This weekend, I watched a documentary called ``织织记--纺织的STORY'' which introduces traditional Chinese textile techniques.

I felt the charm of Chinese silk ``绫罗绸缎'' in ``织织记--纺织のSTORY'', and since silk is one of the symbols of Chinese culture, I will be creating a series of blogs while learning about this as a theme. I think I want to do.

Today I would like to introduce 14 types of silk in China to everyone, starting with brocade.

What is Nishiki?

Nishiki is called brocade in Japanese. It is a type of luxurious silk-patterned fabric that uses three or more colors and has a brocade pattern woven with gold and silver threads on a twill or satin base. .

Since ancient China, brocade has been considered the most valuable item in ancient China due to its high production techniques and complicated folding methods.

In China, Nanjing's Yun brocade, Chengdu's Shu brocade, and Suzhou's Song brocade are considered the three most famous Chinese brocades.

In particular, Nanjing's cloud brocade was designated as an imperial item during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (early 13th century to early 20th century), and it is said that the emperor's formal clothes and ministers' court clothes were all made from cloud brocade. It takes more than two years to cut to order one imperial robe, and it is so valuable that it is said to be worth "one inch of brocade and one inch of gold."

↑Unnishiki

Nishiki machine

The image below shows Unnishiki's machine.

Unnishiki looms are made of wood, and some parts are made of bamboo. This loom is called the ``Big Flower wood'' and has a traditional shape of 5.6 meters long, 1.4 meters wide, and 4 meters high.Although the machine is large, its structure and function are very sophisticated.

As you can see in the image, the loom is operated by two people, the ``weaver'' who works below, and the ``bakeru'' who works above.

The two work together while listening to the sound of the loom, and even though they are both veterans, they can only weave about 5 centimeters of cloud brocade per day.

Not only Yunjin, but also Shujin and Songjin's machines are similar in form and require two people to work together.

personal thoughts

For me, what attracts me to Nishiki is its precision technique. When I first saw brocade, I thought it was embroidery.

Creating intricate patterns with weaving is incredible.

I believe that creating a work like this requires careful design from the beginning and the full concentration of the craftsmen, and it can be said that the wisdom of workers over hundreds of years is distilled into it.

That's all for today's share. From now on, we shall strive for good relations.