Suzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage  

Suzhou's intangible cultural heritage centers on silk craftsmanship, integrating various traditional skills and art forms. The Kesi silk tapestry weaving technique is particularly remarkable. It employs a unique "passing the warp and breaking the weft" technique, creating fabrics with identical patterns on both sides that appear as carved in relief, hence honored as the "holy of weaving". The Kesi technique originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties and reached its artistic peak in the Song Dynasty. It became renowned for imperial dragon robes and painted silk tapestries during the Ming Dynasty, and evolved to include woven-and-painted combinations in the Qing Dynasty. A masterpiece, the double-sided entirely different Kesi piece "Butterflies, Peonies, and Camellias", is regarded as a national treasure. Currently, there are just over 200 Kesi practitioners in Suzhou. Representative inheritors include Wang Jinshan and Ma Huijuan, who cultivate new talents through master studios and collaborations with institutions like the Suzhou Technician College inheritance classes.

Related heritage items encompass Suzhou embroidery (one of China's four great embroideries), Song brocade weaving technique, and theatrical costume and prop making. Theatrical costume and prop making originated in the mid-Ming Dynasty, accompanying Kunqu Opera artistry. It covers over a thousand varieties including costumes, helmets, and prop weapons, blending elements of painting, embroidery, and literature. Furthermore, Suzhou lanterns (Su lanterns) are noted for exquisite crafts like transparently painted lanterns and revolving shadow lanterns. Suzhou's silk culture is also underpinned by traditional production systems encompassing mulberry planting, sericulture, silk reeling, and weaving.

Preservation and Challenges: Kesi faces a generatioanl gap due to long production cycles, high costs of pure manual creation, and challenges in inheritance. Protection measures include establishing archival databases, replicating ancient masterpieces, conducting school interest classes and community experience activities (such as Kesi weaving experiences), and promoting daily-use products through online and offline channels.