History of Suzhou Embroidery

With great eagerness, I was led by Ms. Sun, a senior embroiderer, into the Ancient Embroidery Workshop where Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute is based. All of sudden I was fascinated by the dazzling array of embroidery works of past dynasties like laceworks, dress collars and dragon-patterned gowns. All these embroidery exhibits date back to hundreds of years but still look sleek and shining today. The exquisite embroidery silk fabrics triggered out my curiosity for the history of Suzhou embroidery art.     

Embroidery Innovation Draws Inspirations from Artists and Scientists

In 2004 a forum on the innovation of Suzhou-style embroidery was held in the city of Suzhou, attracting some 50 celebrated artists, scientists and scholars from home and abroad. Nobel Laureate and famous physicist Tsung-Dao Lee delivered an important presentation as the forum＇s honorary president, noting that ＂Culture will not sustain without innovation. Suzhou-style embroidery will see infinite vitality by making innovative breakthroughs＂. His speech triggered intensive discussions among participants and enormous comments online. The forum has had continued impacts on the development of Suzhou-style embroidery in the new century.     

Master Embroiderer Ren Huixian

Ren Huixian is a respectable name in the embroidery circle of Suzhou. She was a master embroiderer with both moral and artistic perfection and was granted with such titles of honor as Handicraft Master of China and Expert of Outstanding Contribution by the State Council. From the remaining pictures of her, we can see an elegant and beautiful lady with peaceful and confident appearance, which betrays her 70 years of successful artistic career.     

CHARM OF SUZHOU EMBROIDERY

On a sunny day in the end of 2007 I was invited for a visit to Suzhou Embroidery. Research Institute. Led by Ms. Zhang, the institute＇s artistic director, I entered through a moon-shaped gate in a traditional style and an elegant classical Suzhou-style garden was unfolded in front of me. Quiet paths, luxuriant plants, winding corridors, all are filled with fascinating charm, like a scene in a traditional Chinese ink painting. The garden is called ＂Huanxiu Resort＂ where the embroidery institute is based. At that moment,     

Xu Shaoqing：A Master Artist in in Painting Embroidery

Though master embroiderers like Shen Shou, Yang Shouyu and Ren Huixian passed away, their moral and artistic legacies remain as valuable assets for generations to come. Their extraordinary achievements in Suzhou-style embroidery and respectable pursuit of artistic perfection have had significant impacts on younger generations of embroiderers. Besides these master embroiderers, Xu Shaoqing is another master that should be remembered as a big name in the history of embroidery.     

Suzhou-style Embroidery

Suzhou-style embroidery is an admirable skill representing the progress of Chinese traditional craftsmanship. It is an important expression of handicraft art in the history of Chinese fine arts and folklore. In 2006, Suzhou-style embroidery was proclaimed as an entry to China’s first national list of intangible cultural heritage."Pingjiang Painting", drawn in 1229 (Southern Song Dynasty), depicts the prosperity of embroideryindustry in Suzhou. At that time, Suzhou was an     

Stitching Skills of Suzhou Embroidery

Suzhou-style embroidery is known as the most famous of the four major embroidery styles of China. Over the sweep of history, thisembroidery genre has been nurtured in the context of cultural richness in waterside towns of southeast China and continued to evolve thanks to sldll perfection by generations of female embroiderers. Time-honored cultural traditions developed by scholars, poets and painters have enriched aesthetics, craftsmanship and coloring of the embroidery genre, endowing it with unique characteristics and enduring artistic appeals and helping to bring it with worldwide reputation.     

Suzhou-style Embroidery： Progress through Innovation

Over decades Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute has involved itself in a plethora of exchange events and exhibitions, with an aim to promote Chinese traditions,expand international exchange and enhance the friendship with the rest of the world. Its embroidery works have been on display in more than 100 countries across the world and widely acclaimed by foreign viewers who call Suzhou-style embroidery ＂freasure from the East＂,     

Master Artists of Suzhou Embroidery

My curiosity about three master artists of Suzhou embroidery, Shen Shou, Yang Shouyu and Ren Huixian, were satisfied in the library of Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute. Publications and references reviewed these master artists＇ remarkable accomplishments in the art of Suzhou embroidery.     

Exhibitions & Events

The New Suzhou Museum Open to Public The New Suzhou Museum, designed by world renowned master architect Bei Yuming, was opened to public on October 6. the new museum, located in the historic area in the northern part of the old city of Suzhou, is a Chinese-style garden architecture integrating both tradition and modernity of Suzhou.CProoncceespst u&a El xPphroetsosgiroanp: hEyx hibition on The exhibition is unique as it displays not only photo works but also video presentations showing …     

Suzhou-Style Embroidery：Appreciation,Collection and Investment

Suzhou-style embroidery is originated and developed in the southeast city of Suzhou, a historical town abundant in silk and rich in cultural traditions. Inscribed in the national intangible cultural heritage list, it is well known for its long history artistic richness, superb skills and delicate workmanship.     

