Aesthetic Features Of Gu Embroidery And Its Relations With Painting And Calligraphy

Gu embroidery,as a kind of painting embroidery that combines painting and embroidery with the influence of painting and calligraphy,is a wonderful flower among Chinese traditional embroidery art.Since its successful application for the list of world heritage in 2006,the study of Gu embroidery has attracted people’s attention.Obviously,the study of the relationship between painting and embroidery is a key breakthrough that needs to be achieved recently.Generally speaking,the studies of Gu embroidery just briefly talked about the relationship between Gu embroidery and painting,and there is no detailed discussion of how Gu embroidery was influenced by painting and calligraphy and what aesthetic features of Gu embroidery were resulted from the influence of painting and calligraphy.Thus,this thesis tries to analyze the aesthetic features of Fu embroidery by studying the relationship between Gu embroidery and the painting and calligraphy.The first part of this thesis investigates the social background and technique environment for the appearance of Gu embroidery to show that the scholars’ intervention into the handicraft industry and the industry and commerce and the popularity of scholars’ interest created a good environment for the appearance of Gu embroidery.In addition,this part investigates the scholar circle that has the Gu family as the core and finds that the activities and aesthetic interest of scholars have direct influence on the appearance of Gu embroidery.Finally,this part analyzes the relationship between Gu embroidery and the scholar interest by focusing on the influence of scholar interest on Gu embroidery and finds the direct relationship between Gu embroidery and scholar arts--the painting and calligraphy,which lays a solid foundation for the analysis of the aesthetic features of Gu embroidery under the influence of painting and calligraphy.The second part investigates the aesthetic features of the theme of Gu embroidery by focusing on the influence of painting and calligraphy on the theme of Gu embroidery.Firstly,Gu embroidery shows scholars’ pursuit of the freedom out of the society and fame in the society,and the independence and freedom of personality and spirit under the influence of scholar paintings.Secondly,Gu embroidery also shows the vulgar pursuit under the influence of non-scholar paintings.The vulgar pursuit includes the wish for prefect love,harmonious marriage and numerous descendants,the wish for rich life,healthy body and safe life,and the wish for good fate and blessing through religious practices.The third part investigates the aesthetic features of the techniques of Gu embroidery by focusing on the influence of the performance skills of painting and calligraphy.Firstly,Gu embroidery not only combines the “painting” and the “embroidery” on the form but also applies the painting skills to the embroidery so as to achieve the painting effect of painting and calligraphy and to produce better works,which makes Gu embroidery have a technique beauty from the inside to the outside that combines the painting and the embroidery through two methods,i.e.“have embroidery as pen and ink” and “have embroidery as pen and painting as ink”.Thirdly,Gu embroidery spares no effort to show the gloss,three-dimensional effect and real lines of things so as to achieve the natural effect,which produces the vivid depiction beauty of Gu embroidery.The fourth part investigates three artistic styles of Gu embroidery under the influence of painting and calligraphy by focusing on the aesthetic influence of painting and calligraphy on Gu embroidery.These three styles include the simple and intangible style that formed under the influence of scholar paintings,the elegant and beautiful style that formed under the influence of imperial decorative paintings,and the delicate and secluded style that formed under the influence of feminine paintings.The last part,based on the understanding of the aesthetic features of Gu embroidery and its formation,clarifies the heritage value of Gu embroidery firstly.Our duty is to protect the traditional culture and to preserve the Chinese artistic features,which has deep cultural values,artistic values and social values.Secondly,this part reflects the difficulty for the inheriting of Gu embroidery due to the change of time and the lack of talented inheritors,and with the successes and failures that Gu embroidery has met for its inheriting,we find that the keys for its inheriting are: that the artistic life which Gu embroidery has obtained from the painting and calligraphy is its most important artistic pursuit,and the artistic spirit and culture is the thing that the inheritors of Gu embroidery should work for,which might inspire the modern inheriting of Gu embroidery.