In the store called Qiaoyu Sichuan Embroidery, sitting in the back street of Ciqikou ancient town in Shapingba District, Yan Yongxia, the third-generation inheritor of Shaci random stitch embroidery, is running needles and threads.
On the embroidery rack, chubby tigers are embroidered on silk cloths. Surrounding Yan Yongxia is large embroidery works such as Farmhouse Nestling in Golden Fields and Silvery Pear Blossoms, Green Landscape, and Persimmon in the Snow, as well as creative cultural products like Bluetooth desk lamps, tissue boxes, and lucky bags with the embroidery of camellias, stilted houses, and kittens. The embroideries are so vivid that they bring surprises to all visitors.
“Different from Sichuan, Suzhou, Hunan, or Guangdong embroidery, the random stitch embroidery does not belong to the four famous embroidery genres but establishes its features instead. ”Yan Yongxia said while performing proficient needlework.
Life of Embroidery
Random stitch embroidery was invented in the 1920s by Mr. Lv Fengzi, a famous educator and President of Danyang Zhengze Vocational School, and Yang Shouyu, a craftswoman of modern embroidery.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan Aggression, Yang Shouyu moved to Chongqing, where the vocational school was relocated. She taught random stitch embroidery, which then prospered in Chongqing. The school was later renamed Zhengze Shu School and upgraded to Zhengze College of Arts in 1941.
Yan Yongxia, the third-generation inheritor of Shaci Random Stitch Embroidery. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Yan Yongxia grew up in a family where her grandmother and mother embroidered household goods for daily use, such as baby shoes with tiger patterns and embroideries of Chinese characters symbolizing fortune, happiness, longevity, prosperity, and abundance. The diversified embroideries present people's aspirations for a better life. She fell in love with embroidery and apprenticed with masters nationwide, improving her skills and theoretical knowledge by learning Suzhou embroidery techniques and random stitch embroidery techniques.
Opportunities favor those who are well-prepared. With an unexpected chance, Yan Yongxia had the honor to be the last apprentice of Yang Shihua, a master of Chongqing Municipal Arts and Crafts. His teacher was Yang Shouyu from Chongqing Zhengze College of Arts.
Embroidery Gifts
Camellia embroidery was selected as Gifts for Foreign Affairs Events in Chongqing in 2021.
Camellia embroidery was selected as Gifts for Foreign Affairs Events in Chongqing in 2021. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Doing embroidery works range from Chongqing People's Auditorium to Liziba light Rail Crossing the Building, Yan Yongxia often ponders how to integrate the embroidery culture with modern aesthetics. Yan said that “the value of embroideries is to pass down the embroidery culture, and I also wish to promote the culture of mountain city by using embroidery as a carrier.” That is why she came up with the idea of making camellia embroidery souvenirs.
Yan said, “As the city flower of Chongqing, camellia symbolizes passionate, courageous, and kind-hearted Chongqing people. It also embodies the spirit of bravery, straightforwardness, and diligence of people in Chongqing.” Affections and thoughts are fully expressed through the embroideries. From drafting and drawing to embroidery, vivid and bright camellia flowers finally bloom at Yan’s fingertips.
What makes Yan Yongxia even more proud is that her embroidery work, a red camellia with blue flax (The national flower of Belarus ), was selected as the gift for the opening of the Belarus Consulate-General in Chongqing, witnessing the friendly relations between Chongqing and Belarus developing into a new height.
Embroidery Innovation
During the interview, Yan Yongxia showed reporters silk embroidery threads of various colors and embroidery needles of different sizes. “Random needle embroidery is an innovative embroidery art that integrates theories of painting and embroidery. Random refers to an innovative, free-style but well-regulated embroidery technique instead of disorder. This technique brings out embroidery's vigor, vitality, and vividness.”
Farmhouse Nestling in Golden Fields and Silvery Pear Blossoms was listed in the Special Recommended Exhibition of Century-Old Traditional Crafts in Shanghai in 2021 and the third China Outstanding Crafts Exhibition held in China Arts and Crafts Museum in February 2022. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Similar to oil painting texture, random stitch embroidery boasts well-organized patterns and rich colors. This feature offered Yan a new idea for creating embroideries of famous paintings. “I embroidered the Painting of Ba People Drawing Water by art master Xu Beihong. Additionally, the Towel Gourd by Dong Zexiong, a Chongqing local painter, has been embroidered and named the Summer Charm series. The embroideries based on the Canola and Pear Flowers by oil painter Peng Xianghua were named the Idyllic Dream series. It is challenging yet interesting to engage in embroidery with these famous paintings.”
Yan Yongxia said that some embroideries took three years to complete, and some were even re-embroidered as they failed to reproduce the texture of the original painting. Finally, she presented traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, and customized drawings through embroidery with overlapping and multi-layer threads in different directions.
Recently, Yan Yongxia also figured out a new embroidery technique called “Maomao embroidery,” which is embroidering soft snow on red persimmons, making people cannot help but touch it. Auspicious snow promises a good year and success of all endeavors. Combining traditional implications with modern perspectives, the Persimmon in the Snow carries traditional skills of innovative embroidery, adding new elements and bringing surprise to life.
Still Life. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Inheritance of the Embroidery
Fast-running needles create inspiring scenery. In 2019, Shaci random Stitch embroidery was selected as an intangible cultural heritage of Chongqing.
“Yan, you must pass down the random Stitch embroidery.” This is what the teacher Yang Shihua told Yan Yongxia in her last moments. Bearing those words in mind, Yan believed that her first objective was to teach apprentices to pass down the random stitch embroidery.
Ciqikou Ancient Town was the first place where Yan started her class to teach this art. Yan said that “my students are retired workers, white-collar workers, government officers, college students, tourists, and international students from Japan, Turkey, Thailand, and other countries.”
Italian guests complimented the embroidered shawls. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Additionally, Yan Yongxia also brought her class to schools and campus. Since 2014, Yan Yongxia has been a teacher in Binjiang primary school in Shapingba District, Wenfeng primary school in Bishan district, and the Fashion Institute of Chongqing Normal University. Yan said, “Let intangible cultural heritage techniques enter the campus. My greatest hope is to attract more people to participate, understand, and fall in love with embroidery, especially random stitch embroidery.”
Yan Yongxia teaches foreign students random embroidery. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Moreover, her son Luo Zelin, who Yan Yongxia has influenced since childhood, is studying visual communication at Suzhou Art and Design Technology Institute and has put forward his perspectives on random needle stitch embroidery. By combining the techniques of random needlework and his understanding, he is creating a series of Chongqing Old City Gates in black, white, and gray tones.
With great satisfaction, Yan Yongxia said that “as the spark of the collision of traditional skills and modern perspectives, random needle embroidery is bound to go farther with its unique charisma.”