The history of embroidery

Embroidery is one of the excellent national traditional crafts in China, which is closely related to sericulture and silk reeling, so embroidery is also called silk embroidery. According to Shangshu, four thousand years ago, the system of chapter clothes stipulated that "clothes should be embroidered". Embroidery clothing was advocated after the Song Dynasty, and then gradually became popular among the people, which promoted the development of silk embroidery technology in China.

Gu embroidery in Shanghai Luxiang Garden was the most famous embroidery at that time. Gu family has been passed down from generation to generation, and his reputation for being good at embroidery is well-known in the north and south of the country and appreciated by the court. In the Qing Dynasty, Gu embroidery was famous not only at home but also overseas, attracting many foreign businessmen.

Today, China's embroidery skills are almost all over the country. Suzhou Embroidery, Hunan Embroidery, Sichuan Embroidery and Guangdong Embroidery have their own characteristics, which are called the four famous embroideries in China. Today's embroidery works have fine and complex techniques. For example, Shuang Mianxiu's Cat is one of the representative works of Suzhou embroidery. Artists divide an embroidered thread as thick as a hair into 1/2, 1/4, or even112, 1/48, and hide thousands of threads and knots without a trace. No matter from the front or back, you can see the naughty and lively expression of the kitten. The most difficult thing to embroider a cat is a pair of cat eyes. Artists need more than 20 colors of silk thread to embroider the cat's eye vividly.

1958, dragon and phoenix embroidery was unearthed from Chu tomb in Changsha, China. This is the ancient embroidery of China during the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago, and it is one of the earliest embroidery products discovered in China.

China's ancient embroidery has not been sold for a long time in the international art market, and the price is flat. It was not until 1993 in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places that someone began to collect it specially. According to market analysts, it will take collectors 10 years to make embroidery a new favorite in the international market. In recent two years, in some domestic art auctions, the price of embroidery lots has been rising, attracting competition from buyers.