鲁绣 (Lǔ Xiù)
Lu embroidery (鲁绣) is the Shandong provincial embroidery tradition — one of China's oldest documented embroidery schools, referenced in Han Dynasty texts as tribute fabric sent to the imperial court. Unlike the refined monochrome shading of Su embroidery (CRAFT-0316), Lu embroidery is characterized by bold polychrome palette, strong outline stitching, and the distinctive wrapped stitch technique (缠针 chán zhēn) — thread wrapped around a laid foundation cord to produce textured raised linear elements. The tradition encompasses both folk embroidery (practiced by village women for household textiles) and the fine-art court tradition (practiced by specialist workshops). The folk tradition is the more endangered — it preserves a stitch vocabulary and color palette distinct from the court tradition's more refined approach.
Risk level: Endangered · China National ICH List (2008)
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