Biography
Feng Li: Senior arts and crafts artist, Jiangsu Provincial Arts and Crafts Celebrity, Jiangsu Province Local Talents "Three Belts" expert, Jiangsu Province Nantong Intangible Cultural Heritage Nantong Simulation Embroidery (Traditional Art) representative inheritor, is the fourth generation of Shen Shou disciple. He is now the senior consultant of Nantong Shenshou Art Museum and the core creator of China Shen embroidery guoli team.

The left is Teacher Feng Li
"If you don't embroider every two days, your heart will be empty." Sitting next to the embroidery rack, Feng Li, a 61-year-old representative inheritor of Nantong's intangible cultural heritage Nantong imitation embroidery, flew ten fingers and painted on the embroidery cloth with thin needles and threads.
By this year, Feng Li has been engaged in Shen embroidery research for 42 years, from entering the Nantong Institute of Arts and Crafts at the age of 19 to participating in the creation of national ceremonies four times, Feng Li has integrated her love for embroidery into her life.
Without learning the technique, he knocked on the door of the institute with an embroidered shirt
"I didn't have an embroidery master, it was the old lady of the neighborhood who made me deeply interested in embroidery." Feng Li, who lives in the "Six Bridges", has the deepest childhood memories of the old neighbors sitting in the doorway and flying needles under the eaves. When she was a girl, she also picked up the embroidery bandage like a model and embroidered flowers imitating the appearance of the grandmothers. Unexpectedly, this shot surprised the grandmothers who have decades of "embroidery age", "spiritual craftsmanship" is the evaluation of her by the neighbors, everyone affectionately calls her "little embroidery lady", looking at the appearance of the book can make a beautiful dress, pure white is indeed a good shirt, she can also embroider a variety of patterns to make the plain clothes look more exquisite.
In 1979, 19-year-old Feng Li joined the team and returned to the city two years later, heard that the Nantong Institute of Arts and Crafts was enrolling, she and her brother went to register together, but did not expect that the enrollment time had passed. The undead brother took her embroidered shirt and pillowcase, saw her work, and the teacher in charge of admissions made an exception for her to sign up. After entering the Institute of Arts and Crafts, Feng Li visited Wu Yu, a disciple of Mr. Shen Shou, the founder of Shen Xiu, and Li Jinyun, a third-generation disciple of Shen Xiu. Interest is the best teacher, because of love and care, Feng Li quickly became the best among the students. Because of her solid basic skills and excellent embroidery skills, she was selected into the double-sided embroidery group and represented Shen Xiu to the Jinling Hotel in Nanjing in the 1980s to show embroidery performances to foreign guests.
By the end of the 1990s, the institute was gradually declining, and after being laid off, Feng Li stood at the counter under the introduction of others, but she still could not give up her love for embroidery. A table lamp, an embroidery table, accompanied her through countless late nights, in order not to disturb the rest of her family, she carried the embroidery rack to the balcony to embroider, even if the cold winter moon did not stop. She said: "The research institute is scattered, Shen embroidery cannot be scattered, and this craft cannot be broken." ”
Because of this persistence, as the fourth generation of Shen Embroidery, in 2002, Feng Li served as the art consultant of Shen Shou Art Museum, and her works were loved by many collectors at home and abroad. What makes her most fortunate is that she can twist the embroidery needle and embroider steadily. "Many people say that embroidery is bitter and tired, but I am happy as soon as I touch the needle and thread."
Ten fingers have traveled thousands of miles and participated in the creation of national ceremonies four times
Since 2011, Feng Li has participated in the embroidery of "National Ceremony" four times. When it comes to the association with the "national ceremony", I have to mention Bu Yuan. Bu Yuan, the curator of Shen Shou Art Museum, is Feng Li's Bole. In March 2011, Shen Shou Art Museum received the glorious task of embroidering a "national gift" for the King of Belgium. Li Jinyun, Feng Li and other Descendants of Shen Xiu undertook this glorious mission, and when the current King albert II of Belgium received the state ceremony of Shen Xiu, the surprise was overflowing.
