用染好颜色的彩色经纬线，经提花、织造工艺织出图案的织物。中国丝织提花技术起源久远。早在殷商时代中国已有丝织物。周代丝织物中出现织锦，花纹五色灿烂，技艺臻于成熟。汉代设有织室、锦署，专门织造织锦，供宫廷享用。

三国、六朝、隋唐时期是中国织锦发展史上的一个转折期。东晋在国都建康设立专门管理织锦的官署——锦署，标志着南京云锦的正式诞生。到了唐朝，丝绸之路一派繁忙。唐代贞观年间窦师伦的对雉、斗羊、翔凤等蜀锦图案，称为绫阳公样。在织造工艺上由经锦改进为纬锦，纬锦采用纬起花的显花方式,突破了"锦花型"单元较小的局限，并出现彩色经纬线由浅入深或由深入浅的退晕手法。北宋朝廷在东京设“绫锦院”网罗了很多蜀锦织工为贵族制作礼服，从而形成宋锦。

2006年，云锦、蜀锦、宋锦被列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。文化部批准的织锦类国家级非物质文化遗产生产性保护示范基地有南京云锦研究所以及成都蜀锦织绣博物馆。2009年，中国南京云锦织造技艺成功入选《人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录》。

 中国丝织提花技术起源久远。早在殷商时代中国已有丝织物。周代丝织物中出现织锦，花纹五色灿烂，技艺臻于成熟。汉代设有织室、锦署，专门织造织锦，供宫廷享用。自汉武帝后，中国织锦通过丝绸之路传入波斯（今伊朗）、大秦（古罗马帝国）等国。东晋在国都建康设立专门管理织锦的官署——锦署，标志着南京云锦的正式诞生。唐代贞观年间窦师伦的对雉、斗羊、翔凤等蜀锦图案，称为绫阳公样。在织造工艺上由经锦改进为纬锦，并出现彩色经纬线由浅入深或由深入浅的退晕手法。北宋宫廷在汴京等地建立规模庞大的织造工场，生产各种绫锦。元代是中国历史上大量生产织金锦（一种加金的丝织物）的时代，宫廷设立织染局、织染提举司，机构庞大，集中了大批优秀工匠。明清两代织锦生产集中在南京、苏州，除了官府的织锦局外，民间作坊也蓬勃兴起，形成江南织锦生产的繁荣时期。织锦大多采用传统提花工艺和木制花楼织机，有些织锦因品种不同而有所区别。

中国织锦是中国技术水平最高的丝织物，用彩色的金缕线织成各种花纹的织品，织锦因此而得名。在中国七千多年养蚕缫丝的历史里，织锦作为丝绸中最美丽的部分，也曾随着路上丝绸之路的驼队和海上丝绸之路的团队，走遍当时的世界。这种前所未见，光彩夺目的织品，让那时的西方世界对遥远而神秘的东方充满了古老的神往。 在不同民族、不同地域的人们数千年生活创造的过程中，织锦也呈现了多种多样的风格，如南京的云锦，四川的蜀锦，苏州的宋锦，广西的壮锦，湖南的土家锦，云南的傣锦，贵州的苗锦，海南的黎锦等。数千年的演变发展过程中，中国的织锦由最初作为布料的存在，成为中国工艺美术珍宝中一个美丽的门类。

 介绍

南京云锦是中国传统的丝制工艺品，有“寸锦寸金”之称，其历史可追溯至417年（晋义熙十三年）在国都建康设立专门管理织锦的官署——锦署，至今已有一千六百年历史。如今只有云锦还保持着传统的特色和独特的技艺，一直保留着传统的提花木机织造，这种靠人记忆编织的传统手工织造技艺仍无法用现代机器来替代。

云锦因其色泽光丽灿烂，美如天上云霞而得名，其用料考究，织造精细、图案精美、锦纹绚丽多姿、格调高雅，在继承历代织锦的优秀传统基础上发展而来，又融会了其他各种丝织工艺的宝贵经验，达到了丝织工艺的巅峰状态，代表了中国丝织工艺的最高成就，浓缩了中国丝织技艺的精华，是中国丝绸文化的璀璨结晶。

