THE SUNG DYNASTY
Ming Ti, made a presentation to the Emperor of Japan of five rollsof silk, brocaded with dragons woven upon a crimson ground.
A description is here given of a few out of fifty brocaded patternsof the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279).
“ Floral emblems. Dragons coiling through a hundred flowers.Lotus and Tortoises, emblems of Longevity, and Tree peonies.Wild geese flying in the clouds. Squares and Medallions of whiteflowers.”
This description fittingly illustrates the characteristics of ancientChinese patterned fabrics, in which the ornamental details werechosen for their significance as emblems of sovereignty or seasons,or of happy augury.
This is illustrated in plate 1 8, where the symbol of longevity isprominently displayed above the dragon.
The intermingling of animals and floral forms is characteristic ofall Asiatic and early European art and dates back to the remote past.
Marco Polo, in his travels in China (1275 A.D.), speaks of “thehousing of cloth fancifully and richly worked in gold and silk, infigures of birds and beasts, that were upon the 5000 elephants ofKublai Khan, in Kanbalu (Peking).”
Of the beautiful flora of China the chrysanthemum, the peony, andcamellia are largely used as motives in patterning, together withbutterflies and a type of foliage suggestive of sea-weed. Represen-tative examples of these are given on plates 17 and 19.
Geometrical diapers of polygon shape, enclosing radiating flowersand diagonal frets, are also prevalent.
The key or fret, and its variant, the svastika or fylfot , play animportant part in the ornament of many nations, but more especiallyin that of China and Japan.
These frets are used occasionally alone, but more frequently inconjunction with floral or animal forms, as in plates 18 and 19. Theantiquity and persistency of the fret as an ornamental feature isremarkable, as similar forms to those shown on the blue damask(plate 20) are also found on some bronze vessels of the ChowDynasty (B.C. 1122—255), which indicates the persistency of theearly symbols in Eastern art.
Chinese fabrics sometimes consist of these floral motives (plates17 and 19 lower), or of geometrical patterns (plate 20); the floralpattern, as in plate 19, often appears delightfully free, but inreality conforms to strict but unseen conventions rather after thefashion of the structural basis of a musical piece, such as a sonataor fugue.
Chinese patterned fabrics are characterised by fine technical
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