Chinese Silk: A Cultural History

by Shelagh J. Vainker

Silk is one of China's major contributions to world civilization, the secrets of its cultivation closely guarded for generations. The famous network of trade routes between West and East is still known as the Silk Road. The organization and techniques of Chinese silk production, the uses of the silk produced--both bolts and made-up pieces--and the types and styles of its ornament are celebrated in this richly illustrated and accessible book, the first...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813534461
• ISBN13: 9780813534466
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 10.6" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

An impressive and seminal work of outstanding scholarship

Chinese Silk: A Cultural History by Shelagh Vainker (Assistant Keeper of Eastern Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England) is a detailed history of silk in China ranging from its Neolithic origins down to the twentieth century. Relating the use of Chinese silk to other decorative arts, and drawing extensively from archaeology, paintings, poems, and other texts, Vainker traces the role of silk in Chinese history, trade, religion, and literature. Chinese Silk is an impressive and seminal work of outstanding scholarship, would make a superb choice as a community library Memorial Fund acquisition, as well as an essential, core addition to academic library Cultural History collections.