When French Embroidery Meets Han Embroidery

By Zeng Pengling

Han embroidery is a popular genre of embroidery in Jianghan Plain, Central China’s Hubei Province, which was once a territory of the ancient Chu State, and the origin of Han embroidery stretches back over 2500 years. Qu Yuan, the great romantic poet and politician in his time once depicted in his famous poem “Summons of the Soul”(Zhao Hun) inVerses of Chu (Chu Ci)that, “As if decorated with emeralds and jewelry, the (Han)embroidery on the quilt make it a brilliant craftwork” and “In the(Han) embroidery garments, the beauty looks full of elegance and nobility.” Simple as the statement may be, it best voiced out the prosperity of Han embroidery in ancient China. At present, Han embroidery is turning a new page in its international exchange developments, serving as an important tool for telling Chinese stories.

汉绣旗袍Cheongsam with Han embroidery

Wang Ziyi, an inheritor of this cultural heritage, is one of the contemporary masters of Han embroidery in Wuhan. She grew up in an embroiderer’s family.When she was young, Wang Ziyi followed in her parents’ footsteps,studying Xiang embroidery(embroidering art of Hunan Province, Central China) and Su embroidery (embroidering art of Jiangsu Province, Eastern China),but in the 1980s, she switched to Han embroidery. Wang Ziyi has accomplished many fine pieces,and her works from her 30 years of embroidering are of both great artistic and aesthetic value.

汉绣代表性传承人之一——王子怡Wang Ziyi, one of the inheritors of Han embroidery

In June 2018, a French visitor, eager to see Chinese Han embroidery with her own eyes,flew from Lyon to Wuhan to visit the craftsmen of Han embroidery.Marylene Eyral, now an haute couture designer of Chanel, was born in an embroiderer’s family and grew up in Lyon, the Silk City of Europe. Her mother is an embroidery artist, and her father is a silk craftsman. Eyral learned a lot from her mother and naturally became an excellent embroiderer. She also developed a unique understanding of the art. Since she became a Chanel designer, Eyral has been addicted to the exploration of beauty with silk and the charming feminine secrets of the embroidery works,which provided inspiration for her designs and innovations.

汉绣大师的里昂来客

文/曾鹏凌

汉绣之风，盛行于楚地，以江汉平原为最，传承已有2500多年。“翡翠珠被，烂齐光兮”，“被文服纤，丽而不奇兮”，这是屈原《楚辞·招魂》中为我们描绘的古汉绣图景。如今，在与世界的文化交流中，汉绣正展露新颜，成为讲述中国故事的重要承载。

王子怡，中国汉绣代表性传承人，是古老汉绣的当代创作者之一。她自幼随父辈学习湘绣、苏绣，自上世纪八十年代专攻汉绣以来，三十余年针耕不断，佳作连连，其汉绣作品具有很高艺术价值。

2018年6月，一位法国客人不远万里从里昂赶到武汉，多方找寻汉绣大师，只为亲身感受中国汉绣之美。这位客人是法国香奈儿设计师——玛丽莲娜·伊哈尔。伊哈尔生长于欧洲丝绸之城——法国里昂，出身刺绣之家，其母是刺绣艺术师，其父是丝绸工作者。得益于刺绣艺术环境的浸润，伊哈尔从小喜欢跟着妈妈飞针走线，成长为一名刺绣高手，对刺绣的内涵有着深刻的领悟。成为香奈儿设计师后，伊哈尔更从丝绸之中探索美和女人的秘密，从“绣”中感受女人的韵味和柔性，为她的设计和创作提供了不少灵感。

一次偶然机会，伊哈尔在网上浏览到中国汉绣作品，受到强烈的艺术冲击。她立马放下手中的工作，即刻飞往中国武汉——一股汉绣之风正悄然兴起的城市，寻找中国刺绣大咖。通过多方寻访，伊哈尔终于见到汉绣传承代表之一的王子怡，一头扎进汉绣之中。她住在王子怡家，王子怡除了给她介绍汉绣作品，还给她讲了很多从事汉绣的心得体会。

王子怡与美国师生合影留念Wang Ziyi and the high school students and teachers when she had a cultural exchange in the United States

汉绣木制书架笔筒 A wooden bookshelf and pen container with Han embroidery

One day Eyral happened to come upon several pieces of works of Han embroidery online, which fascinated her a lot. She immediately put down her work and decided to fly to Wuhan, China, the city where Han embroidery was born and is now experiencing its renaissance.All of what she hoped was to find and see a top master of authentic Han embroidery. With the help of local governments, Eyral finally met with Wang Ziyi, one of the inheritors of Han embroidery. She was then invited to Wang Ziyi’s home and lived with her there.Soon Wang Ziyi introduced works of Han embroidery to Eyral and shared with her the experience of practicing Han embroidery.

As artists, they have something in common in the field of embroidery despite their language barrier. The aesthetic concepts of Han embroidery and French embroidery are quite similar. Both styles emphasize the romantic element and decorative function. In addition,the two different styles often have parallels in design, modeling,stitching, and materials. While discussing the differences between French embroidery and Han embroidery, Wang Ziyi showed Eyral the characteristic stitching skills of Han embroidery, which were quickly understood by Eyral. Eyral also mentioned that the ancient Chinese Silk Road brought silk materials and products to France,and even today the French silk industry benefits from old Chinese techniques and skills.

The 7-day visit came to an end so soon that both embroiderers were reluctant to part. Full of emotion Eyral said that she was looking forward to her next visit to Wuhan. Meanwhile, she invited Wang Ziyi to launch her Han embroidery arts and crafts exhibition in Lyon Museum,France.

Before meeting with Eyral,Wang Ziyi had visited Germany,Sweden, New Zealand, and other countries exhibiting her fine works of Han embroidery. At the beginning of this year, she went to 13 middle schools in the United States to showcase and teach Han embroidery. Now she hopes to visit France and have further discussions on embroidery with Eyral.

伊哈尔与王子怡讨论汉绣针法Marylene Eyral and Wang Ziyi discussing embroidery stitching

王子怡汉绣代表作《东方神鸟》获中国第四届手工艺创意设计金奖Oriental Birds, one of Wang Ziyi’s representative works, won the Gold Award of the 4th Creative Design of Handicraft in China.

艺术家之间总能找到沟通的桥梁。尽管语言不通，伊哈尔与王子怡在刺绣中找到了共通的艺术语言。汉绣与法绣的审美理念有相同之处，都是浪漫的装饰刺绣艺术。此外，二者在设计造型、针法和材料上也有相互借鉴之处。她们交流法绣和汉绣的不同，王子怡给伊哈尔演示了自己擅长的“平金夹绣”和“盘金彩绣”针法，伊哈尔领悟很快。伊哈尔说，中国古代丝绸之路为法国带去了丝绸，法国丝绸制造至今仍沿用着中国技术。

一晃眼，一周就过去。伊哈尔表示会再来武汉，进行交流探讨，同时，她邀请王子怡将汉绣带到法国里昂博物馆展示交流。

之前，王子怡曾带着自己的作品，去过德国、瑞典、新西兰等国交流，今年年初还去了美国13所中学，进行汉绣教学展示。她期待去法国，与伊哈尔进行进一步探讨。