The technique of using wool to knit and weave crafts was added to the list of intangible cultural heritage in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province, in 2009. By knitting and weaving various colors of wool into dimensional patterns, craftspeople can depict both vivid-looking portraits and magnificent sceneries.
Thirty years ago, ahead of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, Gong Junhong, a folk artist from Jiangxi, spent 120 days knitting a huge woolen tapestry. The tapestry, designed with the conference's logo, was hung in the venue, where 100 traditional Chinese craftswomen demonstrated their skills to the conference's participants, from around the world. During the past three decades, Gong has been inspired by the spirit of the conference, and she has devoted herself to inheriting and innovating Chinese wool-made knitting techniques.
Knitting techniques in Nanchang, which are particularly popular in the city's Xihu District, combine the knitting skills for making single-colored crafts, dating from ancient times, with traditional Chinese painting skills.
Nowadays, knitted crafts from Nanchang are characterized by rich colors, wide sizes, randomly arranged patterns, and the craftspeople's complicated knitting and weaving skills.
In 1968, then-17-year-old Gong was a factory worker, and she was well-known for her excellent knitting skills. She taught those skills to her "fellow sisters," in the factory, so they could knit beautiful woolen sweaters and long skirts.
Gong says the popular knitting style in Nanchang involves the knitting of different colors of wool threads into various patterns, which are then woven onto clothes. To create a decorative, woven picture, the craftsmaker generally draws the pattern and then knits and weaves the colorful threads into the pattern.
Around four months prior to the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in September 1995, Gong began knitting the tapestry with the conference's logo. "When I heard the grand conference would be held in Beijing, I started to think about what I could do for the conference, as an ordinary Chinese woman," Gong recalls.
As she had been selected to participate in the demonstration of traditional Chinese craft-making skills, held during the conference, Gong was determined to show the charm of Chinese wool-knitted crafts. The tapestry she created was 3.12 meters high and 3.6 meters wide.
"As a Chinese folk artist, I was so honored to demonstrate the wool-made knitting skills to women from around the world. I still remember how the conference's participants, from both home and abroad, liked taking photos in front of my tapestry hung in the venue. Some of them even posed for a photo with me after they learned I was the maker," Gong says.
During the 1990s, Gong started to provide free training to local women, to improve their knitting skills remarkably.
In 1999, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Gong led 20 women, for two months, in knitting a giant tapestry. The tapestry, which depicted the Great Wall, was 10.04 meters long and 6.77 meters wide. It is now an exhibit of the China National Museum of Women and Children.
"As a participant of the conference 30 years ago, I have kept the delegate's certificate, invitation letter and photos from the event. They make up one of the most precious memories of my life. I hope women, from around the world, can live with a sense of happiness and gain. As a craftswoman, I will adhere to the spirit of craftsmanship and artisanship, and I will help other craftswomen improve their skills, especially in the development and innovation of traditional Chinese knitting techniques," Gong says.
Photos from Gong Junhong
(Women of China English Monthly October 2025)
Editor: Wang Shasha
