Traditional Chinese embroidery

Author: Pan Jialai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: Traditional handicrafts are an important part of China's excellent cultural heritage. Chinese jade, silk, lacquerware, porcelain, and Ming and Qing furniture are among the finest handicraft products in the world, achieving remarkable accomplishments in both craftsmanship and artistic aesthetics. However, in the long-term Confucian culture that emphasized principles over tools, the making of objects was always regarded as mere trifling skills and not worthy of high regard. In the official historical records of dynasties throughout history, the achievements and contributions of artisans were rarely recorded, and when they were, it was only in a few words or not mentioned at all. Mr. Lin presented us with a welcome gift—a 250,000-word book titled Suzhou Embroidery, his newly published work. It seems that writing Traditional Chinese Embroidery was no task for anyone but Mr. Lin. After reading Mr. Lin's manuscript, I realized a truth: embroidery was the most widely participated-in, spread, and closely integrated with people's lives among all visual forms during China's agricultural civilization. Its influence must have surpassed painting, as people could wear embroidery, and in folk culture, embroidery always maintained its own vocabulary and expression. Think about it—over a span of about two thousand years, half the world's population, generation after generation, engaged in this meticulous handicraft. Embroidery even became their way of survival. Isn't this a cultural topic worth discussing?