"Portrait of President Putin" is another "national gift" that Shen Shou Art Museum has received after "Portrait of the King and Couple of Belgium". This 60 cm high, 50 cm wide embroidery, thousands of stitches, any trick can not succeed, Li Jinyun, Feng Li and other four embroidery ladies took only 91 days to complete the task of the national ceremony, which is also the shortest in history of Chinese Shen embroidery portrait works. The whole work captures the charm of the portrait, and President Putin's resolute and strong temperament, full of wisdom and vitality of the character image, vividly displayed in the work, to the extent of "chaotic truth". Receiving this gift, President Putin was also amazed.
Since then, Feng Li and other "national ceremony" embroidery team have successively received "Belgian King's Family Celebration", "Kitarovich Presidential Portrait" and other national ceremony works, Nantong Shen embroidery as an artistic masterpiece into the Belgian royal family, the Russian Kremlin and other places, which makes Feng Li, the "national ceremony" embroidery lady feel proud.
A century of skill inheritance problems, open a studio to receive apprenticeship
Butterflies fluttering their wings dance, autumn flowers and reeds swaying, and grasshoppers are ready to go... After retirement, Feng Li had more time to study embroidery, and she spent nearly four years embroidering the Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhao Chang's "Sketching Butterfly Diagram", the slope, grass, grasshopper, grasshopper, grasshopper, flowers, Feng Li reproduced this masterpiece with superb embroidery, the butterfly is as thin as silk wings, brilliant patterns, grasshoppers as thin as hair, the roots and whiskers of grasshoppers, the portrayal of various details is amazing. This is also Feng Li's most satisfactory work so far.
Last spring, Feng Li created and painted Lang Shining's famous painting "Flowers and Birds". Throughout the epidemic, she has used it almost exclusively to create this work. Under the faint light, purple and red orchids shine brightly, thanks to Feng Li's superb color scheme. A silk thread split into thin silk, according to the intensity of the color with other silk threads, under her skillful hands, several simple purples can produce dozens of ingenious combinations, so that the embroidery color, layers are more abundant.
Similar to the situation of many traditional skills, Shen Xiu is also facing the current situation of no successor and no succession. This made Feng Li, who has been engaged in Shen embroidery research for 41 years, both heart-wrenching and heart-wrenching. "Passing on the mantle is the best contribution to the art of Shen embroidery." Since 2016, Feng Li has cooperated with a number of art academies to jointly cultivate the next generation of embroidery art successors. In 2015, Feng Li Studio was officially established, Feng Li served as the head and mentor, and her three apprentices participated in the daily operation of the studio as studio members. From 2017 to 2018, at the invitation of Shen Shou Art Museum, Feng Li Studio successively went to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and other places to carry out the lecture activities of "Shen Embroidery Skill Training Class". In the mode of small class teaching, through a short period of time and high intensity of closed training, students can master the basic theory and practical stitching method of Shen embroidery in a short period of time. Through this series of training course lectures, some students have now become the sixth generation of Shen Xiu's inheritors.
Since 2018, Li Jinyun and Feng Li have successively carried out interest training courses with Nantong Open University, Tongzhou Secondary School and other universities. To go to Tongzhou Secondary School to teach once, it takes more than 3 hours for them to go on the road, but each exchange with young people makes the two Shen Xiu people excited. "In each batch of students, we can find good embroidery seedlings, but unfortunately most young people are reluctant to sink their hearts into embroidery as a passion." Although Feng Li has regrets, she has not given up her determination to cooperate with universities and carry out the inheritance of Shen Embroidery to the end. She said that through teaching again and again, they have summed up more and more systematic teaching models, and believe that under their insistence, more young generation students can be attracted to feel Shen embroidery, appreciate Shen embroidery, precipitate down and further devote themselves to this industry, and spread the genetic inheritance of Shen embroidery, a national intangible culture.
This year, she opened a Shen embroidery creation workshop in Tangzha Ancient Town, which not only showcases Shen embroidery works, but also spreads Shen embroidery culture to tourists and nearby residents.
Shen embroidery creation workshop located in Beishi Street, Tangzha Ancient Town
Teacher Feng Li took a group photo with the Secretary-General of Nantong Folk Art Research Association