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30th March, 2001

Silken Fabrics By Noisy Mechanical Operation; Patterned Design Of Silk Material: Building Workers On Bamboo Scaffolding: Ladies' Dresses And Men’s Shirts On Saleroom Counter

August, 1987
Silken fabrics from mechanical looms. Silken fabrics being woven always creates noise ! From one noisy workshop we moved to another, equally noisy, but here the silk was being woven into silken fabrics, not on hand looms as perhaps the first silken fabrics for the robes of the Emperors had been made, but on mechanical looms. I watched one loom in operation producing a patterned material in a rich red colour and although I could hear and see the shuttle being hurled back and to through the warp threads there seemed hardly any increase in the finished material. Perhaps it was because of the fineness of the threads or the shuttle was empty, but what was being produced was fit for any King or Emperor. From the workshops we were inevitably taken to the sales department where many silk items were on display and of course for sale. One counter was well stocked with bales of printed silk cloth in many colours and there were men’s shirts and ladies’ dresses, but very few of the group bought anything even though the prices were more than reasonable.

Those of us who had seen enough started to gather at the prearranged meeting place on the street near to the workshop, where there happened to be a group of workmen having their lunch. On the opposite side of the street was a new block of flats under construction and the building was clad in bamboo scaffolding, from the top of which workmen shouted something or other to their colleagues below, safe in the knowledge that few if any of the foreigners would have understood their comments ! Many dialects in China understood only by locals.All the workmen were wearing hardhats made from bamboo, so this was another usage to add to my growing list. As I write this, I am reminded of a visit I made in 1995 to a small country town called Tong Mu, in Hunan Province, where coolie hats are made in great numbers, so I think we will leave the tour for the time being and return at a later date, but I hope that the Tour Leader does not notice that I have gone missing.........



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