In early winter, stepping into the studio in Bao'an Village, Tongren City, Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, sunlight streams through the latticed windows, illuminating the wolf-hair brush in Zaxi Jiancuo's hands. He dips the brush in freshly ground pigments and meticulously outlines the solemn religious figures and the flowing robes of apsaras on a 43-meter-long Thangka scroll. "Just sketching these lines took us more than a month," Zaxi Jiancuo says, gently stroking the canvas.
In the workshop of the Qing Embroidery Headquarters in Haidong City, Qinghai Province, four Tu ethnic embroiderers skillfully manipulated colorful silk threads on the canvas, their needles flying as they brought layered sunflower patterns to life. "Our embroiderers have been working on this 'sunflower' for almost ten years, and now we've finally reached the final step," said Ren Lingling, head of Qinghai Sulonggu Cultural Tourism Industry Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sulonggu Company"), leaning over and gently stroking the embroidery with her fingertips, her voice filled with appreciation.
From the exquisite craftsmanship of Regong art to the meticulous stitches of Tu ethnic embroidery, Qinghai's intangible cultural heritage techniques, like the glacial meltwater of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, have flowed and accumulated over thousands of years, carrying the cultural genes of various ethnic groups and embodying the lifelong dedication of artisans.
However, behind the solemn Thangka paintings and exquisite embroidery, Qinghai's intangible cultural heritage industry has long faced the development dilemma of "even good wine needs advertising": constrained by the high-altitude geographical conditions, the cost of raw material procurement remains high; the traditional "handicraft workshop" model has limited production capacity, making it difficult to connect with large-scale markets...
Solving the challenges of inheritance and revitalizing industry requires the precise and targeted support of financial resources.
In recent years, under the guidance of the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China, local financial institutions have focused on the unique characteristics of the plateau's intangible cultural heritage industry, deeply integrating inclusive financial services with the inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage. Through innovative credit products and optimized service models, they have given wings to millennia-old crafts, allowing traditional crafts on the plateau to radiate new vitality in the new era.
Each stroke brings a new life to Thangka
Tongren City is known as the "Hometown of Chinese Thangka Art". Here, almost every family has a painter, and everyone can hold a brush. Zaxi Jiancuo is one of them.
“The process of making Thangka is extremely complex. From stretching the cloth, polishing, sketching, to coloring, gilding, and opening the eyes, it often takes months or even years to complete a masterpiece,” said Tashi Gyaltsen with concern. “Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer young people who are willing to settle down and learn Thangka.”
Thangka art can be traced back to the Tubo period and is hailed by scholars as an "encyclopedia of Tibetan culture." Thanks to its unique techniques for using mineral pigments and painting methods, Thangka has been listed as a national intangible cultural heritage representative project. However, the high price of high-quality raw materials, long creation cycles, and slow return on investment have made it difficult for many Thangka artists to continue their work.
Two years ago, Tashi Gyaltsen faced financial difficulties due to a shortage of funds for purchasing raw materials. At that time, Tashi Gyaltsen was preparing for an important exhibition project and urgently needed to purchase a batch of high-quality mineral pigments. "At the most difficult time, I couldn't even afford canvases." Recalling the situation at that time, he was still filled with emotion.
To Tashi Tsenpo's surprise, after learning about his situation while visiting other Thangka artists, Sotaben, a customer manager at the Huangnan branch of Postal Savings Bank of China, came to his studio the next day and customized a financing plan on the same day. Within just two days, the 294,000 yuan "instant loan" arrived in his account.
“Manager So has an excellent reputation among our Thangka artists,” said Tashi Tsering. “He not only understands finance, but also our art.” To date, with So Taiben’s continuous support, Tashi Tsering has received a total of 440,000 yuan in credit loans from Postal Savings Bank of China.
