Xinhua News Agency, Changsha, May 10 -

Question: thin as onion skin, light if the smoke prime yarn unlined: wonders of the ancient silk industry

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yujie

　　If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe that a garment weighing more than 1 meter would weigh less than one or two. The clothes were stacked ten times on the newspaper, and the words and pictures in the newspaper could still be clearly seen.

　　In the Hunan Provincial Museum, there is a rare treasure that can be called a national treasure-plain yarn single clothes.

According to the museum, it is as thin as a cicada's wings, as light as smoke, and exquisitely woven. It is the oldest, most fully preserved, most refined, and lightest garment treasure in the world.

　　From 1972 to 1974, archaeologists discovered three Western Han tombs in Mawangdui, eastern suburbs of Changsha. The discovery and excavation of thousands of exquisite cultural relics and well-preserved female corpses of the Han Dynasty became major archaeological discoveries in China and the world in the 20th century. one.

　　Su Sha Yiyi was unearthed in Mawangdui No. 1 Tomb, which is the Tomb of Xin Chai.

According to historical records, Xin Zhui was the wife of Li Cang, the prime minister of Changsha in the Western Han Dynasty. He was about 50 years old when he died and lived more than 2,200 years ago.

　　Duan Xiaoming, curator of the Hunan Provincial Museum, introduced that there are east, west, south, and north sides between the outer and inner slabs of the No. 1 tomb.

The west compartment is equivalent to the warehouse of Mrs. Xin Chai. Inside, there are food, clothing, and use items, which are packed in bamboo boxes.

When the su yarn singles were unearthed in a bamboo box in the west compartment, there were cotton robes, singles, skirts and socks, a total of 14 pieces.

　　The shape of plain yarn singles is relatively simple, there are two pieces, one is straight gusset, the other is curved gusset, both are right gussets.

"The straight piece is 49 grams and the length is 128 cm. The curved piece is 48 grams and the length is 160 cm." Duan Xiaoming said.

　　Plain yarn single garment is known as the pinnacle of textile technology in the Western Han Dynasty, and it is also the earliest, thinnest and lightest garment at present.

"It's thin in its warp and weft density, only 62 per centimeter, and the holes are large, so the light transmittance is very high, reaching 75%. And this plain yarn single garment of the straight line, its cuffs and collar edges are made of velvet. The circle brocade is fixed, and the weight of these two places is 8.8 grams. We calculated it, except for this 8.8 grams, the weight per square meter is only 15.4 grams." Duan Xiaoming said, the last is fine.

How detailed is it?

A 900-meter-long silk weighs only 1 gram.

　　It is understood that in the 1980s, one of the subjects of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage was the reproduction of plain yarn single garments.

At that time, Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute copied two pieces, but the weight of both pieces exceeded 50 grams.

　　Until 2019, the Hunan Provincial Museum and Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute lasted two years and finally succeeded in imitating a plain gauze single garment weighing about 49 grams.

This is also the first time that the plain fabric has been unearthed for more than 40 years and has been officially authorized and recognized by relevant experts in the museum as an imitation.

　　According to reports, the plain yarn singles were buried deeply underground for more than 2,000 years. After being unearthed, due to the sudden changes in the environment, the breakage of the fiber molecular chains was accelerated, and the fiber strength was greatly reduced.

In addition, due to the annual exhibition, natural factors such as light and oxygen have also accelerated the aging of the fiber.

Although the plain yarn singles still maintain a certain degree of luster and elasticity, no matter from the comprehensive consideration of cultural relic storage, open display or cultural heritage, imitation work is imminent.

　　The imitation process of plain yarn singles is not easy.

Yang Jiyuan, director of the Design Center of the Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute, said that the size of the three-sleep silk used by the Western Han people was only 10.2 to 11.3 deniers when making plain yarn, while the size of the four-sleep silk cultivated by modern people was 14 denier.

"Nowadays, the silkworm babies that are spinning are fatter after being domesticated, and the silk spit out is heavier. In order to more truly restore the fabric of the plain yarn single garment, the production team has gone through untold hardships to find a batch of thin three-sleep silkworm babies, their silk Its fineness is only 11 denier, which is more suitable as a raw material for fabric weaving."

　　In fact, plain yarn singles are called "su" because they have no color and no lining.

However, the unearthed plain yarn singles have been deposited over the years, showing the old color of history.

In order to show the imprints of the times perfectly and naturally, the production team has carried out countless dyeing experiments on dyes.

　　After trying a variety of dye reagents unsuccessfully, Yang Jiyuan unexpectedly found that the color of a breakfast black tea was very natural and close to the original color of cultural relics. After adding a fixing agent, this perfectly solved the problem of dyeing.

　　There are divergent opinions on how to wear plain yarn singles.

"One is that it should be worn outside of cotton robes, because cotton robes generally have more ornate decorations. Plain yarn singles can add a hazy beauty to them, but their length is still a bit short compared to cotton robes." Ming said that some scholars believe that the plain cloth may be a kind of clothing used for funerals at that time.

There is also a view that the plain yarn may be a piece of underwear.

　　However, most scholars now believe that plain yarn singles should be worn outside of cotton robes, and that they should be worn on more important occasions.

　　Such precious plain yarn singles were once "lost and recovered."

In October 1983, Zhiyuan plain yarn and other utensils were stolen.

Later, due to the pressure of public opinion, the suspect threw the plain veil into the Martyrs Park next to the Hunan Provincial Museum, and was sent back to the museum after being discovered.

　　"Some of the other stolen utensils were destroyed, and some were damaged, but the plain yarn singles are still well preserved, and they will be fine after restoration. The two plain yarn singles are now in good condition in the Hunan Provincial Museum. Straight The ones from Quyuan are now on display in the permanent exhibition to the public, and the ones from Quyuan are now stored in the warehouse." Duan Xiaoming said.

　　In fact, Quyuan's plain yarn singles are relatively superior in craftsmanship.

"Because it is longer and wider, but it weighs 1 gram lighter." Duan Xiaoming said that in order to avoid light pollution, the Quju piece was kept in the warehouse for a long time.

Now, every single piece of plain yarn is made into a specific long box, so that it can "lie down" in it.

The warehouse has constant temperature and humidity, as well as anti-insect and anti-mildew drugs, so that the cultural relics can be controlled in an all-round way and protected with the most advanced technology.

　　It is reported that in 2002, the plain fabric became one of the first batch of cultural relics forbidden to go abroad (border) for exhibition.