SHANGHAI – When Yan’s lawyer broke the news that she would be sentenced to life in prison for drug smuggling, she was overcome with fear and anxiety. As she walked into the courtroom on the day of her trial in 2019, her entire body trembled with nerves.

“At that moment, I felt I was finished, my life was over,” Yan, 66, tells Sixth Tone at Nanhui Prison in Shanghai. Yan, a pseudonym to protect her privacy, felt “hopeless and worthless” at the start of prison life, she adds.

That began to change a few months later when she joined a woolen needlepoint tapestry class. “I found a new world full of color; it saved me,” she says.

Yan has become one of the jail’s five most proficient tapestry artists. She spends three hours in the morning and afternoon perfecting her skills.

Woolen needlepoint tapestry has been a part of a novel education program at Nanhui Prison since 2018. The program aims to teach inmates artistic skills, improve their mental health, and prepare them for reintegration into society. Over the past six years, inmates have created over 100 tapestry works.

According to the director of the Prison Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, China had 680 prisons housing over 1.7 million prisoners as of 2018. Art programs are common in Chinese prisons, but Shanghai’s are one of the first to incorporate “intangible cultural heritage,” referring to traditional arts and crafts practices the government has delegated as worthy of protection.

Shanghai’s program has also been unusually well-promoted: the city’s Mass Art Museum held an exhibition in June showcasing over 250 pieces from intangible cultural heritage projects in 15 detention facilities. Techniques on show included jade carving, embroidery, bamboo engraving, and dough modeling, as well as tapestry embroidery from Nanhui Prison.

Nanhui Prison is dedicated to housing elderly, sick, and disabled inmates, with Cell Block Seven — where Yan is jailed — specifically catering to female offenders, with an average sentence of about eight years. Xu Wenying, Cell Block Seven’s chief warden, explains that the majority of the inmates in this block are aged over 60, with many disabled or in poor health.

Most in the block are serving time for economic crimes, after seeking quick financial gains, Xu says. She believes that learning embroidery can be character-improving, shifting inmates’ focus from immediate results to patient creation taking several months. To improve their skills, beginners spend their time practicing under the guidance of the more practiced inmates.

Shanghai woolen needlepoint tapestry involves stitching colored woolen threads on a net-like fabric. Introduced to Shanghai from Italy in the early 20th century, the craft, with its vibrant colors and artistic flair, captures elements of traditional Chinese oil paintings. A single image can consist of tens of thousands of meticulous stitches.

Xu says that larger-scale embroidery projects can improve teamwork skills and foster positive relationships within the inmate community. Embroidery works such as the commemorative piece “Red Boat” to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China also connect inmates to the nation’s history.

Not all inmates are eligible to participate in embroidery. Violent offenders are excluded due to worries over the use of sharp tools like scissors and needles. Those who have received demerits from prison authorities within the past three months are not permitted to learn embroidery as it is considered a reward, and the time spent counts towards mandatory labor hours for prisoners.

Sun Jingjing, a police officer overseeing the embroidery project, emphasizes the possibility of sentence reductions based on their performance. The project’s main goal is to facilitate the offenders’ rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society by providing them with valuable skills and a sense of hope for the future, she adds.

The highly focused process of embroidery can help alleviate psychological pressure. “Embroidery can become a highlight in their bleak world,” Sun says.

Despite this, Sun acknowledges several challenges remain. Material supply can be delayed, technical skills are difficult to master, and it can be difficult for inmates to find jobs after release due to their age.

Zhang Xiaoye, a lecturer in criminology at De Montfort University in the UK, tells Sixth Tone that participants in prison art programs often already possess higher levels of cultural capital, good communication skills, and strong social abilities, meaning they do not represent the majority of the prison population.

More could be done to help former prisoners prepare for work, she says. “Most people, even after receiving skills training in prison, still find themselves unable to secure employment upon release,” she says.

Another skilled embroiderer at Nanhui Prison is surnamed Cheng. The 64-year-old was initially sentenced to 11 years for fraud, but had her term reduced to nine years for good behavior. Cheng, also a pseudonym to protect her privacy, admits to struggling with basic needlework when she started her first project, “The Olympic Rings.”

Through years of practice, Cheng’s tapestries have evolved into grand and imposing pieces such as one depicting the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. She researches and develops her own stitching techniques for each project.

Speaking about a work named “Party Flag,” Cheng says: “Even though I am in prison, I am still able to produce such remarkable work, which makes me feel incredibly accomplished and proud.”

Cheng now shares her expertise with fellow inmates and aims to leave behind one final piece of work before leaving prison. Post-release, she hopes to return to her previous career in media, or possibly center a business venture around her embroidery.

Bao Yanhui, a teacher of Shanghai woolen needlepoint tapestry, collaborates with prisoners at Nanhui Prison. “When teaching, I mainly adopt an encouraging approach, and praise them,” he says.

Bao hopes for a dedicated tapestry learning space within the prison, enabling individuals to “fully immerse themselves in artistic charm.” A former inmate continued practicing woolen needlepoint tapestry with him even after release, he says.

For Yan, the primary challenge lies in the complexity of the embroidery technique itself, involving intricate steps such as starting the stitches, securing the stitches, closely following a design, and counting grid squares. As she explains, “A single work can have tens of thousands of grid squares, and not a single one can be wrong.”

She finds the prolonged focus required for embroidering is physically taxing due to her age. At first, she experienced persistent headaches and even nausea while working. “I keep reminding myself that I am here to transform, and I must overcome difficulties,” Yan tells Sixth Tone.

Last May, after two months of hard work, Yan completed her masterpiece “Red Boat,” which was displayed at the prison’s anniversary exhibition. “Embroidering this piece made me feel supported by the authorities, and gave me a sense of stability once again,” Yan says.

Yan is also proud of her piece “National Beauty in Spring Splendor,” which she worked on from last December until May. The tapestry features more than a dozen peonies using 121 colors of thread.

The artwork showcases a butterfly at the top corner, symbolizing freedom as well as Yan’s own desire to escape confinement. Due to her artwork and conduct, Yan is optimistic about having her life sentence commuted to a fixed-term sentence of 22 years.

“There will be a day when I can fly out of here,” she says.

(Header image: An inmate presents her work, Shanghai, July 2024. Wu Huiyuan/Sixth Tone)