The difference between Xiang embroidery and cross stitch

The general name of embroidery products in Changsha, Hunan. Suzhou embroidery, Hunan embroidery, Beijing embroidery and Shu embroidery are one of the "four famous embroideries". Xiang embroidery originated from Hunan folk embroidery and developed by absorbing the advantages of Su embroidery and Guang embroidery. Xiang embroidery is mainly made of silk, hard satin, soft satin, transparent yarn and various colors of silk and wool. Its characteristics are: rigorous composition, bright colors and vivid needling. Through rich color lines and ever-changing stitches, the embroidered figures, animals, landscapes and flowers and birds have special artistic effects. In Hunan embroidery, whether it is Ping Xiu, weaving embroidery, net embroidery, knotting embroidery, beating embroidery, velvet cutting embroidery, three-dimensional embroidery, Shuang Mianxiu embroidery, random needle embroidery, etc. They all pay attention to depicting the appearance and inner quality of objects, even a scale, a paw and a leaf. From the embroidery unearthed in 1958 Changsha Chu Tomb, it can be seen that Hunan local embroidery had developed to a certain extent as early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago. 1972, 40 embroidered garments were unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, indicating that Hunan local embroidery had developed to a higher level in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2 100 years ago. Since then, in the long process of development, it has gradually developed a simple and beautiful artistic style. With the development of commercial production of Xiang embroidery, many fine traditions of Chinese painting have been transplanted into embroidery products through the hard work of embroidery artists and the participation of some excellent painters in the reform and improvement of Xiang embroidery techniques, and various Chinese paintings, embroidery, poetry, calligraphy and epigraphy have been skillfully integrated together, thus forming Xiang embroidery based on Chinese painting, which uses more than 70 stitches and 100 colors to give full play to the expressive force of stitches. The exquisite description of the appearance characteristics of objects, embroidery is vivid and vivid, with strong texture, both form and spirit, and bold style. There used to be a reputation of "embroidered students, embroidered birds can smell, embroidered tigers can run, and embroidered people can convey the spirit".

Historical Development of Xiang Embroidery

Xiang embroidery is the general name of Xiang embroidery products with distinctive cultural characteristics of Hunan and Chu, with Changsha as the center. It is a folk craft with the cultural characteristics of Hunan and Chu, which was carefully created by the industrious and intelligent Hunan people in the long history of human civilization. Its history can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period more than 2,000 years ago. It can be seen from a large number of embroideries unearthed from the Chu Tomb of the Warring States Period in Changsha and the Western Han Tomb of Mawangdui that the local embroidery skills in Hunan had reached an amazing height at that time. According to records, from 65438 to 0958, the exquisite patterns of dragon and phoenix embroidery and the exquisite stitches of embroidery workers found in Chu tombs in Changsha have long been lamented by the world. 1972, 40 pieces of embroidered clothes were unearthed from Mawangdui Western Han tombs in Changsha, indicating that Hunan local embroidery, that is, Xiang embroidery, had developed to a higher level in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2 100 years ago.

"The splendid chu xiu and Mawangdui Han embroidery is not only a proud chapter in the history of Chinese embroidery, but also the logical source of the initial development of Xiang embroidery." In the long history of craft culture, the above argument is correct from the analysis of the deep cultural connotation of embroidery technology. It is undoubtedly of positive significance to explore the relationship between the past and the future of Xiang embroidery, a widely influential embroidery variety formed under specific historical conditions. In addition, on the basis of Hunan folk embroidery, Xiang embroidery also absorbed the advantages of embroidery departments such as Suzhou embroidery, Guangdong embroidery and Beijing embroidery, and developed into a rising star in the embroidery art garden of Qing Dynasty.