在古代丝织物中“锦”是代表最高技术水平的织物，而南京云锦则集历代织绵工艺艺术之大成，列中国四大名锦之首，元、明、清三朝均为皇家御用品贡品，因其丰富的文化和内涵，被专家称作是中国古代织锦工艺史上最后一座里程碑，公认为“东方瑰宝”、“中华一绝”，也是中华民族和全世界最珍贵的历史文化遗产。

南京云锦木机妆花手工织造技艺是中国古老的织锦技艺最高水平的代表，于2006年列入首批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。2009年8月《地理标志产品云锦》国家标准在南京通过国家级专家评审，同年9月成功入选联合国《人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录》。

传说天上的仙女日夜织锦，朝为锦云，晨为栖霞，当人们仰望漫天的流光溢彩时，惊叹于织锦像云霞一样美丽，于是，人们称南京这种如彩云般绚烂多姿的织锦为云锦。根据技法不同，云锦又分为库缎、织锦、库锦、妆花四大类。

中国的织锦工艺在明清时期达到相当高的水平，那时候秦淮两岸织机数万，以云锦织造为主者多达30万人，天工开物书中记载织布机器名为大花楼织机，它是一种木织机，由木头与毛竹组合而成，上下两人制造，它主要的制作工艺是通经断纬制造方法，到目前为止无法用现代机器替代。

中国的历史传统和审美习惯有着密切的关联，每一种图案的背后，随蕴藏着人们对于吉祥、富贵、丰收的向往。其寓意可概括为“福禄寿喜财权”，如桃子代表寿，佛代表福，石榴代表多子，如意代表如意。图稿出来后要做成意匠，就想按照那个图像放大后打成格子，一个纵向小格子代表一根丝，一个横向小格子代表一根纬，很细致，所以虽然图稿不大，可意匠稿放大后却很大。接着是挑花，就是根据格子的变化，用线把花纹的变化全部编导花本上，这个过程属于一个设计的过程。用古老的结绳记事的方法将丝线和锦线编织成暗花程序，成为节本。南京的云锦是给皇家的，在选材上与别的锦就不一样，选用优质的蚕丝，弹性好，柔韧度好，光泽好。至于金丝与孔雀羽，则更是珍贵的材料。

金丝的制作，是由有经验的工匠，将金叶加入乌金纸中打成金箔，金叶要经过千百次的捶打，工人靠感觉调整角度，使金叶慢慢延展，制好的金箔只有0.12μm，轻微的呼吸就可以将它吹走。再经过背光、切丝、捻成金线，成为可以织入云锦的圆金线和扁金线。红楼梦中有一“出晴雯勇补孔雀裘”，从那时就记载了将孔雀羽织入衣物的故事。活孔雀羽不变色，用线经水捻，一天能捻几十米。云锦织造时，机楼上的拽花工提升经线，织手在下面分段局部按花弹织，提经穿尾，两个人的配合才能完成。 云锦虽然很精美漂亮，但是毕竟是传统的一些东西，随着时代的发展，人们的眼光也在变，云锦要想再发展的话，必须和现代的生活相结合起来。设计师也在尝试将纹样用在结婚礼服上。人们的生活水平提高了，不只是皇家才能穿云锦。

品种

云锦中属于织锦类的织物有许多品种，民间作坊中习惯的名称有：“二色金库锦”、“彩花库锦”、“抹梭妆花”、“抹梭金宝地”、“芙蓉妆”等。

二色金库锦

它属小花纹单位的织锦，花纹全部用金、银两种线织出，一般是以金线为主，少部分花纹用银线装饰。图案花纹以几何形纹样和小朵朵花为多。二色金库锦的具体用途是作服饰和实用物的缘边装饰，如镶滚衣边、帽边、垫边等。花纹单位有十四则、廿一则、廿八则几种（则数愈多，花纹单位愈小）。

