Introduce Su embroidery and its representative figures?

Suzhou embroidery, which originated in Wuxian county of Suzhou, has spread all over Wuxi, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Suqian and Dongtai in Jiangsu province. Jiangsu, the origin of Suzhou embroidery, has fertile land, mild climate, developed sericulture and rich silk, and has been the land of splendid scenery since ancient times. Superior geographical environment, rich brocade and colorful flower lines have created favorable conditions for the development of Suzhou embroidery. According to Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" in the Western Han Dynasty, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2, years ago, the State of Wu had used Su embroidery in costumes. In the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the king of Wu, ordered Zhao Dacheng's sister to embroider the map of the nations by hand. According to "The Secret Collection of Qing Dynasty", Suzhou embroidery is "the embroidery of Song people, with fine needle and thread, with one or two threads and a needle as thin as hair". Exquisite colors and brilliant eyes. " It can be seen that in the Song Dynasty, the art of Suzhou embroidery had reached a fairly high level.

■ Classification of Suzhou embroidery:

Local embroidery: It is produced in Suzhou (southern Jiangsu), Jiangsu Province, near Shanghai. It can't be said that Suzhou embroidery can be called as long as it is operated by Suzhou merchants. Authentic Suzhou embroidery should belong to "local embroidery", or rather, it should be a work embroidered by Suzhou locals. Embroiderers all belong to local people, and their products are delicate and shiny, with harmonious color transition and split threads at moderate prices.

Subei Embroidery: It is produced in Yancheng and Huai 'an areas of Jiangsu Province (Subei), and Suzhou locals call it Subei Embroidery and Jiangbei Embroidery. The price is very low, but the workmanship is also very poor. The embroidery thread is not split, but it is two velvet or one velvet and a half embroidery, not to mention art and graffiti, which is not elegant. The most classic famous works are "Golden Avenue" and "Red Maple". Besides, it is difficult to improve both workmanship and sales price. In recent years, embroidery in northern Jiangsu has spoiled the Suzhou embroidery market, and it has happened frequently to pretend to be Suzhou embroidery and shoddy. But objectively speaking, northern Jiangsu embroidery has also played a positive role in suppressing the price of local embroidery.

Baoying embroidery: produced in Baoying (Suzhong), Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, it is rich in color and strong in three-dimensional sense, but the embroidery thread is not split, and it is both two velvet embroidery, that is, one thread is directly embroidered. Therefore, when you look at photos from a distance, you feel that the three-dimensional effect is acceptable, but when you look closely, it is quite thick and unbearable. Scenery and figure embroidery are its strengths, but delicate work such as figure face embroidery (face opening) is still done by Suzhou locals with superior skills, and the price of Baoying embroidery is also high, which is unacceptable in the domestic market.

■ Production methods of Suzhou embroidery:

Generally, there are two production methods of Suzhou embroidery, namely "piece system" and "time system".

"Piece-by-piece system" is a mode of production, which takes "pieces" as the unit, gives embroidery materials to the embroidery worker, helps him to match the embroidery thread and specify the quality standard, and finally negotiates a suitable salary recognized by both parties and agrees on the completion date, commonly known as "release orders" and "release life". Embroiderers can process at home, free from location constraints and special supervision, but even if the actual working hours are exceeded, the manual labor costs will basically remain unchanged.

"Timing system" refers to calculating the wages due according to the actual working hours. Under the guidance, supervision and training of professional technicians, the embroidery worker completes the embroidery processing with good quality and quantity according to the working hours of 8 hours. Embroiderers are supervised by special personnel, and they must go to work on time in a fixed place every day. They are not allowed to take private jobs, but their remuneration is in the form of monthly salary.

In addition, Xiang embroidery, Shu embroidery, Yue embroidery and Su embroidery are also called the "four famous embroideries" in China. However, the statistical proportion of domestic consumption and foreign trade export in China embroidery market shows that Suzhou embroidery accounts for more than 83% of the total, while Xiang embroidery accounts for 12%, and the remaining market share is divided by Shu embroidery, Yue embroidery and Bian embroidery respectively. It can be seen that the dominant position of Suzhou embroidery in the embroidery market at home and abroad is beyond doubt. As a national culture, we welcome a hundred flowers to blossom, and four famous embroideries and ten famous embroideries are all on the list, each of which is the crystallization of the wisdom of Chinese sons and daughters, but we have to face up to the fact that the king status of Su embroidery is strong and unshakable today and even in the next few decades!

