Cheng Yijun

    Teacher Cheng Yijun has a quiet and elegant temperament. She doesn't talk much, but when it comes to embroidery, she can talk endlessly. Her persistence for thirty years, without perseverance and patience, would be hard to endure. I asked her how she could stick to something for so long, and she smiled faintly: it's just because she likes it, and the more she does it, the more she likes it.

    In the 1930s, Yang Shouyu broke through tradition and invented "Luanzhen Embroidery". In 1958, Ren Xian pioneered "Xushi Luanzhen Embroidery". Teacher Cheng stands on the shoulders of these master embroiderers, drawing inspiration from the single strokes of sketching, using the density, distance, and proximity of the needles to create a three-dimensional, layered, and perspective feel, achieving a unique artistic realm of achieving more with less.

    Teacher Cheng is especially skilled in portrait embroidery, including "Portrait of Chairman Mao", "Portrait of Premier Zhou", "Portrait of Sun Yat-sen", "Thousand-Handed Guanyin", "Father", "Mother", and many other works created by her students. Many people who saw her works first thought they were paintings, not embroidery, because each stitch was so lifelike. "Embroidery is easy to learn but difficult to master. To form one's own style is even more difficult. Working in this industry for thirty years, her works are the result of willpower, diligence, skills, accumulation, tradition, inheritance, innovation, and individuality combined." Teacher Cheng is kind, sincere, and good at teaching according to individual needs, focusing on guidance and inspiration, and is deeply respected and loved by her students. She engages in embroidery creation and research while summarizing her practical experience and insights, and passes them on to her students without reservation. "I remember when I learned the Luanzhen embroidery technique, she often stood behind me for half an hour, patiently guiding and encouraging me. I am very lucky to have such a teacher. Whether in embroidery or in being a person, I have benefited a lot from being around her." When students made mistakes, she never scolded or criticized them, just smiled and demonstrated personally. Although she was not strict, this attitude of convincing others through moral example made everyone like to learn from her.

    When talking about future development plans, Teacher Cheng said that she just wants to make embroidery into a fine product, brand it, and make everyone feel comfortable and satisfied after seeing it. She doesn't want to make it mass-produced or commercialized, but rather to carefully embroider each piece as an artwork. She also participated in the charity activities of the "Chinese Artists" magazine and was awarded the title of "Heartwarming Artist".