Xiang embroidery is based on Hunan folk embroidery. People in Hunan can embroider very early. During Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty, there were many women engaged in embroidery in Changsha County. In the 24th year of Guangxu (1898), Wu, the son of an outstanding embroiderer Hu Lianxian, opened the first "Wu Caixia Embroidery Workshop" in Changsha. His works are excellent and spread all over the country, and Xiang embroidery is famous all over the country. During Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, Yang Shizhuo, a Ningxiang painter, advocated Hunan folk embroidery, went deep into embroidery workshops for a long time, drew embroidery drafts and created various stitches, which improved the artistic level of Hunan embroidery. At the end of Guangxu, Hunan folk embroidery developed into a unique embroidery process system and became a handicraft commodity with independent style and strong local color. At this time, a special title "Xiang embroidery" came into being. Since then, Xiang embroidery has been continuously improved in skills and has become a world-renowned embroidery product.

In 1930s, the output value of Xiang embroidery was as high as 800,000 silver dollars, and it was exported to 1/3 products. In 1935, Hunan embroidery accounts for half of the total coverage of West Lake Expo. In the decades after liberation, Xiang embroidery has made great progress, standing proudly among the "four famous embroideries" with its unique style and superb embroidery skills, and becoming an "artistic business card" in Hunan and even the whole country. Xiang embroidery exports up to 5 million dollars a year.

After entering the19th century, with the development of commodity economy of Xiang embroidery, Xiang embroidery absorbed many artistic essences such as painting, embroidery, poetry, calligraphy and epigraphy. In the ancient culture of China, through the continuous exploration of many embroidery artists and the dedication of a large number of outstanding China painters, dozens of stitches and embroidery lines with various color levels based on Chinese painting have been formed, giving full play to the expressive force of stitches on various substrates and depicting the internal characteristics of objects in detail. At the beginning of the 20th century, Xiang embroidery won many awards at home and abroad for its unique style, and became one of the four famous embroideries in China.

Characteristics of Xiang embroidery

Xiang embroidery is an excellent handicraft created by Hunan people, with exquisite skills and unique artistic style. Chinese embroidery is usually made of silk, hard satin, interwoven soft satin, transparent glass yarn, polyamide fiber plus silk and cotton thread. Xiang embroidery mainly uses real silk to embroider patterns on real silk fabrics, which not only has high artistic appreciation value, but also is beautiful and practical daily necessities. The main varieties are single-sided embroidery, Shuang Mianxiu, stripe screen, screen, scroll, quilt cover, pillowcase, bedspread, cushion, tablecloth, handkerchief, various embroidered clothes, Gong Shan, embroidered shoes, handkerchiefs, scarves and other daily necessities. Each variety can be embroidered with landscapes, flowers and birds, animals, portraits and other pictures. After work, enjoy playing with Xiang embroidery crafts and artworks, which is refreshing and delicious. Home decoration also uses Xiang embroidery to reflect taste and personality. Wearing simple, elegant and modern handmade Xiang embroidery clothes will also give people a rich, elegant and refined feeling.

As one of the four major embroideries in China, Xiang embroidery is an embroidery handicraft developed on the basis of Hunan folk embroidery technology, which absorbs the essence of Su embroidery and Guang embroidery, thus forming its own unique style, emphasizing realism, simplicity and elegance, and vivid image. It is characterized by fine silk, boiled with Gleditsia sinensis seed liquid, and then wrapped and wiped to prevent fuzz. Its light is thinner than hair. Xiang embroidery is good at using dark gray and black and white in color matching, and with appropriate contrast between light and shade, it enhances the texture and three-dimensional sense. It is good at using blank space and highlighting the theme, forming the elegant quality of Xiang embroidery ink painting. The traditional themes of Xiang embroidery are lions, tigers and squirrels, especially tigers.

Xiang embroidery skillfully combines China's traditional painting, calligraphy and other arts with embroidery, forming a unique Chinese embroidery school based on Chinese painting. It uses nearly 200 colors of embroidery thread and exquisite silks and satins, manually uses needles instead of pens, and skillfully uses more than 100 needles to create or restore pictures. The most remarkable features are bright colors, vivid images, meticulous composition and strong picture texture, which are worthy of the artistic effect of "looking at the distance with great momentum and looking at it at close range with superb quality". Xiang embroidery is mostly based on traditional Chinese painting, with vivid form and bold style. There used to be a reputation that "embroidered birds can smell, embroidered tigers can run and embroidered people can express their feelings".

