Dong Brocade in Hunan, China: Literacy and Re-invention of Tradition in the Perspective of Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection

Abstract

In this study, we investigated (i) the history, development, and current situation of Dong brocade in the Dong Autonomous County of Passage, Hunan Province, China, from the perspective of the historical development of the Dong ethnic group and (ii) the traditional re-invention of Dong brocade weaving techniques and the re-creation of the traditional educational literacy in the perspective of the intangible cultural heritage protection. This study is qualitative, mainly using the concepts of traditional re-invention and educational literacy, adopting two methods of data collection, namely, documentary research and field survey, and presenting them in the form of descriptive analysis. The results of the study show that the Dong people in China have a long history, and Dong brocade is a product of the social life and ecological environment of the local Dong people. With the development of the times and under different social demands, Dong brocade has been recreated in terms of the production process, raw materials, product types, and traditional education, and the literacy of Dong brocade has also been “recreated.” This study explores how to promote the traditional re-creation of Dong brocade from the perspective of intangible cultural heritage protection and how to realize the educational literacy of Dong brocade in various ways with the support of the government, enterprises, and universities. This is of great value to the theoretical study of the living heritage of Dong Brocade and the Chinese government’s promotion of the protection and development of minority cultures.