Manchu Embroidery
01 · Historical Records
In the early 12th century, women living in Northeast China, in response to the needs of labor and daily life, began to embroider simple patterns on saddle ornaments and clothing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Kedong Manchu Embroidery is one of the forms of Manchu embroidery distributed in Kedong County, Heilongjiang Province. Through continuous practice, by the Jin Dynasty it had gradually taken shape as an embroidery art with strong Manchu cultural characteristics, centered on everyday practical items. According to the Rongzhai Suibi (Notes from the Rongzhai Studio): "(The women) usually sat together on the heated brick bed (kang); when guests arrived and a banquet was spread, once the wine was finished and the guests had dispersed, each returned to her place and took up her embroidery again." By the Qing Dynasty, Manchu women in Kedong and the surrounding areas had inherited and further developed the embroidery custom, boldly innovating in material selection, technique, and style, and Kedong Manchu Embroidery matured steadily. Historically, Kedong Manchu Embroidery was widely distributed across north-central Heilongjiang, eastern Inner Mongolia, and the surrounding areas; today it is concentrated in Kedong County, Heilongjiang Province, as well as in Qiqihar City, the Heihe region, Bei'an City, and parts of Jilin Province. Kedong Manchu Embroidery took shape within a specific geographical environment, adapting to the production and lifestyle of Manchu women and answering their spiritual pursuits. Its subject matter is wide-ranging: landscapes, flowers and birds, grasses and insects, birds and beasts, figures and stories, calligraphy, and more. The forms are plain and exaggerated, the colors vivid with strong contrasts between warm and cool tones; the compositions are full and symmetrical, carrying the bold, rustic flavor of the North; the formats are diverse and the stitches varied. Cut work, wrapped appliqué, patchwork embroidery, counted-thread work, and padded work each display their own character, while satin stitch, back stitch, pin stitch, laying stitch, insert stitch, and 'wild horse' stitch offer endless subtlety. Kedong Manchu Embroidery is widely used in clothing, household articles, room decoration, and wedding dowries. Kedong Manchu Embroidery is passed on in living form among local Manchu women. In traditional society, girls learned embroidery from their mothers from an early age, and whenever the long winter came, the women would gather in company to embroider. They exchanged cloth and colored thread among themselves, matching the pattern colors to the base cloth so that the results were both contrasting and harmonious; the embroidered pieces were varied, rich, and beautiful. Patterns were shared among them, and the embroiderers freely chose their own colors and created boldly. Women related as sisters-in-law exchanged embroidered works, honed their skills together, and also gave their work to close relatives and friends. In addition, Kedong Manchu Embroidery has considerable economic value and art-collection value, and has contributed to the development of the local folk craft industry.
Saddle trappings and clothing
From the twelfth century women in northeast China embroidered simple motifs on saddle gear and clothing, and by the Jin dynasty a practical Manchu art had formed.
Embroidering by the kang
The recorded image of women sitting by the kang and returning to their stitching after guests have gone shows how deep the craft sat in daily life.
Liu Yamei and craft-based poverty relief
Liu Yamei funded her own teaching studio, brought in elder artisans to train novices, and has run thirty-six courses for nine hundred and seventy-two trainees.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Historically, Kedong Manchu Embroidery was widely distributed across north-central Heilongjiang, eastern Inner Mongolia, and the surrounding areas; today it is concentrated in Kedong County, Heilongjiang Province, as well as in Qiqihar City, the Heihe region, Bei'an City, and parts of Jilin Province. Kedong lies in the heart of the Songnen Plain; in the early 20th century the area shifted from fishing and hunting to agriculture, and women embroidered patterns on saddle ornaments and clothing; by the Qing Dynasty, bold innovation in material selection, technique, and style had brought the craft to full maturity.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Manchu Embroidery · Manchu Embroidery · Manchu Embroidery · Manchu Embroidery · Manchu Embroidery.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The transmission lineage spans five generations. Kedong Manchu Embroidery expresses the aesthetic taste of Manchu women and the wisdom of hand and mind working as one, together with their vivid creativity and vitality; it embodies their longing for and pursuit of a better life. It has social and cultural value, as well as research value for ethnology, folklore, archaeology, art history, and related disciplines. Liu Yamei (according to the official file of the associated inheritor): female, Han, born July 1964, from Keshan County, Heilongjiang Province. In 1991 she entered the Fine Arts Department of Harbin Normal University to study. She has collected large numbers of traditional embroidered pieces and patterns, carefully organized and excavated the traditional techniques of Manchu embroidery, and played an active role in its protection and transmission. The works she embroiders give priority to practicality: they are attractive and sturdy, highly functional, and distinctive. She raised funds herself to establish a Manchu embroidery teaching studio; besides teaching in person, she recruited veteran artisans so that experienced craftspeople could mentor newcomers in the traditional Manchu embroidery techniques. She took the lead locally in implementing an intangible cultural heritage poverty-alleviation project: since 2017 she has run 36 training sessions, trained 972 people, and secured employment for 231 of them, bringing Manchu embroidery back to vitality. She is a representative inheritor of Manchu Embroidery, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project from the fifth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xia Liyun 05-2693
- Sun Yanling 05-2694
- Liu Yamei 05-2695
- Zhang Lixin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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