A History of China in Silk: The Chris Hall Collection at the Hong Kong Palace Museum

BY DAISY YIYOU WANG, FENG ZHAO AND SUM YIN YAU

TTHE CHRIS HALL Collection at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) is one of the world’s most comprehensive and significant collections of historical Chinese textiles. It includes nearly 3000 works from the Warring States period (475–221 BC) to the 21st century and encompasses examples of all major Chinese textile categories. The collection has been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications by museums in Hong Kong and beyond. To support the development of the HKPM and advance the study and appreciation of Chinese textiles, Mr Chris Hall, the renowned Hong Kong collector, generously offered the museum his promised gift as “The Chris Hall Collection at the Hong Kong Palace Museum” in 2024 (1).

The same year, drawing on the unparalleled strengths of this collection, the HKPM and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University established The Hong Kong Palace Museum – The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Joint Chinese Textile Centre, which is committed to advancing global understanding and innovative applications of Chinese historical textiles from a range of perspectives, including art, history, science and technology. The Centre is planning and implementing research, education and publication projects.

Celebrating this significant collection, the HKPM has organised an exhibition titled “A History of China in Silk: The Chris Hall Collection at the Hong Kong Palace Museum”, which runs from October 1st, 2025 to May 4th, 2026 (2). A major survey of the history of silk in China from the perspectives of technological advancement and artistic achievement, it features more than 100 spectacular textiles from the Warring States period to the early 20th century. The exhibition’s five sections, presented in chronological order, weave a rich and colourful tapestry of China, its society, its clothing culture and its interactions with the world.

For more than 5000 years, silk has been an integral part of life in China, composing an illustrious chapter in the history of Chinese civilisation and global cultural interaction. Strong yet soft, silk is woven from the fibre produced by silkworms. Its natural lustre adds to its appeal. China, the birthplace of silk, was known as Serica (State of Silk) by ancient Greeks and Romans, and China remains the world’s largest silk producer today. Sericulture, which includes mulberry cultivation, silkworm breeding, silk reeling and silk weaving, served as an important step in the origin and development of Chinese civilisation. Silk production has played a key role in the livelihood of the Chinese people, as well as in socio-economic developments and technological innovation in China.

Silk not only helped connect diverse ethnic groups and vast regions across the country, but also bridged China and the rest of the world. Silk was a highly sought-after luxury good, as precious as gold, and was also a form of currency that facilitated vibrant exchanges between China and many parts of the world along the trade routes known as the Silk Roads. Silk has made unique contributions to world art: it has been widely used as a support for Chinese paintings and calligraphic works, as a canvas for artistic experiments in colour and decoration, and as a fabric for clothing.

The Late Neolithic Period to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, circa 3000 BC–AD 589

The origins of silk can be traced to the late Neolithic period when inhabitants of the basins of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers processed silk cocoons and wove on primitive looms. Leizu, the consort of the legendary Yellow Emperor, was known as the first teacher of sericulture. Silk production techniques advanced during the Shang (circa 1600–1100 BC) and Zhou (circa 1100–256 BC) dynasties, resulting in increasing varieties of silk and more complex weaves.

The Warring States period to the Southern Dynasties (420–589) and Northern Dynasties (386–581) marked a transformative era in Chinese history. Geometric and animal designs gained popularity during the Warring States and Han (206 BC–AD 220) periods. Among the earliest known extant examples of brocade in China is this fragment reflecting the advanced weaving techniques of the Warring States period (3). Brocade is a multicoloured jacquard-woven silk, long regarded as a luxury textile for its technical complexity. The neat design features composite creatures with dragon heads and phoenix bodies, and those with bird heads and animal bodies. Between the motifs run two bands in cinnabar red. Bearing some of the earliest images of dragon and phoenix in Chinese textiles, this brocade fully illustrates the expressiveness and abstract style of art in the Chu state (present-day Hunan and Hubei provinces). The cloud-scroll and animal motifs on another brocade are likely associated with immortality cults and esoteric arts, which gained currency during the Qin (221–206 BC) and Han dynasties (4). Masses of clouds and mountains were considered the abodes of immortals, so cloud motifs proliferated across the arts. The Chinese characters, wuji (without limit), are woven into the brocade.

In the Qin and Han dynasties, a maturing bureaucracy fostered economic, social and cultural developments. Han dynasty state-run weaving workshops, producing court textiles and garments, thrived in areas such as Shaanxi and Shandong. The private silk industry expanded. Exchanges across various ethnic groups and regions during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties enriched the art of textiles.

