Shi Liping: Pass on Miao embroidery to more people

As an NPC deputy, Shi strives to use Miao embroidery to vitalize rural areas and help locals increase their incomes. [Photo/ddcpc website]

Shi Liping, a practitioner of Miao embroidery and a deputy to the National People's Congress, was recently selected as the 2022 March 8th Red Banner pacesetter by the All-China Women's Federation.

Over the past two decades, Shi has been traveling around Guizhou collecting Miao embroidery patterns and teaching the craft to others.

When she first established her Miao embroidery company, it employed just three embroiderers, but after more than 30 training sessions, the number increased to 20,000, most of whom are people born in the 1980s and 90s.

During her visit to more than 20 Miao villages, Shi found that some villages had weak collective economies and didn't utilize natural resources, some villages' agricultural industrial sectors failed to form a reliable industrial chain, and some villages lack young people.

To solve these problems, Shi tried to combine Miao embroidery with Miao medicine and started to plant Isatis, a traditional Chinese medicine and vegetable dye for Miao embroidery.

Unlike chemical dyes, the planting and processing of Isatis will not cause any damage to the soil and water. Isatis can be harvested repeatedly for three years as long as its roots are left in the soil.

Shi's company strives to vitalize rural areas and has cooperated with villages to allow more and more people to learn her craft and increase their incomes. So far, her company has helped more than 4,000 left-behind women find jobs.