彩花库锦

它也简称为“彩库锦”，亦属小花纹单位的织锦。彩库锦的花纹除用金线织造外，还用各种颜色的彩绒装饰极少部分的花纹（如一朵小花，或某个花纹的局部）。彩花部分用通梭织彩，分段换色，全件织料上的各段彩花只用几种不同的颜色循环；或全部花纹用一金、一彩两色长跑梭织造。彩库锦用色虽不多，但织品效果甚为精丽悦目。彩库锦常用的花纹单位，有十四则、廿一则、廿八则几种。彩库锦除用做服物的镶边装饰外，亦可用于制作囊袋、锦匣、枕垫和装帧装演。“库锦”名称的由来与“库缎”一样，都是因织成后输入宫廷的“缎匹库”而得名。“二色金库锦”、“彩花库锦”由于花纹单位面积小，设计纹样和挑花结本都比较省工。但在这样小的单位面积内，要设计出富于变化和精巧动人的四方连续纹样，并非一件容易见功的事情。传统的纹样留传的虽不少，但堪称佳作的并不多。

它是一种大花纹的彩锦，有加金（加织金线装饰花纹）的和不加金的两种。所谓“抹梭”，就是指整个织物花纹的配色，是用通梭织彩；显花的部位，彩纬呈现在织料的正面，不显花的部位，彩纬织进织料的背面（有地经与其形成经纬交组）。抹梭妆花的配色，在同一段上最多织四五个颜色。因为是通梭彩，所以在同一段上循环并列的花纹单位花纹与配色都完全相同；在织物的背面，呈现有一段段的横向彩条。为求得图案配色的丰富变化，乃采用分段换色的办法，丰富花纹的配色。但在整体配色中，须有一两种颜色作为统一整体色彩的统色。例如，一匹缠枝花纹样的匹料，常用深、浅两种绿色作为枝梗和藤叶的统色，花朵的妆彩，则可分段变换颜色。这样，从整体效果看，色彩既有变化，又有统一。这种织造统色的彩梭，在织造术语上叫做“长跑梭”；分段换色的彩梭，叫做“短跑梭”。抹梭妆花织造的速度，虽比挖梭妆花（妆花缎的织造方法。挖梭妆花，作坊中亦叫“过管妆花”）快一些，但用木机手工生产，产量毕竟有限，熟练的工人一天最多织66厘米左右。现已完全改用电力织机生产，不仅质量完全符合要求，产量也有了很大的提高。抹梭妆花除织造匹料外，清末以后，民间作坊中曾生产过一些不加金线的织锦台毯、织锦靠垫和提包、琴条①等实用品，图案有龙凤、花卉、人物、博古、琴棋书画、亭台楼阁等。整个织品只固定用四五个颜色装饰全部花纹。色彩虽不多，效果倒还雅致。过去云锦行业中叫它为“洋庄货”，因其主要销售对象是来华旅游的外国人和归国观光的海外侨胞，20世纪30年代在外销上曾经风靡一时。

抹梭金宝地

它的织造方法、配色技术，与抹梭妆花安全一样。所不同者，抹梭妆花是缎地，抹梭金宝地是用圆金线（捻金）织满地。前者是在缎地上织彩花；后者是在满金地上织彩花。织品的背面一样光平、起彩条，花纹轮廓均用片金绞边（亦称“金包边”）。从织品效果看，抹梭金宝地金线用得多（有片金，有圆金线），比抹梭妆花更显得辉煌华丽。抹梭金宝地已过渡到电力织机生产，不仅产量提高，成本降低，产品质量也比木机手工织造的紧密细致。它在使用效果上，可与挖花妆彩的金宝地相媲美。所不及者，即配色和花纹装饰方法不如挖花金宝地丰富多样，但从总体效果看，仍然具有“金宝地”的绚丽辉煌的艺术特色。

芙蓉妆

它是一种配色比较简单的大花纹织锦，在色彩的表现方法上与“妆花缎”有着显著的不同。芙蓉妆的花纹不用片金绞边（用片金线织出花纹的轮廓），也不用深浅不同的几重色彩来表现花纹的层次。整个纹样只用几种不同的色块来表现。花纹的形状以空出地部线条来显示（艺人的设计术语叫做“丢阳缝”）。在花与花、花与叶之间，各以不同的单色表现配色的变化。如花卉的枝梗、花萼、叶芽等，以一色绿或两种颜色的绿作为整体的统色，用长跑梭织造；花朵则用短跑梭分段换彩，以变化各段花头的配色。如一段织红花头，一段织黄花头，一段织金花头……，可以随意变化安排。芙蓉妆整个织品的配色，虽不如“妆花缎”、“金宝地”那样复杂、丰富，但它却另有一种艳而不繁、单纯而明快的效果。由于它配色单纯，施用的彩纬不多，因此整个织料质地薄而平整。过去，用这种妆彩方法织造的织锦，因为图案多用“芙蓉花”作主题，所以作坊中习惯地叫它为“芙蓉妆”。后来凡是应用这种妆彩方法织造的“锦”，花纹虽不用“芙蓉”，但仍习惯地叫它为“芙蓉妆”。“芙蓉妆”已成为一个专门品种的名词了。

