Abstract:

To investigate the origin of gold thread in ancient China, textual research and analysis of metal monofilament used in the stone armours and jade robes during the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty were conducted. It was thought that the metal monofilament was the primitive form of the gold thread that was eventually used in textiles, and this could result in the origin of the gold thread as the form of strip gold wire and gold foil sheet hooked or interwoven with fabric. Also it was deduced that during the period of 300~400 years from Qin to Eastern Han Dynasty, the gold thread began to be applied to textiles in ancient China as decorations. According to relevant documentation and analysis of the date of relevant unearthed gold threads and reorganization of the differences of the fabricating methods, the gold thread can be divided into two categories: the “Pian Jinxian” and the “Nian Jinxian”. It could be concluded that the gold threads for textile use have met the level of specialization during the period of the Tang and Song Dynasty by combing all the information. And then, the development of the gold threads for textile use became more large-scale in the Yuan Dynasty and later generations.

Key words: gold thread, ancient fabric, mode of origin, unearthed object