In November 2014, Shantou yarn and Chaozhou yarn were both included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.
## Arts and crafts on needle threads ##
Chaoshan yarn, also known as embroidery, commonly known as white yarn. Chaoshan yarn products have both practical and appreciative functions, mostly tablecloths, hand towels, pillowcases, cushions, plate cushions, hanging screens, embroidered clothes and other household daily necessities and decorations.
The early method of Chaoshan yarn extraction was single, only according to the pattern design, the warp or weft line of the pattern part was extracted, and then the decorative pattern of the transparent space was displayed by being connected, and a variety of technical techniques were developed later, forming a total of five major types of embroidery, extraction, weaving, fabric and splicing. Each species has a variety of different stitches, and there are more than 240 known gauges. Different techniques and stitches produce different artistic effects, the extraction class is crystal clear, the embroidery class is or gorgeous or elegant or abstract, the weaving class is rough or luxurious or elegant, the fabric class is simple and thick, and the stitching class is elegant and elegant.
According to the "Shantou City Chronicle", the art of yarn drawing was first introduced to Shantou Port.
In the early stage of reform and opening up, yarn extraction handicrafts are still the first type of national commodities, the implementation of production licenses and export license management, only Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong Yantai, Guangdong Shantou and other seven ports to obtain the right to export yarn, yarn products in short supply. As the "hometown of Chaoshan yarn drawing", shantou can be seen in the streets and alleys of the girls doing the handiwork of "hooking flowers". Among them, China Yarn Extraction Shantou Import and Export Company is the "vanguard" and leader among many export enterprises under the management of Shantou's foreign trade system, and it has set up offices in many countries around the world, Hong Kong and Macao.
In 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai presented the Chaoshan silk refined glass gauze tablecloth as a national gift to the Iranian queen, which caused a sensation in the palace, and the courtiers rushed to watch and marvel.
In 1979, Shantou girl Lin Peiqing performed dozens of yarn drawing technology performances in Tokyo and other places. The venue was packed and the audience was overwhelmed. Everyone exclaimed, "This is a masterpiece!" "Various Japanese television stations and newspapers have made special reports. Since then, Shantou yarn girls have also conducted a number of technical exhibitions in Australia and other countries, all of which have received rave reviews, which has greatly improved the reputation of Shantou yarn extraction.
In March 1980, the glass yarn embroidered tablecloth "Double Phoenix Dynasty Peony" in Shantou won a gold medal at the 32nd International Handicrafts Expo in Munich. Two hundred and seventy-six peonies leaned back and looked forward to each other, six hundred and fifty-two phoenixes each looked handsome, there was a sense of spring peony spitting in the garden, and the phoenix smelled and danced, showing the exquisite craftsmanship and unique national style of the phoenix welcoming spring and the hundred flowers competing for glory, fully embodying the mainland's traditional excellent "craftsman spirit" and the creativity of modern new crafts, and won the Gold Cup Award of the first National Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Award in 1981.
Traceability \\
"Yarn drawing" is a handicraft category innovated by the authentic "Chao" character in Chaoshan Province. The source of Chaoshan yarn is in the local area, and the source of Chaoshan yarn is Chao embroidery. This is the reason why Yantai, Changshu, Xiaoshan and other places are called lace, but Chaoshan is called yarn.
As early as the early days of the Republic of China, scholars have pointed out that the source of Chaoshan yarn is Chao embroidery. Yang Xueying, the author of "The Phenomenon of Chaomei", had explicitly referred to "yarn embroidery" as early as the early 1930s.
Yang Xueying mentioned:
"As early as the twenty-eighth year of the Qing Dynasty (that is, nine years before the Republic of China era), first the Westerners first traveled to Chaoshan, saw the stage costumes, flying dragons and phoenixes, exquisite embroidery, vivid life, for the handicraft industrial products that Fan Bang had never seen, they were eager to think about it quickly, the consequences were bought a little, brought back to the public exhibition, the whole country and the opposition, called a stunt, the wind and the sound, Europe and the United States and Qin... There are hipsters Ding Huilong, who occasionally come to Shantou for reasons, and have met with the beauty store... Introducing Ding to foreign firms, preparing everything, after a little consultation, embroidery, and then Ding began to lead to Chao'an embroidery. Ordinary female workers, only take care of the spare skills of embroidery costumes, the production is beautiful, shipped to Europe and the United States, returning with honors, steaming business, goods such as rotation ..."