Suzhou-style Embroidery Fascinates Foreign Diplomats

<正>On November 28, 2012, the 5th China Embroidery Festival opened in Zhenhui, a lakeside town in Suzhou which is hailed as the "hometown of Chinese embroidery"....     

Master Embroiderers Dedicated to Solitary Pursuit of Art

Hefang Street in Hangzhou, capital city of southeast Zhejiang Province, is full of hustle and bustle, with a multitude of shops and crowds of visitors. Walk around the street corner and you will get to a quiet alley named ＂Anrong Alley＂ where Chen Shuiqin＇s embroidery studio is based. In this two-storey building, I met Ms. Chen and her disciples Yu Zhiyin and Jin Jiahong. They were embroidering on cloth attentively. The small studio was almost occupied by embroidery screens. On the window side is a row of wooden embroidery frames. Several girls coming to learn embroidery skills from different places around the country were busy with their works.     

Refined and Elegant： Masterpieces of Suzhou-style Embroidery

＂Birds Perching at Winter Sweet＂ is an exquisite embroidery work, The work features a vigorous and straight trunk of the winter sweet, shone by plum blossoms and with a pair of birds perching at the branches. The embroidered work was based on one of the ink paintings by Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty [960-1127] which is now collected in the Palace Museum in Taipei. The emperor is an accomplished artist skilled in painting and calligraphy.     

CHILDREN COSTUMES AND BABY CARRIERS OF SOUTHWEST CHINA

The history of embroidered costumes in China dates back to remote past. The extant oldest embroidery ever unearthed was made in the Shang Dynasly [c. 16th centuryc. 11 th century]. In ethnicity-dwelled areas in southwest China, including Guizhou, Yunan, Guangxi and Hunan, embroidery skills are still handed down in original forms and in a matriarchic manner. Local ethnic girls learn embroider/ skills from their mothers, making embroidered clothes not only for themselves but also for their children in the future. Their delicate and exquisite embroidery fabrics have considerably enriched folk arts of China.     

Ou-style Embroidery： Part of Brilliant Chinese Traditions

Wenzhou, located in the southeast province of Zhejiang, is known as a ＂hometown of craftsmanship＂, with such distinctive folk craft arts as Ou-style embroidery, Huangyang wood carving and fine-patterned paper carving. Ou-style embroidery is indigenous to the valley of the Ou River in Wenzhou, celebrated as a unique craft art of Zhejiang. This type of embroidery is highly decorative with distinctive local characteristics.     

Embroidery Art to the Highest Level-A glinpse of splendid Suzhou embroidery

The Chinese embroidery art has a long history. Statistics show that 5500 years ago in the Liaoning area there appeared a beautiful embroidery type called ＂Wei Embroidery＂, which＇s stitched on fur apparels. And prior to the Shang Dynasty, about 16 to 11 B.C., Chinese embroidery artisans and versatile home ladies used their hands creating countless pieces of beautiful embroidery works on silk textures. Colorful Chu embroidery, solemn and unsophisticated Han embroidery, gorgeous and luxury Tang embroidery,     

“Under the Hawthorn Tree” Features Yang Caiqi

In August 2007, a romance novel entitled The Love of the Hawthorn Tree swept the country, and became a super-selling book with sales volume of four million, which was hailed as “the purest romance novel in history” by readers. Adapted into a movie of the same name in 2010, The Love of the Hawthorn Tree was directed by famous director Zhang Yimou. It set a new box office record for domestic romance movies in one ,fell swoop, which was the most sensational cultural event in 2010. In 2013, the production of drama Under the Hawthorn Tree was on the list of National Theatre of China. During July 8-16, 2014, its world tour of was unveiled at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.     

Cultural Heritage Day Celebrated in Suzhou

<正>On June 11, Guest City Series for Cultural Heritage Day 2010 was inaugurated at the Xumen Square in Suzhou, a historic city in southeast Jiangsu province. Chinese Cultural Minister Cai Wu and State Administration of Cultural Heritage Director-General Shan Jixiang attended the opening ceremony.     

The Old Town of Suzhou

Suzhou is the world’s only historic town that has been still preserved on its original location after hundreds of years of evolution.The town was designed and built more than 2,500 years ago,featuring a layout characterized by three horizontal and four vertical waterways.