Dating festival offers Miao artisan platform
The Miao ethnic group in Shidong town of Southwest China’s Guizhou province celebrates a festival called “sisters’ meal” on the 15th day of the third lunar month every year.
The dating custom is designed to enable young women to meet their future husbands at a lavish feast, wearing stunning traditional clothing.
Although the annual festival is closer to a beauty contest for the local Miao women, Wu Shuigen, a 51-year-old silversmith, sees it as an opportunity to showcase his work.
As a national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor, Wu has made silver jewelry over the past 40 years. His creative designs have made him a celebrity in Shidong.
Each year, Wu prepares two or three sets of silver jewelry for young women who wear them to the festival. Each set includes a crown, a necklace and other accessories, which take him three or four months to make. After the festival, the artisan usually gets more attention from potential customers.
“It is time-consuming to complete a design by hand. The work is exquisite and requires skillful execution,” Wu says.
Wu’s daughter, Wu Chunxiu, says her father insists that all jewelry has to be checked several times before being sent to the customers, to ensure product durability.
Wu Shuigen has explored different types of crafting skills in silver with his father since he was aged 8. He asked his father questions about new designs each time he saw one on a piece of jewelry.
“It is really a struggle to wear such a huge silver necklace now, and I prefer my silver jewelry to be more handy and practical for people’s use today,” says Wu Shuigen, who has a different view of the traditional large-sized Miao silver jewelry.
Besides, he enjoys traveling out of Shidong to visit silver shops in cities and likes to experiment with fusion — modern design with traditional craftsmanship.
Wu Shuigen established Shui Gen Ethnic Jewelry Co Ltd in 2010, and made a profit of 2 million yuan ($300,000) in 2016.
When asked about challenges in business, he smiles and says: “I don’t think keeping skills to yourself will make you rich but sharing them will and does.”
Compared to some other silver artisans in rural Guizhou, he seems more openminded to share his skills.
Since 1993, Wu Shuigen has trained more than 40 apprentices from neighboring villages. And, 16 of them have their own businesses now.
He has also encouraged his daughter to learn the craft — traditionally only Miao boys are allowed to inherit the craftsmanship.
Wu Shuigen recruits two apprentices every three years and spends his leisure time on teaching the craft at Kaili University in the province.
Chen Zhuo contributed to the story.