Have your mom or grandma ever made embroidered （刺绣的） clothes for you? People in the past often embroidered on handkerchiefs（手帕）, bed covers and dresses. Girls would embroider on a sachet （香囊）as a gift for their lovers.

Shu embroidery comes from Sichuan. It is the oldest kind of embroidery in China. People began to make it during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). They sold it to other countries along the South Silk Road.

Embroidery takes time. It might take as long as a whole day to finish just 10 cm. By the 1970s, Sichuan had as many as 5, 000 embroiderers. But since modern machines can make cheaper embroidery products today, fewer people are buying handmade Shu embroider products. Young people aren't learning the skill. To protect this skill, Shu embroidery was added to China's intangible cultural heritage （非物质文化遗产） list in 2006.

Meng Dezhi, a national-level inheritor（国家级传承人）of the skill, has been making Shu embroidery for 40 years. After her factory closed down in 2005, she didn't give up loving this form of art. So she decided to teach others to make Shu embroidery. The work is hard and the pay is low. Not many people want to learn it. But Meng wants to change that. She now teaches it in universities and communities.

Shu embroidery stands for（代表）thousands of years of Sichuan culture. We should try to save it.

76. Where does Shu embroidery come from?

77. How many embroiderers did Sichuan have by the 1970s?

78. Are many people buying handmade Shu embroidery products today?

79. How long has Meng Dezhi been making Shu embroidery?

80. What does Shu embroidery stand for?