Xiang embroidery is characterized by rich colors and picturesque embroidery. He won prizes in Panama, Chicago and other world expositions. There is a folk saying that "Su Mao, Hu Xiang", liger of Xiang embroidery is vigorous and upright, with a pair of eyes that can be confused with reality, and now it has developed into Shuang Mianxiu with special shape and different faces.

Xiang embroidery originated from folk embroidery and has a history of more than 2000 years. The earliest discovered object is 1958 Dragon Wind Map unearthed from Chu Tomb in Changsha. 1972, 40 embroidered clothes and one embroidered brocade were unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb. There are many kinds of embroidery patterns 10, embroidery thread 18 colors, and various stitches are used to achieve the state of neat stitches, free and easy lines and skillful embroidery. By the Qing Dynasty, Changsha embroidery was all over the city and countryside. According to the Qing Tongzhi's Changsha County Records, "In the provincial capital, there are many female embroiderers and few weavers, and everyone is rich in cymbals. Shaping in Changsha County and Xianing in Kaifu District are the traditional bases of Xiang embroidery production, and most of the peasant women are engaged in embroidery, which was once called "the hometown of embroidery". There are many embroidery villages in the city, but there are no 26 in Qing Dynasty. There are more than 10,000 embroidery workers 1 10,000, with an annual output of more than 20,000 pieces of embroidery. Embroideries are mainly daily necessities such as quilt covers and pillowcases, and there are also a few high-end painting screens.

The thread used in traditional Hunan embroidery is very distinctive. Silk thread is lighter than pod seed solution and then wrapped with bamboo paper to make velvet smooth, not easy to pilling and convenient for embroidery operation. There are also knitting threads, each thread has a depth change, and it has a natural blooming effect after embroidery. The broken silk technology of Xiang embroidery is extremely fine, so it surpasses the "hair embroidery" in Gu embroidery. This extremely fine embroidery is commonly known as "fine wool embroidery" in Hunan. The stitch technique of Xiang embroidery is developed by drawing lessons from a set of stitches of Su embroidery, which is characterized by mixed stitches. Mixed needles are commonly known as "disorderly needle insertion", and the mixed needle system is subdivided into many kinds, such as mixed needles, mixed needles, straight needles, etc., as well as various needle methods unique to Xiang embroidery, such as turning needles and covering needles.

The artistic features of Xiang embroidery are vividness, vividness and strong texture. It is based on the draft, "ghost with needle" and "shadow with line", and recreates the art on the basis of deliberately pursuing the original appearance of the draft. So its unique skill lies in "needle thread" The stitches of Xiang embroidery are changeable, mainly mixed stitches. According to the different requirements of different parts to express different objects and natural texture, it has developed to more than 70 kinds of stitches. Lines come in thousands of colors. According to the theme of different pictures, different colors of embroidery thread-silk thread or wool thread are selected with different stitches. Embroidered objects not only retain the original charm of the drawing, but also increase the authenticity and three-dimensional sense of the object through embroidery technology with the help of the special expressive force of the stitch and the luster effect of the embroidery thread, which has played an artistic effect that ordinary painting can not achieve. Therefore, Xiang embroidery has become a unique school. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, "Xiang embroidery prevailed, surpassing Su embroidery, and was no longer in the name of Gu embroidery. The method is to change the blueprint to dye silk, not to take a step back. "

Since then, Xiang embroidery has attracted people at home and abroad with its unique charm of playing tricks. 19 10 years, which was praised as "muddy pen without trace" and "the words were embroidered and the needle and thread were destroyed" at Nanyang persuasion meeting. Xiang embroidery became an instant hit at the international exposition held in Chicago, USA from 65438 to 0933. A bust of American President Roosevelt embroidered in Hunan was unveiled at Jinhua Embroidery Workshop in Changsha, causing a sensation. He Jian, chairman of Hunan Province, instructed him to give it to Roosevelt in his own name, which is a much-told story. Xiu Xiang is now in the Alexandria Museum.

