Historical Development of Silk Umbrella in Xihu Lake

Xihu silk umbrella, with bamboo as the bone and silk as the surface, is light and pleasing to the eye, beautiful in shape and convenient to carry, and is known as the "flower of the West Lake". Umbrella has a very long history in China. It is said that it was made in the era of the Yellow Emperor more than 4,000 years ago. The ancient umbrella was also called "Gai". Like a fan, it was originally made of bird hair. With the appearance of silk fabrics, silk umbrellas are gradually adopted. After the invention of paper, oil-paper umbrellas became popular again. Especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the umbrella industry in China was particularly developed. Since then, many novels and operas have described umbrellas. As we all know, the story of Xu Xian borrowing an umbrella in The Legend of the White Snake happened on the broken bridge of the West Lake in Hangzhou.

Xihu silk umbrella was created in the early 1930s. It is said that it was created by Zhu Zhenfei, a worker of Du Jinsheng Silk Weaving Factory. Because of its proper selection of materials, exquisite production and originality, it was welcomed by people as soon as it was listed. 1935 In the spring, the first workshop specializing in making silk umbrellas appeared in Hangzhou, which is the famous "Bamboo Umbrella Works". After the founding of New China, the state-owned Hangzhou West Lake Umbrella Factory was established, and the Hangzhou West Lake Silk Umbrella Group was established. At present, there are more than 400 employees, including researchers 10, with an annual output of 600,000 silk umbrellas, two thirds of which are exported. Due to the improvement of artificial umbrella making technology, silk umbrellas are becoming more and more exquisite. Although there are all kinds of automatic umbrellas that can be folded freely in the international market, Xihu silk umbrella still wins people's love with its unique style.