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.

Liangping bamboo curtain enjoys a great reputation of "the best bamboo curtain in the world" Thin as cicada wings, light as smoke, weaved and splint by fairies’ deft hands. This poem gives a high praise to the exquisite craftsmanship of Liangping bamboo curtain. As China’s folk handicraft, Liangping bamboo curtain, also known as Liangshan bamboo curtain, is one of the bamboo curtain paintings. In 2008, Liangping bamboo curtain was listed as one of China’s national intangible cultural heritages.

Liangping bamboo curtain has been a historical and cultural heritage through the ages and as a delicate handicraft, it is both functional and ornamental. Liangping bamboo curtain has been sent out many times as the gift of state visit by national leaders, such as Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, and has been collected by the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Liangping bamboo curtain could be traced back to Song Dynasty. Taking the local sinocalamus affinis as raw material, smooth and fine bamboo filament as weft and silk as warp, combined with traditional arts and expressions of calligraphy and painting, embroidery, and flocking, Liangping bamboo curtain can be made into such various kinds of practical handicrafts as curtains, screens, and decorative paintings, which feature fine craftsmanship, elegant appearance, unique style, and strong local and ethnic characteristics.

In the beginning, Liangping bamboo curtain was mainly used for daily necessities such as portieres, car shades, window curtains, etc. By the Northern Song Dynasty, with the mature craftsmanship, the bamboo curtain was offered as a tribute to the imperial court and enjoyed a high reputation. Henceforth, Liangping bamboo curtain became the “best bamboo curtain in the world.”

However, now under the impact of modern technological products, the once-famous Liangping bamboo curtain has lost its past glory and is fading away from people’s memory. Fortunately, there are some people who set their hearts on carrying this ancient art through.

Mu Bingheng, who was born in 1939, is the representative inheritor of the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage--- Liangping bamboo curtain. “We must hand down the art of making Liangping bamboo curtain from generation to generation; it will be a pity if it is lost,” which clearly reflects his attitude toward the inheritance of Liangping bamboo curtain. “When I was a little boy, my toy was bamboo curtain; when I grew up, my hobby became bamboo curtain; when I became an adult, my profession was about bamboo curtain; and now, my life is a bamboo curtain,” he said in an interview.

It is this simple emotion that makes pure hobbies the mission of the Mus. In order to inherit this ancient craft, the two sons of 73-year-old Mu Bingheng, have given up their own professions to learn how to make Liangping bamboo curtains from their father. Liangping bamboo curtain is not only a handicraft but also a cultural carrier that can tell the story and show the history of Liang Ping. For Mu Bingheng, it is his “mission” to let Liangping bamboo curtain pass down the golden brand.

Now, under the active guidance of the government, Liangping bamboo curtain has gradually been industrialized. With economic products as a carrier, the inheritance experimental base was subsequently established; this combined with participation in the cultural exhibition successfully declared Liangping bamboo curtain a national geographical trademark. The expanding industrial scale has breathed new life into Liangping bamboo curtain, and its protection and inheritance work is advancing in an orderly way.

(The original article comes with a Chinese version authored by Peng Yuan (advisor/Zhou Yuan) as well as an English version translated by Wu Liang (advisor/Jiang Jun, Wei Jingjun), and was later narrated by Long Anfu (advisor/Lei Yu), all of whom are students and teachers from Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies.)