Xiang embroidery is the general name of embroidery products centered on Changsha, Hunan. Xiang embroidery is a specialty of Changsha, Hunan Province, which has distinct characteristics of Xiang Chu culture. It is a folk craft with Xiang Chu culture created by Hunan working people in the long history of human civilization.
Xiang embroidery originated from Hunan folk embroidery, absorbed the advantages of Suzhou embroidery and Guangdong embroidery and developed, with a long history of more than 2,000 years. 40 pieces of embroidered clothes were unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, indicating that Xiang embroidery had developed to a higher level in the Western Han Dynasty. Xiang embroidery is one of the four famous embroideries in China, and it is a symbolic product of China's national geography. It participated in international expositions held in Japan and Bama.
Xiang embroidery story:
In the 24th year of Guangxu (1898), Wu, the son of an outstanding embroiderer Hu Lianxian, opened the first "Wu Caixia Embroidery Workshop" in Changsha. His works are excellent and spread all over the country, and Xiang embroidery is famous all over the country. During Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, Yang Shizhuo, a Ningxiang painter, advocated Hunan folk embroidery, went deep into embroidery workshops for a long time, drew embroidery drafts and created various stitches, which improved the artistic level of Hunan embroidery.
At the end of Guangxu, Hunan folk embroidery developed into a unique embroidery process system and became a handicraft commodity with independent style and strong local color. At this time, there was such a special title as "Xiang embroidery".
In the long process of development, Xiang embroidery gradually formed a simple and elegant artistic style. Embroiderers transplant the fine tradition of Chinese painting to embroidery, skillfully integrate Chinese painting, embroidery, poetry, calligraphy and epigraphy, and create embroidery that "embroiders birds to hear, embroiders tigers to run, and embroiders people to express their feelings".