With detailed embroidery and elegant shapes, Qingyang sachets, also known as “fragrant pouches” or chu chu (“hidden stitch”), represent blessings of good luck and happiness and are used to avoid illnesses and evil spirits.
In Qingyang, in the western province of Gansu, these “fragrant pouches” are made with a sewing technique that conceals the stitches on the surface of the sachet. Made from silk and embroidered with colorful patterns, they are stuffed with herbs such as cinnabar, calamus, wormwood and chrysanthemum and used traditionally to absorb odors, repel insects and guard against evil spirits. In addition to being displayed and worn during Dragon Boat Festival, couples also exchange them as tokens of affection.
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Friday, July 11, 2014
7:00PM – 10:00PM
Zone 5
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Saturday, July 12, 2014
12:00PM – 8:00PM
Zone 5
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Sunday, July 13, 2014
12:00PM – 6:00PM
Zone 5
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Liu Langfang 刘兰芳
Liu Langfang is a sachet-maker and embroiderer from Qingyang, Gansu Province. She has been interested in these crafts since childhood and formally studied from two well-known folk artists, Wang Guanqing from Gansu and Wang Guangpu from Beijing. She is the manager and designer of Qingyang Qihuang Culture and Communications Ltd., where she has focused on designing, researching, and teaching folk culture products. In 2013, Liu was designated an intangible cultural heritage bearer at the Qingyang municipal level. She has won many national prizes and in 2013 was recognized as “Female Entrepreneur” by the Gansu Provincial People’s Government.