Meng Dezhi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

She entered the Chengdu Shu Embroidery Factory in 1979 and studied under Xiao Fuxing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Sichuan Embroidery in Chengdu, Sichuan: Shu embroidery is produced mainly in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and on the western Sichuan Plain. In former times, weaving houses and embroidery shops in Chengdu were concentrated around Dongda Street and Qingshi Bridge, while farm women in Pixian, Xindu, Wenjiang, Shuangliang, and other counties took up embroidery as a sideline. By the late 1970s, rural western Sichuan was virtually a scene of 'needlework in every household', with four to five thousand embroiderers. By around 1925, Chengdu alone had more than 1,000 embroidery workers and over 60 shops. In the 1950s, Shu embroidery spread widely among the people of Sichuan. By the late 1970s, rural western Sichuan was virtually a scene of 'needlework in every household', with embroidery workers numbering four to five thousand.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in March 1961 in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. A Chinese master of arts and crafts. She was born into an embroidery family. After more than thirty years of study and research she has mastered Shu embroidery and all of its stitches and can produce every type of Shu embroidery work, excelling particularly in double-sided embroidery with different colors on each side and double-sided embroidery with different forms on each side. Representative works include Shu Gong Yue Ji (Musicians of the Shu Palace), the double-sided embroideries Fu Rong Li Yu (Hibiscus and Carp) and Chang Mao Gou (Long-Haired Dog), the differently colored embroidery He Hua Li Yu (Lotus and Carp), and the differently formed embroideries Wen Jun Ting Qin (Wen Jun Listens to the Qin) and Jiu Zi: Xiong Mao Tu (Nine Children: Pandas). Fu Rong Li Yu and Qiu Se Gao Yuan (Autumn Colors on the Plateau) are displayed respectively in the Sichuan Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and in the meeting hall of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Within the documented technical tradition of Sichuan Embroidery in Chengdu, Sichuan: Shu embroidery, also known as Chuan embroidery, originated among the people of western Sichuan and takes its name from that region. The western Sichuan Plain flourished with silkworm raising in ancient times, which is why the area was called 'Shu'. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, during the Spring and Autumn period Shu transported silk and hemp fabrics to Yong, the capital of the Qin state, for trade; by the Eastern and Western Jin dynasties, embroidered goods had already become a specialty of the Shu region. Shu embroidery developed along with the flourishing silk-weaving industry of Shu; by the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, its products were controlled by the government. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, trade along the Silk Road caused demand for woven and embroidered goods to surge, and Shu embroidery grew rapidly under these conditions, reaching a historic peak. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, besides women's needlework in the inner chambers, many professional embroiderers and small embroidery workshops appeared in Sichuan. Shu embroidery is distinguished above all by its stitch techniques, which comprise 12 major categories and 122 individual stitches. Using locally woven satins in red, green, and other colors, together with loose thread as raw materials, Shu embroidery interweaves many different stitches. Its stitching is precise, its threads are laid evenly and steadily, and its coloring is elegant. It excels both at rendering delicate, lifelike images of flowers, birds, insects, and fish and at conveying the majestic momentum of landscapes. Influenced by geography, customs, and local culture and art, Shu embroidery has gradually developed over its long evolution a distinctive style that is meticulous and refined, bright and smooth, open in composition, mellow and rounded, and vivid in color. Shu embroidery has relatively high cultural and artistic value. However, affected by social change and market demand, Shu embroidery has declined markedly in production scale and commercial returns in recent years, causing large numbers of skilled artisans to change trades and disperse, while many ancient embroidery techniques have rapidly been lost. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Twelve categories, one hundred and twenty-two stitches": Shu embroidery is renowned for technique: 122 stitches in twelve categories, used strictly and evenly, adept at both delicate flowers, birds and fish and majestic landscapes. "Hibiscus and Carp and double-sided Shu work": Hibiscus and Carp is a celebrated modern double-sided piece; Meng Dezhi's rendering hangs in the Sichuan Hall of the Great Hall of the People. "The flat-hand thread-pulling stitch": Hao Shuping created the flat-hand thread-pulling stitch; her work is marked by smooth, bright thread surfaces, neat stitching, soft colour blending and vivid force. "Shu textile trade recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian": The Records of the Grand Historian note Shu textiles traded to the Qin capital; by the Jin dynasty embroidery was a Shu speciality, controlled by office in the Three Kingdoms and peaking with the Silk Road trade.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Shu embroidery, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She has established Shu embroidery technician training bases in several places, training more than one hundred laid-off women workers, land-dispossessed farmers and unemployed young people as Shu embroidery artisans.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Meng Dezhi · National Representative Bearer Archive