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Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage · 非物质文化遗产

Living Crafts of China

中国非遗手工艺

Thirteen hand crafts from two regions: four from the mountains of Guizhou, on China's national heritage list, and nine from the port city of Dalian, from lacquer and enamel wire to leather, glass and thread. Now finding their way to European buyers.

1,557items on China's national intangible heritage list
90,000+recognised inheritors (传承人) working at all levels
44Chinese elements on UNESCO's heritage lists, the most of any country. All three figures as of early 2025.
How heritage is listed

A craft is protected by naming the people who carry it

China lists intangible heritage in tiers: county, city, province, then the national list. Each listed craft comes with named inheritors, the masters who are recognised for keeping the technique alive and teaching it on.

The four Guizhou crafts below all sit on the national list, entered in its first batch (2006) or second batch (2008). Each has an official project number, a defined home region and a documented method, which is what makes them possible to describe, verify and trace.

The nine Dalian crafts that follow are described as their makers document them. The level at which each is listed (city, province or nation) is not stated on this page.

Region one

Guizhou贵州

In the mountains of south-west China, Miao, Buyi and Yao makers work cloth and silver by hand. Four crafts follow, all on the national heritage list: embroidery, batik, Fengxiang dyeing and silver.

Miao Embroidery

苗绣

Costumes that carry a people's history in thread.

Miao embroidery is worked onto festival dress, aprons, baby carriers and ceremonial cloth. The national database describes it as a living historical record of Miao heritage, with each region holding its own motifs and stitch vocabulary.

Listed regional schools include Leishan, Taijiang, Jianhe and Huaxi in Guiyang, with related traditions in Songtao (Guizhou) and Xiangxi (Hunan). In Taijiang, embroidery has grown into a local industry: families run costume businesses, and buyers overseas now order the work, particularly around Christmas.

Signature techniques

Stacked embroidery (堆绣, dui xiu) is the technique the national listing singles out. Pieces of silk ribbon are folded and layered onto the garment, building orderly geometric compositions out of many small triangles.

Alongside it, Miao makers work in flat stitch (平绣), braid stitch (辫绣) and crepe stitch (绉绣). Butterflies and peonies are among the motifs that recur.

Chinese name
苗绣
Category
Traditional fine arts (传统美术)
National listing
2008, second batch
Project no.
Ⅶ-22
Listed schools
Leishan, Taijiang, Jianhe, Huaxi, Songtao, Xiangxi
Hand embroidery at work. A short clip from a Yuanix craft film.

From the Yuanix range

Embroidered panel with a bird and bold floral motifs
Embroidered panel, bird and floral motifs
Square embroidered panel with a central floral medallion
Square panel with a floral medallion
Embroidered yellow panel with a dragon medallion and blue border
Panel with a dragon medallion
A group of small embroidered animal-shaped patches in bright colours
Small embroidered animal patches

Miao Batik

苗族蜡染技艺

Draw in wax, dye in indigo. What stayed white is the drawing.

Wax protects the cloth wherever it lands, so the dye can only reach what is left bare. The result is a pattern that appears in white against deep indigo blue, with no printing and no stencil.

Each area has a recognisable hand. Danzhai is known for bold, expressive florals and adds red and yellow from madder root and gardenia. Anshun leans to geometric arrangements. Zhijin is known for white spirals and dense, fine geometric detail.

How it is made

  1. Treat hand-woven cloth with an alkaline wash
  2. Melt beeswax (黄蜡) over gentle heat
  3. Draw the pattern in hot wax with a copper stylus (铜刀)
  4. Dip the cloth in an indigo vat (蓝靛), repeatedly, to build depth
  5. Boil the cloth to melt the wax away
  6. Rinse and dry
Chinese name
苗族蜡染技艺
Category
Traditional craftsmanship (传统技艺)
National listing
2006, first batch
Project no.
Ⅷ-25
Listed regions
Danzhai, Anshun, Zhijin
Materials
Beeswax, indigo, hand-woven cloth
Drawing the resist, rinsing in the river, the indigo bath and drying in the field. A clip from a Yuanix craft film.

