Historical Development of Hotan Carpet

Hotan carpet is a traditional national handicraft with a long history. In Qing Dynasty, local officials in Hotan paid tribute to the imperial court, including carpets. Hotan carpets are still on display in the Palace Museum. Hotan carpets mainly include 360, 400, 450, 540, 720 and 900 yarn-dyed, yarn-dyed and yarn-dyed carpets, artistic tapestries such as figures and landscapes, and some silk carpets. According to the specifications, there are more than 200 kinds, including corridor carpets, circular carpets, various living rooms, bedrooms, study carpets, art tapestries, and carpets for airplanes, ships and vehicles.

Hotan Carpet Factory has designed and produced various carpets and art tapestries for Beijing Great Hall of the People, Huairentang, People's Hall of the Autonomous Region and many hotels and restaurants. 1992 produced 540 large-scale art tapestries "Ode to Tianshan Mountain" with an area of 56.7 square meters for Xinjiang Hall of the Great Hall of the People (this tapestry is considered as the largest handmade art tapestry of pure wool in the world) and 540 oval screen carpets "Scenery of Tianchi Lake". 1985 To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the People's Hall ordered 1000 square meters of carpets of different specifications from Hotan Carpet Factory. 1997 Celebrated the return of Hong Kong, and carefully produced 540 art tapestries "Song of the Tianshan Mountains" for the people's government of the autonomous region. It fully demonstrated its skillful and superb carpet weaving skills, and also expressed the true feelings of celebrating the return of Hong Kong and looking forward to the reunification of the motherland. 1999 To celebrate the return of Macao, the art tapestry "Scenery of Kanas Lake" was made for the people's government of the autonomous region.

In 2004, Rouzini sahan, a Uighur rural woman from Hotan, came to Urumqi from her hometown thousands of miles away with a tapestry of China's portrait called "Chinese Soul" that she had woven by herself. On July 1 day, she went to Beijing and gave the tapestry to the CPC Central Committee to express the love of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang for the party. The golden halo on the carpet symbolizes the glory of the party shining on the motherland, and the bright red pomegranate and hard almond patterns around the tapestry express the sincere heart of Hotan people to the party. The 56 circles on all sides are interlocking, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence and common prosperity of 56 ethnic groups.

Xinjiang Hotan carpet is exquisite in materials and fine in weaving, which is one of the main reasons why consumers at home and abroad like it. The raw material of Xinjiang Hotan carpet is Xinjiang Hotan sheep wool. Due to the special climate and geographical conditions in Hotan, Xinjiang, the wool of Hotan sheep has excellent texture, moderate fiber thickness, high elasticity, strong tension and good luster. Carpets dyed and woven from wool with certain specifications are soft, moisture-proof, corrosion-resistant and durable in luster.

Wool carpets in Hotan, Xinjiang, historically dyed with natural plant pigments, are soft in color, enduring, simple and elegant, and cherished by European and American merchants. In the late 1960s, acid mordant dyes and steam dyeing and sound dyeing processes were adopted, which enriched the types of dyed wool yarns and dyed more than 400 different colors, making the carpet patterns more gorgeous, harmonious and bright, and able to adapt to the hobbies of different businesses.

Hetian carpet is woven by vertical machine, and the general "Senna" knotting method (or Iranian knotting method) will not affect the service life of the whole carpet even if it is partially damaged.