Zaxi Jiancuo's experience is a microcosm of how financial institutions in Qinghai are supporting the preservation of Thangka art. To address the funding challenges of intangible cultural heritage preservation, the Huangnan Branch of the People's Bank of China fully leveraged policy guidance and monetary policy tools, developing a work plan to support the development of distinctive industries, and formulating 16 specific measures to provide institutional guarantees for the development of the Regong cultural industry. Simultaneously, a special re-lending quota for distinctive cultural industries was established to guide financial institutions to increase credit support for the Regong cultural industry.
Among them, the Huangnan Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China innovatively launched long-term, low-interest loan products such as "Thangka Loan" with flexible repayment methods, providing more than 19 million yuan in loans to the Regong art-related industrial chain, actively supporting the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage; the Huangnan Branch of the China Construction Bank launched "Yunyi Loan," established a whitelist access system for micro and small enterprise loans, and granted credit of 3 million yuan to two key painting academies each; Tongren Rural Commercial Bank established the province's first Regong cultural industry-specific branch—the Thangka-themed Bank, focusing on providing comprehensive financial services for the Thangka industry...
As of the end of September this year, the outstanding loan balance for the Regong cultural industry in Huangnan Prefecture reached 86.05 million yuan, an increase of 29.53% compared with the beginning of the year. Among them, the loan balance for the Thangka industry in Tongren City was 85.55 million yuan, an increase of 29.07% compared with the beginning of the year.
The continuous injection of financial resources has revitalized Regong Thangka. Today, Tashi Jiancuo's Tibetan-style studio has become an art practice base for universities such as Hunan Normal University and Qinghai Nationalities University, receiving nearly 100 art students every year.
“Last year, I used the operating income to renovate the studio and added a teaching area,” said Tashi Gyaltsen, pointing to the students who were copying. “The contemporary aesthetics brought by these young people have given new life to traditional Thangka painting.”
Embroidering the Road to Prosperity with Every Stitch
At the Qingxiu headquarters located in the Hehuang New Area of Haidong City, Qinghai Province, a miracle of intangible cultural heritage blooming on the plateau is unfolding.
Stepping into the "poverty alleviation workshop" of Sulonggu Company, 63-year-old Tu ethnic embroiderer Yi Tairong sat in front of the embroidery frame. With her right hand holding the needle and her left hand holding the thread, the seven colors of embroidery thread, including red, yellow, green, and blue, skillfully shuttled on the black cotton fabric. The stitches were as fine as scales, and a sunflower pattern, symbolizing good fortune, was slowly unfolding. This coiled embroidery work, which embodies 10 years of hard work by the embroiderers, has finally ushered in the final finishing touches.
“In the past, I relied entirely on farming for income. I was busy all year round but couldn’t save much money. Now, I’m in the workshop embroidering flowers and can earn a steady 5,000 yuan a month, which is enough for my six grandsons’ pocket money.” Ita Rongxi put down her embroidery needle and gently stroked the edge of the petal she had just embroidered. The wrinkles on her face were stretched into gentle curves by her smile.
As one of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages, Tu ethnic group's coiled embroidery is known for its "fine stitches, bright colors, and auspicious patterns." A simple embroidery piece requires thousands of coiling and knotting, taking several days to complete. This craft, passed down for thousands of years, was once the "finger-tip livelihood" of Tu women. However, with the changing times, problems such as rising raw material prices and narrow production and sales channels have followed one after another, and the coiled embroidery industry once fell into the predicament of "holding a golden craft but not being able to make money."
In 2015, Sulonggu Company was established and spearheaded the construction of a "company + base (workshop) + farmer" production model. "But in 2020, the company suddenly encountered a 'bottleneck' problem of working capital," Ren Lingling recalled, pointing to the exquisite embroidery in the display case. "Orders were increasing, but we didn't have the money to purchase raw materials, and expansion was out of the question."
The turning point came from a proactive outreach service from the Mutual Aid Rural Commercial Bank. "At the time, the company was still a small workshop, and we wanted to apply for a loan of 1 million yuan but had no traditional collateral," admitted Wu Haiqiang, president of the Mutual Aid Rural Commercial Bank. During their research, they discovered that the company could help increase the income of rural women and promote the Pan embroidery culture. Based on this, the bank decisively issued a 1 million yuan credit loan, which was subsequently increased to 5 million yuan.
