luster of the outer silk threads.

　　Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery

　　Another unique aspect of horsehair embroidery is the addition of copper ornaments on the embroidered pieces. These ornaments are shaped like ancient coins but are very small and thin, with diameters about the size of soybeans. They are threaded with red string and attached to the horsehair embroidery, resembling tiny scattered flowers. Beyond decoration, the Shui people also believe copper has the power to ward off evil. In feudal times, copper was used for minting coins, and some dynasties strictly prohibited private copper casting—yet Shui horsehair embroidery incorporates copper ornaments. This is yet another feature that highlights the value of horsehair embroidery.

　　With the passage of time, the art of horsehair embroidery has also evolved. The main color schemes of baby carriers have changed: before liberation, the dominant color was yellow, associated with the nobility of the imperial era, whereas after liberation, red became the main color, reflecting the modern association of red with good fortune.

　　Locally, proficiency in embroidery is seen as a mark of a girl’s skillfulness and dexterity. When girls in this region get married, their mothers must prepare a horsehair-embroidered baby carrier as part of the dowry, wishing for the early birth of children.

　　Sandu County in Guizhou Province is China’s only autonomous county of the Shui ethnic group, located in the southeastern part of Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou. Ban’gao Village in Sandong Township is the birthplace of horsehair embroidery, where its handicrafts are widely renowned and sold both domestically and abroad. Girls in Ban’gao Village learn the craft of horsehair embroidery from a young age, typically able to complete small pieces on their own by around ten years old. Nowadays, all female residents of Ban’gao Village are skilled in horsehair embroidery, which has become a well-known side industry and an important contributor to the village’s economic growth. This unique folk craft, exclusive to the Shui people, is found in Shui villages across townships including Sandong, Zhonghe, Tingpai, Tangzhou, and Shuilong. Locally, proficiency in embroidery is seen as a mark of a girl’s skillfulness and dexterity. When girls in this region get married, their mothers must prepare a horsehair-embroidered baby carrier as part of the dowry, wishing for the early birth of children.

　　Through long-term production and daily life, Shui women have developed keen powers of observation and aesthetic sensibility toward the natural world. They transform their imagination of nature and folk phenomena into horsehair embroidery designs, resulting in unique and distinctly ethnic floral, bird, insect, and fish motifs that carry rich artistic expression.

　　Another unique aspect of horsehair embroidery is the addition of copper ornaments on the embroidered pieces. These ornaments are shaped like ancient coins but are very small and thin, with diameters about the size of soybeans. They are threaded with red string and attached to the horsehair embroidery, resembling tiny scattered flowers. Beyond decoration, the Shui people also believe copper has the power to ward off evil. In feudal times, copper was used for minting coins, and some dynasties strictly prohibited private copper casting—yet Shui horsehair embroidery incorporates copper ornaments. This is yet another feature that highlights the value of horsehair embroidery.

　　Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery

　　The current administrative region of Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Guizhou Province.

　　Letter from the People’s Government of Sandu Shui Autonomous County on Delimiting the Protection Area of Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery as a Geographical Indication Product, San Fu Han [2015] No. 3

　　Local standard of Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou Province: DB522700/T075-2015, Geographical Indication Product – Sandu Shui Horsehair Embroidery