Xiang embroidery is an exquisite handicraft embroidered with hard satin, interwoven soft satin, transparent glass yarn, nylon and other raw materials. Embroidery products not only have precious artistic appreciation products, but also have beautiful and practical daily necessities. The main varieties are strips, paintings, quilts, pillowcases, bedspreads, cushions, tablecloths, handkerchiefs and various embroidered garments. Xiang embroidery is characterized by rich colors and picturesque embroidery. He won prizes in Panama, Chicago and other world expositions. There is a folk saying that "Su Mao, Hu Xiang", liger of Xiang embroidery is vigorous and upright, with a pair of eyes that can be confused with reality, and now it has developed into Shuang Mianxiu with special shape and different faces.

Xiang embroidery has a wide range of themes, diverse styles and colorful embroidery. Xiang embroidery skillfully combines China's traditional painting, calligraphy and other arts with embroidery, forming a unique Chinese embroidery school based on Chinese painting. It uses nearly 200 colors of embroidery thread and exquisite silks and satins, manually uses needles instead of pens, and skillfully uses more than 100 needles to create or restore pictures. The most remarkable features are bright colors, vivid images, meticulous composition and strong picture texture, which are worthy of the artistic effect of "looking at the distance with great momentum and looking at it at close range with superb quality".

"Needle as a pen, fiber as paper and velvet as color", embroidery workers have greatly played the role of blending needle and color, and skillfully blended various primary colors in texture. It is used for the transition of the same color from deep to shallow or from shallow to deep, expressing gradual and evenly mixed color levels, and creating various gorgeous, harmonious and pleasing colors. After the first dark thread is embroidered, when the second dark thread is embroidered, the connection must be uneven, staggered and leave no traces, so that the colors can be harmonious. The intersection line cannot be too long, too long or too short. This is the basic difference between Xiang embroidery and other embroidery stitches. Become one of the characteristics of Xiang embroidery.

The use of embroidery thread is different in thickness and color, and it is exaggerated appropriately. Split is a special skill of embroidery workers in Xiang embroidery, and the uniformity and exquisiteness of Xiang embroidery are inseparable from the increasing progress of this skill. The finger dividing line can be divided into 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. After dividing the line, it is inseparable, but it embroiders the texture, unifies the contrast, highlights the theme, and achieves the natural change of light and shade, and the integration of yin and yang.

The rich color of embroidery thread in Xiang embroidery is one of the main characteristics that distinguish it from other embroidery varieties. According to the Record of Snow Embroidery, there are 88 primary colors in 9 categories, namely cyan, yellow, red, black, white (above normal color), green, ochre, purple, cross and onion (above intermediate color), which are dyed into 745 different colors due to different shades. Embroiderers in Xiang embroidery believe that more than 700 colors may not cover the photosensitive effect of all objects. Therefore, the colors of Xiang embroidery can basically be called "all colors are available".

Xiang Xiu craft

▲ Draft making: Draft making is the first process of Xiang embroidery, and a good embroidery is inseparable from a good composition. At this time, the designer's mind is very critical to whether artistic understanding can be completely transformed into layout. A clever artist can completely sketch out the photos, patterns and even a living thing in front of him on a small piece of wax paper according to the designer's consciousness.

▲ Pro-manuscript: After sketching on waxed paper, use a small needle as small as a hair to make symmetrical holes according to the fine lines of the embroidered manuscript. When finished, put the cut satin face on the bottom of the paper draft, and then unfold the embroidered draft one by one.

▲ material selection

Definition: Choose the best base material according to the types of embroidery and the requirements of technological performance.

Principle: According to single-sided embroidery and Shuang Mianxiu selection; Selection of ordinary satin and fine satin.

Description of the base material: Xiang embroidery is a high-grade and precious handicraft made by hand with plain satin, plain satin, hard satin, interwoven satin and transparent nylon thread as the base material. Very decorative and collectible.

Main varieties and uses:

1. suku satin: referred to as hard satin, it is a thick silk base material, mainly white and beige. Because of its precious material, it is mainly used to embroider the best and best Hunan embroidery.

② Satin: Soft texture, mainly white and antique, mainly used to embroider ordinary embroidery.

