Silk Products

Silk Products

　　As one of the three major foreign trade ports in ancient China and one of the “Five Treaty Ports” after the Opium War, Ningbo is most renowned both at home and abroad for its silk products. Its status and reputation far surpass those of the Hangjiahu area. Ningbo’s silk products and silk weaving techniques have been famous both domestically and internationally since ancient times, becoming important commodities in foreign trade. During the Tang Dynasty, silk produced in Ningbo—including silk from the Jiangsu area—was exported to Japan and referred to as “Tang Ling,” winning great favor among people from all walks of life in Japan. As noted by Japanese scholar Fujiwara no Teika in his work “Meigetsuki”: “In recent years, people of all ranks have loved wearing ‘Tang Ling,’ leading to orders for capital weavers to imitate ‘Tang Ling.’ The weaving techniques of this ‘Tang Ling’ quickly became popular at the port of Hakata—the port from Ningbo (then known as Mingzhou) to Japan—and Hakata became the center of Japan’s ancient silk industry. This weaving method was called ‘Hakata-ori,’ and imitations of ‘Tang Ling’ also emerged in society. In addition to being exported to Japan and Goryeo, Ningbo’s silk products were also traded in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Iran. (Ningbo)