Page 15 - Chiense TExtiles, MET MUSEUM Pub 1934

CHINESE TEXTILES
W u tombs, the patterns on the Han painted vases, the
Han lacquers from Korea, and the Han tomb figures
themselves. For types of costumes one may study the
painting of the Admonitions of the Instructress, attrib-
uted to Ku K'ai Chih (about 344-406), which gives us
at least a reflection of the fourth century. From the be-
ginning of the sixth century throughout the remainder
of the Wei dynasty and through the T'ang and Sung
dynasties we have a record in the wall paintings from
the cave temples of Tun Huang of types of costumes,
coiffures, and patterns. From the Sung dynasty on there
is a wealth of material in paintings, but it is not until
we reach the Ch'ing dynasty that we find any great
quantity of actual textiles which we can date with much
security.

SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF
CHINESE TEXTILES
Everything we know about Han textiles has been learned
since r9r3, although one of the important links in the
evidence was actually discovered in 1907. It was in that
year that Sir Aurel Stein on his first expedition to Tun
Huang found in refuse heaps, besides other textiles of
later date, two fragments of polychrome figured silk
which by the evidence of exactly dated records discov-
ered with them must be assigned to the first century B. c.
These two fragments formed the basis of identification
for the figured tissues excavated by Stein on his second
expedition to Turkestan, in I9I3-I9I5, at the grave site
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