The Tu ethnic group's embroidery industry is the core carrier of "the origin of Qing embroidery" among Huzhu County's "five calling cards." In recent years, the Haidong Branch of the People's Bank of China, based on the characteristic that the Qing embroidery industry is concentrated in agricultural and pastoral areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, has made full use of the agricultural and small business support policy tool to provide low-cost financial support for the development of agricultural-related industries in ethnic minority areas. It has also guided local legal person banks to launch a series of "re-lending+" products, so that the Qing embroidery industry can benefit from the low-cost funds of the central bank.
As of the end of October this year, the local government had issued a total of 16.35 million yuan in loans to the Qing embroidery industry. Among them, the Mutual Aid Rural Commercial Bank issued 3,950 loans with a total balance of 1.447 billion yuan through its "Re-lending + Talented Person Industry Loan" and "Re-lending + Colorful Easy Loan" programs.
With precise financial support, the Tu ethnic group's embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage, has blossomed across the plateau, painting a vibrant picture of rural revitalization. At the Qing Embroidery Headquarters, Ren Lingling picked up a nearly completed sunflower embroidery piece and explained, "With financial support, we have not only expanded production but also plan to build a Qing Embroidery Museum to showcase these exquisite pieces."
The biggest beneficiaries of the industrial revitalization are thousands of embroiderers like Itarongi. "Now we can support our families by staying at home and embroidering. The boss never delays paying our wages and even gives us clothes and subsidies."
Today, Sulonggu Company has gradually established a Qing embroidery industry supply chain system with Haidong as its hub, radiating throughout the province. It has cumulatively created employment opportunities for 211 impoverished households and more than 2,000 impoverished individuals. Many rural women, especially those from impoverished households, have realized their dream of "staying at home, holding their children, embroidering, and supporting their families."
Let the "flowers of intangible cultural heritage" bloom on the plateau
Zaxi Jiancuo's Thangka workshop and Sulonggu's embroidery workshop are just two vivid examples of the revitalization of Qinghai's intangible cultural heritage industry.
This land standing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is home to 55 ethnic groups, including Han, Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Salar, and Mongolian. Through thousands of years of interaction and coexistence, Qinghai Province has also nurtured a treasure trove of intangible cultural heritage.
From the exquisite craftsmanship of Regong art to the melodious folk songs of "Hua'er," from the chiseling of Huangzhong silver and copperware to the intricate weaving of Tibetan carpets, these crafts are not only spiritual bonds for the identity of various ethnic groups, but also living carriers of Qinghai's cultural genes.
In recent years, Qinghai Province's intangible cultural heritage industry has transformed from traditional handicrafts to distinctive industries. The Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China and its branches at all levels have been driving this transformation.
"For some time now, the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China has been focusing on the blueprint for the development of Qinghai's 'four industrial bases' proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It has identified the points of convergence between the central government and the head office's financial policies and Qinghai's development positioning, and spearheaded the issuance of an implementation plan for the 'five major financial initiatives.' It has established a sound '1+5+N' institutional system with clear mechanisms, well-defined division of responsibilities, and clearly defined tasks. It has also innovatively carried out the creation of demonstration sites throughout the province, effectively supporting the upgrading of key industries," a spokesperson for the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China told the Financial Times.
To support the prosperity and development of traditional handicrafts in Qinghai, the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China has actively leveraged its financial resources to guide credit funds towards local ethnic minority industries, providing low-cost financial support for their development and effectively boosting the income and wealth of ethnic minorities.
