Nanjing Yunjin Brocade Weaving (Hand-Loom Figured Technique)

Nanjing Yunjin weaving traces back to imperial workshops set up in the Yuan dynasty; in the Ming and Qing it produced cloth for the court, and its name — 'cloud brocade' — comes from colours as splendid as sky clouds, marking the summit of Chinese silk craft.

On a large drawloom a 'pattern-puller' and a 'weaver' work in pairs, combining figured and brocaded methods and weaving in gold, silver and even peacock-feather thread; only a few centimetres can be made a day, entirely by hand and still impossible to mechanise.

Listed in the first national batch in 2006 and inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, it is Nanjing's most emblematic traditional craft.

It is mainly preserved and shown at the Nanjing Yunjin Museum (China Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute).