Kesi Weaving Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
From the Jin and Yuan dynasties through the Ming and Qing, the Dingzhou kesi weaving craft continued to develop.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Dingzhou kesi (silk tapestry) weaving craft is a traditional handicraft mainly distributed in Mengjiazhuang and its surrounding areas in Dingzhou City, Hebei Province. Dingzhou has flat terrain, with the Sha River, Mengliang River and Tang River running across its whole extent; it has a temperate to warm-temperate, semi-humid and semi-arid continental monsoon climate, suitable for planting mulberry and raising silkworms, and has a fairly long history of sericulture and silk reeling, providing favourable conditions for the transmission and development of the kesi weaving craft. Kesi weaving uses raw silk as the warp and boiled-off silk as the weft, employing an ancient wooden loom together with a number of bamboo shuttles and picks; through the technique of 'continuous warp with broken weft', multicoloured silk threads are tapestry-woven into a fabric rich in colour and complete in tonal gradations. Its patterns and motifs are the same on the front and the back; seen close up it looks as if it were carved out of the weft threads, and at the outlines of the patterns and where the tonal gradations change the surface of the fabric appears as if it had been cut with a small knife, showing small gaps or breaks — 'viewed against the light, it resembles a carving' — and hence the name 'kesi' (carved silk). Because it can change colour freely, kesi is especially suitable for making calligraphy and painting works, and has the characteristics of fine workmanship, antique elegance and beauty within brilliance. The Dingzhou kesi weaving craft follows the ancient methods strictly in the construction of the loom and the use of warp and weft threads and shuttle tools, and in its form of expression highlights the features of the traditional craft of 'attaching threads of various colours to the warp and weft' and 'the appearance of carving'; the techniques of 'gou' (hooking), 'pan' (coiling) and 'qiang' (buttressing) have their distinctive points and embody the cultural characteristics of the northern peoples. Its works are mostly for artistic appreciation, with a small number of practical items; the patterns are mainly traditional flowers and birds, architecture and landscapes, and there are also religious subjects. The Dingzhou kesi weaving craft developed along with the flourishing of the silk-weaving industry in Dingzhou in the Tang and Song dynasties and reached its height in the Northern Song, when silk-weaving workshops and tax-account households appeared, as well as workshops and dye establishments that hired workers and apprentices. As the earliest silk fabric used for artistic appreciation, Dingzhou kesi works contain rich cultural information. The Dingzhou kesi weaving craft is the quintessence of traditional Chinese weaving craft, carrying the historical memory of Dingzhou regional culture, of northern silk-weaving culture, and of the cultural blending between the Han people and such ethnic minorities as the Khitan and the Uyghur; it is at the same time vivid testimony to historical exchanges between China and the countries of the Western Regions, and possesses considerable historical, cultural and artistic value.
Raw silk warp, boiled silk weft
Raw silk forms the warp and boiled, dyed silk the weft; the warp is tensioned first on the loom while the weft, boiled and dyed into colours, floats above it without being locked into it.
Cutting the weft through the warp
On the wooden loom with bamboo shuttles and bobbins the weft is cut at the outline of each motif, leaving the reverse identical; at the edges and colour changes the small gaps look knife-cut, which is where the name kesi comes from.
The outlining, filling and couching methods
Colour is handled by outlining in fine lines, filling in flat areas and couching a third shade diagonally between them; the more gradations a piece carries, the deeper it appears.
Mounting coloured silk upon the ground
The Dingzhou weavers keep the ancient method of mounting coloured silk upon warp and weft, retaining the old loom, the old use of threads and bamboo tools, so that northern directness and the painting-like taste of Tang and Song kesi coexist.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Dingzhou kesi weaving craft is concentrated in Mengjiazhuang and its surrounding areas in Dingzhou City. Dingzhou has flat terrain, with the Sha River, Mengliang River and Tang River running across its whole extent, and belongs to a temperate to warm-temperate, semi-humid and semi-arid continental monsoon climate, suitable for planting mulberry and raising silkworms; mulberry orchards lie beside the village houses, so silk reeling need not be sought far away. In the Northern Song, workshops and tax-account households sprang up in this area, and dye establishments hiring workers and apprentices were set up along with them; in Mengjiazhuang today the site of the former market where silk and damask were exchanged still survives. The work of kesi is to this day mostly concentrated in this village and this clan and transmitted from generation to generation; in recent years apprentices from elsewhere have also come into the village to learn the craft.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Mengjiazhuang still preserves the site of the market where silk and damask were exchanged in those years. Historically this craft was transmitted mainly within the family and between master and apprentice; in Mengjiazhuang alone, in the Guo family, it has been passed down to the ninth generation. In recent years the inheritors of this craft have actively broadened the channels of transmission and, through a combination of family transmission, master-apprentice transmission, school transmission and public-welfare training, have continuously trained successors with good results; the ranks of inheritors have steadily grown, and both the quantity and the quality of kesi products have greatly improved.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。