Shanghai Gu Embroidery

Shanghai Gu Embroidery

　　Gu Embroidery is a splendid gem among the handicrafts of the Shanghai region. It gets its name from the Gu family of Songjiang Prefecture during the Ming Dynasty. Gu Mingshi once built a garden at what is now Jiumu Di Luxiangyuan Road. While digging a pond there, he discovered a stone inscribed with three characters — “Luxiang Pond” — handwritten in seal script by the famed calligrapher Zhao Mengfu. He thus named the garden after the stone (today’s Luxiangyuan Road is named in commemoration of this garden). Hence, the embroidery crafted by his family came to be known as “Luxiangyuan Gu Embroidery,” or “Gu Family Luxiangyuan Embroidery,” or more simply as “Luxiangyuan Embroidery” or “Gu Embroidery.” It is a form of “painted embroidery” based on famous paintings, renowned worldwide for its exquisite craftsmanship, elegant style, and exceptional artistic value.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Gu Embroidery from Luxiangyuan in Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, represented a refined art form of embroidery that had a profound influence on later generations. The four great embroidery styles of the Qing Dynasty all drew inspiration from Gu Embroidery. The secret to Ming Dynasty Gu Embroidery lay mainly in six elements: the cultural and artistic cultivation of the artisans, the refined choice of themes, the unity of painting and embroidery, the use of fine materials, flexible and innovative needlework techniques, and the dedication involved in selecting auspicious days for embroidery and pursuing the craft with unwavering perseverance. Representative works of Gu Embroidery by Han Ximeng, which have been passed down through generations, are rich in cultural and artistic significance and are regarded as treasured artifacts, collected by major museums.