Suzhou Kesi weaving technology

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Suzhou Kesi weaving skills

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 365

Project No.: VIII - 15

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Jiangsu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Protection unit: Suzhou wangjinshan master Kesi studio Co., Ltd

Brief introduction of Suzhou Kesi weaving technology:

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Kesi is an ancient silk weaving skill in Suzhou, which mainly exists in Suzhou and its surrounding areas. The weaving technique of silk tapestry is mainly to use the ancient wooden machine and some bamboo shuttles and picks to weave the colorful silk tapestry into a fabric with rich colors and complete color scales. This kind of fabric has the characteristics of no distinction between front and back. In the pattern contour, color scale transformation and other places, the surface of the fabric is like carved with a knife, showing a small void or broken mark. "The view of the void is like the image of carving", so it is named "Kesi".

Suzhou Kesi has made brilliant achievements in the Southern Song Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty, the art of Kesi has been widely spread in the urban area of Suzhou and its surrounding areas such as Likou, Lumu, Huangqiao, Guangfu, Dongzhu, etc., becoming one of the most representative forms of cultural expression in this area. In the Ming Dynasty, Suzhou's Kesi weaving skills were more exquisite, and it was famous for its royal Kesi dragon robes and Kaixiang fabrics in Kesi calligraphy and painting. In the Qing Dynasty, a new technique of combining calligraphy with painting appeared.

In the 1960s, with the reproduction of the name of Kesi in the Southern Song Dynasty as the starting point, the artists restored the Kesi weaving skills which were endangered before the founding of the people's Republic of China. By the 1970s and 1980s, Suzhou had set up five silk tapestry factories, and the weaving skills of silk tapestry had developed unprecedentedly. "Double butterfly, peony, Camellia" and "the picture of longevity", two completely different Kesi works, have made a new breakthrough on the basis of traditional Kesi, which have attracted much attention and are regarded as national treasures.

As the earliest silk fabric used for art appreciation, Kesi is known for its excellent production, simple and elegant, and gorgeous artistic features, and is known as the "saint of weaving". At the same time, because it can stand the touch, rub, rub, wash, it also won the "Millennium good art fabric" reputation. Kesi works have high ornamental value. The fine Kesi works of past dynasties contain rich cultural information. Kesi skills reflect the characteristics of traditional culture and have corresponding cultural and scientific values.

Under the impact of modernization, Suzhou Kesi weaving technology is on the verge of extinction because of its long production cycle, high cost and high price. At present, most of the middle-aged and old people are engaged in this industry, and its development prospect is worrying. It is necessary to formulate a plan to protect it.