When did humans start dyeing cloth?

According to anthropologists' speculation (there is not enough evidence to confirm), it started with mud dyeing and charcoal ash.

When people were still wearing animal skins, they got wet with the mud in the river when they were doing activities by the river.

The minerals in the mud adhere to the animal skin and prevent it from fading easily. Different colors of mud will lead to different dyeing colors.

In addition, charcoal dyeing is based on the black charcoal remaining after cooking, which is the best dye.

Although the fastness of these dyes is not very high and they will fall off if you pat them; however, they are easy to obtain and you only need to apply and dye them again.

At this time, the concept of dyeing was not yet mature, and it was just limited dyeing; it could also be called dyeing in a broad sense, which also included the cumulative coloring method of smearing.

The dyes used for coloring are mineral or animal-based, and most are dyed with plant-based dyes.

China's dyeing technology began to have relatively complete facilities during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the regency of Zhou Gongdan, there were six officials in the government agencies: Tianguan, Diguan, Chunguan, Xiaguan, Qiuguan and Dongguan.

Under the Heavenly Official, there was a "dyeer" who was responsible for the dyeing work. In addition, under the Earthly Official, there was a person who was responsible for the collection of dyeing materials.

For example, the "Zhou Rites" records the official positions of the "Zhang Diancao" who manages the collection of plant dyes and the "Dyeing Person" who is responsible for dyeing silk and silk. This influenced the official position of the "Dyeing Department" in the Qin Dynasty.

Each subsequent dynasty also had a "Dyeing Department" respectively. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a "Dyeing Institute", and there was also a "Dyeing Person" in the dyeing institute.

In the recent Qing Dynasty, there were "Indigo Institute" and "Jiangnan Weaving Bureau".

Unearthed cultural relics can prove that when humans invented textiles, they also developed dyeing technology, which can be traced back to ancient prehistoric times.

China is the first country to have textiles and develop dyeing techniques.

According to the "History of Chinese Dyeing and Weaving", the top cave people in Zhoukoudian, Beijing, began to use red iron oxide mineral pigments and bone needles to make clothing as early as 15,000 years ago.

Painting the caves where they live in a variety of colors shows that prehistoric humans already knew how to use pigments.

Cultural relics unearthed from Hami, Xinjiang, China, showed that there were plain and twill weaving colored plaid cloth and embroidery between 1260 and 960 AD, which shows that dyeing was already in place at that time.

From the original painting to the later dip dyeing, mordant dyeing, overdying and so on.

In the Neolithic Age, people already knew how to use mineral pigments such as ocher, realgar, cinnabar, and yellow lead to color fabrics.

At the same time, dyes extracted from plants are also used.

After long-term application and improvement, we have gradually mastered the extraction and dyeing techniques of various plant dyes to add color to original textiles.

The Zhou Dynasty from 1000 BC to 771 BC (approximately 3000 years ago) already had officials in charge of dyeing called "dyers", also known as "officials of dyeing grass", who were responsible for dyeing affairs and implemented a system of professional division of labor in textiles.

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It can be seen that during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty 2,500 years ago, China had mastered the technology of using plant dyes to dye textiles.

The colorful and well-printed silk fabrics unearthed from the Western Han Dynasty Tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha illustrate that China already knew how to apply printing technology two thousand years ago.

This floral cloth with printed and dyed patterns is elegant, simple, and colorful, which is amazing.

In the Qin Dynasty, there was a "Dyeing Department".

From the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, every dynasty had a "Department of dyeing and dyeing".