 蜀锦是织锦种类中历史久远的一种，它兴于秦汉，盛于唐宋，繁于明清在东汉时期就已誉满天下。汉唐以来的1000多年里，蜀锦南北丝绸之路源源不断的向外输出，即加快了中国丝绸业的发展和传播，也对促进东西方文化交流产生过不可磨灭的影响。寓合纹样(又称吉祥图案)，常常含有吉祥、如意、顺利、喜庆、颂祝、长寿、多福、富贵、昌盛等美好吉利的寓意。寓合吉祥纹在我国民间艺术中应用越来越广泛，不仅成为我国民族锦缎图案的一个重要特征，亦是我国民族传统工艺美术的宝贵文化遗产。 三国时期蜀锦曾一度是蜀汉和东吴、曹魏的主要贸易商品，是当时蜀国的经济命脉，而发展到明清的繁盛时期，史书记载成都有机房两千处，织机万余架，当时的成都是举国文明的织锦生产地。成都一直以来就有另一个美丽的名字“锦城”，流转的时光带走了古城的风情，成都几乎被人们淡忘了他曾经数千年被称为锦城。 在中国历史上把一种手工艺与一座城市联系起来的并不多。从而看到蜀锦与这座城市意味深长的关联。蜀锦的织机名叫木制小花楼织机，在现代艺人的努力下，已恢复了许多绝版蜀锦，灯笼锦原为明朝宫廷元宵节的纹样，灯笼的四角是悬挂流苏，长织成稻穗状，旁有蜜蜂，寓意五谷丰登，图中又织有莲花、宝珠等吉祥图案，是蜀锦中得传统名锦之一，连珠狩猎纹锦是唐代对波斯文化的汲取，取材于古丝绸之路的敦煌石窟，纹样以栩栩如生的造型，表现出骑马、射猎的武士神韵。再现了唐朝蜀锦的独特风格。红底八大云锦是宋代较有代表性的蜀锦，地是红色，花纹由红、黄、绿等组成，以几何形为主，是一种名贵的彩锦。月华锦由数组彩色金线排列成由浅入深，逐渐过渡的色彩，加上装饰的花纹，数种渐变的色彩同时织成，如雨后初晴的彩虹，五彩缤纷，这种巧妙地艺术构思，据说是丝织匠由天空中的彩虹受到的启发，其技巧失传已久，乃蜀锦所独具。

 宋锦产于江苏苏州，因相传织于北宋而出名，织造技术独特，其经丝分面经和地经两重，故又称“重锦”。

宋锦是中国传统的丝制工艺品之一。开始于宋代末年（约公元11世纪），产品分重锦和细锦(此两类又合称大锦)、及匣锦、小锦。重锦质地厚重，产品主要用于宫殿、堂室内的陈设。细锦是宋锦中最具代表性的一类，厚薄适中，广泛用于服饰、装裱。

宋锦，因其主要产地在苏州，故又称“苏州宋锦”。宋锦色泽华丽，图案精致，质地坚柔，被赋予中国“锦绣之冠”，它与南京云锦、四川蜀锦一起，被誉为我国的三大名锦。2006年，宋锦被列入第一批国家级非物质文化遗产名录。传承单位为苏州丝绸博物馆，钱小萍为唯一的国家级传承人。2009年9月联合国教科文组织保护世界非物质文化遗产政府间委员会又将宋锦列入了世界非物质文化遗产。2014年11月在北京雁栖湖召开的APEC晚宴上，参加会议的领导人们及配偶身着中国特色服装抵达现场，统一亮相一起拍摄“全家福”。他们穿的宋锦“新中装”面料，便是产自苏州吴江的鼎盛丝绸。

