The Liuligongfang peony comes from the Su embroidery housed at the Jiangning Fabrics Bureau. The Jiangning Fabrics Bureau may sound unfamiliar but it is intrinsically tied to Cao Xueqin, famed author of the classic Dream of the Red Chamber. Cao, his grandfathers, father and uncle all held the post at the Jiangning Fabrics Bureau for over 65 years.
In the early days of Liuligongfang’s establishment, Loretta Hui-shan Yang said“ I would like Liuligongfang’s packaging to convey a sense of Chinese culture. I want the gift giver to be proud and the gift recipient to delight at this gift.” Coincidentally, it was at this time when the Jiangning Fabrics Bureau peony appeared.
One day Liuligongfang design consultant David Wang prepared a series of slides and pulled one out to show Chang, “Do you want to try this one?” “This” becomes the peony pattern adopted by Liuligongfang. It came from a friend who happened to be one of Taiwan’s best antique dealers. He discovered the patterns in a roll of Jiangning Fabrics Bureau satin brought over from China to Taiwan. Bombarded with peonies of vibrant reds and greens and seeing the official “Jiangning Fabrics Bureau” stamp on the corner of each roll, the two of them thought: two hundred years ago, a group of people actually came together and by hand, created this peony pattern stitch by stitch.
Chang Yi’s first instinct was: they showed even more craft than Liuligongfang did!
This extraordinary piece of embroidery takes on a different appearance from every angle and distance. Each new looks giving a new color to each bloom. A stitch of yellow, a stitch of green, the result a lush and multi-faceted leaf, strand after strand of different colored silk threads seem to follow an unspoken order. As you step back, it treats your eyes to the beauty of the multi-faceted peony.