③ Transparent nylon and transparent silk: mainly white, mainly used for embroidery and Shuang Mianxiu.

▲ printing plate. Printing plate definition: the process of printing a prepared manual template on a substrate (satin) with ink.

▲ Color matching: The embroidery draft came out, and the rest was wiring. Generally, there are many colors, nearly 2000 shades, all of which depend on the eyes of the wiring division and match the appropriate colors according to the designer's ideas. Introduction of thread material: thread material is mainly divided into silk thread, wool thread, gold and silver thread and so on. Introduction of thread color: Xiang embroidery is rich in thread color, which is one of the main characteristics that distinguish it from other embroideries. According to the Record of Snow Embroidery, there are 88 primary colors in 9 categories, namely cyan, yellow, red, black, white (above normal color), green, ochre, purple, cross and onion (above intermediate color), which are dyed into 745 different colors due to different shades. Embroiderers in Xiang embroidery believe that more than 700 colors may not cover the photosensitive effect of all objects. Therefore, the colors used in Xiang embroidery can basically be called "all colors are available".

▲ Decorative tension: Before embroidery, the embroidery needs to be tightened on an embroidery scaffold and stretched under pressure. In the process of embroidery, the tension frame should be replaced several times as needed. According to different embroideries, there are large, medium, small, high, short and extra large, and there are nearly 20 kinds of hand-drawn ones. Generally, medium-sized embroidery is used for decoration.

▲ Xiang embroidery raw material-wool

Embroidery: Embroidery is an extremely important part of the art of embroidery. A good embroidery is inseparable from a skilled Hunan embroidery artist. Usually, Anxiang embroidery artists must have more than ten years of embroidery experience to reach the level of embroidery. Thousands of needles swim on the embroidery manuscript, watching the lines and selecting the lines. Usually, Anxiang embroidery artists must have more than ten years' experience in embroidery to reach the level of embroidery. Thousands of needles swim on the embroidery manuscript, and it is extremely basic to look at the thread, select the line, arrange the thread, thread and break the thread.

▲ Unfolding: Unfolding is easier than embroidery. Carefully remove the embroidered embroidery and remove the excess wool and thread on it. Relax the embroidered embroidery and take it off. But the whole process needs to be very careful.

▲ Embroidery

Introduction to acupuncture:

Qi Zhen: Qi Zhen is one of the basic stitches of Xiang embroidery, and it is also the basis of various stitches. Ping Xiu's stitch method is: the needle should be lifted at the edge of the pattern, and the lines should be arranged evenly, so as to be neat. Ping Xiu can be divided into straight winding, horizontal winding and oblique winding according to the different principles of using silk, that is, straight winding, horizontal winding and oblique winding.

B. Loosening: Loosening is one of the most commonly used and widely used stitches in appreciating products at present. Its main features are equal length, staggered arrangement, overlapping skin and needle embedding. Because the lines are organized flexibly, the silk texture rotates freely, the colors are rich and smooth, and the embroidered surface is delicate and smooth, so the lifelike gestures such as flowers and feathers can be shown in detail.

C. Stitching: Stitching is the main method to embroider portraits, animals and birds. It is characterized by fine needle encryption, easy color setting, natural silk texture and flexible line organization.

D, virtual and real stitches: composed of virtual and real lines, with different lengths, from coarse to fine, from sparse to dense, and from long to short stitches.

E. Random needle embroidery has become a unique new variety in recent years because of its strong expressive force. Random stitch embroidery looks rough, but in fact, random stitch: there is a method in chaos, which is formed by the intersection of straight and horizontal diagonal lines with uneven length and can be colored repeatedly. Because the line structure is bifurcated, the inherent colors of lines of various colors can still be retained after fusion. The number of color mixing is not limited until the light, color and shape meet the requirements.

F. Acupoint: Acupoint is one of the traditional needling methods, which was used to embroider daily necessities in history. After liberation, embroidery workers creatively used it to embroider appreciation products, and the effect was very good. Point embroidery is based on yarn, embroidered obliquely according to the warp and weft of yarn grid, and each needle is gathered together.

