Xu Chiguang, the last Cantonese embroidery "flower guy": Dedicated his whole life to the needle and thread in his hands

　　Chinanews.com, Guangzhou, February 22. Title: Xu Chiguang, the last Cantonese embroidery "Hua Lao": Dedicated his whole life to the needle and thread in his hands

　　Chinanews reporter Cheng Jingwei

　　Guangzhou embroidery has a history of more than one thousand years since the Tang Dynasty.

In the impression of ordinary people, embroidery is a woman's business.

But in the old days, Guangzhou embroidery was full-time by men, who were also called "Hua Lao".

　　From entering the industry at the age of six to now in his nineties, Xu Chiguang has devoted almost his whole life to the needlework in his hands.

In order to pass on Cantonese embroidery skills, Xu Chiguang, the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project Cantonese Embroidery (Guangzhou Embroidery), has repeatedly broken the "family rules" - not only accepting women as apprentices, but also passing on Cantonese embroidery skills "Outsiders" who are willing to learn.

Through the recently aired documentary "Southern Guangdong Craftsman", people can get close to the last Cantonese embroidery "Hua Lao" and learn about his life legend.

Xu Chiguang watched Guangxiu works.

sentinel photo

　　Guangzhou embroidery is the general name of the folk embroidery crafts in the Pearl River Delta centered in Guangzhou. It is famous for its dense and full composition, clear texture, and rich colors.

Cantonese embroidery also often adopts the paintings of the Lingnan School of Painting to "embroider with paintings", and the themes are mainly flower patterns such as lychees, red cottons, and peonies.

　　"Guangzhou Embroidery, Guangzhou embroideries, celebrities in Guangfu. Scenes of magical performances, official robes with brocade sleeves. Embroidered pieces in purses, crossing the ocean." Xu Chiguang still remembers this Cantonese jingle handed down from his great-grandfather's generation.

　　"My country's embroidery products are sold abroad, Guangdong is the most." The Guangzhou Thirteen Lines, known as "Tianzi Nanku", has made many industries including Guangzhou embroidery flourish, and also made Xu Chiguang, who was born in the home of Guangzhou embroidery, six years old. I picked up embroidery needles when I was young.

　　"Embroidery has both harmed me and saved me." Today's Xu Chiguang recalled his rough childhood, and couldn't help sighing: "I never studied since I was a child, and my family was poor for four generations. But during the Japanese invasion of China, countless families experienced life and death. Although my family has not had a full meal for eight years, no one died. Because there are twelve people in the family, even if one person is sick, there are still eleven people who embroider and support him."

　　Years of wars have caused most of the former "Three Thousand Flower Guys" of Guangzhou Embroidery to wither.

By the time of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was difficult to reproduce the grand occasion of Guangzhou Embroidery.

After 1949, Xu Chiguang gathered 100 Cantonese embroidery artists and established Yifeng Embroidery Club to carry out the design creation, data collection and stitching of Cantonese embroidery.

It was also at that time that Xu Chiguang became the first craftsman in the history of Guangzhou Embroidery to accept female apprentices.

　　But in the 1980s and 1990s, Guangzhou embroidery was hit hard again.

Due to the long working hours, high cost, and the long learning period of apprentices, Guangzhou embroidery gradually lost market support, and Guangzhou embroidery craftsmen were forced to change careers one after another.

When Xu Chiguang retired, the Guangzhou Embroidery Factory where he worked at that time almost came to a standstill.

　　In 2004, Guangzhou Embroidery Factory reorganized and invited Xu Chiguang to return to the factory as the technical director.

Xu Chiguang and his wife Xie Ruihe, who is also a master of Guangzhou embroidery, decided to use a weighty work to revive the morale of the Guangzhou embroidery industry.

Therefore, he summoned 6 Guangzhou embroidery craftsmen to jointly create a work of "Red Lily and White Goose" which is a collection of Guangzhou embroidery skills in a few months.

　　After "Red Lily and White Goose" came out, it shocked the whole country.

The lychees on the embroidery are plump and exquisitely protruding, which not only contains the traditional skills of Guangzhou embroidery, but also the innovation of needlework from Xu Chiguang.

The work won the gold award of Guangdong Traditional Arts and Crafts Exhibition and the silver award of China Arts and Crafts Culture and Creativity Award.

　　In the documentary "Southern Guangdong Craftsman", people were able to see Xu Chiguang's re-embroidery process of the classic Cantonese embroidery pattern "Shoudai Bird", showing the "light color" technique of Cantonese embroidery.

It took three months for Xu Chiguang to lead his apprentices to complete "Shoudai Bird".

In this process, the new generation of apprentices gradually learned the skills of Cantonese embroidery.

　　Today, Xu Chiguang's heart is still anxious and hot: "I am over ninety years old, and I don't know what will happen tomorrow. But now at least I don't have to worry about when I leave. No one in this industry (Guangxiu) knows how to do it. In this way If you think about it, you can feel at ease." (End)