From the Yuanix range

Indigo cloth with a white lattice pattern
Indigo cloth, white lattice pattern
Earrings with a blue and white diamond pattern on a white plate
Earrings in a blue-and-white diamond pattern
Indigo teardrop earrings with silver tassels
Indigo teardrop earrings with silver tassels

Fengxiang Dyeing

枫香印染技艺

No beeswax here: a resist made from tree resin, brushed on by hand.

Fengxiang dyeing is a cousin of batik with its own materials. Aged resin from the fengxiang tree (枫香, Liquidambar) is heated with cattle fat (牛油) and filtered into an oil, which is brushed onto hand-woven cloth as the resist before the cloth goes into the indigo.

In the national listing, this craft is held by Buyi makers in Huishui County and Yao makers in Majiang County. The Huishui tradition reaches back more than 150 years in Qing-era local records, and in Majiang the patterns carry Yao customs and everyday life. It is a rare craft today, which is part of why it is worth telling.

How it is made

  1. Heat aged fengxiang resin with cattle fat, then filter into an oil resist
  2. Brush the pattern onto hand-woven cloth
  3. Submerge the cloth in indigo dye
  4. Boiling water strips the oily resist away
  5. Rinse, dry and press
Chinese name
枫香印染技艺
Category
Traditional craftsmanship (传统技艺)
National listing
2008, second batch
Project no.
Ⅷ-108
Listed regions
Huishui (Buyi makers), Majiang (Yao makers)
Resist
Fengxiang resin and cattle fat, applied by brush
Fengxiang dyeing in brief. A Yuanix craft film.

In the workshop

Two makers painting a pattern in amber resist onto white cloth
Painting the pattern in resist, by hand
Two makers seated at a table painting cloth outdoors
Makers working side by side
A workshop room filled with makers painting cloth at long tables
A workshop room full of makers

Indigo-dyed pieces from the Yuanix range

Indigo and white table runner with tea cups and coasters
Table runner
Indigo handbag with a white floral pattern
Handbag, floral pattern
Indigo handbag with a white floral pattern and a round handle
Handbag, floral pattern
Indigo hanging cloth with a central white medallion
Hanging cloth

Miao Silver

苗族银饰锻制技艺

Around thirty stages between a silver ingot and a festival crown.

Miao silver is worn as a full set: headpieces, neck rings, chest plates, waist ornaments and anklets. Beyond adornment, the national record notes that silver pieces serve as precious gifts, and that the work reflects the Miao character of skill, ingenuity and warmth.

Leishan County is the primary listed home of the craft, and it is also documented in Taijiang and beyond.

Key stages

  1. Smelting and casting (铸炼)
  2. Hammering (捶打)
  3. Welding (焊接)
  4. Braiding and linking (编结)
  5. Washing and finishing (洗涤)

These five are the headline stages the listing names. The full process runs to about thirty steps from design to finished piece.

Chinese name
苗族银饰锻制技艺
Category
Traditional craftsmanship (传统技艺)
National listing
2006, first batch
Project no.
Ⅷ-40
Primary region
Leishan County
Silver, forged by hand: drawing the wire, forging the sheet, filigree and chasing. A Yuanix craft film.

From the Yuanix range

Silver earrings with bell tassels on red cloth
Silver earrings with bell tassels
Chased silver bangle beside a wooden box
Chased silver bangle
Silver cuff bracelet with hanging tassels worn on a wrist
Silver cuff with hanging tassels
Filigree silver earrings with hanging tubes
Filigree earrings
Filigree silver butterfly earrings with tassels
Filigree butterfly earrings
Openwork silver ring worn on a hand
Openwork silver ring

Silver and thread, worn together

In this jewellery, a silver frame holds a stitched centre.

Silver pendant on a bust with a pink embroidered flower and hanging bells
Pendant with a pink flower and hanging bells
Silver pendant with a blue floral centre and a blue tassel
Pendant with a blue floral centre
Blue floral embroidered earrings with silver tops and red beads
Drop earrings with red beads
Crescent-shaped earrings with red embroidery and silver tassels
Crescent earrings with silver tassels
Two silver rings with red flower centres on a branch
Rings with red flower centres
Silver fish pendant with colourful scales and hanging tassels
Fish pendant with hanging tassels
Region two

Dalian大连

A port city on the Liaodong Peninsula, in China's north-east. Its makers work with lacquer, enamel wire, leather, glass, gourd, dough and thread. Nine crafts follow. Descriptions and photographs were supplied to Yuanix, and the age of each craft is as reported by its makers.

