曉柒

翻開(kāi)中國(guó)刺繡的編年史，江南民間刺繡，無(wú)疑是其中最重要的一頁(yè)。

清道光年間，寓居無(wú)錫的刺繡名家丁佩在《繡譜》里說(shuō)：“刺繡以針代筆，以絹素為紙，以絲線為朱墨、鉛黃。 ”“取材極約、而用甚廣”，為“閨閣中之翰墨。 ”

江南民間刺繡的魂就在其精、細(xì)和美。精微繡體現(xiàn)了這種極致的精細(xì)美。與通常雙面繡相比，技術(shù)要求更高，難度更大，在用針用線用料用色上更加嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)講究，尤其在繡刺細(xì)部時(shí)，須將一根絲線分成七十至八十份，局部細(xì)微之處，無(wú)法用筆勾勒，全憑手眼與心靈相通方能繡成。

從錫繡到蘇繡，刺繡史的華章

晚清以后，上海、蘇州、南通，都有民間開(kāi)設(shè)的刺繡傳授組織。被譽(yù)為“四大名繡”之首的蘇繡，無(wú)疑是江南刺繡最具代表性的文化遺產(chǎn)。

自宋代以后，蘇州刺繡之技十分興盛，工藝也日臻成熟。農(nóng)村“家家養(yǎng)蠶，戶(hù)戶(hù)刺繡”，城內(nèi)還出現(xiàn)了繡線巷、滾繡坊、錦繡坊、繡花弄等坊巷，可見(jiàn)蘇州刺繡之興

盛。當(dāng)時(shí)不僅有以刺繡為生的，而且富家閨秀也往往以此消遣時(shí)日，陶冶性情，所謂“民間繡”、“閨閣繡”、“宮廷繡”的名稱(chēng)也由此而來(lái)。清代蘇繡更是盛況空前，蘇州被稱(chēng)為“繡市”而揚(yáng)名四海。當(dāng)時(shí)針?lè)ㄖ?，?yīng)用之廣，莫不超過(guò)前朝，山水、亭臺(tái)、花鳥(niǎo)、人物，無(wú)所不能，無(wú)所不工。加上宮廷的大量需要，豪華富麗的繡品層出不窮。

難能可貴的是，蘇繡的生命力也無(wú)比旺盛，它從來(lái)沒(méi)有固步自封，而是不停創(chuàng)新。民國(guó)期間，蘇州民間藝人吸收上海“顧繡”以及西洋畫(huà)的特點(diǎn)，創(chuàng)造出光線明暗強(qiáng)烈、富有立體感的風(fēng)格，最終奠定了它作為民間藝術(shù)瑰寶的地位。新中國(guó)成立后，蘇繡精品以其精湛技藝、地方特色和民族風(fēng)格，被作為國(guó)禮贈(zèng)送外國(guó)元首。僅以蘇州雙面繡為例，比如《鳴春圖》屏風(fēng)贈(zèng)給美國(guó)總統(tǒng)尼克松，《月季花》贈(zèng)給坦桑尼亞總統(tǒng)尼雷爾，《熊貓》贈(zèng)給加蓬總統(tǒng)邦戈，《菖蘭花》贈(zèng)給日本皇后，《梅花》贈(zèng)給朝鮮首相金日成等。而蘇繡精品《貓》《金魚(yú)》等作為國(guó)禮饋贈(zèng)外國(guó)元首的更不勝枚舉。在對(duì)外文化交流和經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易中，蘇繡作為友誼的紐帶，發(fā)揮了特有的作用。

在蘇繡的影響下，毗鄰蘇州的無(wú)錫也發(fā)展出了富有地域特色的民間刺繡“錫繡”，中華大辭典相關(guān)詞目是這樣描述錫繡的：“無(wú)錫精微繡，是蘇繡分支，它把刺繡的精、細(xì)、美表達(dá)得非常透徹：遠(yuǎn)看詩(shī)情畫(huà)意，近看人物神情畢現(xiàn)，用放大鏡看，更是惟妙惟肖?！?/p>

