New Charm of an Ancient Art

By TANG YUANKAI

New Charm of an Ancient Art

By TANG YUANKAI

Su Embroidery has prospered for more than 2,000 years

Suzhou, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, a city dubbed “Heaven on Earth” and the “Venice of the East,”has long been a major producer of silk due to its mild climate and prosperous sericultural industry. Therefore, the embroidery industry is quite advanced there.

Zhenhu, a small town in Suzhou, is called the “Hometown of Chinese Embroidery Art,”since almost every family is engaged in embroidery. Along the famous Embroidery Street in Zhenhu, there are more than 400 embroidery workshops and 8,000 women embroidery artisans. With their exquisite skills, they let the world know the beautiful Su Embroidery.

In the past, embroideries made in Zhenhu were mainly daily products, while now they have developed into artworks. Total sales of Zhenhu embroidery have been increasing by 30 percent on average since 1998 and reached 1 billion yuan ($151.5 million) in 2010.

Magic art

Su Embroidery is the general name of embroidery products created in Jiangsu. This embroidery can be traced back 2,600 years.Based on historical records, most embroidery used in the imperial palace were made by Su Embroidery masters.

Su Embroidery was listed among the fi rst group of items on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List on May 20, 2006. In September 2007, the Chinese Embroidery Art Gallery was of fi cially opened in Suzhou,the biggest professional embroidery exhibition center in China.

The 2011 China International Tourist Clothing and Accessories Contest will be held from April 22-24 in Suzhou. As part of the event, hundreds of embroidery artisans will demonstrate their skills during the event.

Embroidering is a quiet artistic creation process that requires sitting for long periods.Generally speaking, a 30-cm piece of embroidery requires about 15 days. Embroidery artisans must have an artistic sense—much like a painter—and certain qualities such as patience, attentiveness and perseverance.

According to an old saying, embroidery“takes the needle as the pen and paints with the thread.” More specifically, embroidery uses colorful threads (of silk, wool or cotton)to create pictures or other designs on textile fabrics (silk or cotton).

Su Embroidery is smooth, even, soft,glossy and delicate. The fine threads create smooth, neat lines, while the color of the threads and fabric makes the embroidery shiny and pretty.

Double-sided Embroidery is one of the unique techniques of Su Embroidery, which is called a “magic art.” The works portraying little cats are representatives of this type of embroidery. Artisans divide a hair-thin thread into two,four, 12 or even 48 parts and can hide those thousands or tens of thousands of thread ends perfectly. One can see the playful and lively expression of cats from either the front or the back of the embroidery. As for the little eyes of cats,more than 20 colors of thread are used to bring them to life.

After seeing the cat embroidered by Gu Wenxia, a Su Embroidery master, many people burst out, “It’s almost alive!” The eyes of the cat, in particular, are vivid and lifelike no matter from what angle they are viewed.

When late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited the United States in January 1979, a double-sided embroideryLittle Cat,created by Gu’s apprentice Yu Fuzhen, was given to then President Jimmy Carter as a gift. In September 1981, when Carter visited China, he paid a special visit to the Suzhou Embroidery Research Center to appreciate the embroidery works of Master Gu and her colleagues and expressed his thanks to them.

At the beginning of 2005, Carter invited Gu to the United States to introduce Su Embroidery to Americans. Her apprentice Yu accepted the invitation since Gu was too old to go. Of the 31 pieces of embroidery works that were displayed, 21 were created by Master Gu. Gu, together with another Su Embroidery artisan Li Eying, was chosen as a representative heir of Su Embroidery and was listed among the first group of representative heirs of the state-level intangible cultural heritage items on June 5, 2007.

Development and protection

“In the past, embroidery artisans used to seek inspiration from calligraphic works,paintings or photos. But doing this may violate others’ intellectual property rights,”said Yu Meihua, President of the Zhenhu Embroidery Association. “Copyright is a problem we can’t ignore.”

In order to solve this problem, Zhenhu has tried to cultivate the artistic sense of embroidery artisans and has established a means for trading embroidery copyrights and products.

QIAN QIANG

Now the platform has three databases.One provides artistic works no longer under copyright protection. These works can be downloaded for free. The second is a collection of prize-winning art. By signing contracts with the Zhenhu Intellectual Property Rights Management Center, embroidery artisans will have the right to use this art for a small fee. The third database is for extremely good works. They require registration by members, protecting the legitimate rights of the original creators and establishing a channel between these artists and embroidery artisans.

“The copyright crisis has also aroused embroidery artisans’ sense of protecting their own intellectual property rights,” said Yu.Now Zhenhu Embroidery has been registered as a trademark.

The Suzhou Embroidery Research Society was established in Zhenhu at the end of February 2011. This is a new society aimed at protecting, passing along, promoting and enhancing the art of Su Embroidery, as well as launching relevant academic research and communication. It will work to improve the creative ability of embroidery artisans and solve disputes regarding intellectual property rights.

Recently, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law was rati fi ed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China and will be in effect on June 1.

The law creates the basis for the development and protection of Su Embroidery, says Feng Jingwen, Director of the Division of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection under the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture.