[The reader says]
Marx and Engels pointed out: "People want to be able to ‘ Make history ’ , must be able to live. But in order to live, you need clothes, food, shelter and other things first. Therefore, the first historical activity is to produce materials that meet these needs, that is, to produce material life itself. " Among them, "clothing" is the first of people’s livelihood, and its production mainly depends on the emergence and progress of textile technology. China has a long textile history. In the Neolithic sites more than 7,000 years ago, archaeologists discovered textile tools such as spinning wheels and waist machines. The mastery of sericulture and silk reeling technology enabled our ancestors to weave silk at the earliest time in human history. Accompanied by Zhang Qian’s hollow journey, silk opened the first large-scale commercial and cultural exchange between the East and the West in the history of the world, and made great contributions to the development of human civilization.
After thousands of years of accumulation and precipitation, China’s textile culture has profoundly influenced the daily life style and production mode of the ancient people in China. On this basis, the costume culture has shaped the ancient people’s understanding of life order and social order in China. Although there are many contents related to the ancient clothing system in handed down documents, these records are mostly concentrated in the upper classes of society such as emperors and courtiers, and the color of "standardization" is obvious, which can not reflect the complex content and overall appearance of ancient Chinese clothing culture. In 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Shen Congwen overcame the difficulties such as lack of data in his pioneering research on ancient Chinese costumes, and successfully summarized the development clues of ancient Chinese costumes by using the research method of combining objects, images and documents. Under the guidance of Mr. Shen, scholars such as Wang and Wang Yarong opened up a new field of textile archaeology with the help of the continuous unearthed textile objects. The newly published "Great Power Dress — — Shen Congwen and Our Road to Textile Archaeology deeply reviews the arduous road that Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong went through when they assisted Mr. Shen in the study of ancient Chinese costumes, and shows the development course and related achievements of textile archaeology in China for half a century.
Constructing the historical chain of textile objects in China
It is the primary task of textile archaeologists to collect archaeological unearthed textile cultural relics and construct the historical chain of ancient textile objects in China. The textile raw materials in ancient China mainly include kudzu, hemp, wool, silk, cotton, etc., all of which are natural fibers. Because of their organic properties, textiles are easily eroded by physical, chemical, biological and other factors, so it is difficult to preserve them. Therefore, there is a saying in textile archaeology that "once in a thousand years, one tomb is hard to find, and a thousand tombs are hard to find a coat". The discovery of textile objects in this world is really hard to find. Fortunately, since 1970s, textile archaeologists have excavated and protected textile cultural relics in many archaeological sites all over the country. In his book, Mr. Wang Yarong introduced the landmark achievements in the development of textile archaeology in China, and led us into the archaeological sites that surprised the world.
About 2500 years ago, 300 pieces of textiles from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty were unearthed in the tomb of Jing ‘an, Jiangxi Province, which pushed forward the time axis of China’s textile physical chain to the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. The weaving skills of these textiles are exquisite, and the density of geometric brocade warp is as high as 240 per cm, which is amazing. About 2300 years ago, a large number of silk fabrics in the middle and late Warring States period were unearthed in the No.1 Chu tomb in Mashan, Jiangling, Hubei Province. This batch of silk fabrics is not only varied and colorful, but also has mysterious patterns and superb skills. Western scholars greatly admire it after reading it, saying that its designer was China’s "Picasso" more than 2,000 years ago.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the textile technology in China was further developed, and the unearthed textile objects were gradually enriched. Fine silk fabrics from the Western Han Dynasty were unearthed in Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Laoshan Han Tomb in Beijing and Dabaotai Han Tomb. High-grade silk fabrics from the Eastern Han Dynasty were found in the Niya site in Minfeng, Xinjiang, among which the most famous one is the brocade armguard of "Five Stars Going East and Benefiting China". The pattern of this brocade is complicated and changeable, with clouds, five stars, phoenix, phoenix, unicorn, white tiger and other exotic birds and animals on it, and the small seal script character "Five stars go out of the East and benefit China" is used. "Five-star" brocade not only represents the highest level of brocade technology in the Han Dynasty, but also witnessed the close communication between Jing Guo and the Central Plains Dynasty. Once discovered, it was recognized as a first-class cultural relic and became one of the first cultural relics forbidden to go abroad for exhibitions.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, with the social stability and economic prosperity, the textile industry also ushered in a prosperous development situation. A large number of textiles from the Tang court were unearthed in the Tangta Palace of Famen Temple in Fufeng, Shaanxi Province, covering nine categories: brocade, silk, silk, embroidery, embroidery and painting, printing and weaving. Among them, brocade and embroidered clothes represent the highest level of silk weaving in Tang Dynasty. Paper and silk paintings and calligraphy in the early Northern Song Dynasty were found in the hidden niche of Ciyun Temple Tower in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province. When these cultural relics were unearthed, they were broken into pieces, hardened and severely pulverized. With the efforts of Mr. Wang Yarong and others, more than 60 paintings in the early Song Dynasty were successfully spelled out. One of them is the statue of the goddess who fights in the night. The silk version of the painting is colored, and all the female immortals painted are wearing long back hair, white long-sleeved collar robes, long-sleeved dresses and red shoes, which provides important physical data for studying the costumes and painting styles in the early Northern Song Dynasty.
