A brief history of the development of Chinese embroidery culture

At present, the earliest embroidery handed down from generation to generation are two pieces of embroidery unearthed from Chu Tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province during the Warring States Period. Looking at its stitch method, it is completely embroidered on silk

and Luo, with neat stitches, elegant color matching and smooth lines, which makes the patterns dance like dragons and phoenix, tigers and beasts, showing natural and vivid, lively and powerful, fully demonstrating the embroidery art of Chu. Embroideries of the Han Dynasty have been unearthed in the Thousand Buddha Cave in Dunhuang, the tomb of Wuluchong in Hebei, the northern part of Inner Mongolia and the northern tomb of Astana in Turpan, Xinjiang, especially in Mawangdui, Changsha in 1972, which is helpful to understand the embroidery style of the Han Dynasty. Judging from these embroideries, the themes of Han embroidery patterns are mostly wavy moire patterns, soaring phoenix birds, galloping beasts, and ribbon patterns and geometric patterns commonly found in Han mirror ornamentation. The newly adopted base material for embroidery was the popular fabrics at that time, such as silk brocade woven into auspicious words such as "Longevity and Great Future" and "Changle Bright". Its technique is mainly lock embroidery, which fills the pattern, has a compact composition, neat stitches and extremely smooth lines.

Silk fabrics from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Northern Dynasties were unearthed in Dunhuang, Gansu, Hotan, Bachu, Turpan and other places in Xinjiang. No matter the pattern or blank space, the whole piece of embroidery was embroidered with fine lock embroidery, which became a feature of embroidery everywhere.

In p>1965, a fragment of an embroidered Buddha statue presented by Wang Yuanjia of Guangyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 11th year of Taihe (487) was found in a rock crack in front of Cave 125 and Cave 126 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu. Among them, a sitting Buddha is embroidered, and the Buddha sits on the lotus platform in a knot with his feet in a dish. On the right side of the Buddha is a bodhisattva. Honeysuckle pattern and three petals of flowers are filled between Buddha and Bodhisattva. In the middle of the bottom is a vow, and the supporters are on the left and right sides. * * * Four men and one woman, dressed in Hu fu, embroidered with names beside them. Ornamental lace on the back of honeysuckle turtle. The remaining part of the vows is "made by Guangyang Wang Huian (Yuanjia)". The pattern is based on the theme of men and women supporting characters. The female breadwinner wears a high crown and a double-breasted gown. The clothes are decorated with peach-shaped honeysuckle and curly grass patterns. Embroider the edge of robes, flowers, branches, leaf frames and Wei Bei characters with single-row locks on the silk bottom. Peach-shaped honeysuckle pattern, Wei characters and hat wings are double-row lock embroidery. Embroider the leaves with multi-row locks, and highlight the veins with different colors. The stitch distance is small, the front side forms herringbone chain pattern, and the back side is straight stitch connected end to end; The lace part is thicker with silk thread and the stitch distance is slightly larger; The direction of the needle is about eight needles in the longitudinal direction of 1 cm and eight needles in the transverse direction of 1 cm; In other parts, the distance between needles is dense, about 9 needles in the longitudinal direction of 1 cm, and about 11 needles in the transverse direction of L cm. The needles are connected closely, forming a strong three-dimensional sense; In some places of lace, the lock stitch method is used in reverse, forming a straight stitch with the front end connected and the back with herringbone lock pattern. The positive and negative changes of lock embroidery are innovative development on the basis of lock embroidery in Han Dynasty. The colors of embroidery are mainly red, yellow and green, followed by purple and blue. Light yellow is the background color, and vermilion is mainly used for clothing and lines that show the muscles of the nose, ears, hands and feet. Blue and green are used for patterns, and purplish brown is used to represent dark parts such as crowns and boots. Embroidery has harmonious color matching, bright colors and changeable sewing methods, which is beyond Han embroidery. Color matching with two halo method, embroidery is embroidered with fine lock embroidery method except for edge decoration, which is the earliest existing decorative embroidery painting embroidered all over the floor.