G. Punching yarn: Punching yarn is also one of the traditional needling methods. In recent years, it has been used to embroider figure costumes, which is very decorative. Poke yarn is based on yarn and consists of many small geometric patterns.

H, needle connection: the short needles are continuously connected back and forth, and the rear needles are connected with the ends of the front needles into strips.

First, needle roller: two threads are tightly screwed together to form stripes, and the threads rotate flexibly. It is more suitable to embroider straight lines or curves.

J. Punching: It is also one of the traditional stitches in embroidery, that is, the thread is wound into a small granular circle to form an embroidered surface. Because each embroidery needle sees a particle, it is called "embroidery". It is often used to embroider the heart in appreciation products; Or it can be used alone to embroider still life, such as flower baskets.

K. Needle and needle: The stitch structure is similar to that of loose sleeve, but the difference is that the needle thread of loose sleeve overlaps and the needle thread is straight. The stitches of pine needles are hidden between the lines, and the stitches of needles are more exposed. In embroidery appreciation, horizon and needle are often used to embroider tree trunks and stones.

L, cover: cover is a stitch method of embroidering circular patterns, which is carried out in the order of equal-length staggered lines. When embroidering, the back leather thread is embedded in the middle of the front leather thread, and the silk clip is connected at the end of the front leather thread. Each needle should aim at the center of the circle and make a hidden needle near the center of the circle.

Male, frontal snatch: Qi Zhen split the skin from front to back, from outside to inside in turn.

N, anti-robbery: use Qi Zhen to split the skins from front to back, and do it regularly from inside to outside, with the same thread direction and the skins connected.

▲ Ironing: After embroidery is finished, it should be ironed. Because the embroidery thread can also show silky luster at the high temperature of nearly 100 degrees. Let the whole embroidery be full of movement and vitality.

▲ Decoration: Any piece of Xiang embroidery art is inseparable from careful decoration. It is also the last process of embroidery. Usually, the choice of decoration and frame of an embroidery should match the composition and color of the embroidery.

Classification of Hunan embroidery varieties

▲ It is divided into single-sided embroidery and Shuang Mianxiu according to the categories of stitches;

Single-sided embroidery: Therefore, this means that there is only one Zhang Xiu's face. Embroidery mother embroidered a perfect embroidery with more than 200 kinds of exquisite stitches and dazzling silk thread, supplemented by the bloody efforts of the cartographer. After embroidery is ironed, the luster and color of silk thread blend together. The craftsman framed it with a picture frame, with glass on the front and moisture-proof cardboard on the back. Twenty or thirty years is not a problem. Single-sided embroidery is not limited in size, and manufacturers customize their own satisfactory single-sided embroidery according to customer requirements. One-sided embroidery can be hung on the wall to decorate any part of the house. Hanging fruits and flowers in the restaurant greatly increases people's appetite; Hanging scenery and plants in the living room makes people feel refreshed; Hanging animals, flowers, birds, insects and fish in the room makes people linger, and hanging calligraphy and paintings and characters in the study makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Shuang Mianxiu: It has the same embroidered surface on both sides, and there is absolutely no flaw on it, not even an inconspicuous thread. This is a unique and superb embroidery method among the four famous embroideries. Shuang Mianxiu is not only good at embroidery, but also some photo frames are absolutely exquisite wood carvings. Carve with logs and draw with vermicelli. Fully demonstrate the elegance and unique charm of Hunan embroidery. At present, most of the spectacle frames in Shuang Mianxiu are round and uniform in size, with diameters of 30CM, 25CM, 20CM, 15CM, 10CM and 5CM respectively. In recent years, Xiang Embroidery has been constantly innovating and developed a rectangular square Shuang Mianxiu. The scale is 20*40CM. Very suitable for the porch and wardrobe of the living room.