歷史上，清光緒二十三年（1897），李佩黻、李韻和妯娌在無(wú)錫當(dāng)?shù)貏?chuàng)辦了錫山繡工傳習(xí)會(huì)，來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)的多是閨中少女，傳授的是富有觀賞價(jià)值的“閨閣繡”，錫山繡工傳習(xí)會(huì)影響廣泛，這一時(shí)期，刺繡名家輩出，生產(chǎn)規(guī)模也很大，傳習(xí)會(huì)的繡品在當(dāng)年世博會(huì)、國(guó)際博覽會(huì)上屢獲金獎(jiǎng)。這一切成就了無(wú)錫刺繡的鼎盛，“傳習(xí)會(huì)”的成就贏得了當(dāng)時(shí)農(nóng)工商部“精制繡品、折法改良”的銀獎(jiǎng)牌嘉獎(jiǎng)。

歲月的流轉(zhuǎn)并沒(méi)有讓錫繡失去光彩，刺繡人才輩出、佳作流傳于世界各地。上世紀(jì)末，由錫繡大師、國(guó)家級(jí)“非遺”傳承人趙紅育負(fù)責(zé)主創(chuàng)，采用精微繡技藝與發(fā)繡技藝相結(jié)合的發(fā)繡長(zhǎng)卷作品《古運(yùn)河梁溪風(fēng)情圖》，獲當(dāng)年的大世界吉尼斯之最。今天，這幅作品珍藏在無(wú)錫市博物館。

湖州繡師沈壽，享譽(yù)世界繡壇

與高調(diào)的蘇繡、錫繡相比，同為江南腹地、同為絲綢之府、同樣以民間女紅聞名的湖州、嘉興地區(qū)刺繡就低調(diào)得多。甚至曾有不少民間刺繡的精品，都因?yàn)轱L(fēng)格近似的緣故，被當(dāng)作蘇繡售賣(mài)流通。

但是，低調(diào)的不是所有人。歷史上最著名的繡工，就出生在以絲商而聞名的湖州南潯鎮(zhèn)。

她叫沈壽，出生于19世紀(jì)末，從小學(xué)繡的她16歲時(shí)已經(jīng)名揚(yáng)京城。1904年沈壽繡了佛像等八幅作品，進(jìn)獻(xiàn)清廷為慈禧太后祝壽，慈禧極為滿(mǎn)意，賜“壽”字，遂易名為“沈壽”。同年，沈壽受清朝政府委派遠(yuǎn)赴日本進(jìn)行考察、交流和研究日本的刺繡及繪畫(huà)藝術(shù)?；貒?guó)后被任命為清宮繡工科總教習(xí)，自創(chuàng)“仿真繡”，在中國(guó)近代刺繡史上開(kāi)拓了一代新風(fēng)。

1911年，沈壽繡成《意大利皇后愛(ài)麗娜像》，作為國(guó)禮贈(zèng)送意大利，轟動(dòng)該國(guó)朝野。意大利皇帝和皇后曾親函清政府，頌揚(yáng)中國(guó)刺繡藝術(shù)精湛，并贈(zèng)沈壽金表一塊。同時(shí)將這一幅作品送意大利都朗（都靈）博覽會(huì)展出，榮獲“世界至大榮譽(yù)最高級(jí)卓越獎(jiǎng)”。1914年，沈壽任江蘇南通女紅傳習(xí)所所長(zhǎng)。她治校嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，教學(xué)有方，常率學(xué)生寫(xiě)生，觀察實(shí)物，講述仿真繡的理論。即使在病中，她也讓學(xué)生圍榻聽(tīng)講賦色用線的道理。1915年，沈壽繡的《耶穌像》，參加美國(guó)舊金山“巴拿馬—太平洋國(guó)際博覽會(huì)”展出，得一等大獎(jiǎng)。她著有《雪宦繡譜》一書(shū)。

就是這樣一位繡工，讓江南民間刺繡站到了世界藝術(shù)的巔峰，完成了無(wú)數(shù)蘇繡前輩沒(méi)有完成的奇跡。

更讓人欣喜的是，這種藝術(shù)價(jià)值最大化還在延續(xù) —今天，在湖絲傳統(tǒng)產(chǎn)區(qū)、與南潯一墻之隔的嘉興，越來(lái)越多的企業(yè)正把目光瞄準(zhǔn)高藝術(shù)價(jià)值、高人力附加值的手工刺繡。在桐鄉(xiāng)、在平湖、在海寧，越來(lái)越多的手工繡成為繼皮草制品、羊毛制品后又一出口亮點(diǎn)。而且這些企業(yè)很善于使用新興的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)工具 —在著名的電商網(wǎng)站“阿里巴巴”上，還有110家企業(yè)自發(fā)組建“嘉興刺繡網(wǎng)”。售賣(mài)的品類(lèi)和手法也靈活多變，不再局限于屏風(fēng)擺件、繡品畫(huà)框，而是把手工刺繡技藝更多地運(yùn)用在實(shí)用的服裝、抱枕、被褥上。外貿(mào)訂單之多，讓人咋舌。

