Minjianxiuhuo
01 · Historical Records
Xiabu embroidery originated in the Northern Song dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiabu embroidery, also called “xiabu stitch embroidery,” is a form of traditional fine art in which various stitch techniques are used to embroider patterns on ramie-woven cloth. It is relatively concentrated in the ramie-growing areas of Jiangxi Province, with Xinyu City as its representative center. Northern and western Jiangxi produce abundant ramie, and there was once a time when every household grew ramie and wove cloth. Xiabu is a plain-weave or leno-weave cloth hand-woven from ramie. In the traditional division of social labor, women had to master skills such as spinning and weaving, cutting and sewing, and embroidery; xiabu embroidery thus became one of the ways women beautified their lives and gave expression to their feelings. The main processes of xiabu embroidery include treatment steps that soften and heat-press the xiabu cloth, together with the embroidery steps of designing, tracing the draft, mounting on the frame, tightening the frame, matching threads, and embroidering. Xiabu embroidery has a plain, rustic texture with clearly visible warp and weft; its embroidered surfaces use restrained, elegant color schemes and have a strongly tactile quality, and its forms are simple, natural, and lifelike. It is widely used in costume decoration and in festive and wedding occasions. Common stitch techniques include the open-background stitch, void-and-solid stitch, random stitch, cross stitch, spiral stitch, set stitch, and joining stitch. Xiabu embroidery emphasizes line: the role of line is greatly accentuated in the void-and-solid and random stitches, while the role of color is relatively diminished. In the embroidery process, close attention is paid to the rhythm of line between “void” and “solid” — seemingly void yet not void, seemingly solid yet not solid, now hidden and now visible. Xiabu embroidery combines the distinctive texture of xiabu cloth with the flavor of ink-wash painting; its coloring is plain and antique, elegant and deep, its stitch technique flexible and varied, and its tonal quality serene and understated. Xiabu embroidery is transmitted collectively among local women: most began embroidering under the instruction and influence of community members or elder family relatives, and they often gather together to compare skills and hone their techniques. Drawing on the characteristics of the ramie fabric and its distinctive embroidery stitch techniques, xiabu embroidery forms an embroidery language system that embodies the social practice and aesthetic interests of women, giving expression to their feelings and reflections and to their longing and pursuit of a better life.
Soften and heat-treat the ramie
The ramie cloth is softened and heat-set before drafting, mounting, threading and stitching, so that its stiff weave can carry fine needlework.
Through, voided, loose and crossing stitches
Through-stitch leaves the pattern half-sunk in the cloth, while voided, loose and crossing stitches render clouds, foliage and feathers.
Zhang Xiaohong and the Yuzhou workshop
Zhang Xiaohong, a national model worker, founded the Yuzhou workshop, a research institute and a museum, filed five trademarks and forty-six patents, and trained over three hundred embroiderers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Developing productive protection of xiabu embroidery can provide employment opportunities for local communities, especially for women’s groups, increase household economic income, and raise living standards and family status; at the same time it can raise the value-added content of ramie and increase the income of ramie growers, thereby contributing to local economic and social development.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo · Minjianxiuhuo.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhang Xiaohong (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): female, of the Han nationality, born in April 1958, a native of Ruichang City, Jiangxi Province. She is a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder, a National Technical Expert, and a master of arts and crafts of Jiangxi Province. From childhood she learned embroidery from her elders. She later successively founded the Yuzhou Embroidery Workshop, the Xinyu Xiabu Embroidery Art Research Institute, and the Xiabu Embroidery Museum, and registered five trademarks, including “Xiaxiu” (Summer Embroidery) and “Yuzhou Xiufang,” along with forty-six patents, including “xiabu craft articles provided with an embroidered layer.” She is a representative inheritor of Folk Embroidery (Xiabu Embroidery), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fifth national-level batch. Many of her works have won the Gold Award of the China Arts and Crafts Fine Works and the Mountain Flower Award for Chinese Folk Literature and Art, among other honors. Committing herself to talent cultivation, she has trained more than three hundred embroiderers and created employment for over four hundred people.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhao Cuilin 05-2687
- Zhang Xiaohong 05-2688
- Liu Shouxian 05-2689
- Cai Yuee 05-2690
- Zhang Juhua 05-2691
- Li Xiayin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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