Chinese folk art - emhroidery

　　Many Chinese believe that a woman's embroidery abil ities best represent her artistic skill. In the country side, many girls grow up sewing and embroidering their own wedding dresses. Their embroidery work often repres ents their yearning for a better life as well as their love and affection for their lovers. Brides usually bri ng their embroidery creations with them to their weddin g chamber, which is usually in the husband's home accor ding to the Chinese custom,so that her in-laws can eval uate her skills. After a child is born, the embroidery is used to make clothing for the child. The mother teac hes her daughters and daughters-in-law embroidery skill s, thus handing down the skill from generation to gener ation.

　　The Miao people prefer to use black in their embroi dery, since they advocate black in their culture. They often add red, blue or purple. Dragon designs are frequ ently found on Miao embroidery, as are fish, centipedes and snakes.

　　In some Chinese ethnic minorities, girls send embro idered insoles to their fiances. Girls sew flower and b utterfly patterns on the insoles, implying that they wi sh their lovers will always miss them.Pillows used to b e a commonly found embroidered decoration in the past, but are rarely seen today. They were usually embroidere d on both sides and featured flower, bird, figurine and animal designs.

　　Provided by Hao Juan