Enamel-wire painting

掐丝珐琅点螺画

Palace wire-and-enamel work, moved onto a picture board.

This craft descends from cloisonné (景泰蓝), which is more than 600 years old. It takes the court technique of laying wire and filling it with enamel and carries it onto a painting board, so the result is both a painting and a craft object. Gold wire draws the lines, and natural mineral glazes take the place of paint. Dalian makers add mother-of-pearl dotting, which gives the local version its own character.

Steps
Composition, base drawing, wire-setting (掐丝), blue filling (点蓝), film coating, shell dotting (点螺)
Materials
Gold wire, natural mineral glazes, shell
Pictured
Plates and a framed panel
Eight round plates on stands, each painted with a zodiac animal
Round plates with zodiac animals
A framed panel of blue-green mountains on a yellow ground
A framed landscape panel, blue and green on yellow

Incense beads

合香珠

A scent released by the warmth of the wrist.

Blended incense, pressed into beads and worn as bracelets. The craft is rooted in the traditional incense culture that its makers trace to the Han and Tang dynasties, and it follows the classical rule of balancing ingredients as sovereign, minister, assistant and envoy (君臣佐使). Natural herbs are crushed and worked into a clay, pounded by hand a thousand times, shaped into beads and left to age in the dark. On the skin the scent is released slowly by body warmth, and it stays soft and restrained.

Steps
Select herbs, cut, grind, blend, shape, polish, string
Materials
Natural herbal ingredients
Pictured
Bracelets
A board of six photographs showing incense being selected, cut, ground, blended, shaped and strung
The making, in six steps
A bracelet of round beads in mixed earth and dark tones on a cream background
A bracelet in mixed earth tones
A bracelet of multi-coloured beads resting on a piece of root wood, with an ingredient card
A multi-colour bracelet; the card lists its ingredients
A bracelet of violet beads resting on a piece of root wood
A violet bracelet

Tiger-head shoes and hats

虎头鞋帽

A child's guardian, sewn in cloth.

As the name says, these shoes and hats are shaped like a tiger. In Chinese tradition the tiger stands for strength and is believed to ward off harm and bring peace, so the pieces are more than children's clothing: each carries an elder's wish for the child. The making is intricate. Tiger shoes take 22 steps, among them patching a cloth backing, cutting the pattern, stitching the sole, making the upper and embroidering the tiger's face. Tiger hats take dozens more.

Steps
Cloth backing, pattern cutting, sole stitching, upper making, face embroidery (22 in all for shoes)
Pictured
A tiger figure and dolls in tiger hats and shoes
A tiger figure made of yellow cloth with an embroidered face and red ears
A tiger figure in yellow cloth with an embroidered face
A doll in a tiger hat and tiger shoes, beside a second doll in a red tiger hat, on blue printed cloth
Dolls in tiger hats and shoes with white fur trim

Liaonan dough figures

辽南面塑

Festival bread that became small sculpture.

It began in the Han dynasty, when families made decorated buns and pastries for festive days. Over time this grew into a folk art, often called a living fossil of traditional art. The Liu family's Liaonan dough figures are now in their fifth generation. They join the plain warmth of northern folk custom with fine artistry. Subjects run from historical tales and myths to figures of the day, and the family's own eight-knife method (八刀法) shapes expression with only a few cuts.

Method
Hand-modelled dough, shaped with the eight-knife method
Generations
Five, in the Liu family
Pictured
Fruit-shaped pendants and painted animal figures
Five cords with small pendants shaped like a peach, an orange and a pumpkin, laid in boxes
Cord pendants shaped like a peach, an orange and a pumpkin
Shelves of small painted animal figures in bright colours
Shelves of small painted animal figures

Jinzhou leatherwork

金州皮艺

Carved, painted and stitched, hide by hide.

Handmade leatherwork from the Jinzhou area, which its makers trace to the 14th century. By the Qing dynasty leather processing was well developed there. Work starts with good cowhide and sheepskin and passes through well over a hundred steps: choosing the hide, making the pattern, cutting, laying the base colour, hand painting, carving, burnishing, hand stitching and sealing the edges. The result is leather goods with a clear Jinzhou character.

