This week we discussed textiles in Chinese history and interacted with the processes used to create textiles during class. Xue’s text “Cotton Textile Production in Medieval China Unravelled the Patriarchy” identified women as the main producers of textiles. The new industry gave the women of China the ability to make their own income. Despite the independence the production of textiles provided for women, it was deemed as simple work.
On Tuesday we were able to explore techniques used to create yarn, looking at it from different stages of development. The drop spindle and the process of carding wool were shocking, something that looks so simple but is so challenging. I personally struggled with carding and the drop spindle. Carding was physically hard to do and I imagine that continuous use of this skill could be hard on the body, whereas the drop spindle could be physically and mentally exhausting. The Fact that the creation of textiles was regarded as being simple is extremely unfair because the process is incredibly physically taxing and requires skill. I for one do not have the skill to drop spindle properly and I do not think I would be able to have a job in textiles.
The value of silk is a topic I found to be very interesting, presently silk is still seen as a luxury and highly priced. There is still “simple silk” and “luxury silk”, simple silk is often used in fast fashion and is mixed with other fibers. This draws back to our class exploration of textiles where we looked at pieces of clothing and what they were made of, many of the pieces were made from polyester mixes showing how textiles have evolved for modern fast production.
Sources:
Sheng, Angela. “Determining the Value of Textiles in the Tang Dynasty: In Memory of Professor Denis Twitchett (1925-2006)”. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, 23, no. 2 (2013): 175-95.
Xue, Meng Melanie. Cotton Textile Production in Medieval China Unravelled the Patriarchy, Aeon, June 27, 2018.
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