The history of the embroidery art in China is at least two thousand years old. During this time, the methods of performing compositions, their purpose, motives, and means of artistic expression were changing. The plastic and technical transformations that occurred with silk embroidery led Chinese masters to creating works that were close in their characteristics to the images of traditional Chinese painting. Based on the surviving embroideries and their fragments, which were created during the period from the reign of the Shang dynasty to the end of the Qing reign, the author of the paper examines the fi gurative specifi cs, as well as the artistic techniques and methods of their implementation. The main task is to show how the visual language of Chinese masters and the corresponding technical features have changed.