Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t15: Fine Cloth
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t15
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Fine Cloth
v1.c5.s2.t15.1
Xibu is the Chinese term for a particularly fine cloth produced in India in ancient times. The characters for this in ancient China included sui (緌) and zhu (纻) etc. The *Analytical Dictionary of Characters* writes that sui (緌) refers to fine white kapok cloth from Sichuan. If the cloth is fine and thin, it is called "xibu". Also, hu (𦈌) is fine cloth.” Sichuan cloth was transported to eastern India via Yunnan and Myanmar and then re-transported to other areas in India and to Daxia (Bactria) in the early Western Han period. When Zhang Qian visited the Western Regions, he saw articles such as Sichuan cloth and Qiong bamboo transported from north India in Daxia.
v1.c5.s2.t15.2
Cotton cloth
v1.c5.s2.t15.3
Since India was the land of origin of Asian cotton, it is natural that it has been the original producer of cotton cloth. Buddhist Sutras contain quite a few descriptions about Indian cloth. The fine cloth of ancient India was actually quite a rare commodity. Tantric believers often used white cloth or fine cloth to paint images of Avalokitesvara for Tantric rituals. In Fa Yun’s *Collection of Terms in Translation* (Juan 7) it is written that “dukūla is fine cloth.” In the same *Juan*, it is further mentioned that “屈眴 'quxuan/qushun' (*Kārpāsa*) can be referred to as the larger woven variety of fine cloth. It is woven with cotton flowers in a blue black colour. It is also that variety of fine cloth which is used to *kāsāya* (weave), one that has been handed down by the Dharma (Buddhism).”
v1.c5.s2.t15.4
In *Translated Bengali Terms* recorded in Shen Maoshang’s *Extensive Records of Four Foreign Lands* from the Ming period, there is an entry on “fine cloth: dukūla”. Wang Dayuan’s *A Brief History of Island Countries* written in the Yuan period recorded that Banavasi (southeast of Karwar in present-day state of Karnataka in India) “made fine cotton cloth, and people on ships exchanged it for tin”. Men and women in Bengal “wrapped their heads with fine cloth and wore long gowns.” Textiles made in Bengal included “‘bi’ cloth, ‘gaoni’ cloth, ‘douluo’ cotton, etc.” Many men and women in Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) also wore “long gowns made of fine cloth”. *Records of Eminent Monks in the South Seas* compiled by Chen Dazhen *et al*, in the Yuan period recorded that varieties of cloth made in South Asia included white foreign cloth, fancy patterned cloth of foreign origin, ‘bi’ cloth, sheared flannelette, sheared coarse cloth etc. It is recorded that tribute offered by Indian states in the Yuan period included foreign cloth. Ma Huan’s *Overall Survey of the Oceans Shores* in the Ming period mentions that Bengal produced five or six types of fine cloth. One of them was named ‘bi’ cloth and its local name was ‘byramput’. It was over three "chi" in width and five "zhang" and six or seven "chi" in length and it was as fine as pink letter paper. Other species included turmeric cloth, ‘sanah-baf’ in Farsi, cāwtar (沙榻儿, *sha ta er* in Chinese) and malmal etc. During the reign of Zhengtong of the Ming Dynasty, Bengal offered white "bi" cloth and "douluo" cotton as tribute. In *Juan* 326 of the *History of the Ming Dynasty*, the gifts sent by Kulam included white cotton cloth while those sent by Calicut included "danbolan" cloth and "bi" cloth.
v1.c5.s2.t15.5
(Chen Ming)