▲ According to the process, it is divided into the best, the best and the ordinary products; The silk thread and embroidery workers used for the best and the best are more detailed than ordinary Hunan embroidery products. It takes a long time to embroider a fine work, which involves a lot of physical strength and time of the embroidery worker. The same pattern, different embroidery workers, different quality, different prices. Embroiderers can see the density of silk thread embroidery, whether the silk thread is bright or not, and whether the satin is smooth and shiny. There are several types of landscape animal images in Xiang embroidery paintings, among which peony, tiger, cat, dog and dragon are typical Xiang embroidery patterns. Judging from the difficulty of embroidery, landscape is relatively easier than animal figures, figures are the most difficult to embroider, and the density of silk thread is very high, so it is not easy to embroider figures vividly.

▲ According to the product form, it is divided into daily necessities and decorative supplies. The main varieties are strips, paintings, quilts, pillowcases, bedspreads, cushions, tablecloths, handkerchiefs and various embroidered garments. Screen is divided into small screen, hanging screen and seat screen.

Introduction of professional terms of Xiang embroidery

A. Embroidery ground: also known as "foundation" and "ground", that is, embroidery materials installed on tension frames, including silk, satin, yarn and cloth.

B, pattern: the pattern on the embroidery draft is called pattern; What is hooked on tension is called "ink sample" or "pattern"

C. Velvet: Half of a flower thread is called velvet.

D, split: that is, divide a flower line into several parts.

E, a trace: one twelfth of a flower thread is called a trace.

F, needle lifting and needle dropping: two actions of using embroidery needle in the process of embroidery, which are called needle lifting from bottom to top and needle dropping from top to bottom.

G. Stitching: Stitching is the method of conveying needles in embroidery, and it is the organizational form of thread.

H, stitch: the thread embroidered by each stitch, commonly known as stitch; Line length, also known as needle pitch.

I Silk texture: also known as "silk thread" or "silk road", it is the direction of embroidery thread arrangement.

J. "Slick": the level of batch embroidery in each small embroidery unit, and the term is called "Slick".

K. Edge: In any stitch method of split skin embroidery, the first layer of skin is called edge, that is, the first layer of skin on the edge of an object.

The significance of Xiang embroidery

As we all know, in the past half century, archaeologists in China have discovered many silks and textiles such as linen, brocade and silk in Hunan and Hubei, many of which are embroidery, which has provided us with rich physical materials for understanding Chu culture and chu xiu. Excavating the splendid ancient embroidery buried in Hunan and the original Chu area is of self-evident significance for the world to further understand the origin, evolution and embroidery tradition of Xiang embroidery.

The main reasons for the decline of Hunan embroidery

▲ Machine printing impacts traditional technology. Like other traditional crafts, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the crisis of Xiang embroidery came to an abrupt end in the face of increasingly developed modern civilization.

Hunan embroidery, which was born in the folk, has always had the tradition of "combining rice, oil and salt and paying attention to practicality", so the main customers of early Hunan embroidery are ordinary people. Later, with the development of Xiang embroidery technology, it gradually turned from daily necessities to handicrafts, and its taste and grade were greatly improved.

From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, with the appearance of machine-printed Xiang embroidery works, Xiang embroidery inevitably lost a large number of markets for daily necessities. In the handicraft market, some individual and private enterprises born after the reform and opening up put shoddy Hunan embroidery works on the market for short-term benefits, which greatly damaged the reputation of Hunan embroidery in the handicraft market.

▲ Xiang embroidery talents are not connected.

The lack of talents is related to economic interests. With diversified employment options and higher income, fewer and fewer people are willing to engage in Xiang embroidery, especially embroidery. According to reports, embroidery workers began to learn embroidery from a very young age, and it takes more than 20 years of training to become a skilled worker. Generally speaking, it takes more than 40 years to reach the stage of perfection. Whether it is a state-owned enterprise or a private enterprise, the wages of embroidery workers are generally not high, which is obviously not attractive.

▲ Boutique encounters "cloning" disease.

The reproducibility of Xiang embroidery often affects consumers' purchasing determination. A person from Xiangxiu Research Institute who asked not to be named said frankly. Different from other works of art, after A Xiang's embroidery work is completed, another brand-new work can be embroidered immediately according to the composition and design of the original work. Moreover, if the same embroidery master holds hands, he may surpass the original craft because he is more experienced. At present, encountering "reproducible" injuries has become a headache for many Hunan embroidery manufacturers.

