Yunjin

Yunjin (云锦)
Dragon robe of the Qianlong Emperor (1711–99) in Yunjin brocade at the Grassi Museum in Leipzig
Traditional Chinese雲錦
Simplified Chinese云锦
Literal meaning"Cloud brocade"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinyún jǐn

Yunjin (Chinese: 雲錦), Nanjing brocade or cloud brocade, is a traditional Chinese luxury silk brocade made in Nanjing since the end of the Song dynasty, and based on weft-weaving techniques from both the Song and Tang dynasties. It is shuttle-woven, and often incorporates gold and silver threads with the coloured silks. During the Ming dynasty, the yunjin weavers developed a technique of swivel weaving that enabled them to weave colourful designs onto a base fabric in other weaves, such as satin. In 2009, Nanjing brocade was selected into the representative list of oral and intangible heritage of humanity at UNESCO.