Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jili lake silk craft, centered on Jili Village, is mainly distributed in the villages of the Lianshi, Shanlian, and Shuanglin area.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship · Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship · Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship · Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship · Cansi Weaving Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
To protect this traditional craft, the Jili Village committee set up a 'traditional hand-reeling workshop' in the village. Gu Mingqi (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1946, a native of Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Silk Weaving Craft (Jili Lake Silk Hand-Making Craft)'. A fourth-generation inheritor of the silk-weaving craft, he learned from his father Gu Yunlong and is proficient in the Jili lake silk hand-making craft. He has preserved a complete set of mulberry-planting and silkworm-raising tools and hand-silk-making implements. During the silkworm-raising season he organizes an inheritance training session every year and carries out apprentice-teaching activities. In 2014 he was engaged as a specially appointed teacher at the Hengjie Primary School inheritance base, guiding Jili lake silk comprehensive-practice activities, so that the Jili lake silk traditional handicraft can be better protected, transmitted, and developed. At the same time he has fully passed the craft on to his son Gu Feng and daughter-in-law Xu Yongyan.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhou Kangming 03-1357
- Yu Caigen 05-2795
- Shao Guanxing 05-2796
- Gu Mingqi 05-2797
- Hong Guizhen
- Zheng Xiaohua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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