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| introduction to cloud brocade
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Brocade is the eminent representative of our nation’s prominent
traditional culture. It got its name
from Yun that means clouds, since the fabrics is as beautiful
as the splendid clouds in the sky, and has got a history of
nearly one thousand years. Among
all the ancient fabrics, silk fabrics known as “Jin” represents
the top industrial arts. Furthermore, Nanjing Brocade concentrates
all the advantages of advanced silk fabrics arts and technology
of ancient dynasties and ranks first in quality among the three
well-known categories of silk fabrics. It had been used as tributes
to the loyal families in the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and
Qing. Owing to its rich cultural and scientific connotation,
it is honored by experts as “the last milestone in the technological
history of Chinese ancient silk fabrics”. It is acknowledged
by public as “oriental treasure”, “China’s wonder” and is also
one of the rarest historical cultural legacies in China and
the world. In the prime of the production
of Brocade that was regarded as China’s noblest silk fabrics and
the symbol of the highest technology in Chinese silks, Nanjing
enjoyed over thirty thousand looms and nearly three hundred
thousand persons made living on the trade, which was the Nanjing’s
biggest handicraft industry at that time and occupied a certain
position in the Chinese history. Brocade is not only the pride of
the people of Nanjing but also the pride of mankind’s civilizations.
The Brocade described as “an inch of
the silk fabrics equals to an inch of gold” by the ancient Chinese
is woven by big size wooden looms 5.6m long, 4m high and 1.4m
wide operated by two workers, one above and one below. Its production
sequence can be depicted as the current computer program language,
and it fully embodied the talent of our ancestors.
Pattern twining and base weaving”
is equivalent to computer software design. It turned the fabrics
pattern into program language using the principle of ancient
method of “notes keeping by way of rope knotting”, and then
put the program on the loom for weaving. This is a very complicated
technology, actually a creative designing process of stored
pattern programs with silk thread as basic material. The designer
is required not only to display the delicate pattern changes
on each thread according to fabrics’ specification requirements
and calculated results of detailed dimensions in inch, centimeter,
millimeter, etc., but also to unify the miscellaneous colors
to the maximum, so as to compile a program file that the weavers
can read and work on the looms.The person sitting on the loom
is known as “thread puller”. All his work to do is to pull the
thread in line with threading sequence, corresponding to computer
keyboard typing. The person sitting on the lower part of the
loom is called “weaver”. With the skill of “passing longitude
and cutting woof”(the woof consists of connected colorful fine
hairs), he twines the pattern and weaves the materials into
Brocade with golden and colored threads. The woven piece in front
of him can be regarded as computer screen. Up till now the technology
hasn’t been enabled to be replaced by machines yet. The weaving
technology of Brocade is exceedingly complex and exquisite. Apart
from above mentioned “pattern twining and base weaving” “passing
longitude and cutting woof”, another outstanding characteristics
of Brocade is that some luxurious fabrics can even be woven with
gold and silver threads that makes them look brilliant and satisfy
the requirements of loyal families. Being an article for loyal
courts for a long time in history, it’s technology has been
refined repeatedly despite high costs both in time consumed
and materials used, which in turn makes Brocade surpass all other
silk brocades in quality and reach the top in fabrics production.
There are mainly four categories in B: “gold weaving”(gold
is pressed into foil, then cut into thread-like pieces to be
twisted into threads and then woven on looms), “Ku Silk Fabrics”,
“Ku Brocade Fabrics” and “Zhuanghua Silk Fabrics” that served
as materials for emperor robe, queen dress and shawl, concubine
clothing, decorations for loyal courts and daily use articles
of cushion, mattress, pillow, quilt, etc. Brocade also served as
loyal gifts to foreign kings and missioners as well as their
ministers with merits. Nanjing Brocade evolved from Cai(meaning
colorful) Silk Fabrics of Song Dynasty. In Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians
conquered Central China. The rulers then had the tradition of
decorating officer dress with gold. The boom of the Dynasty
flourished gold mining, which facilitated the development of
Brocade with gold and silver weaving as its main characteristics.
The Brocade thus became much more well-known than all other silk
products and surpassed the formers as a latecomer, and obtained
a fame of “silk fabrics with highest rarity and technology”
that won great favor of feudal kings and aristocrats and were
also loved by minorities of Mongolia, Tibet and Uygur Nationalities.
Henceforth, the three dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing all designated
Brocade as the loyal tributes. The rulers of those dynasties set
up official fabrics bureaus in Nanjing specifically for the
administration and monopoly of Brocade production and marketing,
which further promoted the fabrics’ development and flourish.
In the eras of Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors in Qing Dynasty,
the production of Brocade reached its primax. In the vicinity of
Qinhuai River inhabited numerous fabrics trading households,
weaving noise echoed day and night, the fabrics production volume
became unprecedented. Four ancestors in three generations of
the author of “Stories of Red Chamber” Cao Xueqin were appointed
as executive officials of Jiangning Fabrics Bureau in Qing Dynasty
for 65 years.
After
the founding of New China, the Party and government paid great
importance to the precious national culture and technology.
Under the government’s concern, NBRI was founded, and Nanjing
Brocade was given great protection and development. Under the concern
and support from the related central ministries and provincial
and municipal departments in the past 40 years, NBRI has achieved
lots of scientific results and supplied a number of technological
gaps in China, making preeminent contributions to the inheritance
and development of the fabrics. Having undertaken in-depth study
and rectification of the historical archives, the Institute
published 200 volumes of Brocade objects as well as the most comprehensive
monograph on the its development history “Chronicle of Brocade”. |
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Posted by chinaarea on 2008-05-15 22:53:49 | Rating: | Views: 40
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