 壮锦是广西壮族自治区传统的著名丝织物，产生于宋代，在宋代，壮族称为僮族，故壮锦又称僮锦。以棉纱股线或麻纱股线为经、桑蚕丝为纬的色织提花织物，也有采用染色桑蚕丝为经、染色有光人造丝或金（银）皮作纬织造。采用两组经线和四组纬线在缎纹组织地纹上提织各色纬花，形成对称花纹，或用多种彩纬线挑出花纹。壮锦的花纹图案接近剪纸图案，变化千姿百态。传统的花纹图案有花、鸟、鱼、虫、兽以及“万”字、“双喜”等文字图案、线条粗壮有力，色彩艳丽，常用几种不同颜色的丝线织成，色彩以红、绿、黑、黄为主，一般多以红色为背景，色彩斑斓，绚丽多姿，对比强烈，具有浓艳粗犷的艺术风格。品种繁多，按服装和服饰用途，可分为花边绸、腰带绸、头巾、围巾、被面、台布、背带、背包、坐垫、围裙、床毯、壁挂巾、锦屏等等。

除了以上四种著名的织锦外，其他地方也有织锦生产，并各具特色。如傣族的“傣锦”，苗族的“苗锦”，广西瑶族的“瑶锦”，云南佤族的“佤锦”和拉祜族的“拉祜锦”，贵州布依族的“布依锦”，湘西和鄂西土家族的“土家锦”，海南黎族的“黎锦”，台湾高山族的“高山锦”以及西北地区的“回回锦”等等。

 土妇善织锦，土家族的姑娘，自古就以织锦扬名，在土家族，几乎家家都有织机，每个女人都会织锦，女孩子出嫁时都要自己织锦作为嫁妆。被称为卡普他的铺盖，是衡量贫富和生活好坏的标准。山地民族火辣辣的性格决定了他们的审美评判，土家族在用颜色上以浓烈的大红大绿色调为主。不同于云锦的庄重，蜀锦的艳丽，土家族散发着浓烈的民族气息。土家人的婚恋嫁娶，家庭服饰都离不开织锦，当地流行这样一句谚语，“养女不织花，不如不养她”。土家姑娘从小就要跟母亲学习挑织技术，结婚时必须有自己亲手织的打花铺盖做嫁妆，这样的习俗代代相传，沿袭至今。土家锦在土家人自己的称呼中被称为西兰卡普。西兰卡普的传说，关于夜晚、误解、美的重生。西兰是人名，卡普是她织的花布。相传西兰是土家山寨最漂亮最聪明的姑娘，她把山里的百花都绣完了，就没见着半夜开花半夜谢的白果花(银杏)。为了绣出白果花，她独自半夜爬上高高的白果树与白果花儿对话，不料被又丑又坏的嫂嫂发现了，哥哥听信嫂嫂谗言，用板斧砍断了白果树，西兰摔死了，她的绣花艺术却被土家人传下来了。 

土家族妇女们都学着织西兰姑娘的卡普，把它做成被子盖在身上，表示和西兰在一起，表达对她的无限思念。土家族女儿从小就学织西兰织过的布，把它当自己出嫁的陪嫁品，人们把它叫作“西兰卡普”。土家锦的图案由各种花纹构成，取材于生活中的方方面面，善于观察生活的土家族妇女，将她们看到的美好的东西全部织到了锦里，而且，土家族的织锦是不画图的，那些花样都在她们的心里，有九条云，小白妹，栗子花，太阳花，月亮花，是少女对美好生活的向往。 土家族织锦，沿用自汉朝以来一直未曾改变的古老腰织式斜织机，民间的织机一般长约五尺宽约2尺，沿袭斜织机的的腰织式，要求眼看背面，手织正面，必须对纹样及色彩有娴熟的记忆和表现能力。传统的使用牛角挑织的方法，使经纬线沉浮均匀，结实耐用，织机窄，两尺左右，通经断尾，反挑，牛角挑。还有一个特点就是作料的选取上，用棉纱做经，用蚕茧吐的丝做纬线，给它染成五颜六色，土家锦除了技法之外还要要求心中有图案，对这些传统的土家图案，都烂熟于心。总结她们总体的风格就是崇尚自然，追求幸福吉祥。

词条图册

 With dyed color warp and weft threads, pattern fabrics are woven by jacquard and weaving techniques. Chinese silk jacquard technology has a long history. Silk fabrics existed in China as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Brocade appeared in the silk fabrics of the Zhou Dynasty, with brilliant patterns and mature techniques. There were weaving rooms and brocade offices in the Han Dynasty, specializing in weaving brocades for the palace to enjoy.

