Four famous embroideries were formed in the middle of19th century. Besides its own artistic characteristics, another important reason is the commercialization of embroidery. Due to the different market demand and embroidery origin, embroidery handicrafts, as a commodity, began to form their own local characteristics. Among them, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong and Hunan have a wide range of products, so they are called the four famous embroideries.
"Four Famous Embroideries" of Chinese Embroidery
Suzhou embroidery is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Suzhou embroidery originated in Wuxian, near Taihu Lake, with mild climate and rich silk. So there is a traditional habit that women are good at embroidery. Superior geographical environment, rich brocade and colorful flower lines have created favorable conditions for the development of Suzhou embroidery. In the long historical development process, Suzhou embroidery has formed a local style with beautiful patterns, harmonious colors, clear lines, lively stitches and fine embroidery, and is known as the "Oriental Pearl".
From the perspective of appreciation, the main artistic characteristics of Su embroidery works are: mountains and rivers can be divided into near and far interests; The pavilion has a deep body; Characters can have vivid feelings; Flowers and birds can show their elegance and intimacy. The realistic artistic effects of imitation embroidery and portrait embroidery of Suzhou embroidery are world-famous. In terms of embroidery techniques, Suzhou embroidery is mainly based on needle groups, and the embroidery thread covers the needles without revealing the stitches. Three or four different color lines of the same kind or adjacent colors are often used to match, so that the blooming color effect can be freely embroidered. At the same time, it is also good to leave a "waterway" when expressing the image, that is, to leave a line empty during the depth change of the image, so that there can be a sense of hierarchy and the outline of the pattern is relatively neat. Therefore, when people evaluate Su embroidery, they often sum it up in eight words: "Flat, neat, fine, dense, even, smooth, harmonious and bright".
After long-term accumulation, Suzhou embroidery has developed into a complete art with complete varieties, rich pictures and diverse changes, involving decorative paintings (such as oil painting series, Chinese painting series, water town series, flower series, greeting card series, pigeon spectrum series, vase series, etc.). Practical products involve clothes, handkerchiefs, scarves, greeting cards, etc.
Guangdong embroidery is the general name of Guangdong embroidery products. According to legend, it was originally founded in the minority-Li nationality. Most of the former embroidery workers were men from Guangzhou and Chaozhou, which is rare in the world. There are mainly embroidery such as clothes, hanging screens, wallets, screen cores, round fans and fan covers. In art, Guangdong embroidery has dense and lively composition, rich and dazzling colors, simple stitches, thick and loose embroidery lines, uneven stitches and slightly overlapping stitches. Phoenix, peony, pine cranes, apes, deer, chickens and geese are often the themes. Another famous Cantonese embroidery is made of brocade or gold embroidery, that is, the famous gold embroidery, especially the gold velvet embroidery lined with high floating cushions, which is resplendent and magnificent, and is mostly used for clothing, stage furnishings and temple furnishings embroidery, and is suitable for rendering a warm and festive atmosphere.
Shu embroidery, also known as "Sichuan embroidery", refers to Sichuan embroidery represented by Chengdu. Shu embroidery has a long history. According to the records of Huayang Guozhi, a long canal in Jin Dynasty, embroidery in Shu was very famous at that time, and Shu embroidery and Shu brocade were regarded as famous products in Shu. There are relatively few pure ornamental objects in Shu embroidery, mostly daily necessities, mostly flowers, birds, insects and fish, folk auspicious words and traditional decorative patterns, which are quite festive. They are embroidered on quilts, pillowcases, clothes, shoes and painted screens. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Shu embroidery absorbed the advantages of Gu embroidery and Su embroidery on the basis of local traditional embroidery techniques, and became one of the important commercial embroideries in China. Shu embroidery stitch is neat and even, the silk road is clear, there is no ghostwriting, the edge of the pattern is too neat as a knife, and the color is bright and beautiful.
Xiang embroidery is the general name of embroidery products centered on Changsha, Hunan. Businessmen in Changsha set up "Gu Embroidery Village" to satisfy a group of nouveau riche who made a fortune by suppressing Taiping Army, and soon overwhelmed Gu Embroidery in the name of Xiang Embroidery. Xiang embroidery is characterized by embroidery with wool (untwisted wool). In fact, the velvet thread is treated with solution to prevent pilling. This kind of embroidery is called "fine wool embroidery" locally. Xiang embroidery is also dominated by 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". The color matching characteristics of Hunan embroidery humanistic painting are mainly dark gray, black and white, as elegant as ink painting; The daily necessities of Xiang embroidery are brightly colored and decorative.
During the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the Chinese nation suffered great disasters and people's lives were difficult. From the invasion of foreign powers to the separatist regime of warlords, there are internal troubles and foreign invasion, and wars continue. In this case, embroidery, like other national industry and commerce, has suffered an unprecedented impact and almost died out. Until 1949, when new China was founded, embroidery, like other industries, got rapid recovery and development. In order to maintain and develop the local embroidery skills, many places have set up corresponding research institutions and allocated special funds to support and promote the collation and research of embroidery skills. In particular, the systematic development and utilization of many embroidery stunts that have been lost to the people have greatly enriched the content of embroidery stitches and made embroidery more colorful. Especially on the basis of "Shuang Mianxiu", we developed "Double-sided Completely Different Embroidery", that is, embroidery with completely different pictures, stitches and colors can be embroidered on both sides of the same fabric, which makes the world exclaim again and again: "It is simply a world stunt".
Embroidery, also known as needle embroidery, is commonly known as embroidery. It is one of the excellent national traditional crafts in China to draw colored lines (silk, velvet and thread) with embroidery needles and embroider needles on fabrics (silk, cloth and silk) according to the designed patterns to form patterns or characters with embroidery marks. It was called "haze" and "needle haze" in ancient times. Later, because embroidery was mostly made by women, it was also called "needlework". According to the Book of History, as early as 4,000 years ago, the system of chapter clothes stipulated that "clothes should be embroidered". In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a record of "embroidery and silk reeling". The level of embroidery in the Warring States and Han Dynasties unearthed in Hubei and Hunan is very high. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, embroidery was used for painting, calligraphy and decoration. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the scale of court embroidery was large, and folk embroidery was further developed. Suzhou Embroidery, Guangdong Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery and Shu Embroidery came into being one after another, and they are called "Four Famous Embroideries". In addition, there are Gu Embroideries, such as Beijing Embroidery, Ou Embroidery, Lu Embroidery, Min Embroidery, Bian Embroidery, Han Embroidery and Miao Xiu, all of which have their own styles, which have been handed down for a long time. There are dozens of embroidery stitches, such as Qi Zhen, sleeve needle, inserting needle, long and short needle, minute needle, Ping Jin, and shifting sand, which are rich in colors and have their own characteristics.