SU-CHOU EMBROIDERY

silk, satin, and other textiles decorated using soft coloured silk threads and produced at or near the city of Su-chou, in Kiangsu Province, China. The Su-chou school is one of the four most famous schools of embroidery in China (the others being centred in Hunan, Kwangtung, and Szechwan provinces). Embroidered book covers unearthed at Su-chou date the production of embroidery there back to the Five Dynasties period (10th century AD), though the school probably extends back to Han-dynasty times. The Su-chou tradition uses many different types of stitching and variable types of threads to realistically depict the forms and textures of flowers, goldfish, cats, dragons, and other pleasing natural objects.