After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, China’s textile technology continued to innovate and develop, becoming more and more superb. Fifty-one pieces (sets) of silk embroidery at the end of Yuan Dynasty were unearthed from the Gezidong Tibetan site in Longhua, Hebei Province. The materials used included satin, silk, yarn, Luo, brocade, Nashiyi (woven brocade) and other varieties. The discovery in the cave of "a brocade quilt made of brown peony and lotus flowers" provides important information for studying the development and evolution of ancient satin fabrics in China. 128 pieces of silk fabrics buried with Empress Xiaojing were unearthed in the Ming Dingling Mausoleum, the most famous of which was a hundred-piece garment. The clothes of the ancient philosophers are embroidered with geometric patterns on the ground of the red lotus, and then embroidered with patterns such as golden dragons, flowers and ancient philosophers. There are more than a dozen embroidery stitches used in this dress, which is a masterpiece of various embroidery techniques and represents the highest technological level of embroidery clothing in Ming Dynasty.
The above-mentioned cases in the book were carefully selected by Mr. Wang Yarong from the textile archaeological projects she presided over and participated in. When she arranged the contents of the book, she disrupted the excavation order of archaeological sites, and constructed a textile physical chain from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties in order of the unearthed textile cultural relics, which was helpful for readers to grasp the development context of China ancient textile physical objects more clearly and then form a systematic understanding of China ancient textile culture and costume culture.
Reproduce the original historical appearance of China textile objects.
Excavating, extracting and protecting archaeological textile cultural relics is only the first step of textile archaeological work. On this basis, Mr. Wang Yarong and his team will restore and weave them. At present, there are three main forms of reproduction of textile cultural relics: one is to copy according to the unearthed appearance of cultural relics, not paying attention to materials and technology, but only pursuing "current copy" products with similar appearance; Second, the replica of the combination of the present situation and restoration of cultural relics; The third is the "restoration of composite fabrics" under the guidance of experimental archaeology methods. Textile archaeologists take the third form.
Experimental archaeology is a branch of archaeology, which advocates copying and reconstructing archaeological relics by means of practice or experiment, so as to understand the behavior of ancient humans. Specifically speaking, in the field of textile archaeology, it is necessary to fully study the morphological process, aesthetic value and historical position of unearthed textile cultural relics, carefully select the same materials as the cultural relics, and use the process method in line with the development level of ancient technology to carry out the restoration and re-weaving work on the basis of mastering the materials and parameters of cultural relics. In Mr. Wang Yarong’s words, "Restoration and Reweaving" is a research achievement to restore the original appearance, quality and technology of cultural relics based on comprehensive research and scientific experiments, which has "scientific research value and collection value similar to cultural relics" and is "the best scientific research means to study the weaving, design and cutting of ancient costumes".
In 1983, Mr. Wang Yarong began the initial restoration and re-weaving experiment by selecting the clothing and clothes unearthed from Mashan Chu Tomb, such as the dragon-to-phoenix tattooed quilt, the phoenix-bird flower tattooed cotton garment, the colorful embroidered field hunting decorative belt, the dragon-phoenix-tiger tattooed single garment, and the dragon-to-phoenix large pattern colored embroidered quilt. After seven years of hard work, Mr. Wang Yarong’s first reply to the original weaving work was completed. There is bitterness in it, only self-knowledge. Thankfully, her efforts have been successful. In particular, the exquisite restoration fabric of the phoenix bird flower embroidered cotton coat has made all scholars who have seen it admire. Later, the approved woven embroidery also went abroad and was exhibited in Seoul, Amsterdam and other places, which was highly praised.
In the book, Mr. Wang Yarong introduced in detail the restoration and reweaving process of textile cultural relics from the aspects of material selection, dyeing process, weaving method and embroidery stitch. In order to facilitate readers to understand these techniques, the relevant contents in the book are accompanied by various diagrams such as pattern diagram, pattern line diagram, cultural relics structure diagram, knitting schematic diagram and so on. This arrangement brings readers a reading experience, just like reading Mr. Shen’s Research on Ancient Chinese Costume. Mr. Wang Yarong has an expert insight and analytical power on the warp and weft structure of these textile cultural relics. Through her hands, one piece of textiles buried for thousands of years has been "alive" again, showing the world the profound and profound beauty of the Chinese nation.