Materials
Cowhide and sheepskin
Steps
Select, pattern, cut, colour, paint, carve, burnish, stitch, seal edges
Pictured
Round bags, a golf bag and engraved panels
Two round leather bags, one red with a hand-painted dragon and one green with a hand-painted cat
Round bags with a hand-painted dragon and a cat
A black golf bag with tan carved leather panels
A golf bag with carved leather panels
Four strips of tan leather engraved with a river townscape
Leather strips engraved with a townscape

Inside-painted glass

周氏内画鼻烟壶

Painted from the inside, through a narrow neck.

Inside-painted snuff bottles began in the Qing dynasty. They join Chinese painting and calligraphy with the form of the snuff bottle, an art its makers call unique to China. Snuff is no longer taken, but the bottles live on as rare handicrafts, and the making is the marvel. A specially bent brush goes into the bottle and moves across the inner wall, painting figures, flowers and insects, even whole landscapes, in reverse so the picture reads from outside. The Zhou family's work is among Dalian's heritage crafts.

Tool
A specially bent brush
Pictured
A snuff bottle, teapots, a jar and a crystal sphere
Two small clear glass teapots on wooden stands, painted with a pink flower and an orange fish
Two small glass teapots painted with a flower and a fish
A glass snuff bottle with a red stopper, painted inside with a group of figures
A snuff bottle painted with figures
A glass jar with a gold lid, painted with a lotus scene and calligraphy
A glass jar with a lotus scene
A crystal sphere on a dark stand, painted inside with peonies
A crystal sphere painted with peonies

Liao embroidery

辽绣

A needle for a brush, thread for colour.

Its makers trace Liao embroidery back more than 2,000 years. It blends the embroidery of the many peoples of the north-east and spread widely across the region from the 1950s and 60s. They count it among China's ten major embroidery types and see it as the northern representative. It works with a horizontal needle direction, twisted thread and the shoulder-pole stitch (扁担针), and blends colour smoothly, bringing the depth of Western painting to needle and thread. From a distance the surface has the feel of an oil painting, and it excels at lifelike subjects.

Stitches
Horizontal stitching, twisted thread, shoulder-pole stitch
Pictured
Framed pictures of cranes, a peacock, peaches and a portrait
A framed embroidery of two cranes under a pine with a red sun
Cranes under a pine and a red sun
A framed embroidery of a peacock with a fine blue-green tail
A peacock
A framed embroidery of red peaches on a branch, with calligraphy
Peaches with calligraphy
A framed embroidered portrait of a seated woman in a black dress
A portrait of a seated woman

Natural lacquer

大漆

A hundred li, a thousand cuts, one jin of lacquer.

That saying is how the trade counts the cost of natural lacquer, the sap of the lacquer tree. Dalian makers pair it with gold, silver, eggshell and shell, and keep to old recipes: glutinous rice flour to mix the lacquer for cloth backing, and glue boiled from fish bladder and bone. The craft covers both hollow-body methods (阴脱 and 阳脱) and more than 300 decoration techniques.

Thin coats are laid again and again in a humid room at about 20 °C, and a piece takes months or years. Makers say the finished lacquer is hard and light, warm in colour, withstands the swing from boiling to freezing, and does not warp or peel. They pair the old technique with modern lacquer-painting ideas to make everyday objects such as tea sets and jewellery, and place it in tea and incense settings.

Materials
Natural lacquer, gold, silver, eggshell, shell
Method
Thin coats, repeated over months to years
Techniques
Two hollow-body methods, 300+ decoration techniques
Pictured
A panel, vases, a tea tray, tea tools and a round plaque
A tall lacquer panel with gold lotus leaves and a white flower on a red ground, beside a blossom branch
A lacquer panel with gold lotus leaves and a white flower
A tall red lacquer vase with a long neck on a black background
A tall red vase
A round black plaque with a tiger in gold and silver flecks
A round plaque with a tiger
A black lacquer tea tray with a sunset landscape, small cups and a blue bowl
A tea tray with a sunset landscape and small cups
A pale pink vase shaped like a lotus bud on a lilac background
A vase shaped like a lotus bud
Black lacquer tea tools with red flame patterns beside a wooden cup and a bamboo scoop of tea leaves
Tea tools with red flame patterns

Gourd pyrography

葫芦烙刻

Fire for a brush, a gourd for paper.

