Gansu “embroidery man” goes through the needle to embroider “Dunhuang”: exploring new ways to inherit thousands of years of embroidery skills
The picture shows Liu Yunfan creating works rich in Dunhuang embroidery elements. Photo by Xie Bingxi from China News Service
As night falls, Liu Yunfan, the 42-year-old representative inheritor of Wushan embroidery, a representative project of municipal intangible cultural heritage in Tianshui, Gansu, sits in front of the embroidery frame, lightly twisting the silk thread, flicking the embroidery needle with his middle finger and thumb, with skillful fingering. The movements are light and repeated, and the classic pattern in Dunhuang murals – Shuiyue Guanyin is outlined on the embroidery.
Systematically excavating and sorting out ancient Dunhuang embroidery is one of the most important tasks of Liu Yunfan, the representative inheritor of Wushan embroidery, a representative project of Tianshui, Gansu Province, in the past two years.
Influenced by his grandmother, Liu Yunfan has been obsessed with embroidery since he was a child, and has often been exposed to embroidery knowledge. When he was in junior high school, he learned from relatives who were doing business on theSilk Road that flying apsaras, camels, and Silk Road scenery were the themes of many craftsmen’s works. Since then, he has traveled to and from Dunhuang many times, delved into Dunhuang embroidery from thousands of years ago, and accumulated many concepts and stories about Dunhuang embroidery.
In recent years, Liu Yunfan has demonstrated the intangible cultural heritage skills of Long embroidery to diplomats from many countries. Many of his works are related to the Silk Road, which is rich in Dunhuang embroidery elements. Among them, the original double-sided embroidery “Jade and Silk Road” based on the Silk Road won the highest level award in the Chinese arts and crafts community, the “China Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Gold Award”; “Dunhuang Bodhisattva” was collected by the National Classics Museum of China, and “Dunhuang Heritage” 》Collected by the Han University in Taiwan, China.
Dunhuang embroidery developed through the Southern and Northern Dynasties and reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. In terms of needlework, the complicated lock stitch embroidery is weakened, and split stitch embroidery, flat stitch embroidery and gold embroidery are used instead. In terms of themes, Buddhist themes such as Buddha statues, Buddhist scriptures and murals are added. The Tang Dynasty embroidery unearthed from the Tibetan Scripture Cave has the largest number, diverse techniques, and is also the most exciting.
One of the most important embroidery works unearthed from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang is the Tang Dynasty embroidery “Auspicious Images of Liangzhou” now in the British Museum. Unlike the long-lasting international reputation of Dunhuang murals and painted sculptures, Dunhuang embroidery has only gradually entered people’s horizons in recent years, with few researchers and relatively limited research results.
“Dunhuang embroidery techniques have their own ‘laws’, which are not as jumpy and flexible as folk embroidery.” Liu Yunfan said that many embroidery items in Dunhuang embroidery are Buddhist themes, and the patterns and colors need to be calm, thick, and solemn, while split Needle embroidery turns the originally smooth silk thread into a “matte” texture, making the embroidered Buddha statues dignified and elegant.
Gansu, located at the intersection of three plateaus, has nomadic culture, farming culture, and Silk Road culture. The blending and collision of cultures are also reflected in embroidery. According to Liu Yunfan, compared with other complex stitching methods that require the cooperation of both hands, split stitch embroidery can be completed with one hand, making it easier for nomads to flexibly complete embroidery when moving. At the same time, the embroidery produced by this stitching method is wear-resistant and practical. Sexy and ornamental, it meets the conditions for people to embroider Buddha statues at that time.
Systematically excavating and sorting out ancient Dunhuang embroidery is one of Liu Yunfan’s most important tasks in the past two years. In an interview with a reporter from China News Service on the 13th, he said that this work has now entered a new stage, covering topics such as Dunhuang embroidery techniques, color matching, patterns, connotations, etc., and will soon be available in the form of museum exhibitions or publications.
“The unique stitching methods and patterns in Dunhuang embroidery are the unique wisdom of ancient Dunhuang women and can reflect the uniqueness of culture.” Liu Yunfan said that embroidery can reflect people’s production and life, geographical conditions, and folk customs at that time Customs and inner desires are of great significance to the study of ancient Dunhuang, enriching the cultural structure of Dunhuang, and enhancing national cultural pride.
In the past few days, “Dunhuang mural version school uniforms” have become popular among the public. This has inspired Liu Yunfan, who hopes to speed up the process of “reviving” Dunhuang embroidery with modern single products.
He said that he will extract the patterns and stitches from Dunhuang embroidery, integrate Dunhuang murals, Silk Road scenery, and important grotto scenic spots into embroidery works to expand the richness of ancient embroidery and widely apply it to today’s life decoration In this product, we hope to bring ancient Dunhuang embroidery into the world of more young people, so that this skill can be passed down alive.
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