Under the guidance of the Qinghai Provincial Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Haidong Municipal Branch of the People's Bank of China, targeting the "asset-light" characteristics of Qing embroidery inheritors and enterprises, guided financial institutions to innovate and launch exclusive credit products such as "Qing Embroidery Loan" and "Embroidery Lady Loan," solving the financing difficulties of Qing embroidery through intellectual property pledge and credit rating. The Huangnan Prefecture Branch of the People's Bank of China guided financial institutions to innovate and launch long-term, low-interest loan products such as "Thangka Loan," targeting the characteristics of long painting cycles and large capital needs of Thangka paintings.
To further bridge the "last mile" of inclusive financial services and address common challenges faced by micro and small enterprises (MSEs) such as information asymmetry and lack of effective collateral, the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China, in conjunction with the Qinghai Provincial Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments, has recently established a provincial-level financing credit service platform—"Qingxinrong." This platform uses data to build a trust channel between government, banks, and enterprises, creating a virtuous cycle of "increasing credit through data and promoting lending through credit." To date, the platform has gathered 53 financial institutions and has cumulatively disbursed 46.261 billion yuan in loans to 82,100 MSEs, using "data profiling" to solve the problem of insufficient collateral for MSEs.
Reporters learned that by creating a "financial supermarket" connecting banks and enterprises, the "Qingxinrong" platform guides financial institutions to rely on the platform's data resources to develop more than 20 scenario-based credit products, such as "ramen loan," "plateau yak loan," "cordyceps loan," and "Thangka loan," specifically targeting Qinghai's characteristic industries.
In the field of intangible cultural heritage preservation, the Agricultural Bank of China, through its "Simplified Loan" product available on its "Financial Supermarket," provided targeted loans to the Regong Painting Academy in Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, to support the inheritance of Thangka painting techniques. In the field of specialty animal husbandry, Qinghai Bank, through its "Rural Revitalization Yak Loan," provided 1.6 million yuan to the Yushu Garika Ecological Animal Husbandry Cooperative, breaking through the predicament of unsecured financing. These two cases vividly demonstrate the effectiveness of the "Qingxinrong" platform in precisely channeling financial resources to micro and small enterprises, injecting financial momentum into the development of specialty industries.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee put forward clear requirements and made strategic deployments for accelerating the construction of a strong financial nation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, providing fundamental guidance for effectively carrying out financial work during this period. The head of the Qinghai Branch of the People's Bank of China stated that, looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan, the Qinghai Branch will seize the opportunities presented by being among the first provinces to pilot agricultural transformation financial standards, the pilot program for the disclosure of relevant financial information by financial institutions, and the pilot program for deepening inclusive finance reform in Xining. The branch will earnestly implement the "five major tasks" of finance in Qinghai, ensuring their effective implementation and tangible results, and making due contributions to the healthy economic and social development of Qinghai.
From the embroidery workshops in Huzhu County to the Thangka painting studios in Huangnan Prefecture, financial resources are continuously nourishing Qinghai's intangible cultural heritage, allowing these ancient skills, which carry the memories of the nation, to shine even more brilliantly in the new era and injecting profound cultural impetus into Qinghai's high-quality development.
As a brilliant treasure of Tibetan culture, Thangka art can be traced back to the Tubo period. With its unique techniques for using mineral pigments and painting methods, Thangka has been listed as a national-level representative project of intangible cultural heritage. (Photo provided by Postal Savings Bank of China)
At the Tala Beach Photovoltaic Industrial Park, sheep have become "ecological weeders" under the photovoltaic panels, forming a unique "pastoral-solar complementary" model in Qinghai. (Photo by Zhang Bingjie, reporter for this newspaper)
The Thangka painting studio at Tashi Tsenpo. Photo provided by Postal Savings Bank of China.
Customer managers from Huzhu Rural Commercial Bank visited and learned about the "pan embroidery" craft of Sulonggu embroidery artisans. (Photo provided by Huzhu Rural Commercial Bank)
Inside the Tala Beach Photovoltaic Industrial Park, tens of thousands of blue photovoltaic panels gleam in the sunlight, stretching towards the horizon like an endless "blue ocean." (Photo by Zhang Bingjie, reporter for this newspaper)