Gourd pyrography goes back to the Han dynasty and matured in the Ming and Qing, when scholars' taste entered the craft and it became both useful and artistic. Its motto is fire as the brush and the gourd as paper. Ripe gourds are washed, dried in the shade and sanded. The design is drawn to follow the curve, then burned in with a temperature-controlled electric pen or a traditional fire iron, using heat and pressure to draw lines and shade. The edge is sanded and sealed with clear varnish or beeswax against damp, and complex pieces add painting or carving.

Tools
A temperature-controlled electric pen, or a traditional fire iron
Finish
Clear varnish or beeswax
Pictured
Gourds burned and painted with figures, a dragon and rabbits
A double gourd on a root stand, burned with figures and patterns, against a black background
A gourd burned with figures and patterns
A double gourd on a stand painted with a smiling child figure
A gourd with a painted child figure
An orange lidded gourd jar decorated with a dragon and a smiling figure
A lidded gourd jar with a dragon
A long-necked gourd burned with a group of rabbits
A gourd burned with rabbits

Made together in Europe

Chinese heritage crafts and European partners, side by side

Heritage crafts from China have already travelled. Four public examples, all built on Miao embroidery, show how.

Brand collaboration

Marni with Miao makers

Italy · announced 2019

Marni's creative director Francesco Risso worked with Miao communities on a collection carrying their embroidery, lace, pleating, weaving and silverwork into modern pieces. The makers came from the mountain regions of southern China, Guizhou among them. It sold in Marni stores in China and at selected boutiques worldwide.

WWD

Founder-led label

Voyageuses Paris

France

A Paris label started by a former Hermès professional after 15 years at the house. She travelled to Guizhou, joined local workshops and lived alongside villagers to learn what the patterns mean and how they are made. The label now brings Miao embroidery and batik into contemporary pieces, including lambskin accessories made from traditional skirt embroidery.

The brand's own account, which also reports a first prize at the Jingji Awards. Voyageuses Paris

Long-term partnership

Shiatzy Chen in Paris

Paris Fashion Week · March 2025

The house showed an Autumn-Winter 2025 collection with ten Miao stitching techniques, made with seven heritage artisans. The relationship began over a decade earlier, when the founder met twelve Miao embroiderers in Guizhou. They were later invited to the brand's atelier in Shanghai to exchange with Su embroidery makers. Tin embroidery was applied to leather for the first time.

Forbes

Institutional showcase

Miao embroidery at Milan Fashion Week

Italy · September 2023

Embroiderers from Guizhou, among them Shi Chuanying of Taijiang County, brought two traditional costumes and ten embroidered pieces to Milan. Seventeen embroiderers worked on the pieces. The Chinese Consulate General in Milan and the Guizhou provincial government co-sponsored the showing.

Xinhua

What the examples have in common

Relationships take years

Shiatzy Chen's began more than a decade before its Paris show. The Voyageuses founder learned in the workshops first and designed second.

The technique meets a new material

Both Paris houses took Miao embroidery onto leather. The stitch stays; the object it decorates changes to suit the customer.

Local institutions open doors

The Milan showing was co-sponsored by a consulate and a provincial government, and Shiatzy Chen worked through a partnership with Guizhou's government.

These four are third-party examples from public reporting, not Yuanix projects. Beyond Miao crafts, Dior (Nanjing velvet flowers) and Fendi (Yi embroidery) announced heritage-craft collaborations in 2023 for their 2024 collections (Dao Insights).

How Yuanix works with makers

From first sample to the European shelf

It starts with the people who hold the skill, and with a clear brief on what European customers will wear, carry and give.

Two elder women in headwraps sorting bundles of patterned and shimmering cloth at a market
Cloth is traded, sorted and mended by hand.
An elder woman in embroidered dress and silver necklace guides a child holding an embroidery hoop
Skills pass on at the hoop: an elder guides a child's first embroidery.

Before the first stitch: three questions

Fabric

Fibre, weight and hand-feel matched to the target customer, with a clear view on natural-fibre content and whether OEKO-TEX or GOTS labels are expected. Just as important is how well the cloth takes and holds the dye or the resist.

Pattern

Colour palette, how dense or simple the motif should be, seasonal colour, and symbols that need care in a European context. The aim is a pattern that keeps its heritage identity and can still be read and loved by a European buyer.

