Why did embroidery technology develop in Qin and Han Dynasties?

After entering the Qin and Han Dynasties, embroidery technology has been quite developed. It is particularly worth mentioning that Wang Chong, a famous philosopher in the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote in On Balance? Described in Cai Cheng:

Qixian county is embroidered all over the world, and constant women are omnipotent; Xiangyi custom tapestry, plain without strange girl. Look at it every day, do it every day, and your hand will be wasted.

In the Han Dynasty, three official garment factories were set up in Linzi, Qixian County, with thousands of weavers and tens of thousands of expenses each year. In the era before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, not only wooden clothes were embroidered at the emperor's home, but also dogs and horses were quilted. Even ordinary rich people embroider clothes with five colors, embroidered Luo Wan, embroidered plain ice brocade, embroidered sleeping mats and embroidered bed curtains.

In the folk, it goes without saying that the nobles of the imperial court are all decorated with silk algae embroidery, so that "the house is not made of wood and the walls are not exposed", and even "the sill clothes are decorated with brocade", which shows the degree of luxury.

The unprecedented prosperity of embroidery in Han dynasty made the artistic treatment of embroidery take a big step forward. There are three kinds of embroidery names recorded in the bamboo slips of Mawangdui No.1 Han Tomb, namely "New Embroidery, Cloud Embroidery and Longevity Embroidery".

The embroidery place of the new embroidery is Luo. Several kinds of silk threads are used to embroider patterns on Luo, and the stitch method is lock embroidery. The pattern unit is small, the lines are fine, and the workmanship is very exquisite. It was the most exquisite embroidery at that time and the top grade in embroidery.

The silk brocade robe of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha is the best embroidery in the alphabet period. There are many deformed swallows embroidered on the surface of silk brocade robe. Because swallows are migratory birds, they migrate to the south as scheduled every year and return in the alphabet period, so this embroidery is called alphabet embroidery.

This silk brocade robe is 150 cm long and the sleeves are 240 cm long. It is elegant, elegant and luxurious. The Han embroidery unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha is the most abundant and representative, with a total of 19 pieces unearthed.

Chengyun embroidery is a continuous diamond pattern, with vertical stripes first and then horizontal stripes filled in the diamond pattern. Each group has three layers, which are opposite birds and two different diamond-shaped flowers. Geometric patterns, plant patterns and animal patterns are alternately distributed in the patterns. Birds are flying in the clouds, the branches and leaves of Cao Ruihua are crawling, and the diamond-shaped ear cups are constantly fastened. The lines are symmetrical and the picture is lively. The embroidery patterns are mainly scarlet, light brownish red and olive green silk threads, embroidered with eye-shaped peach patterns and moire patterns. "Cloud Embroidery" means "Birds fly by clouds".

Shou embroidery is made of silk and embroidered with four kinds of silk threads. The stitch is lock embroidery, with smooth lines, fine embroidery and neat stitches. It was a popular high-grade embroidery at that time.

Among the cultural relics unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb, there is a relatively complete embroidered silk bottom with crimson silk on the side and a thin layer of silk wool. The other one is so damaged that it is impossible to measure its size. You can see that the bottom is made up of two raised tapestries and embroidery alternately, and the edge of the tube is silk.

By the end of the Han Dynasty and the Six Dynasties, China had entered an era of "image religion increasing", that is, Buddhism was also called "image religion" because of its numerous statues. At this time, the wind of embroidering Buddha statues prevailed.

An embroidered fragment of one Buddha and two Bodhisattvas in the Northern Wei Dynasty was found in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, that is, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, donors and corresponding figures embroidered with several kinds of colored silk threads.

In this period, another remarkable feature of embroidery is the appearance of figures, which is the precedent of later figure embroidery and has very important artistic significance.