SuhzhouEmbroidery(蘇州刺繡)

AsoneoftherepresentativesofChinesecultureandarts,SuzhouembroideryenjoysagoodreputationofthefirstoftheTop-fourembroidersinChina.SuzhouembroiderywasoriginatedinWuxian,JiangsuProvince.Theseareas

havebeenfamousfortheirhighqualitysilkproductionsforcenturies.ThecountryofWu(currentSuzhouarea)

hasstartedtouseembroiderytodecorategarmentsover2,000yearsago.SuzhouembroideryArthasbeenalready

quitehigh-levelinSongDynasty.DuringtheMingDynasty,Suzhoubecameathrivingcenterforsilkindustries

andhandicrafts.FlourishingpaintingartinWuareahelpedthefurtherdevelopmentofSuzhouembroidery.

Embroidersreproducedthepaintingsusingneedles.Theseworksweresovividandelegantastobecalled

"paintingsbyneedle"or"unmatchableevenbythenature."

DuringtheQingDynasty,Suzhouembroideryreacheditspeak.PortraitoftheItalianQueenmadebyShenYunzhi,

amasterinSuzhouembroidery,wassenttoItalyasanationalgiftandinvokedasensationthere.In1915,Shen's

PortraitofJesuswonthefirstprizeatthe"Panama-PacificExhibition"holdinUSandwaspricedatamarkedhigh

USS13,000.AnotherportraitofanAmericanactressalsoreceivedgreatacclaimwhenbeingexhibitedintheUS.

AfterP.R.Chinawasestablished,Suzhouembroiderywaspresentedastheformalgiftofinternationalexchange

morethan80timesandexhibitedinmorethan100countriesandregionsaltogether,whenmorethan100

embroidersmastersgavetheperformancelive.

Asakindofartworksmadebyhandcompletely,apieceofSuzhouembroideryneedsanembroider-maidseveralmonths,evenafewyearstofinish.Therebyasotherkindsofartworks,thefineworksofSuzhouembroideryare

worthcollectingaswell.

HistoryoftheSuzhouembroidery

SuzhouembroiderywasoriginatedinWuxian,Suzhou,Jiangsuprovince.Theseareas,ocatedinthelowerreachofYangtseRiver,havebeenfamousfortheirhighqualitysilkproductionsforcenturies.So,it'satraditionalhabitforthewomenherebeinggoodatembroidering.TheSuperiorenvironment,abundantbeautifulbrocade,andboomingproductionofsilkfabricandthreadnaturallynourishedtheburgeoningandflourishingofSuzhouembroidery.Inthecourseoflong-termhistoricaldevelopment,thelocalstyleofSuzhouembroideryhasformed,thatisthepretty

pattern,harmoniouscolors,thevividlines,thelivelyneedlework,andthemeticulouscrafts.Itispraisedasthe

"OrientalPearl"

DuringtheMingDynasty(1368-1644),Suzhouhasbecomeathrivingcenterforsilkindustriesandhandicrafts.

ArtistsinWuarea,representedbyTangYin(Bohu)andShenZhou,helpedthefurtherdevelopmentofSuzhou

embroidery.Embroidersreproducedtheirpaintingsusingneedles.Theseworksweresovividandelegantastobecalled"paintingsbyneedle"or"unmatchableevenbythenature."Sincethen,Suzhouembroideryevolvedastyle

ofitsowninneedlework,colorplanandpattern,matchinbeautywiththeartofcalligraphyandpainting.

DuringtheQingDynasty(1644-1911),Suzhouembroideryreacheditspeak,withtheprevalenceofvariousstylesandmasterembroiders.TheembroideredproductsusedbytheroyalfamilywerealmostexclusivelyfromSuzhou.

Folkembroideryproductswereevenmorediverse,includingdecorationsongarments,theatercostumes,quilt

covers,cushions,shoes,perfumebagsandfanbags.Theydidn'tonlyboastvariousneedleworkandelegantcolors,

butalsothejoyouspatternsoflongevityorluck.Theywereextremelypopularamongthecommonpeople.The

"drawingembroidery",aspecialkindofSuzhouembroidery,whichwascalledasthe"boudoirembroidery"isthe

top-gradeproductforappreciation.

