Study On The Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Textile In Yangtze River Delta

Yangtze River Delta is abundant in the intangible cultural heritages of textile. Many of traditional textile techniques in Yangtze River Delta have been listed on the national or world non-material cultural heritage list. However, there are no systematical studies conducted on them. This research investigated on the intangible cultural heritages of textile in Yangtze River Delta by the main methods of field investigation and historical documents study, and expected to objectively display the techniques and culture of traditional Textile in Yangtze River Delta.The dissertation comprises nine chapters.The first chapter introduced the study background and research methods. Firstly, based on the perspective of protecting the intangible cultural heritage, the significance of the dissertation was described. Secondly, the current situation and important findings of domestic and foreign research on the intangible cultural heritage and the traditional textile of Yangtze River Delta were introduced and commented by analyzing relevant literature in some databases. Finally, the research methods and the range of research objects were briefly defined.The second and third chapters stated the traditional cotton textile technology in Yangtze River Delta. The second chapter mainly focused on the manual cotton textile techniques of Wunijing town. In this part, five topics were discussed in detail, such as, the problem of how the cotton was introduced into Shanghai, the spinning and weaving techniques of cotton in Wunijing town, Huang Daopo’s traditional cotton textile skills of pick-weaving and brocading, the comparison of Xian Can(originator of silk skills)and Xian Mian(originator of cotton skills) and the inheritance of the manual cotton textile techniques of Wunijing town. The third chapter mainly discussed blue calico printing and dyeing techniques of Nantong. Firstly, such topics as the origin, production techniques and main features of blue calico of Nantong were discussed in detail. Secondly, the relation between the blue calico techniques and paper cutting art was analyzed. Lastly, the inheritance of blue calico printing and dyeing techniques in Nantong were discussed.The main contents from the fourth chapter to the eighth chapter introduced the research on spinning and weaving techniques of silk in ancient Yangtze River Delta. The fourth chapter emphasized the importance of Yangtze River Delta as a foundation of silk techniques. Firstly, we divided the course of development of silk techniques about spinning and weaving into three stages, i.e., active period, recession period and renaissance period. Secondly, the silk techniques as mulberry planting, silkworm raising, silk-reeling, silk yarns processing and silk-weaving in Yangtze River Delta were analyzed and studied, the results showed that the silk techniques in ancient Yangtze River Delta had a very high level. The fifth Chapter to eighth Chapter introduced the ancient weaving techniques employed in fabrics such as Song Brocade, Kesi Arts, Nanjing Brocade and Hangzhou Leno, especially about their origin, varieties, characters, arts and inheritance. The results indicated that the silk techniques in ancient Yangtze River Delta were closely related to the special social politics, economy and culture in the time.The ninth chapter stated the textile culture of Yangtze River Delta. In this part, the information about taboos, customs, legends and relative performing arts of traditional textile industry, which represented the textile culture of Yangtze River Delta, were systematically analyzed. The results indicated that the textile culture of Yangtze River Delta played a key role in the development of the society.The conclusions of the dissertation are as follow.1. It was Huang Daopo who improved the silk and linen textile tools and applied them to cotton textile industry and chose Li nationality’s pick-weaving skills, thus, successfully practiced the traditional manual cotton textile techniques of Wunijing town in Songjiang area.2. The worship to Lei Zu (originator of the silk techniques) and the worship to Huang Daopo (originator of the cotton techniques) were essentially different. The worship to Lei Zu transferred from official to civilian along the path as the following, i.e., official sacrificial activityâ†'folk sacrificial activityâ†'forming silk textile culture. By contrast, the worship to Huang Daopo transferred from civilian to official, the route is, folk sacrificial activityâ†'official sacrificial activityâ†'forming cotton textile culture.3. The blue calico of Nantong evolved from Yaoban cloth (prints with blue figures on a white ground or white figures on a blue ground), and was essentially related to Jia Xie cloth (stencil-plate printed fabrics) and wax-resist dyeing fabrics closely. Meanwhile, being employed the resist-dyeing techniques of "scraper printing", the designs of blue calico of Nantong were characterized with complanation, integrated layout and diversified subject.4. Liangzhu people’s immigration into Central Plains is the main reason for their advanced silk techniques transmitting into Central Plains and contributing to the integration of the two forms of silk culture. The scraps of silk found in a Liangzhu culture site at Qianshanyang in Huzhou, Zhejiang, dating back to2700B.C, showed that the silk textile techniques of Liangzhu culture of Yangtze River Delta in early ancient China was much more advanced than that of contemporary cultures of Central Plains. About4200years ago, Liangzhu people migrated into Central Plains and brought in the silk techniques and developed silk culture. Thus, Yangtze River Delta and Central Plains both are the places where silk culture originated.5. The draw loom with pattern sheets appeared no later than the Tang Dynasty. With the application and improvement of the draw loom with pattern sheets, diverse silk fabrics with complicated craft and beautiful designs, such as Song brocade and Nanjing brocade, were produced in Yangtze River Delta during Southern Song Dynasty.6. The weaving process of Song brocade evolved from the weaving process of Shu brocade, and there existed a relation of inheritance between them. It was generally believed that the term "Song brocade" appeared in the Emperor Kang Xi Year of Qing Dynasty. However, by analyzing the records in Tian Shan Bin Shui Lu, a book published in the Ming Dynasty, we held that the term "Song brocade" originated not late than the Emperor Jia Jing Year of Ming Dynasty, which is noticeably earlier than the Qing Dynasty. 7. By analyzing the development state of Kesi Skill since the Song Dynasty, we found that the productive centers of Kesi fabric were transferred from north to south. The route is North China (before Northern Song Dynasty)â†'Dingzhou, Bianliang (Northern Song Dynasty)â†'Linan, SuSong Area(Southern Song Dynasty)â†'SuSong Area (Yuan Dynasty)â†'Suzhou, Beijing Palace (Ming Dynasty)â†'Suzhou, Hangzhou, Qiyang of Hunan Province, Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province (Qing Dynasty)â†'Suzhou (Republic of China). This route indicated that Suzhou had been always the productive center of Kesi fabric since Southern Song Dynasty, and it played a very important role in the protection of Kesi Skill.8. By analyzing the weaving machine of Nanjing brocade and the time at which gold-woven brocade and jacquard silk fabrics of Zhuanghua were generated, we found that the weaving machine of Nanjing brocade emerged as early as the Tang Dynasty. And, the weaving techniques of gold-woven brocade and jacquard silk fabrics of Zhuanghua were widely employed in the Liao Dynasty. Meanwhile, the silk industry of Nanjing was re-developed in Southern Song Dynasty, thus, Nanjing brocade had been produced in Southern Song Dynasty rather than the Yuan Dynasty as widely believed.