Song Jin Hua Si Biography

In the late 1990s, Su Wan, a young man working along the coast, received the news that his grandmother was critically ill. He squeezed through the overcrowded green train and hurried back to Jinxiang, the old city of Chongqing. Her grandmother, Wen Huizhen, was a master craftsman of Song brocade and filigree inlay. She fell suddenly due to a serious illness, and the Su family's brocade jewelry workshop, which had been passed down from generation to generation, was instantly in dire straits. On one side is the promising future of the city that is within easy reach, and on the other side is the old workshop that is in dire straits. Counterfeit machines plagiarize original patterns, counterfeit goods are rampant on street stalls, capital businessmen are waiting for opportunities to acquire brands, apprentices are scattered, raw materials are skyrocketing, and many hardships follow one after another. Su Wan was forced to stand at a crossroads in life. The book spans more than 20 years of changes in the times, from the struggle to survive as a self-employed person, through the emergence of e-commerce, the rise of national trends, until the protection of intangible cultural heritage has become a common practice. There are no cheats or counterattacks. It describes the perseverance and choices of two generations of female craftsmen. It writes about the struggle, pain and rebirth of craftsmanship in the tide of the times. It describes the various situations in the market and the world, and witnesses the ups and downs of a traditional craft.