Yuzhang Embroidery (Gan Embroidery)
PCI provincialYuzhang embroidery, also called Gan or Jiangxi embroidery, grew from the needlework of Nanchang women's quarters and took its name from Nanchang's old name "Yuzhang," with a history of nearly three hundred years. It was approved as a district-level ICH item in Donghu district in 2011 and entered the fifth Jiangxi provincial ICH list in 2017.
Yuzhang embroidery takes celebrated paintings, calligraphy and photographs as its subjects, uniting Chinese ink-and-wash art with hand stitching through flexible, lifelike needlework; its pieces are praised as "ink-wash painting on the fingertips" and serve as a distinctly Jiangxi gift.
Yuzhang embroidery is a singular branch of Chinese embroidery art that unites painting with needlework, carrying the regional aesthetic and women's-quarter handcraft tradition of Nanchang, with unique value for the study of Jiangxi folk art and the fusion of calligraphy, painting and stitching.