Ⅱ. Features

An inch of Nanjing brocade was said to be as valuable as an ounce of gold. What is interesting is that the delicate and soft brocade was made using wooden looms as big as 5.6-meters long, 4-meters high and 1.4-meters wide. The huge looms needed two operators, one above and one below in a delicate production sequence that was as complicated as current computer programming language. The process showed the incredible talent of Chinese in the past.

The person sitting at the loom was known as a "thread puller". All he or she had to do was to pull the thread in line in the threading sequence, corresponding to commands entered into a computer keyboard of today. The person sitting on the lower part of the loom was called a "weaver". He or she twined the pattern and wove the materials into brocade using golden or multicolored threads. The woven piece in front of the weaver was just like a computer screen. The weaving technology of the brocade is exceedingly complex and exquisite, and no modern machine has yet been able to replace the ancient looms.

There are mainly four categories in brocade: gold weaving (in which gold is pressed into foil, then cut into thread-like pieces to be twisted into threads and then woven on looms), Ku Silk Fabrics, Ku Brocade Fabrics and Zhuanghua Silk Fabrics. All four categories serve as materials for emperors' robes, queens' dresses and shawls, concubine's clothing, decorations for the imperial courts and articles for daily use, including cushions, mattresses, pillows, and quilts. The Nanjing brocade served as precious gifts for emperors to give to foreign kings and ministers.

Ⅲ. Protection

Nanjing Yun Brocade is honored as one of China's Four Famous Brocades, together with the Suzhou Song brocade, the Sichuan Su brocade and the Guangxi Zhuang brocade.

In the Qing Dynasty, the development of the Nanjing cloud brocade entered its period of full bloom. At that time, there were more than 30,000 looms with nearly 300,000 workers engaging in this trade. But there were only four looms left by the time of liberation in 1949. This unique art and craft was revived through the efforts of the Nanjing Brocade Research Institute.

The Research Institute has undertaken an in-depth study and rectification of the historical archives and successfully copied one of the most outstanding silks in the Mawangdui Han Tomb. The 1.28-meter-long silk coat with a pair of long sleeves is as light as the mist and as fine as gossamer, weighing a mere 49 grams. The institute has also published 200 volumes on brocade objects and the most comprehensive monograph on the history of the art's development. It is called the Chronicle of Brocade.

Today it is still woven by hand with traditional techniques and using the traditional style looms. Two craftsmen (for patterning and weaving respectively) coordinate with each other on a loom. The weaving technique is so complicated that it takes an entire day of labor to complete a 5cm (2 inch)- long piece of brocade. Even now, no electronic looms could perform these extremely complicated silk weaving techniques.