Silk played a key role in the dynamic interactions between China and the world. From the Neolithic period to the Western Zhou dynasty (circa 1100–771 BC), knowledge of silk production remained a closely guarded secret of China. In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, nomadic tribes traversed the vast northern steppes and laid the foundations for the later Silk Roads. In 138 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty dispatched the envoy, Zhang Qian (died 114 BC), to the Western Regions, inaugurating the fabled “Silk Roads” that have facilitated exchanges between China and Central Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean. The Silk Roads have facilitated the exchange of dyeing and weaving knowledge and cultural interactions. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the introduction of Central, West and South Asian art helped diversify Chinese textiles and their decorations.

The Sui and the Tang Dynasties, 581–907

Chinese society flourished during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties. The opening of the Grand Canal during the Sui dynasty facilitated economic connectivity between north and south. The Tang dynasty is celebrated for its power and prosperity, as well as its vast territory and far-reaching cultural influence. China’s engagement with Eurasia and Southeast Asia increased, with goods exported via both land and maritime trade routes. Interactions between China and the world were best illustrated by cosmopolitan centres along the Silk Roads, such as Chang’an, Luoyang, Dunhuang and Turfan, where cultures and religions converged.

The art of silk reached new heights during the Sui and the Tang when weft-faced compound twill, a polychrome brocade, along with lightweight gauzes, gained great popularity. Twill damask and silk tabby were widely used as currency. At the request of Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty, He Chou (active 6th–7th century), an artisan in the imperial workshop, reproduced and improved upon Persian brocade from West Asia. Later, Dou Shilun (593–671) created textiles in the “Duke of Lingyang style”, a further refinement that profoundly influenced Tang textiles. Incorporating elements from West and Central Asia, including the Sasanian dynasty and Sogdiana, this style is characterised by auspicious animals in roundels and floral decorations. In the mid-to-late Tang dynasty, images, such as floral sprays, birds and butterflies, gained currency, reflecting an interest in nature and naturalism (5).

During the Tang dynasty, when state power was at its height, clothing styles became grand and dynamic, featuring richly coloured patterns. This trend is reflected in the popularity of large pearl roundels. The design on this robe blends floral motifs characteristic of Central Plains aesthetics with pearl roundels featuring winged lions and other elements from the Western Regions (6).

The Song and the Yuan Dynasties, 960–1368

The period from the 10th–13th century saw remarkable cultural and economic prosperity, as well as technological advancements. Frequent contact among the Song, Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Uyghur and Dali peoples allowed mutual exchange of ideas and designs. Maritime commerce flourished, with the port cities of Quanzhou and Guangzhou emerging as hubs for international trade. In 1271, Kublai Khan (reigned 1260–1294) established the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and unified a vast state, which fostered exchange among peoples across Eurasia. With the opening of the unprecedented cross-continental routes, the Yuan dynasty forged close ties with West Asia and Europe, which stimulated the Chinese silk and porcelain export trade.

In the Song dynasty (960–1279), silk production became a vital economic activity. Lightweight silks, like twill damask and complex gauze, were predominant and decorations inspired by nature gained popularity. Weaving techniques became increasingly sophisticated. Drawing on textile know-how of the late Tang dynasty, weavers in the Liao (907–1125) and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties created jacquards, including brocade, twill damask and complex gauze. Silks of the Liao and Jin dynasties often draw on images of the northern steppe; clothing often features woven or embroidered hunting scenes set by water and in woods. The Jin dynasty robe, for instance, is decorated with flying geese, clouds, trees and paired deer (7). Gold–brocaded textiles were among the representative categories of fabrics of the Jin dynasty; gold threads were made from flat strips of paper with gold foil under the influence of West Asian culture. Silk tapestry, satin stitch embroidery combined with goldwork embroidery, as well as dyeing, were widely used (8).

The Yuan dynasty saw the fusion of textile designs of the Song dynasty with those from West Asia, which led to the manufacture of opulent silks, including those with gold thread or gold-printed decorations (9). A special type of Yuan textile is lampas with sumptuous designs, which required complex weaving techniques.

The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644

The Ming dynasty is often regarded as a golden age in Chinese history. Significant advances were made then in arts, culture, trade and technology. The early Ming period saw a return to Han Chinese sartorial norms and a continuation of certain Yuan dynasty dress elements…..

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