Inheriting the Craftsman Spirit of China Textile Archaeology
Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong are both assistants of Mr. Shen Congwen, and their road to textile archaeology began with assisting Mr. Shen in the study of ancient Chinese costumes. There are two gentlemen’s reminiscences in the book, which are unpretentious to read, but touching. Between the lines, there are not only their admiration and nostalgia for the teacher’s teachings, but also their responsibility and responsibility for the inheritance of the teacher’s career.
Patience and serious professional character.The word "patience" that Mr. Wang Yarong used many times in his book was inherited from Mr. Shen. "Patience" means dedication, perseverance, and fear of trouble and effort. "Be patient! Seriously! " It is not only Mr. Shen’s inculcation, but also his professional character, which deeply influenced Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong. Mr. Wang uncovered the silk fragments of Mawangdui Han Tomb layer by layer, and spliced the pieces of gold and jade clothes in Han Dynasty; Mr. Wang Yarong and his team are practicing the professional character of textile archaeologists for their patience and perseverance in the face of rotten textile cultural relics and their Excellence in restoring woven cultural relics.
Professional methods of mutual proof between material objects and literature and history.Mr. Wang Yarong thinks that if we want to comment on Mr. Shen, it is not enough to be a writer, but we should also call him a "cultural relic historian" or an "image historian". It is the research method of material and cultural history that Mr. Shen follows to cross-reference archaeological objects and cultural and historical records. Influenced by this, Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong paid great attention to the collection and application of documents in archaeological practice. Yili, The Book of Rites, Mozi, Xunzi, Zuo Zhuan, Historical Records and The History of the Three Kingdoms are all historical documents cited in the book. On this basis, Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong also resumed weaving, so that textile archaeology really embarked on the road of mutual proof of practice and literature and history.
Professional concept of making the past serve the present.Mr. Shen advocates "making the past serve the present" and that cultural relics research should serve production. When Mr. Wang Yarong faced the unearthed ancient cultural relics, he often felt that the present was worse than the past, which made her realize the importance of "making the past serve the present" and decided to carry out the restoration and weaving of textile cultural relics. Her efforts have awakened the historical relics that have been sleeping for centuries, revived the excellent textile and costume culture of the Chinese nation, and shocked ordinary readers and audiences with the ancient colors that were originally seen only by archaeologists.
Time and tide wait for no man’s professional mission.When Mr. Shen studied the ancient material culture of China, he was deeply challenged by foreign scholars, and often had a sense of urgency and mission. This kind of responsibility and responsibility is the concrete embodiment of Mr. Shen’s patriotic spirit, and it has also become an important magic weapon for Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong to overcome their work difficulties. In the book, the word often mentioned by Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong is "responsibility". Facing the "urgent" excavation work of Mawangdui Han Tomb, Mr. Wang overcame the difficulties of life and took the train to Changsha. In order to protect the textile cultural relics in Mashan Chu Tomb, Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang Yarong spent the New Year’s Eve in the streets of Jingzhou. In order to clean up the textiles in Jing ‘an Tomb, Mr. Wang Yarong and his team dipped their hands into the water at 2℃ needed to clean up the corpse, and kept beating them to wash away the sediment. They hope to protect and inherit the precious heritage left by their ancestors through their own responsibilities.
"China has great etiquette, so it is called summer; There is the beauty of the service seal, which is called China. " The costume culture created by ancestors is deeply engraved in the genes of the Chinese nation. As an integral part of China’s excellent traditional culture, China’s ancient costume culture embodies the essence of the Chinese nation’s material civilization and spiritual civilization for thousands of years. It is the time mission of textile archaeologists to inherit and carry forward China’s ancient costume culture and contribute to the construction of "Archaeology with China characteristics, China style and China style" proposed by the Supreme Leader General Secretary. "Textile Archaeology" has been approved as a unique discipline, and Mr. Wang Yarong has also won the first batch of honorary titles of "Great Craftsman", which is a great affirmation of textile archaeology. Mr. Wang Yarong believes that the development of textile archaeology in China in the new era should focus on the establishment of professional teams, the cultivation of professional talents and the creation of disciplines, and finally build a real "China Clothing Museum" that integrates the protection and restoration of textile cultural relics, experimental research, clothing culture research, exhibition, patriotism education and other functions. At the end of the book, Mr. Wang Yarong showed the readers nine organizations and leaders of textile and clothing cultural relics research and protection initiated and guided by her, and listed the doctoral students she trained, which are the effective forces to inherit and develop the textile archaeology in China.The publication of "Great Country’s Nishang" not only makes us look back on the founding history of textile archaeology in China, but also summarizes the achievements of textile archaeology in China, and finds out the way out and points out the direction for the development of this cause.
(Author: Li Yong, special researcher of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, Supreme Leader of Fujian Province, professor and doctoral supervisor of School of Social History, Fujian Normal University)
