For more than 700 years, weavers in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, have been making brocades in an unique way.
On the reverse side of brocades they apply golden threads and flosses of varied colors. The wooden loom they work on is 5.6 meters long, 1.4 meters wide and 4 meters high.
Visitors to the Millennium Art Museum of China Millennium Monument now have access to a traditional loom, called a dahualou.
They can see how it helps workers to create the famed yunjin brocade, or "Cloud Brocade."
The loom is on display at an exhibition of science and technologies which runs until October 25 at the museum.
The loom is made from 1,924 pieces of wood and bamboo, said Zhou Shuangxi, a researcher with the Nanjing-based Yunjin Brocade Research Institute.
The loom was used to make "dragon robes" for emperors and empresses in Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and also the uniforms of their government officials.
"The making of yunjin involves the most complicated and difficult skills among ancient Chinese silk fabrics," said Zhou.
"The skills of weaving the yunjin brocade is developed from two other kinds of brocades -- the shujin brocade of Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, and songjin brocade of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province," he added.
The weaving work turns out to be a co-operation between two weavers. One sits on the top of the giant loom and lifts one end of a thread, and the other weaver, seated in front of the loom, weaves the other end of the thread into the brocade.
The weavers decide which thread is to be lifted up and woven into the brocade according to the pattern designed beforehand. Their co-operation results in an exquisite brocade known for its rich colors and refined designs.
It usually takes more than two years to accomplish one large piece.
And the weaving job can not be replaced by machines.
"Scientists have not figured out a computer program sophisticated enough to weave such a brocade," said Zhou.
The secret of manual work defeating the high-tech world lies in ancient know-how that has been handed down by generations, he added.
The knowledge is about such aspects as color matching and thread lifting.
There are even instructions about knotting the threads. They tell how to position one's fingers when making a knot.
"When I became an apprentice in 1973, my teacher told me to start by memorizing the skills," said Zhou.
Zhou's teacher had then woven brocades for half a century. "Most of the folk artists like my teacher are from poor families and they are often illiterate," said Zhou.
"There was a saying that if you behaved badly to your parents, or if you had no talent, you had to be a hard-working weaver in workshops. It was regarded as a punishment to be a brocade weaver," he added.
The "punishment" proved its severity through days of high concentration. A slight mistake led to total failure.
And if the mistake happened with a royal robe, execution was probable.
Other punishments included being forced in a hole dug into a piece of wood attached to the loom.
"The weaving process demands a moist atmosphere, which means workers had to bear the sweltering summers and winter chills without air-conditioning," said Zhou.
Back pain and rheumatism were common among weavers at that time.
"My master took in six apprentices then. Only one stayed, and it was me."
Now Zhou's apprentices can produce gorgeous brocades in a comfortable environment.
Zhou is most concerned that quite a few weaving skills have been lost.
"Some were forgotten, but many of the skills were deliberately omitted by skilled elderly weavers in their teachings, as they were afraid of being challenged by their apprentices," said Zhou.
"Things have changed. I teach my students all I have learned. And we even have girl weavers involved, which was impossible in ancient times. Women were rejected in the area," he added.
Zhou is also worried that hand-made yunjin brocade are being swamped by mass-produced replicas.
"Like all hand-made fabrics, Nanjing Yunjin would definitely cost a lot more. A brocade 7 meters long and 78 centimeters wide, is worth at least 21,000 yuan (US$2,471)," said Zhou.
The reason for such a startling price is that two skillful weavers can only complete a part of the fabric that is 20 to 25 centimeters long per day on a loom.
Replicas made with machines are often coarse and have been primary competitors of the luxurious fabric made with traditional skills, said the researcher.
Zhou has taken with him yunjin brocades and the "dahualou" loom around the world.
On his trip to Oslo, Norway in 2002, Zhou was shown a piece of Chinese brocade by a Norwegian man.
"He treasured the brocade as a family heirloom. Blue dragons featured on the fabric, yet the craftsmanship didn't look great."
To his surprise, Zhou found it had been kept abroad for more than 200 years and originated from Nanjing.
"It's a pity that genuine yunjin brocades are rarely available outside Nanjing and Jiangsu Province," said Zhou. "I wish to establish a museum for yunjin brocades in Beijing," said Zhou.
(China Daily October 19, 2004)
