Since the earliest forms of stitching were more for practical use than for strictly aesthetic appreciation, most of the work from the Chou up to the Han Dynasties was accomplished with a simple "chain stitch." Tightly bound, one link to another, this stitching is distinctively more durable than the "flat stitch" developed later.

In order to produce a greater luster to embroidered patterns, flat stitching techniques, worked in parallel lines, were used in addition to the more general employment of chain stitching. Flat stitching was developed during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-24 A.D.), along with the highly decorative ta tzu stitch. The latter is done by winding the thread many times around the needle then drawing the needle back through the material at nearly the same spot. The result is essentially the same as a French knot. At this time, embroiderers also developed techniques to work feathers into their designs on silk fabrics.

During the Tsin (265-420 A.D.) and Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589 A.D.), flat stitching became especially popular for rendering facial features on images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The stitch was also used by artists who desired realistic portrayals of the lotus, peony, mandarin duck, and other water birds. From the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) onward, flat stitching techniques gradually reached such a level of refined complexity that any artistic form could be produced in embroidery. But it was not until the ultimate development of flat stitch forms during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) that ornamental embroidery "purely for art's sake" came into its own. As in other art forms, Sung Dynasty embroidery has a special refinement.

In the Three Kingdoms Period (220-265 A.D.), two court ladies became famous masters of embroidery: Madame Chao, wife of Sun Ch'uan, the ruler of the State of Wu, and Lady Hsueh Ling-yun. Their attainments won them the honorary appellations Chen Chueh, "peerless in needlework," and Hsiu Shen, "goddess of embroidery," respectlvely. Madame Chao, famous for her delicately embroidered maps and battle array, is the first "master of embroidery" recorded in history.

During the prosperous T'ang Dynasty, embroidery techniques were further improved. One of the first great works in miniature was done by a 14-year-old girl, Lu Mei-niang. She embroidered seven volumes of the Buddhist Scripture Fa Hua Ching, translated into Chinese during the Tsin Dynasty, on a one-foot-long piece of silk. Although each embroidered Chinese character is as small as a grain of rice, not a single character stroke is missing.

Influenced by the burgeoning popularity of Buddhism, a large proportion of T'ang Dynasty embroiderers drew their subject matter from religious themes. To demonstrate their piety, believers often worked more than 10 years embroidering a specific Buddhist scene. Some of these herculean productions can be been at the Shoso-in in Nara, Japan, which houses many 8th Century Chinese art treasures.

Other magnificent T'ang Dynasty pieces were found in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas at Tunhuang, an oasis on the Silk Road in Kansu Province. One of the most famous pieces, now in the British Museum's Stein Collection, is a life-size depiction of the Sakyamuni Buddha preaching on Mount Gradhrakuta.

During the T'ang, embroidery color techniques emphasized advanced methods of achieving subtle shading, and new p'ing chin skills created three-dimensional effects. The latter technique twined gold or silver threads to form a pattern and then fastened them down by small stitches at regular intervals, similar to the couching stitch used in the West.