JAPANESE FABRICS

was not until 1364 A.D. that the cultivation of it was established,chiefly in the provinces of Chehkiang, Kiangnan, Kiangsu, Hupeh,Hunan, and Fukien; where it is still largely produced, but it hasnever reached the degrees of excellence of the silken fabrics of Chinaor of the cotton fabrics of India.

In many districts the greater part of the cotton only leaves thefarm where it is raised in the form of cloth, as all the processes ofcleaning, flocking, spinning, and weaving are carried on close to thecotton farm.

These cotton cloths are woven on hand looms chiefly by women(fig. 6). The cloths are usually 16 to 20 inches wide and have aplain weave. Much of the cloth is dyed indigo or black, thepatterns being produced by block printing or stencilling with aresist of ashes, flour, and glue or gum, before the fabric is dyed.

Good grass cloths are used extensively for summer wear, theyare woven in the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Kiangsu.Woollen cloths are not woven to any appreciable extent in China,warmth being supplied by wadded clothing.

Cotton yarn from the numerous spinning mills in Bombay, andthe district, is now largely imported into China, where there isan extensive demand for the coarser counts; and Japan also hasnow extensive mills in India for the spinning of cotton for theJapanese markets.

JAPANESE

The Industrial Arts of Ancient and Medieval Japan were un-doubtedly derived in large measure from those of China: hence inthe early products of the Japanese looms the beautiful flora andfauna of nature; the chrysanthemum, peony, iris, lily, bamboo,cherry, or plum, with birds, fishes, and dragons, with their signi-ficance of life or of the seasons, are used as elements of patterninghaving similar decorative conventions to those of China.

Modern Japanese patterns are differentiated from those of Chinaby a more capricious planning, and a greater degree of realism inthe interpretation of natural forms; not the realism of Western ideals,but the realism of drawing and structure, in fact “ pattern ” with allits significance and beauty of line and form.

Their spontaneity and accuracy of craftsmanship, their keen andalert vision for the beautiful and the significant in nature, and theirsingular, though clever, conventions in the representation of thehuman figure, are essentially Japanese. The conventions employedin the delineations of the human figure are probably due to natural

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