Susho, King Silk Art Handmade Silk Embroidery - Cardinal on a Branch - White Mat Framed Regular Size 11023WF

King Silk Art makes silk embroidery wall art, 100% hand-stitched by Master Artists in Suzhou, China. Our artwork, Susho, is completely natural, created with tiny needles and pure silk thread. Susho is a 2500 year old family tradition, with a unique and fascinating history.

In Feng Shui, birds are powerful symbols of new opportunities, especially those born of adversity. Colors and numbers are important aspects of the use of birds in Feng Shui.

In Chinese culture, the color red is very important. Legendarily, over 5000 years ago, the Chinese people were being terrorized by an enormous beast called the Nian, or, "Year" in English.

The Nian would appear every New Year's Day, which is the first day of lunar calendar. Nian would devour the people's crops, livestock and even children . . . especially children.

No one could stop Nian, but one New Year's Day, the people saw two things. Nian would not eat children wearing red, and some firecrackers frightened Nian. Nian fled before destroying everything and the people decided to prepare for the next year.

The people put red lanterns on their doors and windows to keep Nian out and lit firecrackers all day long. Nian never returned, but the people have been doing these things ever since on New Year's Day, just in case.

So red is a not just a lucky color, but it is also protective. Red attracts good fortune and frightens away bad fortune.

Centuries ago, when Susho began to evolve from home furnishing and clothing, the Emperor and his court wanted wall art to decorate their palaces. The aristocrats favored natural scenes, wanting to capture the detail and texture of flora and fauna. Susho artists learned to please the taste of the elites, by making natural scenes as realistic as possible.