The Song Dynasty was the peak period of the development of hand embroidery, especially in creating purely aesthetic embroidery paintings, which no one could surpass later. Embroidery paintings were influenced by the courtyard paintings of the Song Dynasty. Embroidery paintings such as landscapes, pavilions, flowers and birds, and figures have simple compositions, vivid images, and exquisite colors. Embroidery paintings and books on embroidery techniques became popular, and flower and bird embroidery paintings reached a mature stage. The Wenxiu Academy was established in the Song Dynasty, with about 300 embroidery workers, specializing in embroidering clothing and paintings for emperors, princesses, and dignitaries. Therefore, Song embroidery is also known as "palace embroidery" or "official embroidery." At that time, the emperor's dragon robes, officials' court uniforms, black gauze hats, and court boots were all fine embroidery products from the Song Dynasty.
According to "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written by Meng Yuanlao in the Song Dynasty, folk embroidery was extremely prosperous, with "embroidery curtains extending and brocades intersecting each other" everywhere. The embroidery craftsmanship of the Song Dynasty reached its heyday. In particular, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty established a specialty in embroidery and painting. Pure appreciation embroidery focused on imitating calligraphy and painting, and mostly incorporated works of famous people into the embroidery, pursuing the interest and realm of painting.
Embroidery has become an independent artistic creation, and flat stitch embroidery alone has created many new stitches. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Jinyuan was established in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu, and the official embroidery center gradually moved to the south.
The types of embroidery in the Song and Yuan Dynasties can be divided into two categories: flat embroidery and nail thread embroidery. Depending on whether the raw material is made of gold, it can be divided into two types: "golden embroidery" and "color silk embroidery". Generally, the nail thread embroidery method is used for gold embroidery, and the flat embroidery method is used for color silk embroidery.
In the Song Dynasty, tools and materials were improved, using refined steel needles and fine silk threads, the stitching techniques were extremely fine, and the colors were elegant and clean.
The flat embroidery of this period included straight stitches, wrapped stitches, tack stitches, and connecting stitches; the nail thread embroideries included flat gold method, gold circle, silver circle, gold lock, velvet laying, and silk heaping. , silk sticking and other techniques.
Trocarbing, cutting and rolling were innovative stitching methods of this period. There were fifteen or six types of acupuncture in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, silk embroidery also appeared, which was very three-dimensional.
The "Portrait of a Master of Embroidery from the Northern Song Dynasty" collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, my country, is a rare masterpiece of embroidery. In the center of this embroidered statue is the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara sitting on the altar, holding a magical instrument. The upper part is a canopy, and fragrant flowers are floating in the air around it. The embroidery threads are mainly brown and white, with different shades of blue, green, orange and other colors. What is particularly important is that the embroidery thread is made by twisting two silk threads, that is, the "joining thread" method of inserting two or more silk threads into one needle hole at the same time. The acupuncture methods are mainly "trocar needles" and "lay needles" of varying lengths, and the stitches are not exposed.
The arrangement direction of the needles and threads varies from oblique to horizontal to vertical depending on the shape of the object. In the Northern Song Dynasty, flat stitch or straight stitch embroidery has become the mainstream, which is also the result of complying with the requirements of "painting embroidery" stitch. That is to say, attention is paid to the matching of stitching techniques and thread colors to fully express the changes in shape and color of the drawing. The "Northern Song Dynasty Embroidery with Plum, Bamboo and Mountain Birds" collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, my country, is a representative work of embroidery.
The Song Dynasty was the heyday of painting and embroidery, and embroidery was mostly based on paintings by famous artists. Taking embroidery as an example, a silk thread is split into extremely fine threads, even thinner than silk threads, so that very fine parts can be embroidered.
If silk thread dyeing technology improves, color threads with richer gradients of intermediate colors, such as shades, can be dyed, and parts with rich color changes can be embroidered.
