Like previous dynasties, the silk industry in Tang Dynasty was mainly divided into two parts: private and official. Only the official silk industry is mentioned here. The silk weaving production managed by the Tang government is managed by the weaving and dyeing department. The weaving and dyeing department has 25 factories, each with a special division of labor. These twenty-five works are ten works of weaving V (weaving silk is called V): cloth, silk, yarn, twill, silk, brocade, silk and brown (coarse cloth). There are five ribbons woven with patterns: balls, ribbons, ribbons, ropes and spikes (ornaments on hats). ? (chóu silk, thicker silk) Four threads:? , thread, string (xián Xuan, used as a string), net. There are six kinds of dyeing exercises: cyan, crimson, yellow, white, soap and purple.
From the names of these works, we can imagine their huge organization and exquisite division of labor. The above institutions are directly under the central government, and there are brocade workshops belonging to local leaders in various places, and so on.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, various tribute silks with novel designs divided the whole country into ten roads, and each road had to pay a certain amount of tribute to the court every year. Silk is a very important tribute. At that time, there were many kinds of silk fabrics with novel designs, such as Fang Ling in Daoxian County and Sliding State of Henan Province, Ji Ling and Shuang Ling in Yuzhou, Jing Hua Ling in Yanzhou and Xian Embroidered Ling in Qingzhou. Peacock Luo, Spring Luo and Dingzhou two nests in Daoheng Prefecture, Hebei Province? Twill; Shannan Jingzhou Jiaosuo E, Lang Lang heavy lotus Lang; Jiangnan Road Runzhoufang, Shui Bo Mausoleum and Yuezhou Wuling; The monofilaments of Yi Dao in Jiannan and Zhou Shu, the high rafter (ZH column) shirt knot (satin) in Yizhou, the double (xún, a silk woven with twine) in Mianzhou, and the long (chū Chu) purlin in Suizhou are all high-grade silk fabrics with bright colors.
As can be seen from the above description, the main producing area of silk products in the early Tang Dynasty was still in the north. After the Anshi Rebellion, the north suffered from the war, while the south of the Yangtze River was not directly affected by the war, and the loss was small. In this way, the silk industry in Jiangnan developed rapidly. The brocade of Yuezhou Road in the south of the Yangtze River and the red carpet of Xuanzhou are all famous high-grade silk fabrics. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, once described the bright and exquisite brocade as a waterfall spring 45 feet before the bright moon in Tiantai Mountain. Some articles (that is, patterns) are fantastic, and there are white fireworks and snowballs on the ground. In another poem called "The Red Carpet", the poet described the softness of the red carpet with poems with soft colors, soft lines and imaginary flowers.
Exquisite Silk Patterns When introducing the tribute silk varieties in the Tang Dynasty, many novel and peculiar patterns were mentioned. However, the names of those patterns were just fancy styles that were popular at that time. In addition, there are many particularly exquisite fancy designs that only elites can enjoy. Here are a few examples:
During the reign of Emperor Taizong (627-649), a man named Dou created many silk patterns when he was on the stage in Yizhou, Sichuan, including pheasant (ZHI to pheasant), fighting sheep, phoenix, etc., which have been circulated for hundreds of years. Because the sinus is named Lingyanggong, people call these patterns Lingyanggong. We can often see pairs of animal patterns in Tang silk unearthed in Xinjiang and other places, and the images are very full.
Lu Guimeng, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, described a brocade skirt he saw in his article Ji Brocade. Twenty flying cranes are woven on the brocade skirt, each with a broken leg and a flower branch in its mouth. Behind the crane, a parrot shrugged and relaxed its hair. Cranes and parrots come in different sizes with colorful flowers in the middle. This pattern is often found in handicrafts such as the tang dynasty bronze mirror and lacquerware.
In Memories of Gong Wei written by Wei Duanfu in Tang Dynasty, there was a purple silk coat embroidered with wood. There are lions, camels and other animals running under the tree, and hunters are riding horses to hunt. Among the Tang silks unearthed in various parts of China and preserved in Japanese Zhengcang Institute, there are brocade hunting patterns woven from these images. Riding and shooting figures, flying animals, flying birds, trees and flowers are all included in the round flowers. In addition to the group flowers, there are well-defined and closely organized beaded patterns. This composition, commonly known as Julien Tuan Wen, was a popular decorative form in the Tang Dynasty.
During the reign of Tang Daizong (763-779), some silk varieties were forbidden to spin, and a four-foot wide pattern was mentioned. According to the meaning of the word, this is a big flower with a diameter of four feet. A large group of flowers can cover the entire width of silk, so it is called a four-foot silk brocade. A tapestry of the Tang Dynasty lion dance preserved in Masakura Hospital in Japan shows a lion dancing among the branches of Baohua. On every precious flower, there are people singing and dancing, some playing drums, some playing arpeggios and some playing blowing sheng flute. The units of the pattern are three or four feet long, and the whole picture is full of jubilation and excitement. The verve is really magnificent!