Handicrafts workshop rekindles interest in cultural life of ancient women

Women living centuries back were confined to limited spaces of living and social circles. Engaging in activities of handicrafts and artistry and decorating themselves were important ways to enrich their days and meanwhile, to express.

The Chinese Traditional Cultural Museum recently held two handicraft workshops to celebrate the International Women's Day and the cultural heritage. One was hosted by Lan Ningli, a ceramic artist of Zhejiang province, who introduced to attendants the history and evolution of flower arrangements and apparatuses used to match the flowers and the interior environments.

Another was given by Xiao Yumei, a third-generation inheritor of the diancui technique in Beijing. She showed how to produce the dazzling works by attaching dyed feathers onto metal works with great delicacy. Head ornaments made with this craft used to adorn women living in the imperial court and of aristocracy, and fine examples of such are in the collection of the Palace Museum.