Huangzhong Appliqué Embroidery
01 · Historical Records
Huangzhong pile embroidery is a product of the fusion of Han and Tibetan cultures, its history traceable to the period when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet in the Tang dynasty. During the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, Huangzhong pile embroidery entered its peak period; by the mid-to-late Qing dynasty it began to decline. In the early years of the Republic, the second Jiaya Khenpo, Lobsang Dargye, vigorously promoted the art of pile embroidery, reviving its fortunes; it has been transmitted to this day among monastery monks and folk artists.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
At that time Princess Wencheng brought silk and embroidery from the Central Plains to Tubo, after which various weaving and embroidery techniques gradually spread to the Qinghai-Tibet region; Huangzhong pile embroidery took shape and developed against this background. In the Huangzhong area there is a saying that “anyone who can do needlework can do pile embroidery,” which shows that the art has a broad popular base locally. Huangzhong pile embroidery mainly depicts Tibetan Buddhist subjects, using cutting, piling, and other techniques to build up images, and is mostly used in making thangka. The pile embroideries preserved in Kumbum Monastery in Huangzhong County are treasures of Tibetan Buddhist art and are acclaimed as one of the “three excellences” of Kumbum Monastery art. Huangzhong pile embroidery perfectly combines embroidery with the art of relief, showing delicacy within boldness and splendor within simplicity, presenting moving ethnic character and powerful artistic appeal.
One of the three wonders of Kumbum monastery
The silk appliqué kept at Kumbum monastery in Huangzhong is a treasure of Tibetan Buddhist art and one of the monastery's three wonders.
Cutting and stacking for thangka making
Devoted to Buddhist subjects, the craft shapes images by cutting and stacking, mainly for thangkas, uniting embroidery with relief.
Princess Wencheng and the westward spread of needlework
A fusion of Han and Tibetan culture, the craft traces back to Princess Wencheng, who carried Central Plains silk and embroidery into Tibet.
The second Gayya Khenpo and the revival of appliqué
Flourishing in the Jiajing era and declining in the late Qing, the art was revived in the early Republic when the second Gayya Khenpo promoted it among monks and lay craftsmen.
Tianjiazhai, Duoba and neighbouring townships
Found chiefly in the Tianjiazhai and Duoba townships, the craft is so widespread that locals say anyone who can sew can make appliqué.
Xu Quanxi and the Skanda bodhisattva
Born in Huangzhong in 1946, Xu Quanxi learned Kumbum appliqué from the monk Tashi Nyima and worked for over thirty years in monasteries across Qinghai, Tibet and Gansu.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Huangzhong pile embroidery is a folk embroidery art popular in the Huangzhong County area of Qinghai Province, distributed mainly in the townships of Tianjiazhai, Duoba, and several others.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xu Quanxi (record from the official inheritor archive): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1946, from Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province. He is a first-class folk craftsperson of Qinghai Province. He excels at Tibetan-style murals, gold-traced thangka, peasant painting, folk colored decoration, and ancient architecture design. In 1967 he studied painting under the local folk painter Li Yuzhen; in 1987 he became a disciple of the artisan monk Tashi Nima of Kumbum Monastery, mastering the pile embroidery technique of Kumbum Monastery. For more than thirty years he engaged in pile embroidery and colored decoration at monasteries in Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu, and elsewhere. His works “Good Tales Passed Down by Sun and Moon,” “A Colored Brush Painting the Hero King,” and “Snow Mountain Lion Dance” were exhibited and collected by the National Art Museum of China; “Skanda” was collected by the Ministry of Culture; he has held solo exhibitions in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, and Huangzhong, Qinghai; and at the Dafo Temple in Zhangye he created “The Sutra-Transporting Scene” and “Restoration of Ancient Ganzhou.” He is a representative inheritor of Huangzhong pile embroidery, a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project. Over the years he has taught pile embroidery, training thirty-eight apprentices, and through skills instruction and guidance has helped rural women and laid-off workers start businesses and increase their income, enhancing the social and economic benefits of the Huangzhong pile embroidery technique.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xu Quanxi 05-2683
- Qiao Yingju
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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