The Song Dynasty possessed almost all the most important and basic stitching and embroidery techniques for later generations. In the painting, the plum branches and bamboo leaves are gradually pushed out with "single sets of needles", "double sets of needles" and "bent needles", and "rotating needles" are also added to express the vigorous twists and turns of the tree trunks and the changes in light and shade.
The trunk and twigs use "spiral needles" from shallow to deep. When embroidering birds, use "laying needles" and "turning needles" on the back, "double trocars" and "turning needles" on the abdomen, "double trocars" and "turning needles" or "scaling needles" on the wings, and the eyes and The acupuncture methods on the feet are also different. In particular, the fluffy fur of the birds is very realistic.
The "Song Dynasty Embroidery Kaitai Picture" collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei is another representative work of embroidery. It is a work embroidered with a unique silk craft in China (ie Kesi). . The embroidery shows a boy riding a sheep and two boys standing in wait. The 9 sheep symbolize the Nine Yangs and their prosperity. The characteristic of this embroidery is yarn embroidery, which uses plain yarn as the ground, and uses "one string" of colored threads to embroider the yarn. According to the warp and weft of the yarn, every intersection of two warp threads and one weft thread is stamped. The pattern is made with one stitch. The embroidery surface is thick and dense, and the twill texture produced by this embroidery method is very unique. Children, sheep, plum blossoms, camellias, pine needles, etc. are all left blank without piercing the yarn, and are embroidered with flat needles.
The "Embroidered Chrysanthemum Curtain of the Song Dynasty" collected in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, my country, is amazing. This embroidery piece is suitable for hanging screens in autumn. The picture shows chrysanthemums blooming in an embroidered pot, with butterflies, dragonflies and bees flying around. The lower part of the hanging screen is covered with flat embroidery, while the junction with the orchids is outlined with colored threads. The combination of colored threads is rich and elegant. It shows the exquisite embroidery skills of Song Dynasty painting and embroidery.
Song Huizong loved art, and he established the Hanlin Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, which was the Palace Painting Academy at that time. Painting was used as an examination method for imperial promotion, and students were tested on poems every year. Later, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty ordered the establishment of an embroidery department, raising the embroidery craft to the status of art.
The development of embroidery in the Song Dynasty was also due to the promotion and rewards of the imperial court at that time. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty? Official Records", the Wenxiu Academy in the palace was in charge of compiling embroidery.
During the reign of Emperor Huizong, an embroidery painting department was established, which classified embroidery paintings into landscapes, pavilions, figures, flowers and birds. As a result, famous embroidery workers emerged in large numbers, which brought the development of embroidery painting to the highest level, and developed from practicality to artistic appreciation. At the same time, calligraphy and painting were also It was brought into embroidery to form a unique ornamental embroidery.
In order for the work to achieve the expressive artistic conception of calligraphy and painting, it is necessary to have a plan before embroidering, and to measure the situation during embroidery, so as to be more delicate. The composition must be simplified, and the choice of patterns and leaving blank space are very important. It is completely different from the Tang Dynasty where embroidery was applied all over the ground regardless of whether there were patterns or not.
Later, Dong Qichang, a great painter of the Ming Dynasty, said in "Jun Qingxuan Secret Records":
The embroidery of the Song Dynasty requires fine needles and threads, using threads to stop one or two threads, and using needles as thin as hair. , the color is exquisite and radiant. The mountains and rivers are far and near interesting, the pavilions are deep and profound, the characters are full of vivid emotions, and the flowers and birds are extremely charming and slanderous. A good person is better than a painting. The three interests of looking at are all complete, and the spring breeze with ten fingers covers it till this point. This description roughly explains the characteristics of Song embroidery. Song embroidery, also known as Bian embroidery, has a long history. It is the first of the five famous embroideries in my country and is known as a "national treasure". It is famous for its exquisite embroidery work, fine stitching, rigorous patterns, elegant style and beautiful colors.