The Three Kingdoms, Six Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties are a turning point in the history of brocade development in China. Jin Dynasty set up Jin Dynasty, an official department specializing in brocade management, in Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which marked the formal birth of Yunjin in Nanjing. By the Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road was busy. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Dou Shilun's designs of Shu brocade, such as pheasant, goat fighting and Xiangfeng, were known as the "Qiyang Gong Sample". In weaving process, weft brocade is improved from warp brocade to weft brocade. Weft brocade uses weft blooming, which breaks through the limitation of smaller "brocade flower" unit and presents the fading technique of color warp and weft lines from shallow to deep or from deep to shallow. In Tokyo, the Northern Song Dynasty set up a "Weijin Courtyard" to attract many Shu brocade weavers to make dresses for nobles, thus forming the Song brocade.

In 2006, Yunjin, Shujin and Songjin were listed in the first national intangible cultural heritage list. The National Productive Protection Demonstration Base of Brocade-like intangible cultural heritage approved by the Ministry of Culture includes Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute and Chengdu Shu Brocade Museum. In 2009, Yunjin brocade weaving technology in Nanjing, China, was successfully selected as the representative works of intangible cultural heritage of mankind.

Chinese silk jacquard technology has a long history. Silk fabrics existed in China as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Brocade appeared in the silk fabrics of the Zhou Dynasty, with brilliant patterns and mature techniques. There were weaving rooms and brocade offices in the Han Dynasty, specializing in weaving brocades for the palace to enjoy. Since Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty, Chinese brocade has been introduced to Persia (modern Iran) and Great Qin (ancient Roman Empire) through the Silk Road. Jin Dynasty set up Jin Dynasty, an official department specializing in brocade management, in Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which marked the formal birth of Yunjin in Nanjing. During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Dou Shilun's designs of Shu brocade, such as pheasant, goat fighting and Xiangfeng, were known as the "Qiyang Gong Sample". In weaving process, the warp brocade is improved to weft brocade, and colour warp and weft lines are faded from shallow to deep or from deep to shallow. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the court established large-scale weaving workshops in Bianjing and other places to produce various kinds of brocades. The Yuan Dynasty was a time when gold brocade (a kind of gold-added silk fabric) was produced in large quantities in Chinese history. The court set up a dyeing and weaving Bureau and a dyeing and weaving commissioner, which had a huge organization and concentrated a large number of excellent craftsmen. Brocade production in Ming and Qing dynasties concentrated in Nanjing and Suzhou. In addition to the brocade Bureau of the government, folk workshops also flourished, forming a prosperous period of brocade production in Jiangnan. Most brocades use traditional jacquard technology and wooden floral looms. Some brocades differ from one another in variety.

Chinese brocade is the silk fabric with the highest technological level in China. It is weaved into various patterns with colored Hamamelis thread, hence the name of brocade. In the history of sericulture and silk reeling in China for more than 7,000 years, brocade, as the most beautiful part of silk, had traveled all over the world with the camel team along the Silk Road and the team of the Marine Silk Road. This unprecedented and brilliant fabric filled the Western world with ancient fascination for the remote and mysterious East. In the course of thousands of years'life creation of people of different nationalities and regions, brocade also presents various styles, such as Yunjin in Nanjing, Shujin in Sichuan, Songjin in Suzhou, Zhuang Brocade in Guangxi, Tujia Brocade in Hunan, Dai Brocade in Yunnan, Miaojin in Guizhou, Li Brocade in Hainan, etc. In the course of thousands of years'evolution and development, Chinese brocade has become a beautiful category of Chinese arts and crafts treasures from its original existence as cloth.

Nanjing Yunjin is a traditional silk handicraft in China. It is known as "inch brocade and inch gold". Its history can be traced back to 417 years (thirteen years of Jin Yixi) when Jin Dynasty set up Jin Department, an official office specializing in brocade management in Jiankang, the capital of China. It has a history of 1600 years. Nowadays, only Yunjin still keeps its traditional characteristics and unique skills, and has always retained the traditional jacquard weaving. This traditional handmade weaving technology, which depends on human memory, can not be replaced by modern machines.

