Whenever I describe my hometown, between the lines of those affectionate words, there are nostalgic landscapes, endless aftertastes of food, smiling relatives, and fireworks in the world that heal everything. Writing about hometown, there is no perfect score template, only full score love. Call your hometown with words, how will the writers in Hubei write?
Changjiang Cloud News and Hubei Writers Association invited Hubei writers to write a short essay for their hometown. Today, follow the writer Han Lian from Jingzhou, Hubei Province into the magnificent and romantic Jingzhou, full of spirituality, and explore the silk of the Warring States period that dazzles the world.
菡萏
Formerly known as Cui Yingchun, he is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, a member of the Dream of Red Mansions Society of China, and the vice chairman of the Jingzhou Writers Association. His works have been researched by the Graduate Training Innovation Project of Beijing Normal University. The essays have been published in "Works", "Qingming", "Sichuan Literature", "Wild Grass", "Shandong Literature", "Anhui Literature", "Times Literature", "Hunan Literature", "Grassland", "West", "Shuofang", "Shanxi Literature", "Dianchi" and other journals, and have been selected by "Selected Essays (Selected Edition)", "Prose Overseas Edition", "The World is Worth a Smile (30 Essays of the Year)", "50 Essays of the Year (2022)", "2023 Ecological Prose List" and so on. The essay collection "Neither Open nor Fall" was selected into the "Whispering Collection" and so on. The short and medium stories have appeared in "Fangcao", "Tianjin Literature", "Mangyuan", "Shuofang" and so on. Regular publications include "Han Lian Says the Red Chamber", "The Red Chamber", "Neither Open nor Fall", "Empty Wings", "Raising a Snowflake", and writes novels.
Walk into Jingzhou, the "silk treasure house" that amazes the world
Han Lian's hometown essay wrote that Shen Congwen once knelt down in Jingzhou for the beauty of silk. The reporter learned through many inquiries that at the beginning of 1982, Hubei Jiangling excavated the No. 1 Chu tomb in Mashan, and 80-year-old Shen Congwen was invited by the Jingzhou Museum to appreciate the unearthed silk. When he arrived in Jingzhou, the old man knelt down in front of the priceless treasures of the Warring States, he bowed to the beauty and knelt down for the beauty, Shen Congwen said: "It's really the only beautiful silk embroidery in my life, which is spectacular and beautiful." ”
The phoenix bird flower pattern unearthed from the tomb of Mashan Chu embroidered light yellow silk cotton robe, the outer edge with field hunting pattern tape, the middle of the inner edge and the inner side of the upper part of the placket with dragon and phoenix pattern tape, the inner edge on both sides with phoenix bird diamond pattern brocade. The sleeves and hem edges are made of large diamond-shaped brocade, and the robe is wide and beautifully decorated, and is known as the first garment in the world.
The essence of silk weaving in the Warring States period seen by Shen Congwen is sighed by the world. Such as the symmetrical dancer weaving jacquard, raising his sleeves high, moving his feet, singing and dancing, charming and moving. Some beasts and birds such as dragons, phoenixes, deer, unicorns, water birds, butterflies, and four-legged snakes are clearly visible.
Three phoenix embroidery patterns
There are many cultural relics unearthed in Jingzhou, and there have been many major archaeological discoveries in the territory, and the profound and unique Chu culture has sprung up in the archaeology of New China, and has become a hot spot for archaeologists, historians and cultural scholars. Ancient Chinese silk fabrics, known as the "queen of clothing", have a gorgeous appearance, soft color, drape, elegant, smart, and can make a special silk sound when rubbing, which is an ideal fabric for high-end clothing. For a long period of time, ancient silk has been "hidden" in ancient documents, but in sporadic archaeological excavations, it flashes its gorgeous and noble figure.
The costumes unearthed from the tomb of Mashan Chu were restored
It was not until 1982 that the archaeologists of the Jingzhou Museum excavated a batch of Warring States silk more than 2,300 years ago from the No. 1 Chu tomb of Mashan Brick and Tile Factory, which allowed the world to truly see that the Chu people weaved silk fabrics that are difficult to replicate with high technology more than 2,400 years ago. At that time, the production of silk fabrics in the Chu State was indeed as recorded in the literature, and it had the world-class textile technology level at that time.
Dancing animal pattern brocade unearthed from Mashan No. 1 Chu Tomb (Jingzhou Museum collection)
In that archaeological excavation, the archaeological experts of Jingzhou Museum unearthed 35 pieces of cotton robes, single clothes, jackets, single skirts, cotton pants, hats, quilts (quilts), silk noodles and hemp shoes from the No. 1 Chu tomb of Mashan Brick and Tile Factory, especially unearthed 152 pieces of various silk fabrics, of which 21 embroidery products are preserved intact, which can be divided into ten categories, such as silk, silk, yarn, Luo, Qi, brocade, silk, marshalling, embroidery and knitwear, which almost cover the main varieties of silk fabrics in the pre-Qin period.
Three-headed phoenix embroidery pattern (phoenix bird flower pattern embroidery light yellow silk robe partial)
Archaeologists have found that some of these precious unearthed cultural relics are as thin as cicada wings and as light as smoke; Some embroider birds and animals, lifelike; Some are colorful and colorful; Some of the latitude and longitude densities are beyond imagination, denser than today's parachutes. What is surprising is that the decoration of knitted polyester is not visible to the naked eye, and now it can only be explored with the help of auxiliary tools such as microscopes, and the Chu people actually polished the silk weaving process to such a point more than 2,300 years ago. Because of the many varieties of silk weaving unearthed from the Chu tomb of Mashan No. 1, the production is exquisite, well-preserved, the age is long, and the craftsmanship is superb, which can be called "the best in China", so it is praised as the "silk treasure house" of ancient China by Mr. Shen Congwen, the originator of ancient Chinese chapter uniform culture, and thus becomes the treasure of Jingzhou Museum.
The ancient city of Jingzhou
Follow the writer Han Lian, please come to Jingzhou, appreciate the magnificence of the mighty Jingjiang River for 900 miles, and feel the weight of the majestic Chutian for 3,000 years. Walking into the Jingzhou Museum, from the ingenious prehistoric jade ornaments, to the intact Warring States silk, to the dazzling Chu and Han jade, it leads us through time and space to start a thousand-year-old dialogue with the Chu people. Visit the chariot and horse array of the King of Chu, in the vast array, appreciate the Chu people drinking horses and the Yellow River, and win the domineering majesty of the Central Plains. Stroll through the ancient streets and alleys of Jingzhou and feel the charm of Chu Ci, Chu embroidery, and Chu opera.
Editor: Kang Yaofang, Deng Guohui
Reporter: Chen Yaxi
Poster: Liang Yi
Correspondent: Jiang Fu