Xiang embroidery achievement

The ancient Chinese civilization is one of the earliest countries to produce silk in the world, and the "Silk Road" is famous all over the world. At the same time, silk culture developed rapidly, creating a splendid clothing culture. Therefore, silk clothing occupies an important position in the treasure house of world clothing culture, and China is called "the dynasty of clothing" by the world. In order to show their wealth and status, ancient dignitaries embroidered various exquisite patterns on silk, and often used embroidery to decorate clothes, skirts, quilts, pillows and other daily necessities to beautify their lives and create beautiful wonders of the world. For example, the emperor embroidered dragons, the queen embroidered phoenixes, the civilian embroidered cranes and the military attache embroidered tigers. This is silk embroidery. Chinese embroidery has a long history and is quite influential in the traditional arts and crafts industry in China. It is the crystallization of Chinese wisdom. Handmade Xiang embroidery clothing is a very important part of embroidery industry and has an important influence.

Xiang embroidery has a wide range of themes, which are artistic treasures with high collection value, as well as practical and generous daily necessities, such as fashion, hanging screens, handkerchiefs and quilts. There are both magnificent masterpieces and exquisite sketches. Some are magnificent, some are elegant and dignified, each has its own characteristics, and tastes both refined and popular.

In order to meet the market demand, Xiang embroidery began to shift its product development from clothing and bedding to embroidery. At first, China ink painting was used as a breakthrough, and a large number of screens and hanging paintings of Mei Lan and Zhu Ju were embroidered, which just caught up with the retro style of family decoration and the popularity of wooden furniture, making these embroidered paintings sell well. Then try to embroider still life sketches and figure sketches, and develop a large number of new stitches to adapt to new embroidery and embroidery varieties. Therefore, modern Xiang embroidery will develop into a pure work of art, closely linked with modern interior decoration and modern art, aiming at creating exquisite Xiang embroidery. The second development direction of modern Xiang embroidery is to meet people's etiquette requirements and develop a large number of gifts, including handkerchiefs, greeting cards, scarves, calendars and so on. Let people experience the exquisiteness of Xiang embroidery art between square inches and become the carrier of people's friendship.

The unique skill of Xiang embroidery is a completely different Shuang Mianxiu in the second half of the 20th century. The ingenious design and the change of stitch are vividly combined to raise the technology of Xiang embroidery to a new level. Hunan embroidery workers changed the traditional craft of single-sided embroidery in the past, devoted themselves to the development of Shuang Mianxiu art, and at the same time created a more difficult "double-sided different embroidery", which raised the art of Hunan embroidery to a new level. It embroiders two objects with different themes, ideas, colors and stitches on both sides of the transparent base. For example, in liger's net embroidery, one side is a tiger roaring up the mountain, and the other side is a low-handed lion walking down the mountain at night. When going up and down, the head of the tiger in front turned to the back and became the tail of the lion. The images on both sides are very different and eye-catching. For example, the embroidered screen embroidered with "Mulan" on both sides is based on the famous sentence in Mulan Ci. On the one hand, it is embroidered with "Wan Li goes to Rongji ... cold light and iron clothes", and on the other hand, it is embroidered with "When the window is lined with clouds, the mirror is painted yellow." This not only reflects the heroic image of Mulan disguised as a man, but also reflects the school attitude of disguised as a man, making the comparative image more vivid. On the one hand, wearing military uniforms, on the other hand, ingenious ideas and exquisite embroidery are ingenious and amazing. Therefore, double-sided different embroidery makes Xiang embroidery reach a high artistic level, which is also a unique genre of Xiang embroidery in embroidery.

Awards: Xiang Embroidery has participated in many international expositions held in Japan, Panama, the United States and other places, and won many awards for excellence, enjoying a high reputation in the international market. In recent years, Xiang embroidery has made a breakthrough on the basis of inheriting the traditional embroidery skills, and a number of Shuang Mianxiu's works have been embroidered. In particular, both sides grew up in an inner room and no one knew her.