Suzhou embroidery originated in Wuxian, Suzhou, and now it has spread to Wuxi, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Suqian, Dongtai and other places in Jiangsu Province. Jiangsu has fertile land, mild climate, developed sericulture and rich silk, and has been the land of splendid scenery since ancient times. Superior geographical environment, rich brocade and colorful flower lines have created favorable conditions for the development of Suzhou embroidery. According to Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" in the Western Han Dynasty, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2, years ago, the State of Wu had already used it for clothing. During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the king of Wu, ordered Zhao Dacheng's sister to embroider the Map of the Nations by hand, and embroidered patterns such as five mountains, rivers, seas, cities and rows on the square silk, which is said to be "embroidering all countries in one brocade". According to "The Secret Collection of Qing Dynasty", "The embroidery of Song people is fine in needle and thread, with one or two threads and a needle as thin as hair. Exquisite colors, dazzling. The mountains and rivers are interesting in distance, and the deep figures in the pavilions have vivid feelings, and the flowers are extremely graceful and greedy. The best ones are better than paintings. " It can be seen that the art of Suzhou embroidery in Song Dynasty has reached a fairly high level. By the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan had become the center of silk weaving handicraft industry. In painting art, wu school, represented by Tang Yin (Bohu) and Shen Zhou, has promoted the development. Artists combine paintings to reproduce, and the embroidered masterpieces are lifelike, and the charm of pen and ink is exquisite, which is known as "painting with needles" and "excelling in nature". Since then, art has formed its own artistic style in terms of stitches and color patterns, and it is beautiful in the art garden, competing with calligraphy and painting. The Qing Dynasty is the heyday of Suzhou embroidery, which can be described as the proliferation of schools and the competition of famous hands. A large number of products enjoyed by the royal family are almost entirely from the hands of artists. Folk is rich and colorful, widely used in clothing, costumes, quilts, pillow bags, curtains, cushions, uppers, sachets, fan bags and so on. These Suzhou embroidery articles for daily use not only have diverse stitches, exquisite embroidery and beautiful and elegant color matching, but also have patterns and patterns with festive, longevity and auspicious meanings, which are deeply loved by the masses. There is also a kind of "painting embroidery", which belongs to high-grade appreciation and is called "boudoir embroidery". The masterpieces of Qianhui and Cao Moqin in Wuxian, Yang Maojun and Shen Guanguan in Wujiang, Ding Pei and Xue Wenhua in Wuxi are all famous for a while. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, in the trend of western learning flowing eastward, Suzhou embroidery also showed signs of innovation. During Guangxu period, Shen Yunzhi, a skilled artist, was famous in Suzhou embroidery field. She incorporated the characteristics of Xiao Shen's simulation in western painting into embroidery and created a new "simulation embroidery". In the 3th year of Guangxu (AD 194), on the seventieth birthday of Cixi, Shen Yunyi embroidered eight works, including Buddha statues, to celebrate her birthday. Empress dowager cixi wrote the words "longevity" and "happiness" and gave them to Shen Yunzhi and her husband Yu Jue. From then on, Shen Yunzhi changed her name to Shen Shou. Later, her work "The Portrait of Italian Empress Elena" was presented to Italy as a national gift, which caused a sensation in the Italian government and the public. In 1915, "The Portrait of Nasu" won the first prize at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition held in the United States, and the price was as high as 13, US dollars. When the portrait of the American woman Vobek was exhibited in the United States, its grand occasion was unprecedented. Shen Shou's "Simulated Embroidery" has gained worldwide fame, opening up a brand-new page in Suzhou embroidery.

under her advocacy, Suzhou, Nantong, Danyang, Wuxi, Changshu and other places in Jiangsu have held workshops, embroidery engineering courses, embroidery trade unions and so on. She has been to Suzhou, Beijing, Tianjin, Nantong and other places to teach students and cultivate a new generation. At that time, other famous artists included Hua Ji, Tang Yizhen, Li Peikai, Cai Qunxiu, Zhang Yingxiu and Jin Jingfen ... Their works successively won awards at the "Dulang International Expo" (AD 1911), "Panama-Pacific International Expo" (AD 1915) and "Belgium International Expo" (AD 193), which won the traditional crafts of the Chinese nation internationally. In the early 193s, Yang Shouyu, the director of embroidery engineering in Danyang Zhengzheng Women's Vocational School, initiated the criss-crossing and layered embroidery, which enriched and improved the expressive ability of Suzhou embroidery. Since the early 195s, artists' creation has opened up a new and broad world. Suzhou, Nantong, Changzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou, Dongtai and other places have successively established research institutions or factories, so that artists can devote themselves to research and creation with peace of mind. The lost skills are excavated, summarized, improved and developed, which makes the ancient Suzhou embroidery art shine again.

Suzhou embroidery is the general name of embroidery products centered on Suzhou, Jiangsu. Suzhou embroidery has a history of more than 2, years. As early as the Three Kingdoms period (AD 22-28), there were records about the production of Suzhou embroidery. Since then, through the continuous development and perfection of past dynasties, by the Ming Dynasty (1368 ~ 1644), Suzhou embroidery had become a popular sideline product in Suzhou, forming a situation of "sericulture in every family and embroidery in every household". Suzhou embroidery in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was famous for its "exquisiteness and elegance", and Suzhou at that time was also known as the "embroidery market". In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Suzhou embroidery developed further in embroidery technology, and a beautiful "Shuang Mianxiu" appeared. There were as many as 65 merchants specializing in embroidery in Suzhou alone. During the period of the Republic of China (1912-1949), due to years of war, Suzhou embroidery industry once declined. After the founding of New China, Suzhou embroidery was further restored and developed. After 195, the state set up the Suzhou Embroidery Institute and held embroidery training classes. Suzhou embroidery has developed from 18 kinds of stitches to more than 4 kinds today.

Suzhou embroidery has a unique style with beautiful patterns, ingenious ideas, meticulous embroidery, lively stitches, elegant colors and strong local characteristics. Embroidery has the characteristics of "flatness, uniformity, fineness, density, harmony, smoothness and uniformity". "Flat" means that the embroidered surface is flat; "Qi" means that the edges of the pattern are neat; "Fine" means that the needle is delicate and the embroidery thread is fine; "Dense" means that the lines are arranged tightly, and no stitches are exposed; "Harmony" means that the colors are appropriate; "Light" refers to dazzling and bright colors; "Shun" means that the silk is rounded and turned from itself; "Uniform" means fine and uniform lines with consistent density. In terms of types, Suzhou embroidery works can be mainly divided into three categories: zero scissors, costumes and hanging screens, which are both decorative and practical. Among them, "Shuang Mianxiu" works are the most exquisite.