2012年，位于嘉興秀洲的絲綢文化博物館開(kāi)館，占地面積4000多平方米，集中展示了當(dāng)?shù)氐慕z綢歷史和今天絲綢產(chǎn)業(yè)的狀況。其中的“綜藝坊”展館，就以各種圖表文字、珍貴文物、人物塑像、多媒體及場(chǎng)景等展示手段，有重點(diǎn)地反映了當(dāng)?shù)厥止ご汤C的悠久歷史和文化底蘊(yùn)。

技藝傳承有序，繡師守護(hù)絕藝

當(dāng)然，除了著名流派、著名繡工之外，傳承有序也是江南民間刺繡的特點(diǎn)之一。

讓我們把目光投向更南邊的杭州—全國(guó)除了蘇繡、蜀繡、湘繡、粵繡“四大名繡”之外，杭繡無(wú)疑在汴繡、晉繡、苗繡等繡種里獨(dú)占鰲頭。

今天還矗立在杭州中山路上的張?jiān)噬儇浀?，已?jīng)有200多年的歷史，便是杭繡發(fā)展的見(jiàn)證者。

民國(guó)初，出身制線工人的孫仲舒盤(pán)進(jìn)“張?jiān)噬薄O仲舒早年在高銀巷木瓜弄口一家制線作坊當(dāng)學(xué)徒，為人聰慧，深得東家傳授，制得一手好絲線。孫仲舒盤(pán)進(jìn)店鋪后，自設(shè)工場(chǎng)，向桐鄉(xiāng)、海寧、德清及余杭等地采購(gòu)優(yōu)質(zhì)的清水蠶絲，制成各檔絲線。

傳說(shuō)，有一年春天，幾位泰國(guó)僧人來(lái)到張?jiān)噬u(mài)串繩的柜臺(tái)前，詰問(wèn)伙計(jì)：“你們的絲線會(huì)不會(huì)褪色？ ”正好被站在一旁的孫仲舒聽(tīng)到，當(dāng)時(shí)立即請(qǐng)他們到制線工場(chǎng)參觀，并隨便拿了幾種顏色的絲線放進(jìn)盛有清水的面盆中浸了一個(gè)多小時(shí)，撈出絲線，不見(jiàn)絲毫褪色，眾僧人心服口服。走時(shí)，買(mǎi)了不少串繩告別而去。從此，年年有不少東南亞諸國(guó)的寺廟和店家來(lái)杭采購(gòu)或訂購(gòu)。張?jiān)噬z線就是從這個(gè)時(shí)期走紅杭城。

在張?jiān)噬耐苿?dòng)下，周邊民間的手工刺繡棚作發(fā)展很快，當(dāng)時(shí)的羊壩頭巷曾成為杭城戲服刺繡的集中地。同時(shí)，民間手工成衣鋪也如雨后春筍應(yīng)運(yùn)而生。直到今天，中山路一帶的絲綢店鋪依然是周邊居民的所愛(ài)。

而傳承人方面，杭繡更是人才輩出。從南宋萌芽開(kāi)始，每一代都有杰出的手工刺繡藝人，到今天，最著名的有中國(guó)工藝美術(shù)大師陳水琴，還有被譽(yù)為“最后的男工繡傳人 ”的趙亦軍，他們共同守護(hù)著杭繡這塊傳統(tǒng)的土地，還努力讓更多的年輕人接受傳續(xù)刺繡這門(mén)手藝。

其實(shí)，杭繡的傳承狀況，只是整個(gè)江南民間刺繡的一個(gè)縮影。雖然時(shí)代正處在機(jī)繡的沖擊和絲綢制品本身日漸弱勢(shì)的時(shí)代背景下，但江南民間刺繡一直是一個(gè)生命力強(qiáng)盛的“品類(lèi)”，作為藝術(shù)瑰寶的它是整個(gè)絲綢文化不可分離的一部分，它的歷程也是值得我們珍藏的歷史記憶。

Master Zhao Hongyu watches a girl em-broidering a piece.

