Song Brocade weaving involves numerous steps, primarily reeling, dyeing, and loom weaving, encompassing over twenty processes.
◆ Historical Origins
Song Brocade's origins can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, when the nobles of the Wu Kingdom, located south of the Yangtze River, already made extensive use of brocade in their daily lives. Through development through the ages, brocade weaving techniques achieved comprehensive advancements during the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Suzhou became a center for silk production in China.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Suzhou established a weaving academy, and a new variety of Suzhou brocade emerged, characterized by its exquisite texture and unique craftsmanship: Suzhou Song Brocade. In addition to being used for clothing such as robes, it was also widely used for mounting scrolls of calligraphy and paintings, with over forty varieties available.
This particular application in mounting calligraphy and paintings has preserved these beautiful and luxurious brocades alongside these precious works. Therefore, later generations always mentioned Song brocade, and the name Song brocade has been passed down from generation to generation.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou also had the Suzhou Weaving House. Its production and sales of silk weaving for both the imperial court and the common people flourished, earning it the nickname "the sound of looms in half the city of Northeast China." The use of Song brocade expanded, reaching its peak during the reigns of Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong. The "Palace Museum's Woven Brocade Scroll" is a heavy brocade produced in Suzhou during the Qianlong period.
◆ Craftsmanship
Song brocade is characterized by rich colors and distinct gradations. Instead of strong contrasting colors, it uses several similar gradations for shading.
- Its base colors are mostly beige, blue-gray, mud gold, and lake blue. The stamens of the main flowers or the characteristic patterns are in more subdued and vibrant colors.
- The borders of the flowers or the small patterns separating the two colors are in harmonious and neutral intermediate colors. The ingenious combination of various colors creates a solemn and beautiful Song brocade, with harmonious shading, intricate yet not chaotic, elegant and harmonious, and a quaint style.
◆ Process
The production process of Song brocade is extensive, generally involving over twenty steps, from reeling and dyeing to weaving. Song brocade employs a unique technique of color-bending, combining warp and weft threads to create a richer texture and texture. This technique was later adopted by Yunjin and remains popular in contemporary brocade weaving.
Traditional Song brocade is woven on a jacquard wooden loom, equipped with two warp beams (ground and face warps) and nine harnesses. The ground warp is controlled by six harnesses, while the face warp is controlled by three. The healds' movement is controlled by six foot pedals, three of which simultaneously connect two harnesses (because they rise and fall together), reducing the density of the harnesses. During weaving, workers work in pairs, above and below, adjusting the heald frames and alternating the weft shuttles. Song brocade is now woven using a needle jacquard loom.
◆ Heritage and Protection
01. Heritage Value
Song brocade is not only an integral part of Suzhou's exceptional silk culture, but also an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese silk craftsmanship, possessing profound historical and cultural value.
Song brocade, with its profound historical and cultural value, remains renowned both domestically and internationally for its simple, elegant style and unique artistic charm despite millennia of evolution.
02. Current Status of Heritage
Due to economic restructuring and long-term neglect, traditional Song brocade workshops have ceased production, leaving artisans, tools, and patterns largely lost. Urgent measures are needed to restore and preserve them.
03. Protection Measures
Suzhou has established the Suzhou Song Brocade Cultural Industrial Park, China's first Song brocade-themed industrial park. The park showcases exquisite Song brocade (silk) products and showcases the production techniques of Song brocade and Wujiang's intangible cultural heritage, silk.
