Embroidery developed alongside the silk industry in China and has almost as long a history. Although each province developed its own distinct style of folk embroidery, the four most renowned styles were suzhou in Wuxian, xiang in Hunan, shu in Sichuan and yue in Guangdong.

Of these styles, Suzhou or "Su" embroidery was one of the first to be developed in China and is one of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world. It originated in Wuxian, Suzhou and later spread to neighboring provinces where similar fertile conditions and temperate climate favored the production of high quality silk fabric and finely spun thread.

Detailed embroidered pieces were being produced in the Suzhou area as early as the Qin Dynasty 255-207 BCE, and by the time of the Han dynasties embroidered silk maps were being produced. The Suzhou style became most prominent during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when its detailed needlework and intricate images were said to have "rivaled nature" and it became all the fashion to have Suzhou embroidery in the home.

The themes of Suzhou embroidery included pastoral scenes and very detailed representations of people and animals, characteristically worked onto silk using brightly colored silk threads divided until the actual thread is almost impossible to see. One of the distinctive features of Suzhou embroidery is that some pieces are double-faced; that is, the picture is repeated on both sides of the embroidered piece so it looks the same from either side.

Embroidery in the Suzhou style spread throughout China, and became the artistic and technical standard by which other embroidery styles were judged. It was used in clothing, wall hangings, intricate book covers and simply as artwork. By the late 19th century the tradition was dying out, but since the establishment in 1954 of the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute it has been revived and is still thriving today. Many modern examples incorporate some western painting techniques, like chiaroscuro, and are remarkable for their painstakingly detailed realism.

Sites used for reference, and photos of ancient and modern Suzhou embroidery:

Su Embriodery
Chinese Embroidery