Beijing Embroidery
01 · Historical Records
In the Yuan dynasty, the flat-gold, couched-gold, and seed-stitch techniques now common in Beijing embroidery had already appeared.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
As a traditional court hand-embroidery technique that once served the imperial family, Beijing embroidery is transmitted with Fangshan District, Beijing, as its center, radiating to Hebei Province, Tianjin, and other areas. It is rich in patterns and exacting in technique, gorgeous in color, dignified and luxurious, strongly decorative, and artistically distinctive; it is one of the “Eight Peerless Arts of Yanjing.” Embroidery has a long history and is an important component of dress culture. In the Tang dynasty, the silk-weaving industry in the Beijing area began to flourish, and embroideries came to feature such stitches as couched gold, couched silver, and satin stitch. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the artistic division between court embroidery and folk embroidery became increasingly clear; court embroidery was known for short as “palace embroidery,” that is, Beijing embroidery, and its stitch techniques, use of labor and materials, and motif designs grew ever more distinctive, drawing on the strengths of many schools while highlighting the character of court art. Beijing embroidery is complete in technique and standardized in content, comprising two branches: gold-thread work and floss-thread work; its essence is embodied in four aspects: stylistic character, selection of materials, colors and motifs, and stitch methods. Its tools include embroidery needles, hoops, frames, thread spools, and scissors; the threads are gold and silver threads and floss threads, with the gold thread purchased from the Nanjing Gold Leaf and Gold Thread Factory. The colors used in Beijing embroidery are yellow, white, chi-red, qing-blue, xuan-dark, black, red, and green, with three to six shades of each; bright yellow is a symbol of imperial power. Its main stitches include couched-gold outlining, flat goldwork, and seed stitch; other techniques include lock stitch, satin stitch, long-and-short stitch, couched line, net stitch, and brocade-darning. The stitchwork demands “that qi follow the needle with standardized technique; that the grain be clear and the stitches even; that shading be harmonious and gradation distinct; and that tension be moderate and composition balanced.” Motifs follow the principle that “every picture must carry meaning and every pattern must be auspicious.” The motifs are traditional and richly symbolic, including the twelve emblems of the emperor's gun robe, Buddhist images, plant and animal motifs such as bats and peonies, natural motifs such as clouds and water, and motifs of longevity, happiness, and the eight auspicious symbols. Overall, Beijing embroidery is composed with fullness yet without stagnation; its motifs are dignified and steady, its forms lively and well proportioned, and its colors sumptuous. Whether on garments, decorative pieces, or everyday articles, it consistently pursues an elegant, refined, and exquisite style. Beijing embroidery creates art through symbolic expression, using homophony, associative meaning, and metaphor so that its patterns implicitly convey the traditional Chinese cultural wishes for blessing and fortune and for warding off evil; it thus has social and cultural value. With standardized techniques and a gorgeous style of finished work, it also has high artistic value.
Gold work and velvet work
Its complete technique divides into gold work and silk-floss work, judged by style, materials, colour and pattern and stitch; the gold thread comes from Nanjing.
Yellow, white, red, blue and black
Its palette of yellow, white, red, blue, black, vermilion and green each carries three to six shades, bright yellow symbolising imperial power.
Every image carries meaning
Following the rule that every image means and every motif blesses, patterns range from the emperor's twelve emblems to bats, peonies, clouds and the eight auspicious symbols.
One of the eight Yanjing crafts
Counted among the eight Yanjing crafts, palace embroidery or gongxiu became distinct in Ming and Qing technique, materials and motifs.
Liu Xiuhua's coiled gold and seeds
The fifth-batch inheritor Liu Xiuhua, born in 1950, commands both gold and floss work, is known for Nine-Dragon Wall and has trained over a hundred apprentices since 1979.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Beijing embroidery is centered on Fangshan District, Beijing, and radiates to Hebei Province, Tianjin, and other areas; its transmission is directly related to the movement of artisans in the court embroidery workshops of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Embroiderers in the Fangshan area rely on organizations such as the Beijing Jingdu Xiuniang Handicrafts Specialized Cooperative for production and training. Their products have expanded from court garments and rank badges (buzi) to modern clothing, decoration, and everyday articles; the tools include embroidery needles, hoops, frames, thread spools, and scissors.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Beijing Embroidery · Beijing Embroidery.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Beijing embroidery has been transmitted for a hundred years, mainly through the master-apprentice mode. Liu Xiuhua (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in November 1950, a native of Beijing. Upholding tradition, she has fully mastered both gold-thread and floss-thread work, and excels at couched gold, seed stitch, flat goldwork, and other stitch techniques. Her gold and silver threads are laid evenly and lively; her floss stitching is fine, dense, and compact; her stitches are smooth and even, with bright yet harmonious colors. Representative works include Nine-Dragon Wall, Celebration of the Nine Provinces, and Chinese Dragon. She has taken part in promotional display activities such as the traditional-culture exhibition at the 2008 Olympic Games, spreading the art of Beijing embroidery. Representative inheritor of Beijing embroidery, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project, fifth batch. Since 1979 she has taken on apprentices and taught her art; she has traveled to Hebei Province many times to teach, has freely recruited apprentices widely in her hometown, and has trained more than a hundred disciples.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Liu Xiuhua 05-2711
- Liang Shuping 05-2712
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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