Archaeological findings show that human beings have learned to rub ropes since they entered the fishing and hunting society, which is a prelude to spinning. For example, more than10000 stone balls and rope were unearthed in Xu Jiayao cultural site in Datong, Shaanxi. Sling is a net bag made of rope, which can throw stone balls to fight wild animals when hunting. Therefore, it is inferred that people had learned to use ropes at that time. The rope was originally made of the stem of a whole plant. Later, the splitting and rubbing technology was invented, that is, the plant stem bark was split into strands, and then many strands were combined together, and a long rope was connected by the friction between strands after twisting. In order to increase the strength of the rope, people later learned to use several strands. For example, a rope unearthed in Hemudu site in Zhejiang Province in 4900 BC has a diameter of 1 cm.
In order to keep out the cold, humans first covered their bodies directly with grass leaves and skins, but even grass leaves needed ropes. Therefore, people began to sew animal skins. At first, a hole was drilled with an awl, and then a string was inserted. Later, needle and thread sewing technology developed. With the use of bone needles, people in ancient China began to make sewing thread. Weaving technology evolved from making baskets and mats for fishing. Among them, the Neolithic pottery unearthed has many traces of braiding. For example, the tiny fragments of reed mats unearthed from Hemudu site, and the pottery unearthed from banpo village site in Shaanxi province has the mark of weaving at the bottom. Wooden knives, branching sticks, cloth rolling sticks and other primitive waist machine parts have been unearthed in Hemudu site, and their shapes are very similar to those of ancient loom parts preserved by ethnic minorities now. Cinnabar was unearthed in Liuwan, Qinghai Province, mortar and pestle for grinding pigments were unearthed in Yin Xi Village, Shanxi Province, and painting tools were unearthed in Jiangzhai, Shaanxi Province, indicating that the cloth at that time had begun to have colors and patterns. The existing Neolithic textiles include primitive kudzu twisted fabrics unearthed in Wuxian county, Jiangsu province and silk, ribbons and linen unearthed in Xing Wu, Zhejiang province.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng, Wei, Qi and Lu were all places where brocade was produced in the Central Plains of China. The exquisite brocade produced by Xiangyi, the thin Luo Qi and exquisite embroidery of Qilu are all advanced embroidery products of civilized countries since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Until the Han Dynasty, Xiangyi was still the main producing area of ethnic brocade.
Shu brocade rose in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and its products were as famous as Xiang Yi Brocade. Shu brocade is not only an important source of military materials for Shu, but also an important material for trade with Wei and Wu. This shows that the production of Shu brocade at that time was not only large in output, but also high in quality, and the products were also very popular. From the historical development, China's silk, linen and wool spinning technology reached a high level in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Among them, the textiles unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province are a strong proof of the textile level at that time.
China ancient textile printing and dyeing technology has a very long history: as early as the primitive society, in order to adapt to climate change, the ancients knew how to use local materials and make simple textile tools by using natural resources as raw materials for textile printing and dyeing. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, men and women wore "deep jackets" with ordinary tops and low skirts. Hemp, hemp and kudzu fabrics are the staple materials of working people. Rulers and nobles widely use silk fabrics. Dyed fabrics also began to have yarn, silk, brocade, cloth, silk and so on. Clothing materials are greatly rich. For example, the plain yarn Zen dress unearthed in the Western Han Dynasty weighed only 49 grams, so it can be seen that it could be made into a light and transparent long dress with mulberry silk at that time.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the rulers also made strict grading regulations on clothing, making clothing a symbol of power. Linen is widely used in daily clothes, and silk is generally used in skirts. With the increase of communication between China and foreign countries, clothing styles also influence each other. For example, the costumes of Tuanhua were influenced by Persia, and monks wore Indian-style costumes "cassock". Today, Japanese kimono still retains the clothing style of China in the Tang Dynasty. From the Tang and Song Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, clothes were mostly big sleeves with coats off, and coats were mostly robes. Manchu costumes such as mandarin jackets and cheongsam prevailed in Qing dynasty, and manual workers wore jackets and trousers. China is an ancient country with textile civilization. In ancient China, the cultivation of cotton, hemp, mulberry and silkworm, the application of mineral plant dyes and the development and evolution of textile equipment all reached a very perfect and advanced level, thus making textile production technology the most distinctive and representative textile culture in ancient China.
China textile