CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

FIG. 2. Drawing of wood
figure clothed in silk, from
Tomb i at Mashan, Jiangling,
Hubei province; Late
Warring States period;
Height 59.6 (23 !/ 2 ). After
Hubei 19853, 81, fig. 66.
tails; (4) crawling, amphibian-like dragons with long
tongues; (5) unicorn-like creatures; (6) upside-down
phoenixes with raised wings; (7) addorsed dragons;
and (8) another pair of crawling dragons.
The;'w brocade of the Warring States period
was a polychrome, warp-faced compound tabby
weave. The warp in this textile is composed of
threads slightly twisted in an S-direction (the
ground warps are dark yellow and brown; the patterning
warp is dark red); the weft is dark brown.
The thread count of the warp and weft amounts to
156:52 per centimeter, which means that the pattern
unit in weft direction comprises approximately
7,660 ends over a width of 49.1 centimeters. The
pattern unit in warp direction repeats after 286
picks, or 5.5 centimeters. A small weaving flaw
(an error in preparing the loom) runs consistently
through the patterned rectangles that divide
the seventh from the eighth figural scene, evidence
that a mechanical device was used to make the
pattern during the weaving. 10
Technologically, as well as artistically, the
Mashan Tomb ijin brocade constitutes one of the
most complex woven figural designs thus far excavated
in China. Stiff and angular geometric patterns—
imposed to some extent by the limitations
of early loom technology — here give way to designs
that imitate embroidered textiles and incorporate
images, both human and imaginary, derived from
other media, as well as from literary sources. Translating
hand-executed embroidery designs into a
loom pattern meant that these designs could be
repeated almost endlessly — reproducing the size,
shape, and color of a given pattern. This translation
of handwork to loom technology was a remarkable
step toward the large-scale production of fabrics
with sophisticated and complex weave designs. 11
Nine silk bands (cat. H2c), 12 woven in ;/n-brocade
in a "pagoda" pattern (taxingwen) and measuring
between 211 and 227 centimeters in length and
between 45 and 49 centimeters in width, secured
the outer textile shroud of the tomb's occupant. 13
Each "pagoda," composed of small geometric
shapes, measures approximately 3.7 centimeters high
by 1.4 -1.6 centimeters wide; nineteen such pagodas
(alternating in orientation) extend symmetrically
across the weft of the fabric from a central pagoda
that forms the axis for nine pagodas to the left and
nine to the right. The same pattern alternates vertically
— along the warp — after two pagoda rows
(that is, every 7.4 centimeters). The thread count of
the warp and weft amounts to 88:24 per centimeter.
This means that the pattern unit in weft direction
comprises at a minimum approximately 2.024 ends,
and in warp direction repeats after approximately
178 picks. Three combinations of threads in two
colors were used to weave the brocade: light brown
and yellowish brown, dark brown and yellowish
brown, and vermilion and yellowish brown; the weft
thread is dark brown.
The pattern of the band testifies to the highly
developed geometrical style in silk weaving —
a style mastered as early as the late fourth century
BCE. The design's enduring role in fashion is evident
in the silk pagoda bands that ornament the
clothes of wooden female figures packed in the
compartment at the head of the inner coffin
(fig. 2). 14 DK
327 | TEXTILES FROM MASHAN, JIANCLINC