Cross stitch (Wangjiang cross stitch)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Tiaohua (Wangjiang Tiaohua)

Applicant: Wangjiang County, Anhui Province

Project No.: 324

Project No.: Ⅶ - 25

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Anhui Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Wangjiang County, Anhui Province

Protection unit: Wangjiang Cultural Center

Brief introduction of Wangjiang cross stitch

Applicant: Wangjiang County, Anhui Province

The popular cross stitch craft in Wangjiang County of Anhui Province was developed from sacrificial offerings in the agricultural social environment where farming and fishing coexisted. It originated in the Tang Dynasty. People used hair and linen as materials to make sacred girdles in the first time, and then gradually developed into daily household ornaments. In the early stage, Wangjiang cross stitch was mainly used to decorate women's headscarves, clothes, trousers, aprons and children's swaddling clothes, bibs, skirts, shoes and hats. Later, its application scope gradually expanded. It was also used to decorate men's scarves, belts, plaits, girdles and other indoor appliances such as tent eaves and table girdles. Up to now, Wangjiang cross stitch has become an important part of contemporary household appliances, such as sofa cushion, armrest, curtain, wall hanging, carpet, etc.

Wangjiang cross stitch has the characteristics of unique needling, fine workmanship, high skill content and difficult to copy. It has beautiful composition, orderly changes, strong color contrast, positive and negative contrast, and is of great ornamental value. Wangjiang cross stitch has a small distribution area and little influence from foreign culture. It has always maintained a simple and elegant appearance and exudes a strong local flavor, which provides vivid materials for the study of regional culture in Southwest Anhui.

Since the 1960s, Wangjiang Tiaohua has gained great fame, and a large number of works have been collected by people in the industry. In the late 1970s, Wangjiang's cross stitch work was selected as the sofa decoration of Anhui Hall of the Great Hall of the people for three times, and won awards at Expos and trade fairs. At present, the development of Wangjiang cross stitch is in trouble. The experts trained before the 1950s are all old people. Local young women are keen to go out to work, and few people are willing to learn and inherit this excellent folk art. The prospect of Wangjiang cross stitch is worrying and needs to be protected urgently.