It can be seen that yarn extraction has soon become popular throughout the country since it was introduced to the Chaoshan region. Then, with the growth of the deformity of the semi-colonies in Shantou, the Chaoshan yarn mushroomed rapidly, and its products once entered the foreign market and were liked by foreigners! Even many foreigners have greatly appreciated the "flying dragon dancing phoenix, exquisite embroidery, vivid and vivid, never seen by Fan Bang" technology contained in the yarn products!
Rise and Fall \\
From 1912 to 1914 and from 1936 to 1941, Chaoshan yarn extraction showed a second degree of prosperity.
At that time, "foreign firms" and "companies" were lined up all over Shantou, and yarn pumping workers were all over the rugged area, which was very popular. However, just as Chaoshan yarn extraction was booming, first due to the outbreak of the First World War, the Western economy was destroyed, and sales declined and stagnated. In the second heyday, in the competition between Chinese capital and foreign banks, many Chinese-funded companies were controlled by foreign banks due to insufficient funds, and the income of yarn pumping workers was meager and insufficient to maintain a minimum living standard, and many people were reluctant to do this "hand skin money and silver" work. Finally, due to the Pacific War launched by Japan in 1941, the shipping route was blocked, the shipment could not be shipped, and the Chaoshan yarn extraction was on the verge of interruption. This is the reason for the rise and fall of Chaoshan yarn for the second time.
Story \\
There are many embroidery stories circulating in Chaoshan folklore, and "Sister-in-law Bird" is a household name. Legend has it that in the past, there were two sisters-in-law, and the embroidery skills were excellent. They have embroidered many beautiful flowers, but they have not embroidered bayberry, because the bayberry blossom blooms in Sangen, that is, when it opens, it is thankful, and the sister-in-law waits all night under the bayberry tree. Suddenly, a fierce tiger sprang up in the forest and took the sister-in-law away, and the blood stained the flowers red. The girl was so grief-stricken that she finally turned into a bayberry bird, and whenever the bayberry blossoms bloomed, she was mourning.
Intangible Cultural Heritage \\
In November 2014, the Chinese government website published the Notice of the State Council on Publishing the Fourth Batch of Representative Items of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Shantou yarn extraction and Chaozhou yarn were both selected into the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative project list. Shantou Yarn Extraction Company is the protection unit of Chaoshan Yarn, a national intangible cultural heritage.
Legacy \\
National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Yarn Extraction Inheritor: Chen Shuze.
△Source: Shantou Daily
Chen Shuze, male, born in 1956. Arts and crafts artists, since childhood, with the first generation of old artists to learn art, has more than 30 years of rich experience in yarn, fully mastered and skillfully applied the art of yarn drawing and product styles and pattern pattern design, and with reasonable application of work, strict pattern structure, smooth pattern lines, vivid expression techniques, strong decorative and self-contained style, in the extraction of relief lace, fig lace, gorgeous lace and other new techniques, new techniques, new processes, played a greater role, Over the years, it has been firmly on the road of actively exploring, protecting and inheriting traditional yarn drawing techniques.
Source: Shantou Daily
Teacher Chen Shuze once said: Over the years, what has supported him to stick to it is a simple feeling. He said that he had the responsibility and obligation to work hard to preserve what he knew and learned in the form of pictures and texts, and with these documents, this skill would not be lost; through continuous promotion and publicity, which aroused the interest of more and more people, there would always be an opportunity to find new inheritors, so that the "famous flower of the southern country" of Chaoshan yarn would shine again, so that this cultural form with profound historical accumulation and distinct regional characteristics would be passed on and carried forward from generation to generation.
Although today's Chaoshan yarn extraction is not as beautiful as it was then, there are still skill inheritors like Chen Shuze who unswervingly walk on the road of inheriting this traditional cultural skill. While inheriting and developing traditional skills, they constantly innovate the varieties and patterns of Chaoshan yarn, adapt to market changes, so that this traditional craft culture can be passed on for a longer time. We also loyally hope that one day Chaoshan yarn can be "embroidered" throughout thousands of households at home and abroad, and re-enter the public vision!
Reference:
* Guangdong Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion Association: "Treasure of Chinese Yarn Drawing Art" - Chaoshan Yarn Extraction
* Lin Zexi: Chaoshan centennial yarn
* Li Yiqing, Li Ruidan: Chaoshan yarn has become a link between the home and abroad
* If there is any error, please point it out
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