The embroidery handed down and unearthed in the Tang Dynasty is closely related to the religious art in the Tang Dynasty. Among them, many Tang-embroidered Buddha statues, such as the embroidered account of Lingjiu Mountain found in the Thousand Buddha Cave in Dunhuang, and the Sakyamuni Sutra in Nara National Museum, Japan, are directly related to Dang's belief in Buddhism. At this time, the embroidery technique still follows the lock embroidery in Han Dynasty, but the stitch technique has begun to change to Ping Xiu, and a variety of different stitches and colors have been adopted. The embroidery base material used is not limited to brocade and plain silk. The patterns used in embroidery are closely related to painting. In addition to the figures of Buddha statues, landscape flowers and birds are also flourishing in Tang Dynasty painting. Therefore, Buddha figures, pavilions, flowers and birds have also become embroidery patterns, with lively composition and bright colors. The use of micro-Ping Xiu embroidery, with the use of various color lines and stitches, replaces the painting described by pigments to form a special art, which is also a unique style of Tang embroidery. As for the use of gold and silver thread to coil the outline of the pattern and strengthen the three-dimensional sense of the object, it can be regarded as an innovation of embroidery in the Tang Dynasty.

Before the Tang Dynasty, embroidery was mostly used for practical and decorative purposes, and the embroidery content was related to the needs of life and customs. Embroidery works in the Song Dynasty are not only practical, but also < P > focused on embroidery. Since the Jin and Tang Dynasties, literati loved calligraphy and applied it to painting, and painting and calligraphy was the highest artistic expression at that time. When it came to silk embroidery in the Song Dynasty, the style of painting and calligraphy directly affected the style of embroidery. There should be an inseparable relationship between embroidery painting and painting in all ages up to the Qing Dynasty.

The prosperity of embroidery in Song Dynasty was encouraged by the imperial court at that time. According to < Song History Official Records > Zhang Zai, embroidered by the Palace Chinese Embroidery Institute. During Huizong's reign, there was also a specialist in embroidery painting, which classified embroidery painting into landscapes, pavilions, figures and flowers and birds. As a result, famous embroidery workers came forth one after another, which made painting develop to the highest level, and from practicality to artistic appreciation, calligraphy and painting were brought into embroidery to form a unique ornamental embroidery. In order to make the works reach the vivid artistic conception of calligraphy and painting, it is necessary to have a plan before embroidery, and the situation should be measured when embroidery, which tends to be exquisite. The composition must be simplified, and the choice of patterns is very important, which is completely different from the embroidery in the Tang Dynasty with or without patterns. In the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang < The Secret Record of Jun Qingxuan > It says, "Embroidery of Song people, with fine needle and thread, uses velvet to stop one or two threads, and uses needles as fine as hair, so as to make it shine brilliantly. Mountains and rivers are interesting in distance, pavilions are deep, characters are vivid, and flowers and birds are graceful and graceful. The best one is better than painting, and the third one is interesting and well prepared, and the spring breeze is covered here. " This description roughly illustrates the characteristics of Song embroidery.

There are very few embroideries handed down from generation to generation in the Yuan Dynasty. Taiwan Province hired only one work in the Palace Museum, which still inherits the legacy of the Song Dynasty. The velvet used by Yuan people was a little thick, and the needle drop was not dense, which was not < P > as exquisite as Song embroidery. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty believed in Lamaism. Embroidery was not only adorned with general costumes, but also had a strong religious color. It was used to make Buddha statues, scrolls, banners and monk's hats. The Yuan Dynasty Embroidered Dense Statue of King Kong, which was preserved in Potala Palace in Tibet, was its representative, and it had a strong decorative style. The embroidery unearthed from Li Yu 'an's tomb in the Yuan Dynasty in Shandong Province, in addition to various stitches, also found the practice of sticking silk. It embroiders plum blossoms on a skirt, and the petals are embroidered with silk materials, which is full of three-dimensional sense.

