Chapter 29 Section 7 Colorful silk fabrics

During the Warring States Period, the silk weaving industry had a new development, especially in Qi and Lu.The weaving skills of women workers in Qi State are very famous. According to the records of "Historical Records Huo Zhi Biography", the silk fabrics of Qi State "wear the crown and wear the clothes all over the world".Silk fabrics from the Warring States Period were found in the Chu State most in the archaeological work due to the better underground preservation conditions in the Chu State.Silk fabrics are often unearthed in Chu tombs in Hunan, Hubei and other places.In particular, Tomb No. 1 in the middle of the Warring States Period was unearthed in Mashan, Jiangling, Hubei in 1982. A large number of exquisite silk fabrics were unearthed, which can be called a silk treasure house and can be used as a typical representative of silk fabrics in the Warring States Period.There are many kinds of silk fabrics unearthed from the tomb, including yarn, silk, ti, Luo, brocade, embroidery, Qi, tassel and group, which are of excellent texture and well preserved.Among them, silk has the most, the thinnest silk has 50 warp threads and 20 weft threads per square centimeter; the thinnest silk has 164 warp threads and 64 weft threads per square centimeter.A total of 16 pieces of clothing were unearthed (eight cotton robes, three single clothes, one jacket, two single skirts, one cotton hakama, and one cap), three silk quilts (quilts) and so on.Woven or embroidered symmetrical dragons, phoenix birds, mythical beasts, dancers and geometric patterns on the clothes and quilts in vermilion, crimson, golden yellow, brown yellow, tea brown, light green, deep ocher, eggplant purple and other colors. The colors are brilliant.For example, one of the light yellow silk cotton gowns embroidered with phoenix bird and flower patterns is 165 cm long, with a sleeve span of 158 cm, a sleeve width of 45 cm, a waist width of 59 cm, and a hem width of 69 cm.It is in the cross collar, right lapel and straight skirt style.Straight sleeves with wide cuffs.The surface of the robe is light yellow silk embroidered with patterns of phoenix birds and flowers, and the inside of the robe is dark yellow silk with silk cotton inside.The outer edge of the collar is a tapestry with field hunting patterns, the middle part of the inner edge and the inner side of the upper part of the lapel are dragon and phoenix pattern tapestry, both sides of the inner edge are brocade patterns with phoenix and bird patterns, and the sleeves and hem edges are brocade patterns with large diamond patterns. It is really an exquisite arts and crafts treasure. .

Not only that, the development of the silk weaving industry during the Warring States period laid the foundation for the prosperity of the silk weaving industry in the Han Dynasty and the opening of the famous Silk Road.