The New Luster of Zhuang Ethnic Brocade

Zhuang ethnic brocade is a traditional handicraft of Jingxi County in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and is one of the most splendid cultural creations of the Zhuang people. In 2006, Zhuang brocade weaving was listed as one of the first batch of the national intangible cultural heritages.

Developed over more than a thousand years, Zhuang brocade is divided into three main types with more than twenty varieties and over fifty patterns, and is renowned for its strength and durability, sophisticated techniques, delicate patterns and exquisite designs. It uses cotton yarn as the warp and colored threads as the weft, and is skillfully woven by connecting the warp and breaking the weft. Most patterns feature visible objects or symbols of good fortune and happiness, with vivid, rigorously designed pattens and dazzling color combinations.

As one of the outstanding cultural heritages of Zhuang, Zhuang brocade not only provides physical materials for the study of the textile skills of China’s ethnic minorities, but also serve as living examples of the textile history in China and the world. Today, Zhuang brocade is not only a decoration item in the daily life of the Zhuang people, but also an epitome of rural revitalization and better life of the Zhuang ethnicity.

Producer: Yang Gu Chief

Supervisor: Chen Jiandong, Song Leyong

Chief Planner: Che Jingwen, Jin Linghan

Script Writer: Yue Pei

Coordinator: Zhou Shuodi, Tao Yanyan, Yang Jingyi

Co-produced by: China Internet Development Foundation and GMW.cn