Cloud brocade is famous for its brilliant color and beauty like clouds in the sky. It has exquisite materials, exquisite weaving patterns, gorgeous brocade patterns and elegant style. It has developed on the basis of inheriting the fine traditions of brocades of past dynasties, and has integrated the valuable experience of various other silk weaving processes, reaching the peak state of silk weaving technology. It represents the highest achievement of China's silk weaving process, concentrating the essence of Chinese silk weaving skills, and is the resplendent crystallization of Chinese silk culture.

In ancient Silk fabrics, "brocade" is the fabric representing the highest technological level, while Nanjing Yunjin is the first of the four famous brocades in China. The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties are royal tributes. Because of their rich culture and connotation, it is called the last in the history of brocade technology in ancient China by experts. This milestone is generally recognized as "Oriental treasure" and "China is a unique country", and it is also the most precious historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation and the world.

Nanjing Yunjin wooden machine makeup and hand-weaving technology is the highest level representative of China's ancient brocade technology, which was listed in the first national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006. In August 2009, the national standard of Yunjin, a geographical indication product, was appraised by national experts in Nanjing. In September of the same year, it was successfully selected into the United Nations List of Representative Works of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Legend has it that Fairies in the sky weave brocade day and night, the morning is Jinyun, and the morning is Qixia. When people look up at the overflowing light in the sky, they marvel at the brocade as beautiful as Yunxia. Therefore, people call Nanjing the brocade as colorful as cloud brocade. According to different techniques, Yunjin can be divided into four categories: Kusatin, brocade, Kujin and makeup.

China's brocade weaving technology reached a fairly high level in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At that time, there were tens of thousands of looms on both sides of the Qinhuai River and up to 300,000 people mainly made of Yunjin brocade. According to Tiangong Kaifa Shu, the weaving machine is called Dahua Lou Loom. It is a kind of wood loom composed of wood and bamboo, and it is mainly made by two upper and lower people. Art is a manufacturing method of warp and weft breaking, so far it can not be replaced by modern machines.

China's historical traditions and aesthetic habits are closely related. Behind each pattern, there is people's yearning for auspicious, rich and rich harvest. Its implication can be summarized as "fortune, longevity, happiness and wealth right". For example, peach represents longevity, Buddha represents happiness, and pomegranate represents many sons. After the draft comes out, to be a good artist, you want to enlarge the image into a grid, a small vertical grid represents a silk, a small horizontal grid represents a latitude, very detailed, so although the draft is not big, it can be enlarged artistically. Next is flower-picking, that is, according to the changes in the lattice, the pattern changes are all directed by the thread on the flower book, this process belongs to a design process. Using the ancient knotting method to record silk thread and brocade thread weave into a dark flower program, become cost-saving. Nanjing Yunjin is for the Royal family. It is different from other brocades in material selection. It uses high quality silk with good elasticity, flexibility and luster. As for gold and peacock feathers, they are precious materials.

Gold wire is made by experienced craftsmen. Gold leaf is added to black gold paper and beaten into gold foil. Gold leaf has to be beaten thousands of times. Workers adjust the angle by feeling to make the gold leaf extend slowly. The finished gold foil is only 0.12 um, and can be blown away with a slight breath. After backlighting, silk cutting and twisting into gold yarn, it becomes round gold yarn and flat gold yarn that can be woven into Yunjin brocade. In the Dream of Red Mansions, there is a story of "peacock fur repaired by Qingwenyong". From then on, the story of weaving peacock feathers into clothes was recorded. Living peacock feathers do not change color, twisting with thread through water, can twist tens of meters a day. When weaving brocade in Yunnan, the florist in the machine building lifts the warp line, and the knitter knits in the following sections according to the pattern partially, lifting the warp and piercing the tail, so that the cooperation between the two people can be completed. Although Yunjin is exquisite and beautiful, it is a traditional thing after all. With the development of the times, people's vision is also changing. If Yunjin wants to develop again, it must be combined with modern life. Designers are also trying to apply patterns to wedding dresses. People's living standards have improved. It is not only the royal family that can wear the brocade.