A male embroiderer in Nantong City of east China's Jiangsu Province has been preserving and innovating the traditional Shen Embroidery, a craft historically dominated by women.
Shen Embroidery, which evolved from "Su Embroidery", one of China's four esteemed embroidery styles, has been handed down through five generations.
Yu Zonghan, born in 1985, has dedicated 17 years to mastering the art of embroidery. Growing up in a Shen Embroidery family, he is the son of Zhou Wuzhen, the fourth-generation inheritor of the craft.
Being immersed in Shen Embroidery since childhood, Yu gradually developed a deep interest in the craft. However, his mother was initially opposed to him learning it.
"Although I knew that he could pick it up quickly, I didn't allow him to learn Shen Embroidery, because I believed that a boy should pursue other interests," said Zhou.
"So I secretly took some of my mother's finished works and studied them in my room. That's how I learned to embroider -- by 'stealing' skills from my mother," said Yu.
Despite his mother's objections, Yu focused on studying the methods and techniques of Shen Embroidery after graduating from university in 2007.
In 2008, Zhou established a studio and trained more than 700 students, yet she has struggled to find a successor for her craft.
"I was embroidering a piece featuring a pomegranate one time. After I finished it, I felt quite pleased with it and thought it was pretty good. Then he asked if he could add a few more stitches to the pomegranate seeds to make them look more vivid. I allowed him to go ahead. He then added darker colors, and suddenly the seeds looked like they were ready to fall off. I began to have confidence in him at that moment," said Zhou.
With his mother's guidance, Yu gradually learned to embroider independently, starting with clothing and eventually progressing to take on projects and create his own original works.
One of the artworks created by Zhou and Yu is a 15-meter-long scroll depicting scenes in ancient Suzhou City. The piece is among the most standout works of Shen Embroidery produced by Zhou's team.
"If the work was embroidered by one person, it would take him or her 23 years. We worked as a team. There were 16 people in our team, working in shifts, and it still took us a year and a half to complete," Zhou said.
"The scroll features more than 12,000 characters and over 200 shops. Every character has distinct facial features, including eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth," Yu added.
As a male embroiderer, Yu believes that he approaches innovation and the adoption of new techniques with greater boldness and decisiveness.
"My mother tends to be conservative in her selection of subjects. For example, she prefers drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese ancient paintings. As I want to pass on the craft, I must also consider the market trends and what appeals to young people, not only in terms of patterns and colors, but also in how the pieces are framed. These are the aspects that I need to consider at present," said Yu.
As a young inheritor of Shen Embroidery, Yu also thinks about its future, and strives to infuse the craft with new vitality by boldly exploring creative themes and market opportunities.
One of his pieces, titled "Flamingos," won the third prize in the arts and crafts category at the Nantong Literary and Art Creation Competition in 2023. Although it is one of Yu's favorite works, it was initially met with disapproval from his mother.
"Regarding 'Flamingos', my mother initially rejected my choice of subject as she thought the colors were too bright. I argued that young people might appreciate this artwork, as young people like vibrant colors," said Yu.
In addition to his own embroidering creation, Yu has joined his mother's studio to teach classes to those interested in learning the craft, hoping to introduce more people to this traditional art form.
"I want to pass on this craft so that it can thrive better and teach it to more people who appreciate Shen Embroidery," said Yu.
Male inheritor breathes new life into traditional embroidery craft
