Embroidery Notes

Zhou's embroidery work 

Embroider (Verb) is defined as "Decorate (cloth) by sewing patterns on it with thread" (Oxford Dictionary)

The origin of embroidery is unclear, one of the explanation is that in ancient times, people believed in nature provided the foundation of our growth, and we must respect all the things in nature. Therefore, our ancestors used the sun, the moon, the stars, the trees, and the ferocious animals as clan totems, and tattooed on the body. When people began to have clothes made of textiles and fur, the tattoos were transformed into embroidery patterns on clothes to continue the tradition. Another explanation is that the embroidery technique is derived from a functional perspective, it was invented to make the cloth firmer, more durable and beautiful.

The embroidery technique has a history of at least four thousand years in China. The earliest written record was in the "Book of Documents", the word appears as a description on the clothing system in four thousand years ago. In Qing dynasty (1644-1912), embroidery spread to the rest of the world and attracted a lot of foreign merchants to the country.

In China, there are four main kinds of embroidery that originated from Su Zhou, Xiang Xi, Si Chuan, and Guangdong province. In the following text, I will mainly focus on and explain Su Zhou embroidery (also known as Su embroidery) as a reflection of the studio visit with Professor Zhou. 

Studio Visit

History

Su embroidery has a history of about 2000 years and it became popular in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Suzhou embroidery in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644 ~ 1911) was famous for its "fine elegance", and Suzhou at that time was known as the "Embroidery City".

In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Su embroidery has a further development in the technique, they created a new style called double-sided embroidery. During the years of war, 1912-1949 (MinGuo period), the consumption in Su embroidery industry declined dramatically. until 1949 (the People's Republic of China), Su embroidery was restored and redeveloped. After 1950, the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute was set up and started to organise embroidery training classes. The technique of Su embroidery has grown from 18 to more than 40 kinds today.

Work in progress

Technique

Su embroidery is highly acclaimed for its use of finest threats, balanced composition, tight stitching, and smooth surfaces. In the following text, I will introduce the main and common techniques.

The two main categories are "Even embroidery" (平針繡), "Random embroidery" (亂針繡) and Double-sided Su Embroidery (雙面繡).

"Even embroidery" emphasizes a uniform structure and avoids any overlapping threads. In this category, the main technique is “Neat stitching” (齊針繡) that use thread in the same length. The stitch can be either be vertical, horizontal and oblique to one another. The other four techniques under this category are "Gradient stitch" (搶針) and "Layer stitch" (套針), “Prodding stitch” (擻和針) and "Thickening stitch" (施針). Usually, "Gradient stitch" is used to portray flowers and small cultures, whereas "Later stitch" is used in animal tails, feathers, and petals. In comparison, “Prodding stitch” is freer and is used to achieve greater photorealism in flowers and birds. Similarly, the "Thickening stitch" is used to mimics the animal's fur.

"Random embroidery" is an innovation in the traditional stitching method. It was created and developed in the 1930s as an opposite working style to the neat parallel stitches. The crossing lines in different colors, accumulating them to form a figure or a landscape. (I think this is identical to the impressionism) This kind of methods is often used to resemble the Western Oil paintings, as a way to bring the idea of self-expressive in embroidery.

"Double-sided Su Embroidery" is the most famous style in Suzhou embroidery. The work can see an image from one side and a different image on the other side. Compare to all the embroidery methods, Double-sided embroidery is the most difficult and complicated style to make. The artist requires to use one needle to embroider two different patterns at the same time.

The people who worked in embroidery didn't know the time, they were stitching and sitting in a room all day and night. So how can they know what is the time now and in which season? It is in the thread, they have a concept about the amount of thread they stitched relative to the time passed. For example, if I stitched 20 threads, I will know how much time it passed.

Professor demonstration: divide a thread from 1 to 1/16 

The Threads

The use of different thicknesses of a thread is another important characteristic in Su embroidery. They mainly use silk to stitch and the threads are usually as thin as our hair. 

Su embroidery usually divides each thread into - half, one quarter, one eighth, and so on.

Different thicknesses of threads are used to embroider different objects. For example, thinner threads are used for the tail of the goldfish to capture its fast flexibility and the thicker threads can be used for the goldfish body.