Chengdu Universiade | Shu Embroidery Guiding Sign at the Opening Ceremony of the Universiade is from Their Hand China | Guiding Sign | Universiade
On the evening of July 29th, at 8:00 pm, the opening ceremony of the 31st Chengdu Summer Universiade was held at the main stadium of Dong'an Lake Sports Park. At the opening ceremony, Shu brocade and Shu embroidery elements became a recurring highlight. The opening ceremony director team specially invited inheritors of Sichuan embroidery intangible cultural heritage to design and produce entry guide signs for athletes.
The entrance guide sign is handmade by Hao Shuping, a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project of Shu embroidery and a master of Chinese arts and crafts, as well as members of her studio, on Shu brocade stitch by stitch. The guide sign frame is selected with lacquer patterns, and the fabric is made of sub golden retro patterned Shu brocade. The Ruyi pattern is embroidered on the four corners using Shu embroidery techniques; Embroidered the emblem of the International Sports Federation, the emblem of this Universiade, and the name of the country in both Chinese and English.
Hao Shuping is embroidering guide signs. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun
"Shu embroidery, with its long history, is a representative cultural symbol of Chengdu. When combined with the Universiade, we believe that more young people can see the beauty of traditional Shu embroidery. We must complete this task well." Hao Shuping said that after receiving the task from the director's team at the opening ceremony, she and the studio members started working from 7am every day until 6pm, which took a month to complete the production of a Chinese team guide sign.
Shu embroidery, also known as "Sichuan embroidery", is one of the "Four Famous Embroideries" in China, along with Su embroidery, Xiang embroidery, and Guangdong embroidery. It has formed a unique charm with its bright and beautiful colors and exquisite needlework. Hao Shuping introduced that Shu embroidery has 12 categories and 132 types of needlework, which is the most abundant among the four famous embroideries.
Hao Shuping was embroidering the guiding sign with silk. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun
The color matching of silk thread not only tests craftsmanship, but also requires experience. Hao Shuping said that when embroidering the Chinese team's guide card, they only incorporated the two characters "China" into a set of three colors. In order to make the characters more three-dimensional, in addition to embroidering an extra layer, they also used gray blue silk thread to "stroke" the edges, completing the entire guide card, sharing 18 colors.
A single silk thread in Shu embroidery is usually 16 threads, while beginners usually use 8 threads. When making guide cards, the most commonly used is 4 threads. "The emblem has the floating tail of the Sun God Bird, and to reflect this sense of elegance, two threads thinner than the strands of hair need to be used." Hao Shuping said that when embroidering, it is necessary to control the strength of the hands, as too tight can easily break the threads.
A guiding sign embroidered on Shu brocade using Shu embroidery. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun
The upper and lower ends of the guiding sign have the Great Wall pattern, also known as "Ten Thousand Constants". Hao Shuping said that the embroidery technique here tests basic skills. If the angle is not well controlled, it is easy to embroider crookedly, with straight lines becoming diagonal lines.
Hao Shuping has been dealing with Shu embroidery for more than 60 years. In addition to inheriting the traditional needlework taught by her master, she also innovated the "flat hand flower drawing needle" and pioneered the technique of single-sided oil painting embroidery, expanding Shu embroidery replicas from flowers, plants, animals, etc. to the field of oil painting. Currently, more than 20 works have been collected by domestic and foreign museums. After retiring from Chengdu Shu Embroidery Factory, Hao Shuping established a studio and jointly established the Shu Embroidery major with vocational colleges, cultivating multiple Shu embroidery talents.