What is Shu Brocade

Shu brocade is a traditional craft in Sichuan Province. Shu brocade is the iconic skill of Chengdu, which is known as the "City of Brocade" and "City of Brocade Officials" because of the abundance of brocade in Chengdu. The Minjiang River surrounds Chengdu, and brocade is washed in the river, so the Minjiang River is also known as the "Jinjiang River". Shu brocade is rooted in Shu culture, with distinctive regional characteristics. As early as in the period of Qin, Han and the Three Kingdoms, Shu brocade has been out of Sichuan, into the minority areas, for economic development, social stability and national unity has contributed. It has witnessed history as a carrier of cultural exchange and trade in the world-famous North-South "Silk Road", and has unique cultural value. Take practical measures to ensure that the inheritance of Shu brocade is a pressing matter, and I hope that the parties concerned will pay attention to this. [1] The Shu brocade heritage was selected as a national intangible cultural heritage catalog in 2006. On May 21, 2018, Shu brocade was selected as one of the first batch of national traditional craft revitalization catalogs developed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Chengdu is the hometown of Shu brocade. After the Qin Dynasty destroyed Shu in 316 BC, it set up "Jin Guan Cheng" on the south bank of Yili Bridge in Chengdu, and set up "Jin Guan" to manage brocade embroidery. During the Han Dynasty, the brocade weaving industry in Chengdu was already very developed, and the imperial court set up an official specializing in brocade weaving in Chengdu, which is why Chengdu was called "Jin Guan Cheng", or "Jin Cheng" for short; and the Jinjiang River that surrounds Chengdu is also named after the many weavers who washed brocade in it. Ten kinds of brocade is one of the main varieties of brocade, referred to as "mixed".

The brocade is a colorful jacquard silk fabric that is the most delicate and gorgeous of all silk fabrics. Because of its complex production process, time-consuming and laborious, so the "interpretation of the name" cloud: "brocade, gold, also, for the use of heavy, the price of such as gold, so its system of the word from the silk and gold also." From this we can see that the "Jin Jin" has been said since ancient times.

Sichuan ancient name "Shu", "Shu" and "Silkworm country", where the origin of silk industry is the earliest, is one of the birthplaces of Chinese silk culture. Shu brocade rise in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States and flourish in the Han and Tang dynasties, produced in Shu and named, in the production of traditional Chinese silk brocade, the longest history, the most far-reaching impact.

Shu brocade has a history of two thousand years. Shan Qian Zhi "Danyang record" said: "the generations have not yet brocade, and Chengdu alone called wonderful, so the Three Kingdoms when Wei is the city of Shu, Wu also capital West Shu, to is there." Han to the Three Kingdoms Shushu County (today's Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the area) produced the characteristics of the brocade of the general term. It is characterized by colorful strips and colorful strips with flowers.

"Shu" is the ancient name of Sichuan, because Shu is rich in mulberry and mulberry worms, mulberry silkworms spit cocoons and produce silk, so Shu since ancient times has been "sericulture ancient country" reputation, rich in silk fabrics, and through the Silk Road will be the silk and brocade to the world. The silk and brocade were spread to all over the world through the Silk Road. Shu brocade raw materials for silk, exceptionally valuable, its production process is cumbersome, low production efficiency, so in ancient times, there is "inch brocade inch gold", and at that time, Shu brocade is the royal family and dignitaries can only enjoy the luxury goods.