The earliest Chinese carpets known are from the seventeenth century. This suggests that the Chinese were late starters in the textile field, but it is inconceivable that this country, so advanced in other arts and crafts, should have been behind in this technique which was so prevalent in other parts of the Orient. According to the records, the custom of using carpets as furnishings began as early as 1122 BC, but of course this has never been substantiated by even the smallest practical example. In this context we are, of course, speaking of China proper. Elsewhere in this website it will be seen that the earliest known knotted rug was found near the Outer Mongolian border, but this is attributed to Persia and not to China. Certainly Chinese motifs found their way into the early rugs of Turkey and the Caucasus, which also suggests that this vast country was participating in the craft much earlier than is supposed.
The main centre of production in the nineteenth century appears to have been Pekin, and even today we can find carpets which are attributed to this city. Completely Chinese in character, many with a blue ground colour, they are very different from the modern Chinese product. Exporting carpets from China only started in 1850 and since then the product has undergone many changes to satisfy the appetite of the West. Production is now centred in Tientsin where, since the nineteen-twenties, a fine yarn, high pile carpet has been made which necessitates chemical washing, and the magnificent silky sheen and carved effect gives a most luxurious appearance to this latest development in Oriental art. A further innovation, made in Hong Kong, is a kind of tufted carpet with a latexed backing. As this is not a traditional weave, such products have not been considered in this volume.
Carpets have appeared which are classified as Sinkiang and Ningsia, but these are from areas which could be considered to belong more to Eastern Turkestan than to China, as also would the carpets of Tibet.
One type of knotted rug from China must be mentioned here, as it does not appear in any other country. This is the Pillar rug, made long and very narrow, to surround pillars. This is so skilfully executed that when the rug has been wound spirally around a pillar, the design, hitherto piecemeal, suddenly becomes a coherent whole.
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