Page 339 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

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TIXTILES .wnVhN SI IKS, F'IC. qy
The Chinese loom is upright and is worked by two hands ; the weaver
is seated below, while the assistant, perched at the top on the
frame, pulls the treadles and helps to change the threads. A
picture of the most complicated loom, that used for weaving flowered
brocades, is given in Fig. ma. This, and the companion picture,
are taken from a series of illustrations of agriculture and sericulture
in the National Art Library. The first edition of this interesting
work was published in the year 1210, by Lou Shou, under the
title Kcng chih i'on shih, comprising two sets of engravings, twenty-
three cuts in each set, with a verse attached to each cut, repre-
senting the several steps in the processes of tillage and weaving. A
new edition was issued in the 35th year (1696) of the reign of K'ang
Hsi, with illustrations drawn by Chiao Ping-chen, an official of the
Astronomical Board, and with verses appended composed by the
emperor. It has been often recut since, notably in the reign of
Ch'ien Lung, who capped the verses of his father and grandfather,
and inclosed the three sets together in a framework of imperial
dragons on the fly-leaf of each woodcut, as may be seen in the
photo-lithographic copy of the work lately issued from the Shanghai
press, in two octavo volumes.
The brocade loom (Fig. ma) under the title of Pang Hua,
literally " Pulling the Flowers," is really the twenty-first process
in the art of weaving as illustrated by Chiao Ping-chin. The
companion picture (Fig. iiib) entitled Lien Ssti, " Boiling the
Silk," is No. 13 in the original. It is fairly well explained in the
verse of the Sung dynasty which is attached, which runs accorchng
to the following paraphrase :
" The scent of cocoons boiling
tills the street,
The women in each house, in busy bands,
With smiling faces gather round the stove.
And rub together their steam scalded hands
;
They throw the bright cocoons into the basin.
And wind out silk in long unbroken skein
;
When evening comes they've earned a moment's rest,
To chat with friends outside in the walled lane."