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| Yue embroidery (China Daily) |
Yue embroidery (Yuexiu)
Among all the embroidery styles of China, the Guangdong style (Yue is the short term for Guangdong) may not be the best, but it is certainly the most special.
The earliest piece of Su embroidery was unearthed under the Ruiguang (Blessed Light) and Huqiu (Tiger Hill) towers built during the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127).
Historical records had it that Su embroidery was already widely applied on clothes during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). By the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644), raising silkworms and doing embroidery were common among "almost every country household".
Suzhou-style embroidery was also helped by the city's famous literati of the time, especially the Wu School of Painting, which offered pattern makers an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
Because of the cultured influences, Su embroidery has a refinement that is seldom found in embroidered works elsewhere.
Su embroidery enjoyed its heyday as the imperial courts showed continuous partiality toward its vivid style, particularly its depth and Su embroidery appeared on everyday items such as bedcovers, sachet, and bags for the scholar's fans.
At the present, the definition of Su embroidery has expanded to include works produced by Suzhou and its neighboring cities of Wuxi and Nantong, although embroidery produced in Suzhou still commands a higher price because of its perceived better value.
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