On August 19, 2025, the "Hongyan Reflects the Qiang Soul" social practice team from Chongqing University visited the Culture Exhibition Hall of Yu the Great and the Yunzhen Qiang Embroidery Experience Hall in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, Mianyang, Sichuan Province. The visit aimed to deepen understanding of the historical origins and values of Yu culture, while appreciating the cultural charm and inherited craftsmanship of Qiang embroidery through hands‑on experience.
At 10:00 a.m., the team arrived at the Yu the Great Culture Exhibition Hall. As the legendary hometown of Yu the Great, Beichuan carries a profound cultural heritage. The exhibition hall serves as an important cultural platform integrating relic protection, cultural display, and academic research. Through physical exhibits, scene restoration, and multimedia interactions, the hall systematically presents Yu's life story, his great achievements in flood control, and the inheritance and development of Yu culture in modern times, building a cultural bridge across thousands of years.
From Neolithic pottery and stone tools to ancient rubbings recording Yu's legends, and sculptures vividly restoring the scene of Yu's birthplace, the exhibits allowed the team to directly feel the deep connection between Beichuan and Yu culture.
"According to legend, Yu the Great was born on Mount Shiniu in Beichuan. Every relic and legend here witnesses how deeply Yu culture has taken root in this land," the guide explained, combining historical records and folk stories. The team listened carefully, stopped to take notes frequently, and showed sincere reverence for history.
As an important part of China's outstanding traditional culture, the Spirit of Yu the Great is not only an echo from history but also carries profound contemporary significance, embodying responsibility, governance wisdom, and collective strength. By engaging with historical traces and immersing themselves in cultural traditions, team members strengthened their cultural confidence and sense of responsibility, determined to integrate the Spirit of Yu into daily practice and promote fine traditional Chinese culture through youthful actions.
If Yu culture represents the thousand‑year‑old spiritual root of Beichuan, Qiang embroidery is the living cultural craftsmanship passed down through the hands of the Qiang people.
At 2:00 p.m., the team arrived at the Yunzhen Qiang Embroidery Experience Hall to begin their intangible cultural heritage practice. Each member spent nearly three hours completing their own embroidery work. Later, Chen Yunzhen, a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the CPC and a provincial‑level inheritor of Qiang embroidery, shared her insights with the team.
Chen introduced the history, cultural meaning, and modern applications of Qiang embroidery. She said emotionally:"Qiang embroidery is not only part of our daily life but also a kind of heritage and spirit. It is a tradition for Qiang girls to prepare a set of embroidered dowry for marriage. Qiang embroidery is more than needlework; it carries the expectations of families and the inheritance of our culture."
During the discussion, team members actively asked questions about the inheritance and development of Qiang embroidery, focusing on the market situation, ways to combine machine and hand embroidery, domestic and international market potential, and how to further expand the influence of Qiang embroidery through government support and market promotion.
From learning about Yu culture to practicing Qiang embroidery, the team not only explored the spiritual connotations of Beichuan's two distinctive cultures but also completed a profound transformation from "cultural perception" to "cultural participation" through observing exhibits, listening to explanations, learning skills, and hands‑on practice.
The "sense of responsibility" embodied in Yu culture and the "perseverance" carried by Qiang embroidery vividly show that traditional culture is not a static exhibit in museums, but living nourishment that can integrate into life and inspire growth.
This social practice effectively guided team members to strengthen cultural confidence by tracing history and cultivate cultural responsibility through intangible heritage practice, injecting youthful vitality into the inheritance and innovation of fine traditional Chinese culture. It fully demonstrated the mission of Chongqing University's young people to root themselves in practice and inherit traditional culture.
