Techniques, themes and implications of Chinese embroidery
2023-04-21
The special exhibition of “Nice Encounter-A Gathering of Auspicious Artworks of Hunan Area” at Changsha Museum has attracted a lot of attention from all walks of life since its launch on January 17.
More than 100 pieces of embroidery were exhibited, which are the main content of the exhibition. The categories include clothing, and household items from Changde, Zhuzhou, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Chenzhou, and other places in Hunan.
On the themes of Kylin bringing a child, auspicious dragon and phoenix, and Bo Gu patterns, the embroidery works not only showcase the traditional auspicious culture of Hunan, but also represent Chinese embroidery culture.
More than 100 pieces of embroidery were exhibited, which are the main content of the exhibition. The categories include clothing, and household items from Changde, Zhuzhou, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Chenzhou, and other places in Hunan.
On the themes of Kylin bringing a child, auspicious dragon and phoenix, and Bo Gu patterns, the embroidery works not only showcase the traditional auspicious culture of Hunan, but also represent Chinese embroidery culture.
Chinese embroidery culture has a long and profound history, and is an important carrier of fine traditional Chinese culture. In the lecture, Yu talked about the historical developing process of Chinese embroidery techniques. She used pictures of precious unearthed and classic embroideries, combined with the development characteristics of the relevant stages to introduce the development of Chinese embroidery.
Then the lecture focused on sharing the themes and implication of embroidery. Different embroidery themes, such as myths and legends, flowers, birds, insects, fish, life expectations, literature, and opera, contain rich connotations and express people’s longing for longevity, family harmony, more descendants, a successful career, and plentiful money.
In the third part, Yu Binxia, appreciated and analyzed some Hunan embroidery works based on the exhibition. She mentioned that the embroidery in different regions of Hunan in this exhibition has its own characteristics. It includes both commercialized embroidery products and folk embroidery products for personal use.
Yu Binxia stated that “integrity and innovation” and “the craftsman’s spirit” are the attitudes that we should hold towards traditional culture, especially the traditional culture of craftsmanship.
The lecture enriched the audience’s understanding of Chinese embroidery, and increased their interest in Chinese auspicious culture, as well as their recognition of traditional culture and national pride.
The audience praised Chinese embroidery works for their elegance, exquisite techniques, and profoundness, and expressed a special desire to know what it looks like to wear embroidered clothing. They also paid attention to the problems like how to inherit traditional Chinese embroidery techniques and how to help them go global.
