5-6 The Spread of Dyeing and Weaving Clothing in Yuan and Ming Dynasties

Hello everyone, last section we have talked about the spread of weaving and dyeing technology in the Song dynasty. Now let's move to the new lecture, art spread of dyeing and weaving clothing in Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the Yuan dynasty, due to the unprecedented communication between the east and the west, the cultural exchange between the east and the west and the influence of Chinese arts and crafts on world culture were expanding, which also provided the conditions for the commercial development of the Yuan dynasty. At that time, foreign trade was controlled by the government. Silk fabrics were the main commodities exported in the Yuan dynasty and the annual export volume was also quite large. In order to strengthen ties with overseas countries, expand influence and promote national success, the Ming emperor Ning Chengzu sent Zheng He to the western seas. At that time, western refers to the present Nanyang Island and the Indian Ocean. Zheng He led his fleet on seven voyages to the western ocean in 1405, which latest 28 years. His fleet passed through the islands of the South China Sea and traveled to many areas such as Indochina Peninsula, Nanyang Island, India, Yuan and Arabia, reaching as far as the eastern coast of Africa and the Red Sea. Zheng He's voyage expanded China's economic and cultural exchanges with many countries in Asia and Africa and increased the friendship between our people and those countries. Zheng He's voyage to the west was a feat in history of world navigation. It was more than half a century earlier than Western Gama's voyage to India by passing the Cape of Good Hope and Columbus saving America. After Zheng He's long voyage, the number of poor farmers and craftsmen from Fujian and Guangdong in China who went to Southeast Asia gradually increased. They worked with the local people and contributed to the development of the local economic and culture. For example, Indonesia's Java Island did not have agriculture. Later, local people learned to plant mulberry, raise silkworms and weave silk, farm Chinese boaters and expatriates. Based on the overall study of the ocean shores, by the Ming Dynasty, there were about 1,000 Cantonese living in Java area and the local people's clothing was one or two handkerchiefs with silk under the waist and then a bracket of silk relief wrapped around the waist. About the same time, China's agriculture technology also spread to South Asia's Bangladesh. While it follows, mulberry and silk are available. In addition, Chinese silk fabrics such as colored silk and colored satin are still sold to South Asian countries. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, as the increase of agricultural and handicraft production, the commodity economy has also developed. Cotton, raw silk, tobacco, porcelain, etc. are put into the market in large quantities and become commodities for exchange. There are more than 30 large cities along the south-east coast and canal. Beijing was the largest city in the country at that time. Guangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou and Fuzhou were the main ports for foreign trade, from which large quantities of goods were exported to Japan, Southeast Asia and other places. In the Ming Dynasty, Fujian province of China also specially produced a kind of zhangrong and zhang satin for sale in Japan. Meanwhile, the strapped fabrics specially produced in Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangdong were imported to Japan, which were loved by the people in Bordeaux, Xizhen and other places and were imitated. They called this kind of fabric guangdong and later changed their pronunciation due to local circulation, becoming handong and finally jiandao. The volume of silk trade is increasing day by day. The Ming Dynasty imported more than 200,000 jin of Japanese white silk raw silk in 40 years of Wanli. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, blankets produced in the central plains and border areas, besides being enjoyed by dignitaries, also began to be exported to Europe. According to the illustrated records of Xinjiang, only Hetian region in China has more than 3,000 woollen blankets made in the same year and imported into Afghanistan, India and other places, while other more square woollen blankets such as chair cushions, mattress pads, saddle blankets and beyond corns. In addition, cappies, pulu and other fields produced in Tibet are also major commodities for domestic and overseas sales. At the same time, Western European countries are exploring a new route to the east. The interaction between the two sides has spread Chinese culture to Europe and become popular. With the opening of a new route, the Portuguese brought back Chinese porcelain, and soon a Chinese trade developed in the West. At that time, traces of Chinese landscape painting appeared in the works of Western painters. For example, Leonardo da Vinci's works, Notre Dame Among Rocks and Mona Lisa have similar flavor to the landscape painting of the Song Dynasty in their background. Chinese scholar Fang Lili believes that in the 16th century, foreigners liked Chinese porcelain very much, just as we like LV bags today. Europeans at that time also admired Chinese culture. At that time, European families had Chinese features, Chinese porcelain and Chinese silk, which were the most fashionable. It can be said that whether a country's goods are fashionable is related to whether the country's culture is respected and valued. Okay, that's all the content of this course. The content of next course will be the spread of costume art in Qing Dynasty. See you next course.