Silk Patterns In Ancient China

Looking back on the history of the world during the first millennium AD we can observe several regions that flourished by themselves around the globe ranging from the Arabic caliphs in the west to Kingdoms of India and Chinese Empires in the east. Every region had its own way to prosperity that was threatened by wars, invasions of nomadic people, natural disasters, and rebellions. However, like everything in this world these imperial states were strongly connected to each other and did not exist in absolute isolation. These connections were determined by the thousands of miles of trade routes that extended from East Asia through the India and to the west where they reach the prosperous lands of the Mediterranean unitedly called Silk Road. The
The kind of silk the person possessed used to say a lot about the wealth and social status of the holder. Peasants enjoyed the simple striped or plain silk products, when the members of nobility wore dyed, variously patterned, and highly embroidered ones. During the Tang Dynasty hierarchy of blood aristocracy disappeared promoting the significance of the attire worn by nobility as the family names stopped to provide the status in the society. The color and the quality of the silk elements of garment defined the social distinction of classes. The rulers of Tang dynasty even tried to establish the law allowing to wear silk pieces only if the person was official, but this venture did not succeed as the silk was too important for traditional lifestyle of all levels of the
This religion came from India where it was born and conquered the popularity in Asia. The importance of silk for the Buddhism cannot be denied, as it became a secret object for several rituals. Pilgrims played important part in promoting silk to India during their journeys to there pursuing the relicts of Buddha. Once relicts were found and monks brought their parts to India, nobility, including the ruling family, donated thousands silk bolts to the monastery their were kept in in order to gain merit. Furthermore, relicts were covered in the highly decorated silk materials and kept in it for centuries afterwards. Relicts became the most significant objects of worship in China during the Tang period. People of wealth presented silk to monks and to monasteries as a sign of the adoration and to earn merits. The ritual robe of monks became silk at that period as the Tang rulers presented this fiber as a reward for their contribution to promotion of the Buddhism in the