Jin-Tang dynasty cotton fabrics and cotton cloth in the Xiyu documents——A die-rong(叠茸),die-bu(叠布),xie-hua(緤花),xie-bu(緤布),and die-bu(㲲布)-centred perspective
Cotton cultivation and the use of cotton fabrics have a long history in Xiyu,and had been extensively recorded by the ancient texts of Jin-Tang dynasty.As the exotic goods,at the beginning the cotton cloth was homophonically translated into"die",which had been represented by various Chi-nese characters and names in different periods.During the Sixteen Kingdoms era,silk-worm farming was a booming industry;the local government levied on silk-worm farmer for silks as the tax item.Even if the cotton cultivation existed,its impact would be minimal.By the Gaochang Kingdom period a hundred years later,cotton was widely cultivated in the Turfan Basin;cotton cloth became a common term in ci-vilian contracts and temple documents.Cotton was called"die-rong(叠茸)"during this period,while the cotton cloth was called"die(叠)",which can be further divided into"xi-die(细叠)","zhongx-ing-die(中形叠)",and"xing-die(行 叠)".After Tang's annexation of Gaochang,cotton cultivation replaced the traditional silk-worm farming to be the leading industry.In the early Tang period,cotton cloth was considered as a form of brocade;its writing form transformed from a homophone"叠"to a pho-no-semantic compound"緤",and its name changed from"die-rong(叠茸)"to"xie-hua(緤花)".Cotton cloth was a formal tax item in Xizhou(西州)during the Tang dynasty,and"yong-diao(庸调)"was called"Yong-xie(庸緤)"in government documents.There were three types of xie-bu(緤布)at the time:fine"xie(緤)",mid-standard"xie(緤)",and crude"xie(緤)".Fine"xie(緤)"and mid-standard"xie(緤)"were very expensive,having prices comparable to high-grade silks.Crude"xie(緤)"was abundant in quantity and low in price,with values equivalent to"lian(练)"and"juan(绢)".During the late Tang-Five Kingdom period,cotton cloth spread to the Dun-huang area and no longer considered as the equivalent of silk,but as"mao(毛)".The writing form of"xie(緤)"also changed to"die(㲲)".㲲 was the main character seen in the Buddhist texts and re-maining documents from the Song dynasty,while the character"xie(緤)"which can be commonly found in the texts of Tang dynasty gradually died off.By the time of Guiyi Circuit,cotton cloth in Dun-huang include types such as"Lijixie(立机緤)"and"Guianbu(官布)".The cotton cultivated in Xiyu belonged to African cotton.Due to limitations such as climate,physical environment,and technology,the process of its eastward dissemination was very slow.It only reached Gansu region by the Yuan dynas-ty,drastically differing from the Asian cotton which was widespread in the inland after the Song and Yuan Dynasty.However,it played a significant role in promoting the social development in western China throughout history.
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