《延喜式》中的丝织物品种研究

Study on silk fabric varieties in Engishiki

针对日本《延喜式》中所提及的丝织物品种及其织机问题,运用中日古文献、纺织品考古两维印证的方法,得到晚唐时期日本织部司官营织造工场的丝织技术接近甚至已经达到中国水平的结论。研究表明:晚唐时期,日本的丝织技术得到飞速发展,能够生产出各种类型的绫、罗、纱、锦,尤其是缂丝织物完成了中国丝织技术引进与吸收;在唐代日本赠送给中国皇帝的丝织物并不能真实反映日本当时的织造水平,主要是由日本的学习心态与中国的朝贡体系两方面因素造成;根据《延喜式·织部司》中织机的相关记载,通过与中国花楼织机相关技术参数的比对,推测出晚唐时期中国的花楼织机极有可能已经传播至日本,并已经在日本的官营织造工场中的绫织机上大量使用。

Engishiki is a Japanese statute written in the fifth year of Enchōin Japan(927 A.D.),which records a large number of silk fabric varieties in Japan at that time and the specific operation system and situation of the official weaving workshops run by the imperial court of Japan.Since most of the ancient Japanese textile technologies were spread from China,Engishiki is of great value for studying Japanese silk fabric varieties in the late Tang Dynasty(875-907 A.D.),and the ancient textile technologies and cultural exchange between China and Japan.Through a comparative analysis of Engishiki with the Chinese and Japanese textiles in the Tang Dynasty,as well as relevant ancient literature by using ancient Chinese and Japanese literature and archaeological textile research for bidimensional verification,two important conclusions are drawn as follows:In the late Tang Dynasty,Japanese silk weaving technology developed so rapidly that various fabricsmade of damask silk,rib yarn,gauze,brocade,and even silk tapestry were produced,among which damask silk and brocade varieties were the most abundant.The varieties and types of these fabrics indicate that Japan’s weaving technology and level at that time was as good as that of the concurrent Tang Dynasty.The previous studies may have underestimated the weaving level of Japanese people at that time and blindly emphasized that high-grade silk fabrics were imported into Japan from China in the Tang Dynasty.According to the relevant records of the items presented to theemperors of the Tang Dynasty in"rewarding the foreign guests"of Engishiki·Ministry of Finance,silk fabrics were quite common in Japan at that time,which were significantly different from the fabrics produced by the official weaving workshopsrun by the weaving department.The research has found that the silk fabrics presented by Japan to Chinese emperors at that time could not reflect Japan’s real weaving level.On the one hand,Japanese people comprehensively studied the Tang culture and admired it with an inferior mindset,so it was impossible for them to give some high-grade silk fabrics to the royal family of the Tang Dynasty because such silk fabrics were not rare in the Tang Dynasty.Instead,those with local characteristics were more suitable.On the other hand,the tributary system in ancient China was keen on face-saving while ignoring economic benefits,and due to this defect,the neighboring countries had the mentality of throwing a sprat to catch a herring,and hoped to obtain more economic benefits through the tributary system.This paper has systematically and deeply collected,sorted and analyzed the silk fabric varieties and weaving process in Japan’s Engishiki.Not only studying the ancient textile technology history of Japan from the perspective of"self",this paper has also investigated the ancient textile cultural exchange between China and Japan from the perspective of"the other".Even for studying the ancient textile history of China,it is necessary to maintain essential tension between"Whiggism"and"anti-Whiggism"or between"self"and"the other",so as to minimize errors caused by the difference of perspectives.