Dahe Network News (Reporter Song Xiangle) "Bianshui flows, Surabaya flows, and flows to Guazhou Gudutou. Wu Shan was a little worried. This poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi talks about the lovesickness of men and women, and it also contains the water system of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, which connects the north and south of China. Kaifeng, known as Bianzhou in ancient times, was named after the Bianhe River. The Bianhe River is an important part of the Grand Canal of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and during the Northern Song Dynasty, it was the golden waterway leading to the capital, through which almost the material needs of the entire capital were supplied.
Bian embroidery version of "Qingming Riverside Picture". (Wang Suhua)
The state bridge and the nearby Bianhe ruins have not only witnessed the changes of the Bianhe River in the past dynasties, the rise and fall of water transportation, but also witnessed the replacement of dynasties and the superposition of cities. "The canal has been reborn for a thousand years", and the water transport of the Bianhe River has prospered Tokyo.
Bian embroidery, also known as "Song embroidery", is a traditional embroidery art popular in Kaifeng, Henan, because it was produced in Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the embroidery industry in Bianjing flourished and has reached a high level of skill, so it has the reputation of "shining with gold and splendor" in "Tokyo Menghualu". In 2008, Bianxiu entered the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
Wang Suhua who is creating Bian embroidery.
89-year-old Wang Suhua is the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of Bianxiu, and has dealt with Bianxiu all her life. In the more than 60 years of focusing on Bian embroidery, Wang Suhua has never left the embroidery, the needle does not leave the hand, and the hand is not offline, forming his own unique embroidery style, creating more than a dozen new stitches such as Mongolian needle embroidery and flat needle embroidery. His works have delicate stitching and vivid shapes, with a distinct three-dimensional sense and strong local characteristics. She also innovated the use of needlework techniques such as random needlework, which filled some gaps in Bian embroidery skills to a certain extent.
A piece of embroidery work has to go through more than a dozen processes such as material selection, tie making, bandage, starching, drawing, wiring, embroidery, and finishing. "The selection of materials must be based on the color and specifications of the embroidered work, and there can be no slight flaws; On the bandage, is to embroider the satin fixed on the stretcher, according to the size of the work to choose the right bandage, to be moderately tight, so that the satin surface is straight...... "Wang Suhua said, to make the embroidery to meet the requirements of flat, qi, light, bright, net, each process must be meticulous, to achieve perfection, which has to rely on years of experience accumulation and every moment of careful thinking.
Wang Suhua is teaching young people about Bian embroidery.
In 1935, Wang Suhua was born in a rural family in Fengqiu County, Henan Province. Influenced by her elders, Wang Suhua has loved Bian embroidery since she was a child. In 1957, she joined Kaifeng Bian Embroidery Factory.
In 1958, Wang Suhua received the task of embroidering the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival". In order to embroider the works well, Wang Suhua first led a special team to visit households along the street, collect old embroidery pieces, and carefully ponder the traditional stitching method. At the same time, whenever she had free time, she went to the countryside to observe the color of the donkey's coat, the shape of the ploughing ox, and the habits of the camel; I ran to the Yellow River many times, went to the big boat to experience life, and saw how many strands of fiber rope there were and how the boatman coiled the rope; As long as you see a bird's nest in a tree, you should look up for a while to see its structure, material, and color.
After that, she went to Beijing to see the original work of "Qingming Riverside Picture". While looking at it, he pondered and muttered: "Little donkey, white navel, easy needle embroidery, can convey the spirit; Crow's nest, firewood and grass, cross embroidery, there are birds falling ......"
When she returned to the factory, she took her sisters to experiment repeatedly, created more than a dozen new stitches, and combined with traditional stitches, she embroidered the "Qingming Riverside Map", which was collected by the National Museum.
There are a number of stitches, and the art is endless. For decades, Wang Suhua has never left the embroidery, the needle does not leave the hand, and the hand does not go offline, forming his own unique embroidery style.
"The color is elegant, the craftsmanship is fine, the layers are clear, and the vividness is my basic requirement for each embroidery." Wang Suhua pointed to Zhang Daqian's "Freehand Lotus", which had just been embroidered, and said that it is not difficult to meet the basic requirements, but it is difficult to understand the original work, skillfully use stitching, and give it new artistic vitality. "You see, the leaves of this lotus flower, embroidered with Mongolian needles, focus on freehand; This lotus flower, embroidered with a long needle, looks at the petals bulging, highlighting the realistic effect. The combination of virtual and real enriches the meaning of the original work. ”
Wang Suhua, the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project (Bian embroidery).
"This is a long scroll of "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains" embroidered a few years ago, on the stage of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Tiger, excerpts from the dance poetry drama "Only This Green" - Dance Painting "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains" made a stunning appearance, I am happy, and I embroidered a few more local sketches of "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains" while I was hot."
In 1990, when he founded Suhua Song Embroidery Craft Co., Ltd., Wang Suhua said: "The party and the government have cultivated me for so many years, and given me so many honors, I have not had time to repay, Song embroidery is my life, I want to use my skills to repay the society." ”
The Grand Canal is not only an economic lifeline, but also a channel for cultural transmission, which promotes the exchange and integration of northern and southern cultures, making Kaifeng one of the cultural centers at that time. In this environment, the embroidery technique absorbs the strengths of the north and south embroidery, forming its own unique style, which has both the rough and bold of the north and the delicate and delicate of the south, which enhances its artistic value and influence.
According to historical records, during the Northern Song Dynasty, with the smooth flow of the Grand Canal, especially the Bianhe River as the main waterway connecting the Yellow River and the Huai River, it greatly promoted Kaifeng's material exchange and commercial prosperity. The prosperity of the city attracts a large number of people to gather, providing a broad market and demand base for various handicrafts, including embroidery. The convenient transportation of the Bianhe River makes it easy for raw materials such as silk fabrics to enter Kaifeng, which provides rich material resources for the production of Bianhe embroidery.
"During the Northern Song Dynasty, the 'Wen Embroidery Academy' in the Kaifeng Imperial Palace concentrated a large number of embroiderers to make embroidery for the royal family, which reflects the close connection between Bian embroidery and court culture. At the same time, with the gradual popularization of skills, Bian embroidery has also moved from the court to the people, promoting the inheritance and development of skills, and forming a broad social foundation. Kaifeng local staff introduced.
A piece of embroidery in the works.
The prosperity of the Grand Canal has driven the international trade of Kaifeng, so that Bian embroidery and other handicrafts have the opportunity to be exported overseas, and further enhance the popularity and status of Bian embroidery. Therefore, Bian embroidery has become an important cultural symbol in Kaifeng and even the Central Plains, representing the handicraft level and aesthetic taste of that era.
"I hope to send Bian embroidery to ordinary people's homes, so that everyone can afford and use Bian embroidery." Today, Wang Suhua, who is full of silver hair, is still sticking to the inheritance of Bianxiu. The excavation and maintenance of the Grand Canal and its section of the Bianhe River have provided indispensable economic, cultural and transportation conditions for the rise, development and spread of Kaifeng Bianxiu, and the two have witnessed the glorious history of Kaifeng as the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.