An Examination of the Origin of Gambiered Canton Gauze

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1008-018X.2011.04.011

Abstract：A study of gambiered Canton gauze about its original dates, sites and procedures relies heavily on three key factors, dioscorea cirrhosa lour, river silt and silk material. The historical data show that dioscorea cirrhosa lour was first used as the dye material in the Song Dynasty. Dioscorea cirrhosa lour it- self can dye the shell fabric to be the color of shallow brown or other colors, but the materials dyed by dioscorea cirrhosa lout will become black when it gets in touch with the river silt of high ferromolybde- num iron. The record shows t~at gambiered Canton gauze and river silt were used for the fish net of hemp and other fiber crops in 1700（during the Kangxi Period of the Qing Dynasty）. Only when di- oscorea cirrhosa lour and river silt are really used for silk shell fabric can gambiered Canton gauze be re- ally made. In a broad sense, gambiered Canton gauze refers to dioscorea cirrhosa lour silk with a variety of shell fabrics, which originated from Panyu in 1871 （during the Tongzhi Period of the Qing Dynasty）. And in the narrow sense, gambiered Canton gauze means dioscorea cirrhosa lour silk with deep hole floret yarn, which was first founded in Nanhai at the beginning of the Republic of China.