The science of saving tradition

Choosing what lasts

Over the years, Tang's team experimented with almost every product category imaginable, from leather bags and notebooks to shirts, suitcases and scarves.

One of his most unusual creations was a tracksuit made from liangbu, a traditional Miao fabric treated with egg whites and repeatedly beaten with wooden mallets until it develops a glossy, water-resistant surface.

Historically, villagers used the fabric for outdoor work in the mountains.

Tang saw something else in it.

"It felt cyberpunk to me," he says.

So he transformed the material into modern sportswear.

The tracksuit attracted national media attention and was eventually acquired by the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

Tang has been constantly calculating what can realistically survive modern markets and what cannot.

While keeping close tabs on the latest market developments, Tang has grounded his priorities in production systems.

Recently, his company has narrowed its focus to products with more stable long-term demand: canvas bags, towels, accessories and household goods.

Tang has also partnered with Tencent to digitize his Miao embroidery patterns and license them for use in digital products, from game skins to virtual merchandise. Under the arrangement, the patterns are documented, tagged with their cultural stories, and made available for Tencent to use in exchange for a share of the revenue.

"Their approach emphasizes the stories behind the patterns," Tang says. "That adds value beyond the visual."

Chen Ping, director of the Academy of Cultural Heritage and Creativity of Jinan University and chair of the International Organization of Folk Art, has a name for what Tang is doing.

"Don't turn 'protection' into 'preservation in formaldehyde'," Chen says.

"Preservation in formaldehyde means keeping crafts in a glass case — beautiful but lifeless. True protection acknowledges that tradition itself has the capacity for self-renewal."

For Chen, the ultimate test of heritage revival is not how many artifacts are stored in museums. It is how many products find their way into ordinary homes.

Recently, Tang's products have also made their way to Yuxun, a cultural retail space in downtown Beijing, sitting on shelves beside other heritage-inspired brands.

Sales remain modest. But for Tang, visibility itself matters.

"A decade ago, very few people in Beijing were buying Miao embroidery accessories," he says. "Now at least people stop and look."