LICC host Scarlett teams up with Palestinian student Zuhair to take on the straw weaving, an intangible cultural heritage. The more confident they were at the start, the more “flustered and disorganized” they became in the end.
“We’ll make baskets, straw hats, and fans today—easy peasy!” Both were full of confidence before the experience. But when Ben Li, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Ben’s straw weaving, took out the materials and taught them hand in hand, even the simplest straw-woven “cicada” became the first hurdle they needed to overcome. Straw flew everywhere, tangling into a mess, and their works were full of flaws. The camera captured their helpless smiles as they unraveled and restarted again and again. Zuhair exclaimed, “I’m stumped by a single straw.”
“The straw weaving process consists of four key stages: material selection, soaking, weaving, and shaping. Each step requires patience and meticulous attention to detail. What seems like a simple knot hides patience passed down from generation to generation,” Ben Li smiled and said. “Straw weaving relies on patience—if your mind is distracted, you can’t do it well.” As he spoke, his fingers flew nimbly. The once unremarkable Liaohe River reeds, corn husks, and iris leaves gradually took shape with neat patterns in his hands. He also skillfully integrated modern materials, such as colored ribbons and plastic strips, combining traditional techniques with contemporary aesthetics to create colorful and adorable animal-shaped works, infusing new vitality into this craft that has been passed down for thousands of years.
The turning point finally came after the Nth failure. When a somewhat clumsy straw-woven “cicada” took shape, Zuhair’s eyes sparkled with amazement. “This is pure magic. In today’s fast-paced world, this kind of slow, meticulous, nature-connected craft is incredibly precious.”
From “frustration” to “admiration”, this “failure” of an experience gave Zuhair a profound understanding. Intangible cultural heritage isn’t about instant success, but the precipitation of craftsmanship and dedication. The charm of China’s intangible cultural heritage lies in transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary—a single straw bridges past and present, transcends borders, and allows people from diverse backgrounds to comprehend the weight of “patience” and “inheritance” through engagement with tradition.
