What are the ancient textile machines in China?

With the development of agriculture and the improvement of manual skills in the Neolithic Age, primitive textile technology was developed. After refining, performing and spinning, fiber has become the main material for weaving clothes. Early textile tools included spinning wheels, spindles and rotating pendants.

(1) spinning wheel

The spinning wheel is mainly made of pottery and stone. It is round cake with a diameter of about 5 cm and a thickness of 1 cm. Also known as "special spinning wheel" and "special disc", there is a hole in the middle for inserting rods. When spinning, a piece of hemp or other fiber to be spun is wound on a special rod, then hung down, one hand holds the rod, and the other hand turns the disc to the left or right, and the fiber is continuously added to promote fiber drafting and drafting. When spun to a certain length, the spun yarn is wound on a special rod.

(2) Spindle

Spindle is the main part of spindle. Insert a straight stick with pointed ends into the small hole in the center of the spinning wheel. This is the spindle. Spindle is a combination of spinning wheel and straight bar. Spindle, also known as "special rod", adds layers of fibers peeled from wild hemp to the rotating spindle continuously, and one plant fiber yarn is produced. The yarn made of this yarn strip can be woven into fishing nets, lassos, baskets, cans, clothes and even houses. Spindle is the product of the development of textile handicraft industry to a certain stage.

(3) Rotating pendant

Spinning pendant is the development form of spindle. The early spindles were relatively heavy and suitable for spinning thick thread. In the late Neolithic period, the spinning wheel became thin and thin, and it could spin more slender yarns. The shape of the rotating pendant has also changed from a single circle to a variety of shapes such as circle, gear, sphere, cone, platform, mushroom and quadrilateral. The appearance of spinning pendant not only changed the textile production in primitive society, but also had a far-reaching impact on the development of textile tools in later generations.

(4) primitive waist machine

The primitive waist machine is one of the oldest and simplest looms in the world, which appeared as early as the middle and late Neolithic Age. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, isosceles parts such as beating-up knives, warp splitting sticks and healds were unearthed in Hemudu site in Zhejiang, Liangzhu cultural site and Guixi tomb in Jiangxi. Many ceramic spinning wheels have been unearthed from the site of Xi Banpo, Shaanxi. After a certain amount of thread is spun on a ceramic spinning wheel, it can be knitted.