Study on the Formation of Japanese Kaniarare Textiles

Abstract

Kaniarare pattern (窠に霰文), a typical and representative design among the Japanese Yusoku patterns (有職文樣), becomes stylized at least during the 11th to 12th centuries in the late Heian period. The design of kaniarare pattern became stylized at least during the 11th to 12th centuries in the late Heian period, while the earliest known stylized kaniarare-mon silk fabric could be dated from late 13th century during the Kamakura period. Although the study of the trade and cultural exchanges between Song and Liao Dynasties and late Heian to early Kamakura Japan became more distinctive in the past decades, the transmission of silk art and relative impact on Japanese silk design have not been fully studied. By comparing with a few groups of extant and unearthed silk relics and connecting their relevancy, this article attempts to analyze the possible influence of silk design from the Liao to Song dynasties on Japanese silk design then and later.