As a textile tool, the jacquard machine is an important invention in ancient China. The earliest jacquard machine appeared in China during the Shang Dynasty. People can only weave plain fabrics by simple looms at that time. However, jacquard machine can weave the fabrics with beautiful and complex patterns, which developed the weaving technology to a large extent.
Jacquard can be chased back from the original waist machine cross-stitching, which has already been used for diagonal and horizontal looms in the Han Dynasty. First of all ,it is to control a heald( a deivce for hoisting the warp) by using foot pedal to weaving flower pattern. And it needs to add the number of heald frames for achieving the flower pattern effect. Two heald frames can only weave basic plain pattern, 3-4 heald frames can weave twill weaves and over 5 heald frames can finishing the stain fabric weaving process. Therefore, the jacquard machine was been invented, and the warp yarns must be divided into several groups for weaving complex flower pattern or the pattern that in a large shape. That is the reason why the multi-sleeve & crested jacquard machine be gradually formed. Jacquard machine is for weaving jacquard fabrics. The ability to weave colorful textiles in ancient China was inseparable from the invention and the use of the jacquard machine. Simple geometric patterns can be made by ancient Chinese people. The researchers discovered a slight trace of a piece of jacquard fabric with geometric patterns that covered on the surface of a copper yue. It is a kind of fabric with a diagonal warp pattern on the basic single colored plain weave pattern,which is called”QI”.
Development
When it comes Zhou dynasty, weaving multicolored jacquard fabrics is already no difficulty for people.“The great appendix”and other written records about China jacquard machinery in pre-Qin show that we can ensure that China has been using and developing jacquard machine for a very long time. The silk industry developed in a popular stage during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Official weaving room and a uniform officer have been set up by royal court, which made handicraft workshops and thousands of weavers appeared, it brings silk jacquard technology a perfect opportunity to develop to a very high level.
Although it is not clearly about the specific shape and type of the jacquard machine in early Han Dynasty, we can get an overview of its mechanisms characteristics by the structural analysis of the velvet brocade unearthed from the Mawangdui Han tomb. The general fabric structure is a group of four double-sided variable warp weave, and the total number of warp is 8,800 to 12,000 by calculating the width as 50cm. It is quite complicated weaving technology which has used grouped jacquard heddles and used double warp beam mechanisms with lifting separately of ground warp and pile warp.
This kind of jacquard machine is generally hard to become popular among the common people, nor can it feeds the further development of the feudal economy.
Updating
Ma Jun, born in Fufeng (now Xingping, Shaanxi) in the early years of Cao Wei of the Three Kingdoms. He noticed the complicity of ancient jacquard machine and lamented the low productivity of fabric so that he updated the jacquard machine with increased number of healds, finally achieved high working efficiency of jacquard machine and high variety of fabric flower pattern , also the updated jacquard machine is relatively close to the jacquard machine in the "Growing and Weaving Map" drawn by Lou in the Southern Song Dynasty.
The most specific and complete ancient jacquard machine mechanism we know now is recorded in Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu·Naifu" in the Ming Dynasty, it refers to the specific structure of an ancient jacquard machine in China and explained the signification of it. The colorful Sichuan brocade and Nanjing Yun brocade cannot been weaved without this kind of jacquard machine, and its specific structure can be seen in today's history museum. The most difficult part.
The Flower Pattern Memory Device
Calculate and make the flower pattern memory device is the most difficult part when mastering in jacquard technology. It means if people want to weave the designed pattern on the fabric, it is needed to make thousands of warp threads alternately pull up and down according to the designed pattern, and needed arrange dozens of knot threads in an orderly rule, this is so-called flower pattern memory device. With this device, the designed flower pattern can be knotted and weaved well on the jacquard machine. Making flower pattern memory device is also an important contribution of ancient textile craftsmen.