Attheturnofthe20thcentury,PortraitoftheItalianQueenmadebyShenYunzhi,amasterinSuzhouembroidery,

wassenttoItalyasanationalgiftandinvokedasensationthere.In1915,Shen'sPortraitofJesuswonthefirst

prizeatthe"Panama-PacificExhibition"holdinUSandwaspricedatamarkedhighUS$13,000.AnotherPortraitofanAmericanActressalsoreceivedgreatacclaimwhenbeingexhibitedintheUS.Shen's"realisticembroidery",

whichopenedupabrand-newchapterofSuzhouembroideries,achievedremarkablerecognitionbothhomeand

abroad

TheSuzhouembroideryworkshaveattainedtheprizesin"ItalyTurinWorldExposition"(A.D.1911),"

Panama--PacificOceanInternationalFair”(A.D.1915),"BelgiumWorldExposition"(A.D.1930).Embroidery

worksCatsintheexhibitionofLondonin1956,whichcausedasensationinBritainatthattime.Embroideryfine

works"PremierChouEnlai","DengXiaoping"and"MonmaLiza","PlayingXiaotoAttractthephoenix",etc.

wonmanyprizesatinternationalanddomesticartisticfairs,alotofembroideryproductsbecamethenational-level

gifts.EmbroidersmastersgavetheperformanceliveinGermany,Japan,Australia,etc.Suzhouembroideryhas

achievedremarkablerecognitionbothhomeandabroad.

SuperbSuzhouembroideryart

ThecolorandneedlemethodoftheSuzhouembroideryareallexpectedverymuch,thecolorforapaintingwill

varyendlessly.Theembroideryartistshavecreatedtheskillandtechniqueof"splittingsilksandpiecingthecolors

together"fromthelong-termpractice,notonlythereareabundantcolors,butalsothefeelings,expressionsand

inherentstructuresofdifferentimagesaredemonstrated.So,thoughroughsketchesforapaintingaremostlyoutofthepainters,throughthere-creationoftheembroideryartists,theartisticresults,whichareoftenbeyondthatofthe

originalpaintingscanbeobtained.

IntheSuzhouembroideryart,thedouble-sidesembroidery,whichembodymainlytheskillleveloftheSuzhouembroidery,isapearlonitscrown.AlthoughinitiallyappearedintheNorthernSongDynasty,thedouble-sidesembroiderywasextremelyrareinhistory,especiallythedouble-sidesembroideryforappreciation.Theearliest

twopiecesofdouble-sidesembroideryforappreciationwecanseeareTheMaidsofHonorcreatedinQing

DynastyandcollectedbythePalaceMuseum.Oneofthemdepictstwomaidsofhonorwalkingtogether,andthere

isapeachtreeontheleftofthepicturewithsomeripepeacheshangingon,withtwopiecesofcloudandtwo

craneshoveringonthesky,whichmeans"theblessinglifewithbothhappinessandlongevity".Thesurfaceofthe

embroideryisevenandneat,withthesamepattern,needlemethod,andcoloronbothsides.

So-calleddouble-sidesembroideryistoembroideronbothsidesofapieceofclothsynchronouslyoftotallysame

outlinesandequallyexquisitepatternsforpeopletoappreciate.

Nowthedouble-sidesembroideryhasalreadydevelopedintothedouble-sidesembroiderythree-differencewithdifferentcolors,differentcontentsanddifferentneedlemethodsonbothsides,thetechnologyofthedouble-sides

embroideryhasbeenledintoamagicalrealm.Itismoredifficulttomakethedouble-sidesembroiderywith

differentcolors,differentcontentsanddifferentneedlemethodsonbothsides,besidesgeneralrequestsforthedouble-sidesembroidery,thestitchesandsilkthreadsshouldbetakenintoconsiderationtomakesurethatthe

colorsontwosidesdonotaffectwitheachother,thestitchesdonotreveal,andtoperfecttheeffect.

Therandom-stitchembroiderywascreatedbyYangShouyu,afamousartistofSuzhouEmbroideryinthe

beginningof30?s.Shedevelopedthetraditionalembroideringmethodofparallelingthestitchesneatlyand

connectingthelinesofthreaddenselyintothemethodofrandom-stitchwhichmeanscrossingobliquelinesof

threadandmixingthecolorsindifferentlayerstooutthefigures,scenery,stilllivesandanimals.Theappearance

ofrandom-stitchembroidery,whichhadopenedupthewideprospectforChineseembroiderytowardsahigher

leveloffinearts,wasagreatbreakthroughtothetraditionalembroideryofseveralthousandyearsofChina,as

wellasaninventionofcombiningtheWesternpaintingandChi