An Inch of Tapestry is a Gram of Gold?

"Tapestry rolled out from the looming machine is the jealousy of embroidery in Qin and Tang dynasty; It’s like no other woven silk or embroidery, rather it’s a flowing, romantic wave of jade". These poetic lines are describing the “silk of all silk” – the “Tapestry” , called also “Kesi”.

"An inch of tapestry is a gram of gold", is a line people use to describe this ancient craftmanship. It originated in Han and Wei Dynasty, and prospered in the South Song Dynasty. In 2006, Kesi was included as one of the first batch of China’s intangible cultural heritages.

It features 16 making procedures, using more than 6,000 colors of thread in diverse combinations. Kesi takes finer raw silk as its warp, and thicker, colored ripe silk as the weft, and is weaved on a looming machine. To this day, the tapestry art is still unparcelled due to its changing color combinations and sophisticated making process, something machines can never accomplish. That’s why Kesi is renowned as the “silk of all silk”.

Even the most experienced and skilled Kesi craftsman could only finish 20 works all his whole lifetime, which makes the tapestry art especially precious and valuable. This craftmanship is carrying forward the Chinese silk culture in its own way.

Producer: Yang Gu

Chief Supervisor: Chen Jiandong, Song Leyong

Chief Planner: Che Jingwen, Jin Linghan

Script Writer: Yue Pei

Coordinator: Zhou Shuodi, Tao Yanyan, Yang Jingyi

Co-produced by: China Internet Development Foundation and GMW.cn