Tang Dynasty Attire: Women’s Everyday Dress – Silk

Bamboo Flute Player in Patterned Silks
This lady is dressed in short sleeves, a long skirt, and a shawl. Her hair is coiled high in a bun and she is playing a bamboo flute.

During the Tang Dynasty silk, was a staple textile. Sichuan, Jiangnan (South-east of China) and Henan/Hebei were the most famous silk-producing regions. Sichuan’s colorful brocade, Wuyue’s unusual faille and Henan/Hebei’s silk gauze were precious silk products at that time.

Ever-Changing and Beautiful Design

Silk from the Tang Dynasty is not only colorful and lustrous, but also very rich and beautiful in pattern. Birds were often used, including the phoenix, peacock, parrot, mandarin duck and hoopoe in embroidering, printing and dyeing. Sometimes they were mixed with bees, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, insects and so on. Beasts included lions, unicorns, tigers, leopards, deer, camel, and they were mainly used in the subject patterns of heavily colored brocade.

Flowers and trees were often used also. The peony was first choice, while twining branches, crossing branches and a bunch of flowers were used together, ever-changing and very beautiful. Flower groups in crisscross and square designs were also found.

Source: http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2002/10/21/1173.html