Ma Qingxia, Inheritor Of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Sticks To Inheritance And Innovation

Ma Qingxia Embroidery Shop in Dalian, Liaoning Province is not conspicuous in a bustling city. Ma Qingxia, the founder of the Embroidery Shop and inheritor of Dalian's intangible cultural heritage, sticks to inheritance and innovation. Day after day, she uses embroidery needles to walk through thousands of hills and valleys on the embroidery cloth, presenting exquisite Liao embroidery works to the audience.

Liao Embroidery has a history of more than 2000 years. It combines the rich and colorful embroidery essence of all ethnic groups in the Northeast. After continuous inheritance and innovation, it began to spread widely in the Northeast in the 1950s and 1960s.

Liao Embroidery combines the three-dimensional characteristics of western paintings with needle and thread by using unique horizontal needle handling, twisting, carrying pole needle techniques, and ingenious color fading methods. It uses needle instead of pen, and thread instead of color. From a distance, it has an oil painting like texture and is good at presenting lifelike realistic effects, forming a unique embroidery art of Liao Embroidery, As a representative of embroidery in northern China, it is listed as one of the "Top Ten Embroideries in China".

Among the numerous inheritors of Liao embroidery, Ma Qingxia is unique with her exquisite needlework skills. As an intermediate craftsman and artist in Liaoning Province, she learned the thread technique, stitch type and color innovation of China's four famous embroideries through self-study and art methods of oil painting, fine brushwork, sketch and calligraphy, and pushed Liao embroidery to a new height on the basis of embroidery taught by Grandma.

A flower, a leaf, a branch, a vine, a bee, a butterfly, a twinkle, a needle, and a fantasy... Entering Ma Qingxia's Liao Embroidery Shop is like entering the palace of embroidery art. Each vivid and fresh work under her embroidery needle blooms the bright brilliance of Chinese traditional culture and regional national culture, setting up a reality and art The bridge between tradition and modernity.

　　 Inherit and polish the embroidery art of the times from generation to generation

Ma Qingxia is a native of Liaoning. She was born in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province in 1970. Influenced by her grandmother and mother, she became very interested in Liao embroidery when she was young. Ma Qingxia began to learn Liao embroidery at the age of 8. She used pillows, door curtains, clothes, embroidered shoes and other household items to give new life with her needle tips.

With the increase of embroidery experience and awareness, Ma Qingxia began to explore and study how to make flowers and landscapes more lifelike in color matching and application. She also boldly tried to innovate the stitch, showing the vivid characteristics of animals and characters in her embroidery works.

In 1995, Ma Qingxia settled down in Dalian and continued to study embroidery. She made full use of the flat needle and random needle embroidery methods of Liao embroidery, evolved and flexibly used the transition method of flat needle, and integrated the line structure and color changes of Liao embroidery. During the period from 2020 to 2022, Ma Qingxia, on the basis of double-sided embroidery, studied carefully, and successfully developed the highest embroidery process, the double-sided heterochromatic embroidery work, the double-sided heterochromatic cat. Many of her works express the national spirit of the people of all ethnic groups in Northeast China, which is loving life, pursuing beauty, positive, optimistic and open-minded.

　　 Skilled and polished "Liao Brand"

With countless sleepless nights, Ma Qingxia's embroidery skills have become increasingly mature and refined. In May 2012, his work "Little Girl" won the gold medal of the second Chinese International Jewelry and Luxury Fair; In October 2013, the work "Success in Arriving Soon" won the excellent work of arts and crafts of the 2nd China Dalian International Cultural Industry Expo, and the Cultural Expo Cup Innovation Award won the gold medal. In 2019, Ma Qingxia was rated as the inheritor of Dalian intangible cultural heritage.

In recent years, Ma Qingxia has made a greater impact on the honor of "ingenuity". In October 2022, her highest craft double-sided heterochromatic embroidery work, "Double sided heterochromatic cat", won the fifth place in the Liaoning Workers' Skill Competition. In 2023, the work "Dunhuang Beauty" won the gold medal of the Egret Cup at the Arts and Crafts Expo held by the Liaoning Light Industry Federation. In 2024, the work Peacock won the gold medal at the Arts and Crafts Expo held by the Liaoning Light Industry Federation

"I have been studying with great concentration, which is to constantly innovate on the embroidery road, to carry forward Liao embroidery, an embroidery skill that carries the civilization and wisdom of all ethnic groups in the northeast, from generation to generation, so that national art can become the art of the masses and the art of the world," Ma Qingxia said.

　　 "Focus on Kung Fu" to build a bridge to become rich

In order to better inherit and develop Liao embroidery skills, in 2007, Ma Qingxia began to try to "teach and teach", which was favored by young and middle-aged women who liked embroidery. In 2008, Ma Qingxia established the Liao Embroidery Workshop in Dalian, which not only provides a platform for learning and exchange for inheriting Liao Embroidery, but also provides a rare opportunity for Liao Embroidery lovers.

"I hope that I can lead students, produce works, and cultivate skills, and make continuous progress and growth with students, so as to carry forward the Liao embroidery skills," Ma Qingxia said. As the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Liao Embroidery in Dalian, Ma Qingxia has also participated in the campus and community public welfare activities of intangible cultural heritage in Dalian for many times to widely spread traditional culture. At the same time, she also actively promoted the employment of women. Since 2007, Ma Qingxia has accumulated more than 500 person times of teaching and art transmission, and students have spread all over the country. In inheriting the Liao embroidery skills, she has transformed it into a way to become rich.

She believes that with the care and support of all sectors of society, Liao embroidery, a traditional skill, will surely develop into a characteristic industry. More women can make their lives more brilliant by learning Liao embroidery. (Reporter Jia Yingying and Gu Meilin)

(Source: China Women's Daily)