Faxiu
01 · Historical Records
Its origins can be traced back to the Yuan dynasty, and it was transmitted among the people during the Ming and Qing periods.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wenzhou hair embroidery is a traditional hair-embroidery craft transmitted in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Hair embroidery is a traditional handicraft that uses natural human hair as material and the needle as a tool: a sketch is outlined on tautened cloth, and the image is then shaped by hand with needle and thread. Wenzhou hair embroidery has distinct regional characteristics and unique technique. It uses the needle as tool and long hair as material, embroidering on a satin ground. Its craft process comprises conceiving and composing the design, selecting the hair and tensioning the ground fabric, transferring the draft, embroidering to shape the image, taking the piece off the frame and mounting it, and fitting the frame. The embroidered surface is worked mainly with line, or with a combination of line and area; the changes in density and layering of the stitches are controlled entirely by hand, applying the stitch according to the object to shape the image. Its craft forms include monochrome hair embroidery, colored hair embroidery, and ground-building with supplementary coloring. Its creative themes are rich, covering figure portraits, scenery, landscape, flowers and birds, still life, Buddhist images, and much else. Its representative works include the Buddhist-themed Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) worked by traditional methods, the hometown-themed Solitary Islet in the River, and modern figure portraits worked by borrowing the expressive techniques of pencil sketching. Unlike the dense close stitching and fully covered ground of traditional silk-thread embroidery, Wenzhou hair embroidery keeps the logic of the hair and the stitching clearly visible; taking 'apply the stitch to suit the object, let the method follow the mind' as its creative principle, its works are of plain, quiet color, fine and delicate, with a distinctive texture, and can be preserved for a long time. Wenzhou hair embroidery is transmitted mainly through master-apprentice and family modes. Masters teach by word and example; apprentices follow the master in learning knowledge, skills, and the rules of the trade, and then gradually accumulate experience in practice. Wenzhou hair embroidery follows the aesthetic principles of folk craft and carries a distinctive artistic form; passed down from generation to generation, it is continually innovated upon, and its skill level is accumulated and raised. It contains rich historical and cultural information and is of important significance for studying many aspects of past periods, especially Wenzhou's crafts and aesthetics, beliefs, and folk customs. As an important item of cultural heritage, it has rich humanistic content; it is the crystallization of the wisdom and creativity of the people, embodying their vision of a better life.
Archival Records of Process Steps
Its craft process comprises conceiving and composing the design, selecting the hair and tensioning the ground fabric, transferring the draft, embroidering to shape the image, taking the piece off the frame and mounting it, and fitting the frame.
Guanyin
Its Guanyin, worked by traditional method in hair, shows how the lustre of hair can carry the downcast gaze of the bodhisattva.
Solitary Islet in the River
A home subject — the pagoda of the islet in the Ou river — where tide and tower are set in contrast to give the panel a maritime sweep.
Portraits after life drawing
Its subjects run from portraits and landscapes to birds and Buddhist figures, including modern portraits made after the manner of life drawing.
Six stages from design to frame
Design, hair selection and mounting, transfer, embroidery, removal and framing — each stage handled by hand, with stitch density and layering chosen per subject.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is mainly distributed in Lucheng and Ouhai districts, Pingyang, Ruian, and Yongjia counties, and Yueqing City of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and in recent years has gradually extended to other parts of the country.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Faxiu.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Wenzhou hair embroidery uses the needle as tool and long hair as material, embroidering on a satin ground, with distinct regional characteristics and unique technique; its process—conceiving and composing the design, selecting the hair and tensioning the ground fabric, transferring the draft, embroidering to shape the image, taking the piece off the frame, mounting it, and fitting the frame—fully retains the traces of handwork, giving the works a character of their own apart from mass-produced handicrafts. Wenzhou hair embroidery is mainly distributed in Lucheng and Ouhai districts, Pingyang, Ruian, and Yongjia counties, and Yueqing City of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and in recent years has gradually extended to other parts of the country.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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