Plain gauze Zen clothes, Western Han Dynasty,
The "Pen gauze Zen clothes" unearthed from Han Tomb No. 1 in Mawangdui, Changsha in 1972 is a well-known cultural relic. This gauze dress was found in the tomb of Mrs. Li Cang of Madahou. It has a cross collar, right gusset, straight train, and wider sleeves. The length of the dress is 128 cm, the full sleeve length is 195 cm, the cuff width is 29 cm, the waist width is 48 cm, the hem width is 49 cm, and it weighs 48 grams. It is as thin as a cicada wing and does not fit into a hand after folding. It reflects the superb weaving technology at that time and is the only one in China. It is a representative work of yarn weaving level in the Western Han Dynasty and the pride of Chu-Han culture.
It is understood that it is a square-hole plain weave fabric interwoven with a single warp and a single weft. Its warp density is generally 58 to 64 per centimeter, and the weft density is 40 per centimeter. to 50 yarns. The density is relatively sparse, and the holes are filled with the surface of the fabric, so the texture of the yarn is very light and thin. The ancients described it as "light gauze as thin as air" and "as if it were nothing", which is not an exaggeration at all. This is why Susha Zen clothes are so light and thin.
Bai Juyi, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Liao Ling": "It should be like a 45-foot waterfall in front of the bright moon on Tiantai Mountain. There are articles in it and it is very strange. The ground is covered with white fireworks and frost." Reciting this poem, I think that the description in the poem of being as light as mist and as crystal clear as water is just an artistic exaggeration by the poet. Until the excavation of the world-famous Mawangdui Han Tomb, a large number of silk fabrics were unearthed in the tomb, especially two plain yarn Zen clothes, which confirmed that the poet's description was not an exaggeration based on imagination, but a realistic and figurative description.
Two pieces of plain yarn Zen clothing unearthed from Han Tomb No. 1 in Mawangdui, one weighs 48 grams and the other weighs 49 grams, which is less than one tael. For example, a Zen garment weighing 48 grams is 1.6 meters long, with sleeves 1.95 meters long and a waist width 0.48 meters. If the thicker edges of the collar and cuffs are removed, the weight is only over half a tael. It can be said that it is "as thin as a cicada's wing and as light as smoke". It is amazing that it came from a Han tomb more than 2,000 years ago!
This piece of plain yarn Zen is now in the collection of the Hunan Provincial Museum. The Zen clothes are made of yarn. Because they have no color and no lining, the unearthed condemnation book calls them plain yarn Zen clothes. Yarn is the earliest type of silk that appeared in ancient my country. It is a square-hole plain fabric interwoven with single warp and single weft filaments. Its warp density is generally 58 to 64 per centimeter, and the weft density per centimeter. It is 40 to 50 yarns. The density is sparse, and the holes are full of the surface of the fabric, so the texture is light and thin. The ancients described it as "gauze as thin as air" and "as if it were nothing", which is no exaggeration at all. Excellent yarn material, famous for its even fineness. The yarn material of plain yarn Zen clothes only weighs 15.4 grams per square meter. This is not because the fabric has large holes and many gaps, but because the yarn material has a small denier and a fine silk fiber. In silk weaving, there is a special unit of measurement for the silk fineness of fabrics, called denier (full name: denier). Every nine kilometers of monofilament weighs one gram, which is one denier. The smaller the denier, the finer the silk fiber. It has been measured that the silk fineness of plain yarn Zen clothes is only 10.2 to 11.3 denier, while the high-grade silk fabrics produced now have 14 denier, which shows the high development of silk spinning technology in the Han Dynasty.
The plain gauze Zen clothes are light and transparent. How to wear them? "The Book of Songs·Zheng Feng·Feng": "The clothes are brocade, and the clothes are brocade." A thin and transparent single layer of clothing is covered on the outside of the brightly colored brocade robe, making the brocade decorations vaguely visible and hazy, which not only enhances the level of clothing. It brings out the beauty and nobility of brocade clothes. The gauze garment with a light and elegant texture is worn on a woman, standing in the wind, walking slowly, as if flying, which fully reflects the softness of women.
Mawangdui Susha Zen (single) clothing was once stolen. Currently, the museum displays highly simulated samples.