A Study On Embroidery Treatise And Embroidery Writing In The Qing Dynasty

Embroidery is a kind of handcraft for women.In the Qing Dynasty,women's writing flourished,and women's literature about embroidery also had a large number and a wide range of contents.During the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China,there were also embroidery treatise published separately.These literary writings on embroidery have distinct gender attributes,which are worthy of study in the history of women's literature.This paper consists of four chapters,the contents of each chapter are as follows: the first chapter uses the literature review method to sort out the cultural records and literary writing of embroidery in the literature of the past dynasties.From the cultural records of embroidery,we can see that the skills of embroidery have gradually improved since its birth.There are differences in embroidery styles among different regions and classes,but they all have distinct gender attributes.From the literature writing of embroidery,we can see that the male literati's writing of embroidery is superficial,and they simply regard being good at embroidery as a way to judge the value of women;On the contrary,the first person perspective is introduced into women's own literary works.Their embroidery writing is a real record of reality and emotion based on reality.The second chapter summarizes the basic situation of three famous embroidery books in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China: Xiupu,Xueyixiupu and Guxiukao.These three books were all produced in the Jiangnan area from the 19 th century to the 20 th century,but their authorship,writing focus and writing purpose are obviously different.Among them,Xiupu was written by Ding Pei,a talented woman in Qing Dynasty,recording her own embroidery experience and aesthetic feeling,which is mainly for talented ladies to read.Xueyixiupu was written by Shen Shou and Zhang Jian,records the operation process and skills of embroidery,which is mainly for embroidery women to read.Guxiukao was independently written by Xu Weinan,a male researcher working in the museum.He conducted academic research on Guxiu,and the book is mainly for other researchers to read.The third chapter analyzes the female life course in embroidery writing.First,learning embroidery marks that women begin to receive professional education,besides embroidery and tired embroidery make women get a certain free space for reading and writing.Second,Qixi Festival,also known as Qiqiao Festival,is the only national festival with women as the core characters.The coincidence women pray for on this day is often directed to embroidery.Thirdly,embroidery patterns are equivalent to images in literature.Women can express their specific emotions by choosing different embroidery patterns,and they can also practice religion in their home through Buddhism cultivation.Fourthly,the writing of embroidery activities and embroidery products can cause social intercourse,mainly including co embroidery,gift embroidery,title embroidery and other ways,and it can form a literary harmony involving many people.The fourth chapter analyzes the female virtues in embroidery writing,mainly including quiet,clean,meticulousness and wisdom.Firstly,quietness originates from the historical tradition of women's "leisure and tranquility",which is embodied in the quietness of embroidery environment and the inner quietness of embroidery workers.Secondly,cleanliness is an objective state,including physical cleanliness and moral cleanliness.Third,"meticulousness" is an original word created in the book Xueyixiupu,based on patience and has a development,it emphasizes women's patient and steady character and artistic inspiration.Fourthly,women also wrote down their wisdom in many aspects in embroidery writing,including the ability to deal with family affairs,and the power to participate in art as a woman,and show their wisdom,even if remain famous in history.The conclusion of this paper is: the embroidery writing of women in Qing Dynasty shows that they consciously accepted the division of labor under the gender system of Confucianism,and tried to carry out active artistic exploration in the professional field of embroidery.Their embroidery skills are the dual display of their virtue and talent,which are symbolic capital rather than material capital,just like literary talent.In the active voice of the female field of embroidery,the ladies express their self-awareness of female identity;The declining trend of women's embroidery writing after the Qing Dynasty also shows the lack of women's literature and cultural power in the period of social transformation.