Xinhua News Agency Changsha, May 10th Title: A plain yarn single dress as thin as a cicada wing and as light as smoke: the miracle of the ancient silk weaving industry
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yujie
If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe that a piece of clothing worth more than 1 meter long is less than one or two. If the clothes are folded and placed on the newspaper, you can still clearly see the words and pictures on the newspaper.
This is Quyou plain yarn single clothes (original cultural relic). Hunan Provincial Museum Photo provided by
In the Hunan Provincial Museum, there is a rare treasure that can be called a national treasure - simple saury single-clothing. According to the museum, it is as thin as a cicada's wing, as light as smoke, and exquisitely weaving. It is the earliest, most complete, most exquisitely produced clothing treasure in the past, and the thinnest.
This is straight-hem plain yarn single clothes (original cultural relic). Photo provided by Hunan Provincial Museum
From 1972 to 1974, archaeologists discovered three Western Han Dynasty tombs in Mawangdui, the eastern suburbs of Changsha. Thousands of exquisite cultural relics and well-preserved Han Dynasty female corpse have been discovered and unearthed, becoming one of the major archaeological discoveries in China and even the world in the 20th century.
The souwa single-vest was unearthed in the No. 1 Tomb of Mawangdui, which is Xin Zhui's Tomb. According to historical records, Xinzhu is the wife of Li Cang, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty. He died at the age of 50. His life was more than 2,200 years old.
Duan Xiaoming, director of Hunan Provincial Museum, introduced that there are four side boxes between the outermost coffin board and the inner coffin board of Tomb No. 1. The west box is equivalent to Mrs. Xin Zhui’s warehouse, which contains food, clothing and use, and is packed in bamboo boxes. When the plain yarn single clothes were unearthed, it was in a bamboo box on the west wing, which contained cotton robes, single clothes, skirts and socks, a total of fourteen pieces.
The upper layer is a simple yarn single coat imitated by Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute in 2019, and the lower layer is the original. Photo provided by Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute
The shape of a plain yarn single dress is relatively simple, with two pieces, one is a straight hem and the other is a curved hem, both of which are right lapels. "One piece of straight hem is 49 grams, and the length of the garment is 128 cm. The length of the garment is 48 grams, and the length of the garment is 160 cm." Duan Xiaoming said.
plain yarn single clothes are known as the pinnacle of textile technology in the Western Han Dynasty, and are also the earliest, thinnest and lightest clothing at present. "The thinness is its weft density, with only 62 per centimeter, and its holes are very large, so the transmittance is very high, reaching 75%. For this straight-hem plain yarn single dress, its cuffs and collar are fixed with velvet ring brocade , and the weight of these two places is 8.8 grams. We calculated it for it, except for this 8.8 grams, the weight per square meter is only 15.4 grams." Duan Xiaoming said that in the end, it is thin. How delicate is it? A 900-meter-long silk weighs only 1 gram.
This is Yang Jiyuan (first from left), director of the Design Center of Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute, and relevant experts held a demonstration meeting before imitating the simple yarn single clothes. Photo provided by Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute
It is understood that in the 1980s, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage had a topic that was to copy plain yarn single clothes. At that time, Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute copied two pieces, but both pieces weighed more than 50 grams.
Until 2019, the Hunan Provincial Museum and Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute took two years to finally successfully imitate a plain yarn single dress weighing about 49 grams. This is also the first time that the plain yarn single garment has been officially authorized and approved by relevant museum experts in more than 40 years since its unearth of simple yarn single garment.
This is a copy of the Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute in 2019. Photo provided by Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute
According to reports, the plain yarn single-vested yarn was buried deep underground for more than 2,000 years. After the unearth, the sudden change in the environment accelerated the fracture of the fiber molecular chain, and the strength of the fiber was greatly reduced. In addition, due to the annual exhibition, natural factors such as light and oxygen have also accelerated the aging of fibers. Although plain yarn single clothes still maintain a certain luster and elasticity to this day, imitation work is imaginary, whether in terms of comprehensive considerations such as cultural relics storage, open display or cultural heritage.
The imitation process of plain yarn single clothes is not easy. Yang Jiyuan, director of the Design Center of Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute, said that when making plain yarn single clothes, the three-mile silk used by the Western Han people was only 10.2 to 11.3 dens, while the four-mile silk silk cultivated by modern people had 14 dens."Now, the silkworm that spits silkworms have become fatter after being domesticated, and the silk they spit out is heavier. In order to more realistically restore the fabric of the plain yarn single-wearing clothes, the production team went through hardships to find a group of thin Sanslei silkworms. Their silk has a fineness of only 11 denier, which is more suitable for weaving the fabric as raw materials."
In fact, the reason why the plain yarn single-wear is called "pure" is because it has no color and no lining. However, the plain yarn single clothes unearthed to this day have been precipitated over the years and have shown an old historical color. In order to perfectly and naturally display the mark of the times, the production team conducted countless dyeing experiments on the dye.
This is an expert who uses a special plain yarn single clothes to make a imitation plain yarn single clothes. Photo provided by Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute
After trying various dye reagents but failed, Yang Jiyuan unexpectedly found that the color of a breakfast black tea is very natural and close to the original color of the cultural relics. After adding color fixing agent , the dyeing problem was perfectly solved.
There are many different opinions on how to wear a simple yarn single clothes. "One is to think that it is worn outside the cotton robe, because the cotton robe generally has more gorgeous patterns. Wearing a plain yarn single robe can add a hazy beauty, but its length is still a bit shorter than that of the cotton robe." Duan Xiaoming said that some scholars also believe that the plain robe may have been a kind of clothing used for funerals at that time. There is another saying that a simple yarn single dress may be a piece of underwear.
But now most scholars believe that simple yarn single clothes should be worn outside the cotton robe, and they will only be worn on more important occasions.
Such a precious plain yarn single dress has been "lost and regained". In October 1983, straight-hem plain yarn and single clothes and other objects were stolen. Later, under public pressure, the suspect threw Susha single-dressed clothes into the Martyrs' Park next to the Hunan Provincial Museum, and was found and sent back to the museum.
"Some of the other stolen objects were destroyed and some were damaged, but the plain yarn single clothes were well preserved, and it would be fine after the repair. Now the two plain yarn single clothes are in good condition in the Hunan Provincial Museum. The straight yarn single clothes are exhibited to the public at the permanent exhibition, and the Qu Ju is now stored in the warehouse." Duan Xiaoming said.
In fact, Quju's plain yarn single clothes are relatively superb in craftsmanship. "Because it is longer and wider, but it weighs 1 gram less." Duan Xiaoming said that in order to avoid light pollution, the piece of Quju was kept in the warehouse for a long time. Now, each piece of plain yarn is made into a specific long box so that it can "lie" inside. Warehouse constant temperature and humidity , as well as insect and mildew-proof drugs, which facilitate the control of cultural relics in all aspects and protect them with the most advanced technology.
It is reported that in 2002, the simple sausage single-blood became one of the first cultural relics prohibited from going abroad.
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