Su Embroidery

Su embroidery, centred on Suzhou, is one of China's four great embroidery traditions, with a history reaching back more than two thousand years and reaching its refined peak as the city's silk industry flourished in the Ming and Qing.

It employs over forty stitch types, including flat, random-stitch, double-sided and double-sided multi-image work, prized for graceful designs, elegant colouring and dense, even stitching; the double-sided technique, forming a picture on both faces, is its supreme skill.

In 2006 Su embroidery entered the first national list of intangible cultural heritage, a model of Jiangnan craftsmanship married to literati aesthetics.

The Zhenhu area of Suzhou is a heartland of the craft, and the city's embroidery studios and museums keep the fine work alive.