Chinese Silk Embroidery Is Silk Thread Art Thousands Of Years Old

Introduction To Chinese Silk Embroidery (中国刺绣)

Embroidery is a traditional Chinese art dating back to the Neolithic age. China has a long history refining embroidery into a fine art. Most Chinese fine embroidery are sewn with silk thread, because of the fine qualities of silk fiber. The best Chinese silk embroidery is such fine art that it’s often called “needle painting” or “thread painting.”

Silk itself has its origins in Chinese history. Ancient artifacts of silk production have been found in Neolithic Chinese sites dating back more than 5000 years. Sanxingdui archaeological findings demonstrate ancient Shuzhou people had mastered silkworm domestication and silk production. The earliest embroidery in China was found in Henan Province from the Shang Dynasty. Silk paintings and embroidery discovered in China prove that more than 3000 years ago there was wonderful silk in vibrant colors and veiled designs. The earliest silk embroidery was discovered in a tomb in Mashan in Hubei province from the Zhanguo period (5th-3rd centuries BCE.)

Chinese Silk Embroidery Traveled The Silk Road

With the advent of the Silk Route in the Han Dynasty silk production and trade flourished. Chinese silk embroidery production reached its zenith in the 14th century CE. There are four renowned schools of Chinese embroidery. That widely acknowledged as the most exquisite for over 200 years since Qing Dynasty is from Suzhou. Suzhou silk embroidery (苏绣 {Su Xiu}, Su for short) is made with pure silk threads on silk satin. Suzhou embroidery originated in the Wuxian area of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province and continues today in areas around Suzhou, located down steam on the Yangtze River.

Suzhou Silk Embroidery Is Exquisite

Suzhou women carry on traditional embroidery habits. The mild climate bordering Lake Tai produces some of the world’s richest silk products. This climate and the spectacular geography engender favorable conditions for embroidery development. Shuzhou silk embroidery established its unique weaving techniques with vibrant colored silk thread and beautiful rich brocades. The refined subject matter are meticulously stitched in subtle and lifelike colors.

Shuzhou silk embroidery characteristics are many:

• ultra thin needles;
• dense, tight lines;
• detailed needlework;
• wide variety of stitches;
• beautiful patterns;
• rich, elegant & harmonious colors;
• intricate images;
• smooth-as-a-mirror surfaces; and
• neat, orderly edges.

These skilled artisans use more than forty different stitches and a thousand different thread types to create flowers, birds, animals and gardens. The main Suzhou embroidery theme is nature and the environment and the subjects are mostly small animals, cats, fish and shrimp.

There is even a double-sided embroidery with an intricate image on two sides, sometimes identical and sometimes a different image on each side. Imagine a cat’s eyes different colors on each side. The supreme concentration required to complete one of these can easily take one month or more. No photograph can fully capture the textures, the vibrance and the lifelike realism of the highest thread count masterpieces. Whereas, in painting the artist uses a paintbrush and different colors to paint a picture; in embroidery, artists carefully select each tiny thread of perfect color and shade to paint with needles.

Although, embroidery is a traditional Chinese art dating back to the Neolithic age, the Chinese refined this art form to what it is today. Whether you call silk embroidery “needle painting” or “thread painting” the results are exquisite. Anything you can imagine in photographs or paintings is also a matter for silk thread art.

Silk Embroidery Is Alive In China Today