Are Ethnic Chinese Artisanal Practices in Need of Saving?: Heritage, Women’s Labor and the Commodification of Crafts and Textiles in a Dong Ethnic Minority Village

In Meili, an ethnic minority Dong village in Guizhou province, Southwest China, a collective of women regularly engage in labor-intensive practices to produce detailed and intricate patterns of fabric and embroidery that adorn clothing and accessories. More recently, China’s state-led heritage projects are redefining their textile production as an archetype of “tradition.” Enmeshed in discourse on capital and profit, yet also mediums for discussing and lamenting lost traditions, these new initiatives that follow on the heels of wider trends to safeguard Chinese tradition and traditional practices and to marketize Dong textiles and embroidery. This article contributes to the growing literature of on-the-ground research analyzing the implementation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) schemes in China from the perspective of minoritized individuals targeted by outsiders for intervention with promises of empowerment and preservation. Situated within the wider framework of the increasing commodification of textile production, I show how gendered artisanal labor is tailored to fit minimalistic aesthetics. Cast as the locus of ethnic identity, local villagers continue their artisanal practices to simultaneously enact their own desires of modeling a modern, urban-mediated ideal of the ethnic villagescape.