the dyeing and weaving technology in Ming dynasty became developed during Xuande period. The embroidery in Ming Dynasty is the most novel and outstanding. Sprinkler embroidery is counted by two twisted yarns, embroidered according to the hole of square hole yarn, with geometric patterns as the main pattern, or with velvet-laying main flowers. Sprinkled embroidery is the predecessor of Naxian, which belongs to the northern embroidery species. Taking the women's clothes embroidered by Queen Xiaojing of Ming Dynasty unearthed in Dingling as an example, it is made of 6 kinds of stitches, including three strands, wool, twisted thread, covered stem thread, peacock feather thread and flower clip thread, and 12 kinds of stitches. It is a fine embroidery of Ming Dynasty. Shandong Lu embroidery, Yi-xian embroidery and Ji-xian embroidery also belong to the northern embroidery department. Embroidery began in Shanghai Gu's Luxiang Garden in Jiajing period, and it was handed down by embroidery, and many famous ladies came forth in large numbers. Gu Shouqian, the second grandson of Gu Ming, and his wife, Han Ximeng, are well versed in the six methods, and far from the true biography of hair embroidery in Tang and Song Dynasties. Imitating and embroidering ancient and modern celebrity paintings and calligraphy, splitting silk and matching colors, there is a secret biography, so it can be printed in writing, and the embroidered landscape figures, flowers and birds, are all exquisite, which is known as Gu embroidery in Luxiang Garden and covered with so-called painting embroidery. This is the famous ancient embroidery. Gu embroidery stitch mainly inherited the most complete embroidery stitch in the Song Dynasty, and applied it with changes, which can be described as a great achievement of needle stitch. Most of the thread used is still flat thread, and sometimes twisted thread is also used. The thread is as thin as hair and the stitches are flat, but the variety of colored thread used is incomparable to Song embroidery. At the same time, the middle color line is used, and the color is borrowed and supplemented, and embroidery and painting are used together to make the manuscript realistic. Depending on the needs of the pattern, you can use materials at will, regardless of the method. Real grass, Siamese cockfighting tail hair, thin gold and hair can all be embroidered with innovative ideas, especially the use of hair embroidery to complete the production of paintings, which has never been seen in the history of dyeing and weaving in the world. This shows that Gu embroidery has extremely ingenious and subtle embroidery techniques.

Embroidery in the Qing Dynasty, the embroidery used by the imperial court, was mostly drawn by painters in Ruyi Pavilion, the manufacturing office in the palace. After approval, it was sent to three weaving and embroidery workshops under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan Weaving, and it was still embroidered. The embroidery was extremely neat and exquisite. In addition to the imperial court embroidery, there have been many local embroideries among the people, such as Lu embroidery, Yue embroidery, Xiang embroidery, Beijing embroidery, Su embroidery and Shu embroidery, each with its own local characteristics. Suzhou, Sichuan, Guangdong and Hunan are four local embroideries, which are later called "four famous embroideries", among which Suzhou embroidery is the most famous. In the heyday of Suzhou embroidery, schools proliferated, famous artists competed for the show, and embroidery was widely used in daily life, resulting in various changes in embroidery stitches, finer embroidery workers and more ingenious embroidery thread color matching. Most of the patterns made are festive, longevity and auspicious, especially flower-and-bird embroidery, which is deeply loved by people, and famous embroidery has come out one after another, such as Ding Pei and Shen Shou.

in the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China, western learning spread to the east, and innovative works appeared in Suzhou embroidery. During Guangxu period, Yu Jue's wife, Shen Yunzhi, was famous for her exquisite embroidery skills and Suzhou embroidery altar. When Shen Shi was 3 years old, on the 7th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, Shen Shi embroidered eight frames of "Eight Immortals Celebrating the Birthday" and was given the words "Fu" and "Shou", so she changed her name to Shen Shou. Shen Xiu used new ideas to carry forward the old methods, showed the light and colors, and participated in realism. He showed the characteristics of the simulation of western paintings in embroidery, and created a new "simulation embroidery", or "artistic embroidery", with varied stitches and three-dimensional sense.