Bamboo Knitting Stays Alive in Wuzhen

Craftsmen work on bamboo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

For bamboo-knitting craftsman Qian Lihuai in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, the internet has not only altered the way he lives, but offered a golden path reviving traditional bamboo handicraft passed down over hundreds of years. 

Bamboo knitting in Wuzhen can be traced back more than 500 years. In 2016, it was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Zhejiang province. 

Qian’s father Qian Xinming is an officially recognized inheritor of Wuzhen bamboo knitting, and has been practicing bamboo knitting in this ancient water town for 40 years. 

At the age of 20, Qian, then a sophomore in college, started a systematic study of the handicraft, choosing to devote himself to the traditional art world and revive the family business. 

He visited the neighboring areas of Shengzhou, Anji, Dongyang and Wenling to learn the slowly vanishing skill and apprenticed with Hu Zhengren, a renowned bamboo knitting master in Dongyang.

Craftsmen work on bamboo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Upon graduation from the Zhejiang University of Science and Technology in 2010, Qian, despite strong opposition from his family and fellow villagers, came back to his hometown Wuzhen and founded Zhuyungongfang，a bamboo art studio dedicated to bamboo art and knitting. 

But what propelled Qian’s success was the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, when China’s famous antique collecter and dealer Ma Weidu visited his studio during the first session of the conference in 2014 and bought bamboo knitting crafts worth 20,000 yuan. 

During the following conferences in 2015 and 2016, Qian’s work was displayed at conference venues, arousing international focus on the art form. 

Qian currently runs an online store to sell bamboo-related items, and operates a public WeChat account to promote the craft through online classes, with viewers topping 1,000 for each class. 

"It's a strong medium for publicity," he told China Daily, adding it has become a vital channel to inherit and promote traditional Chinese arts and handicrafts, thus offering an excellent opportunity for their revival.

A piece of bamboo art. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Besides bamboo-knitting, Tongxiang, where Wuzhen is located, has been sparing no effort over the past five years to protect and transform ancient Chinese cultures in an innovative way. 

The city, since 2016, has sponsored the launch of three intangible cultural heritage showrooms, including the traditional blue calico, silk products and bamboo-knitting artwork. 

“We believe the internet will help traditional Chinese handicrafts, such as bamboo-knitting, take off and fly higher,” said Chu Hongbin, director of the center for protection of intangible cultural heritages in Tongxiang.