Editor’s Note:  This article is produced in collaboration with the Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies as part of a series of ongoing reports exploring the city’s abundant resources in intangible cultural heritages.

Tujia Brocade, known as Xilankapu (西兰卡普：Xīlán Kǎpǔ), is recognized as one of the three famous brocades in China, together with Zhuang Brocade and Miao Brocade. In the early days, "Xilan" meant quilt and "Kapu" meant flower in the Tujia language, so "Xilankapu" referred to Tu's flowery quilt, which was often preceded by the character "Tu" to indicate the ethnic characteristics of this folk craft. This was later extended to other brocade items, and then all Tujia brocades were called Xilankapu. It is treasured by the Tujia people, who recognize it as a crystallization of their wisdom and skills and call it "the flower of Tujia". It is customary for Tujia girls to make beautiful Xilankapu on the weaving machine when they were about to marry in the past.

As an inheritor of Tujia Brocade in Youyang Tujia & Miao Autonomous County, located in sothe utheast of Chongqing, Zuo Cuiping has worked in this field for four decades. Zuo has grown with Tujia Brocade in Qingkou Village, Shuangquan Town, where the weaving craftsmanship has been passed down from generation to generation. She started learning weaving techniques when she was only 15 and has done her utmost ever since.

However, the weaving process is so complicated that she has to work day and night pulling threads, palletizing, combing, finding layers, picking and weaving, constantly figuring out the secret of this craftsmanship at each step.

When asked whether she had ever thought of giving up, she replied with a smile, "Someone would advise me to give up, but I won't give up for it has integrated into my life, as if I was born for it."

With blue, black, red, and white cotton threads as the warp, and silk, cotton, and wool threads of various colors as the weft, every stitch speaks of the unique delicacy of Xilankapu, and Zuo's enthusiasm for it.

She once had to stop learning brocade weaving due to economic pressure but she still cared about it when working in other cities. In 2008, after learning the craft was losing its popularity, she immediately returned to her hometown to set up a small workshop and became one of the inheritors of Tujia Brocade.

Zou treats the brocade as her own child, devoting a lot of time and energy to its research. To promote the development of it, she frequently teaches passing tourists how to weave and pick for free, and shares the stories and legends behind it. Moreover, she has developed new methods that are no longer constrained to ordinary flowers and plants. She said that every piece of Xilanpuka is unique to her.

Xilanpuka is regarded as the living fossil of Tujia culture for its decent composition, exquisite weaving, various patterns, and gorgeous colors. The color will change constantly during the process of weaving, disconnecting and interlacing, thus forming a variety of patterns. There are hundreds of traditional patterns, such as plants, flowers, animals, household objects, geometric patterns, characters, auspicious patterns and so on, all of which are vivid artistic portrayals of the relationship between the Tujia people and nature.

Xilanpuka is not only a story or a legend for locals but also a symbol of Tujia's daily life. "Like a world-renowned painting, it has recorded the customs and life of the Tujia people," Zuo said. Such themes as "dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity", "kirin delivering the child" and "double phoenixes flying towards the sun"...everything around the Tujia people are woven into the memories of the weaver.

To carry forward this craftsmanship, the entire county strives to develop the tourism industry and establish the business of customized brocades. With the help of Zuo Cuiping, Xilankapu has been brought to life again and shines even more brighter.

Today's Xilankapu is the essence of the Tujia people's inspiration drawn from everything in the world. Unfortunately, it is not yet appreciated and merged into world-stylish designs due to a lack of recognition by the general public, but the art, history, culture, and folklore embodied in it represent the excellent traditions of Chinese people. Passing down the skills is also a process of reviving our national culture since inheriting is a key part of the continuation and development of culture. When picking and weaving, we are passing down the brocade and inheriting the colorful Chinese national culture.

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Chinese script: Zhou Huilin

Tutored by: Wang Ruqian

Translation: Wan Fengsha

Tutored by: Cheng Guo   Wu Shulin  Wu Wei

Voice-over: Deng Qiqi

Tutored by: Lei Yu