A Preliminary Study On The History Of Xiang Embroidery And Its Regional Cultural Features

Between the final years of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476B.C.) and the middle Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), the culture ofthe Chu Kingdom, after an original and unconventional development,reached its highest point. A complete system, comprising of thetechniques of bronze smelting, lacquer techniques, Taoist Philosophy,literature of Qu Yuan's style, and fine arts and music and dancing, wasformed. With its all-embracing and profound implication and colorfulpresentation, Chu culture manifested its distinctive features, mature formsand magnificent manner. The Chu Embroidery of Jiang Ling, now inHubei Province, and the Han Embroidery of Mawangdui in Changsha,Hunan Province are the essence of Chu culture, which is a regionalculture characterized by its magical romanticism. They showed to us theprosperity and magnificence of the Chu culture thousands of years ago.The development of necromancer culture and the prevalence ofmyths provided a cultural background with typical regionalcharacteristics for the Chu Embroidery of Jiang Ling and the HanEmbroidery of Mawangdui, which were the original form of XiangEmbroidery. (Xiang is the short form for Hunan Province.) These twokinds of embroideries are similar in theme, style and manner ofrepresentation. So they can be regarded as belong to the same school.They were quite different from other contemporary art forms inMid-northern China. In feudal times, with the emergence of rationalconsciousness, people in Mid-northern China had more earthly social consciousness and weaker religious consciousness. They abandonedconsciousness of ghosts and immortals and had great interest in socialand personal affairs. So their topics of embroidery works were mostlyconcerned with agriculture, fishery, nomadism, history and nature. Andthe techniques of representation were relatively precise and refrained. But,when compared with silk painting of Mawangdui and lacquer painting ofJinchu Area (now in Hubei Province), Xiang Embroidery had surprisinglysimilar themes, style and techniques.Xiang Embroidery is a traditional folk handicraft of Hunan Province,a part of the original Chu region. It inherited the distinctive romanticcharacteristics of Chu and Han Embroideries. In techniques, it inheritedthe major techniques of Chu and Han Embroideries and, on thisfoundation, developed techniques distinct from other three schools ofChinese embroideries, namely, Su (Su Zhou), Yue (Guang Dong), andShu (Si Chuan) embroideries, such as disheveled needling, mixedneedling, and double-faced embroidery with totally different images onboth sides.The development of Xiang Embroidery in modern times is a matterof great importance and equally great difficulty. On the one hand,handicraftsmen worked hard to learn from other schools of embroidery.They developed new techniques of Chu embroidery and createdunprecedented masterpieces like Eighty-seven Immortals and BirthdayCongratulation by Immortals. On the other hand, with the development ofindustry and the rapid improvement of weaving, printing and dyeingtechnology, delicate handicraft gave way to convenient printing technology. And with the ageing of craftsmen and no new participantstaking up this career, the techniques of Xiang Embroidery face extinctionand there is no new embroidery works created which can surpass thosemasterpieces already in existence. Therefore, it is required that thegovernment and the society pay great attention to the art of XiangEmbroidery to make sure that this ancient and magical folk handicraft canremain magnificent and prosperous.