Stitch and make

What the finished piece is, which stitches and sewing methods carry it, and how sizing and cut suit European customers. Handwork has to join up with repeatable production, so the sample is a product a shop can sell and not only a demonstration piece.

Then a loop, not a leap

  1. BriefA written European market brief covering fabric, pattern and make.
  2. SampleThe maker studio produces the first pieces to that brief.
  3. TestPieces are shown to buyers and consumers, ideally at a European trade fair.
  4. RefineFeedback shapes a second round of pattern and stitch changes.

The order matters. One craft and one well-documented case come first; real samples, buyer feedback and orders come before any move to scale.

Design directions in progress

Early visual studies for products that could come out of this process: indigo cloth, embroidery on leather, and silver detail. They show direction, and finished samples will differ.

An indigo-dyed scarf with a white pattern and knotted tassels lying on a hillside of pink flowers
Design conceptAn indigo-dyed scarf with a white pattern and knotted tassels.
Concept board for a brown leather shoulder bag with navy floral embroidered side panels and a silver charm, with detail views and a sketch
Design conceptA leather bag with embroidered side panels and a charm inspired by Miao silver ornaments.
Concept sheet for an everlasting bouquet of indigo-dyed fabric petals with silver discs, beads and tassels, listing materials and components
Design conceptAn everlasting bouquet of indigo-dyed petals, silver discs and tassels; the sheet lists materials and components.

The crafts at a glance

Guizhou · on the national list

CraftMethodCore materialsHome regionsListed
Miao Embroidery苗绣Needlework, including stacked silk-ribbon embroiderySilk thread and ribbon, clothLeishan, Taijiang, Jianhe, Huaxi2008 · Ⅶ-22
Miao Batik苗族蜡染技艺Wax resist, drawn with a copper stylusBeeswax, indigo, hand-woven clothDanzhai, Anshun, Zhijin2006 · Ⅷ-25
Fengxiang Dyeing枫香印染技艺Resin-and-fat resist, applied by brushFengxiang resin, cattle fat, indigoHuishui, Majiang2008 · Ⅷ-108
Miao Silver苗族银饰锻制技艺Casting, hammering, welding, braidingSilverLeishan, Taijiang2006 · Ⅷ-40

Dalian · as documented by the makers

CraftMethodCore materialsPieces pictured
Enamel-wire painting掐丝珐琅点螺画Wire-setting, enamel filling, shell dottingGold wire, mineral glazes, shellPlates, framed panel
Incense beads合香珠Crushed, clay-mixed, hand-pounded, shaped, agedNatural herbal ingredientsBracelets
Tiger-head shoes and hats虎头鞋帽Cut, stitched and embroidered by hand; 22 steps for shoesCloth, threadTiger figure, hats and shoes on dolls
Liaonan dough figures辽南面塑Hand-modelled, eight-knife methodDoughPendants, painted figures
Jinzhou leatherwork金州皮艺Carved, painted, hand-stitchedCowhide, sheepskinRound bags, golf bag, panels
Inside-painted glass周氏内画鼻烟壶Painted in reverse on the inner wall with a bent brushGlass, pigmentSnuff bottle, teapots, jar, sphere
Liao embroidery辽绣Horizontal stitch, twisted thread, shoulder-pole stitchThread on clothFramed pictures
Natural lacquer大漆Thin coats built up over months or yearsNatural lacquer, gold, silver, eggshell, shellPanel, vases, tea tray, tea tools
Gourd pyrography葫芦烙刻Burned line and shading, then sealedRipe gourds, varnish or beeswaxDecorated gourds

What this means for a European buyer

Provenance you can document

A national listing gives each craft an official name, number, home region and method. That is the backbone of a credible product story, and it gives your buyers something specific to read and verify.

Compliance by category

Textiles, dyed cloth and silver jewellery each come with their own EU requirements for labelling and safety. Yuanix guides you through the rules that apply to your specific product before it ships.

Handwork sets the pace

These are made cloth by cloth and piece by piece. Planning around real lead times protects the makers and keeps your delivery promises realistic.

Bringing a heritage craft to Europe?

Yuanix Consulting helps Chinese heritage-craft brands with EU market access, platform onboarding, cross-border logistics and compliance.

Talk to Yuanix