Take a look at the history of Chinese em-broidery and you will find that embroidery artists in Jiangnan， or the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta， are the most important chapter.

Embroidery flourished in Jiangnan in the last decades of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）. There were schools in Shanghai， Suzhou and Nantong where women learned how to make embroidery and made amaz-ing works. Suzhou Embroidery， which dates back to a long time ago， is considered the best of China and is unquestionably the most representative cultural heritage of the embroideries in Jiangnan， as testified by the embroidery pieces unearthed from two famed pagodas of Suzhou， which were made respectively in the Five Dynasties （907-979） and the Song Dynasty （960-1279）. These unearthed embroidered silk pieces are the existing most ancient specimens of Suzhou Embroidery.

Suzhou Embroidery of needlework techniques and portrayed all

kinds of images such as landscape， archi-

tecture， birds and flowers， figures. As there

was a huge royal demand on the embroidery made in Suzhou， artisans in Suzhou pro-duced embroidery of luxury and elegance.

Embroidery in Suzhou has never rested on laurels. Embroidery artisans in Suzhou kept breaking new trails. In the decades of the Republic of China， local artists introduced chiaroscuro into embroidery and brought the local embroidery a historical high. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China， the Suzhou embroidery pieces have long since been used as state gifts for visiting presidents of foreign countries.

Wuxi Embroidery

Interesting enough， Wuxi， a city close to Suzhou， developed its own embroidery on the basis of Suzhou Embroidery. For a long time Wuxi followed Suzhou in embroi-dery. The turning point came in 1897 when two young women started a school to offer embroidery course for girls from local rich families. What was taught at the school was a kind of embroidery in the style of Lady Embroidery. Students at the school num-bered over 100. The school considerably enhanced the reputation of the embroidery industry in Wuxi. In the following years， embroidered silk pieces made by the artists from the school won a number of interna-tional gold medals. Wuxi Embroidery

finally made its own name and proved

its own value.

Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949， the art of Wuxi Embroidery has kept improving. In the late 1990s， Zhao Yuhong， a state master of Wuxi Embroidery， created a hair embroidery masterpiece in col-laboration with other artists. The mas-terpiece is now in the collection of the Wuxi Museum.

Huzhou Embroidery

Compared with Suzhou and Wuxi in Jiangsu Province， Huzhou and Jiaxing in Zhejiang seem to have kept a low profile in their embroidery. Some mas-terpieces made by artists in Huzhou and Jiaxing were mistakenly regarded as pieces made in Suzhou. However， the most famous embroidery artist in history was Shen Shou， a native woman of Nanxun， a town of silk export in Huzhou.

Shen Shou made her fame in 1904 when the sixteen-year-old created eight embroi-dery pieces as tributes and submitted them as gifts in celebration of the birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi. In the same year， the government sent her to study embroidery and

painting in Japan. After she finished working

in Japan， she was appointed the chief teacher at the embroidery office of the palace. She developed a realist style. In 1911， she created

an embroidered portrait of the Italian queen.

In 1915， her embroidered portrait of Jesus won a gold medal at the Panama–Pacific Internation-al Exposition， a worlds fair held in San Francisco， in the United States. No other em-broidery artist in Jiangnan could stand up to Shen Shou in reputation.

Jiaxing Embroidery Industry

The embroidery indus-try of Jiaxing is taking off right now. Leather and wool products have long since

This embroidered portrait of Russian President Putin was made in Suzhou. Chinese President Xi Jin-ping presented it to President Putin as a state gift.

been export mainstays of Jiaxing. Hand-embroidery products are now another big export from Jiaxing. At Alibaba， Chinas larg-

est e-business headquartered in Hangzhou，

a league of 110 embroidery businesses in Jiaxing is enjoying brisk business online. They are flourishing partly because they have broken away from traditional products such as screens or framed and embroidered pictures. They are now applying embroidery to garments， pillows and bed sheets and com-forters. No wonder they are now producing largely for the overseas market.

Hangzhou Embroidery

Embroidery in Hangzhou has a similar history of glorious rise and miserable de-cline. As the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty （1127-1279）， Hangzhou enjoyed its glory as an embroidery powerhouse about 800 years ago. For a long time over the past 200 years， a great number of em-broidery and tailor shops gravitated toward Yangbatou， a street in downtown Hangzhou. Though embroidery in Hangzhou is at low ebb， there are still some embroidery masters living in the city. They are trying to revive the art and teach a new generation of em-broidery artists.