Gu Mingqi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Gu Mingqi, Male, Han, from Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-99). The tradition is documented in Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship in Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang: The Jili lake silk craft, centered on Jili Village, is mainly distributed in the villages of the Lianshi, Shanlian, and Shuanglin area. A Ming-dynasty historical source states: 'Of the benefits of sericulture under heaven, none surpasses Huzhou, and within that prefecture Nanxun stands first.' After machine-reeling silk appeared, the traditional hand-reeling of Nanxun's villages gradually began to disappear around the late 1950s. In the Qing dynasty, the various local weaving bureaus went to Nanxun every year during the silk season to purchase large quantities of raw silk. In 1851, the Shanghai merchant Xu Rongcun took 'Jili silk' to the inaugural World Expo held in London, England, and won gold and silver awards in one stroke.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1946, a native of Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. National representative bearer of silk weaving craftsmanship (Jili hu silk hand-making techniques), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Fourth-generation bearer of silk weaving techniques, he studied under his father Gu Yunlong and has a fluent command of Jili hu silk hand-making techniques. He has preserved a complete set of tools for mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing and for hand-reeling silk. In each silkworm-rearing season he organises an annual transmission training session and carries out activities in which he takes on apprentices and teaches the craft. In 2014 he was appointed a specially engaged teacher at the transmission base of Hengjie Primary School, where he guides comprehensive practical activities on Jili hu silk, enabling the traditional handicraft to be better protected, transmitted and developed. He has also passed the craft on in full to his son Gu Feng and his daughter-in-law Xu Yongyan. Within the documented technical tradition of Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship in Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang: Jili lake silk, also called 'Jili silk', takes its name from being produced in Jili Village, Nanxun Town, Huzhou City. Jili Village has produced lake silk since it was founded at the end of the Yuan dynasty. The silkworm breed of Jili lake silk uses the self-cultivated 'Lianxin seed', also called 'lake silkworm', a fine variety especially suited to reeling high-quality mulberry silk. The reeling machine used is a wooden three-end reeling frame, historically called the 'lake-style reeling frame'. Its traditional process mainly includes: building the 'silk stove' (a stove built specially for silk reeling) — boiling water — cooking cocoons — skimming the silk ends (also called 'suoxu') — winding the silk nest (also called 'tianxu') — winding onto the spindle — charcoal-fire drying of the silk (also called 'chushuigan'), and so on. The Jili lake silk craft is generally transmitted within families from generation to generation, especially among women. The Jili silk quality of being 'fine and even, rich in tensile strength, soft and moist in body, and pure white in color' means it can hold two more copper coins than ordinary native silk without breaking. 'Jili silk' is famed throughout the world, becoming a byword for fine silk in China and even the world. The cultural department of Nanxun District has also built the 'Jili Lake Silk Traditional Hand-Making Craft Exhibition Hall' in the ancient Nanxun town to show the charm of its traditional craft to visitors from home and abroad. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Documented Process Record": Its traditional process mainly includes: building the 'silk stove' (a stove built specially for silk reeling) — boiling water — cooking cocoons — skimming the silk ends (also called 'suoxu') — winding the silk nest (also called 'tianxu') — winding onto the spindle — charcoal-fire drying of the silk (also called 'chushuigan'), and so on.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2018, Gu Mingqi was announced in the fifth batch of national representative bearers for Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship, with Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship in Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Huzhoushinanxun, Zhejiang as its declared area, and Huzhou Nanxun District Cultural Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Gu Mingqi · National Representative Bearer Archive