A Study Of Guang Embroidery

Guang Embroidery is a general designation for the folk embroidery crafts in Guangzhou and its ancient apanages like Foshan, Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde, etc. With its intense Ling Nan regional features and unique stitching styles, Guang embroidery's value as a historical and cultural Heritage is profound and abundant. Rooted in daily life and inspired by the brocades of Ling Nan's ethnic minorities, Guang embroidery both interacts with China's other regional embroideries and forms its independent developing history that burgeons from an agriculture civilization and flourishes with the benefits of open ports. As far as its aesthetic characteristics are concerned, Guang embroidery boasts broad subject expressions and multiple material sources. Focusing on natural sketches and caring about techniques, Guang embroidery develops its unique and varied stitching styles and produces a wide variety of embroidery products that manifest rich connotations and intense Ling Nan regional features and are complete in composition and beautiful in color. However, since the 1970-80s, Guang embroidery has gradually come to a critical moment, faced with the straitened circumstances of the disappearing of inheritors to carry on the skill, the increasingly shrinking production and marketing scales and the gradually weakening public supports. The reasons for such difficult situations of Guang embroidery can be the following: the impact of industrialization, a low resistance to external environmental changes caused by an export-oriented production and marketing model, the easy passing of tradition generated by an innovative and changeable cultural character, the losses of markets induced by changes in customs, the profession orientation of evading difficulties and inclining to the undemanding resulting from a plurality of choices, as well as a too-high expectation on the qualities of inheritors. At present, with the quickening of the urbanization processes and the striking of the economic globalization tides, the protection of national cultural variety and the carrying-forward of native spirit have become fundamental propositions. Therefore, the inheritation and protection of Guang embroidery artistry need further attention. For this folk craft, the reviving opportunities lie in its original and developing source --Cantonese Culture. Nevertheless, to carry forward the native culture in the tides of urbanization, we should implement the practical procedures creatively, especially paying attention to the relationship between inheritation and innovation. Here, drawing lessons from the mature practices of other countries and regions in protecting traditional artistry is a convenient and fast method. Besides, simultaneously promoting protection and inheritation is urgently demanded by this reviving enterprise.This thesis attempts to start from sorting the developing stages of Guang embroidery, summarizing its unique aesthetic characteristics and the forming reasons for such features, and finding out its developing patterns as well as the causes of its increasingly difficult situations in the late 20th century. From the interviews with Guang embroidery artists and the investigations of market conditions, this thesis also analyzes the present developing conditions of Guang embroidery, hoping to shed light on the channels for Guang embroidery to step out of its difficult situations and achieve new developments.