Marchand Chinese photographed with his wife
in the late nineteenth century in Burma. Al. British Library.
"The industry is diverse in the city of Reims, producer of light materials, advantageous pricing and quality seemed to be having one of the favored, where opportunities would open up our imports in the extreme East. The facts we have found have confirmed these predictions and observations that we recorded prove the possibility of placing more or less successful sections of the factory in China and the English colonies, British and Dutch Indian Archipelago .
One of the first conditions of success of articles intended for export is to be executed in special factories used by manufacturers to produce fabrics that are similar and whose experience is a guarantee of success. All too often, or you're buying, without regard to requirements of the Consumer foreign tissue prepared according to the tastes and needs of the French toilet, or that we do not concern work habits workshops which we entrust the execution of sets. In the first case, which is the most common, are thrown on the markets of India and American goods that do not suit them, and there are inevitably sacrificed and discarded. In the second case, one arrives to deliver products to roughly correspond to the types proposed, of wool, editing, weaving and finishing almost always inadequate, hence a cause no less real depreciation. We found, in the French colonies, Dutch and English seas of India and China, these regrettable errors, so too we can not advise our dealers, those who want to faithfully fulfill the orders of their correspondents or prepare shipments, to go to special homes of different types of wool, and not to provoke their travel orders or manufacturing changes. [...]
Undoubtedly the Chinese toilet does not suffer like ours fantasy fashion, the current generation dresses much like the one that preceded it there ten centuries, and national traditions, sumptuary laws, the requirements books of rites, all classes require the strict observance of cuts, colors and clothing ornaments. However, we exaggerate the fixity of habits of dress, forms, and not the fabrics are determined and established by usage; those are immutable, but these can be changed and varied indeed. [...]
If China had long remain as immutable as it was for so many centuries, we should abandon our hopes, but she has already made in recent years some changes in its customs. Business with the East India Company led her to use our woolen and continual contact with foreigners accustomed to our products and tends to make him adopt. Next traders experienced Canton flannel is intended to enter in a more or less distant, in the clothing of the Chinese coastal South and Southeast, and its consumption is already quite large, if it did had competition from American and flannel fleece cotton Japanese. [...]
The Chinese will decide they never to be taken in their costumes and furnishings fabrics in their various designated in France by the name a little ambitious new ? Will they accept our designs and our combinations of shades? In a word, our taste is inconsistent with the Chinese taste?
If it was here that satisfy an impulse of curiosity, we would abstain from any research, but the question we ask has a character and essentially practical purpose: it wants a solution, therefore, we tried to find.
The drawings that cover or are the tissues of Reims can be divided into four classes : 1 ° straight stripes, diagonals or flexuous, ribs, lines, tiles and nets simple checkerboards 2 ° grid and Scottish provisions infinitely varied; 3 ° spotted, the lattice linens and lightweight, planting flowers, pea and croslets, etc.. 4 ° finally, floral, flowers, vines and all subjects thoroughly covered.
Of these types, one whose adoption was the most general among us is without doubt the Scots, and it seems that one has exhausted, to obtain new effects, all possible combinations of leagues, scratches and tiles, and they were diverse by shaded, diversions of fabric, jaspures and oppositions of color often original. That this work was applied to coatings, to merino or muslin, it mattered little to the Chinese, they just watched, and more than once merchants of Canton offered some tartanelles cheaply, at the provided they are not covered with checkered Scotland. The sale of any article fashioned in this way is really impossible. [...] A few enlightened Chinese, who make the familiar customs and European tastes, thought to be adopted for furnishing those provisions which they liked the most. They were chosen from among the samples, which were Scots be assigned to a dual purpose: some, tartan lightweight, have covered seat cushions, the repetition of about 40 centimeters square should be surrounded by a double band net which had served as border, others ordinary Merino were drapery and head scarves; they should imitate the facial hong-ki-poun manufactured in the vicinity of Canton.
The stripes and checkerboards have been no more successful than Scotland, and Guangzhou as in Chang-Hai, we showed singular antipathy for them. They were all rejected, it was enough for the presence of a coast-line in a disposal to bring the depreciation of other excellent articles. This repulsion has to be even more surprised that the Chinese themselves manufacture of cotton fabrics in large and small tiles and a thousand lines grid. They do not like the mottled plain backgrounds, to terminate lineola, finely streaked, or guilloche sown peas, flowers, etc.. What they seek are the boughs, the intertwining of leaf and flower designs that resemble those arabesques in particular China and it would be fairer to call chinesques . [...]
We've already established that in China the only forms of clothing are strictly maintained and are in fact imposed by civil law, motivated and dedicated by historical memories. The nature of varied fabrics, traditional colors were altered, and finally, with the exception of badges and symbolic subjects, designs and decorations were changed. The taste is not immutable in China, every day he becomes less exclusive, and the floral chiffons launched Saint-Quentin, bouquets of Indian Persian d'Alsace arabesques and flowers of damask and Venetian Roubaix Rouen and won the praise of the Chinese. We know that American merchants, who are entitled to enjoy the cheap labor and silk in China, there are run, from the designs of Lyon and Paris, silks for the sale of South America and the United States. We found that most of these designs were adopted by Chinese manufacturers and are now quite naturalized. [...]
Reims does for men, novelty fabrics, as tartans for the morning dress or coat linings, various armors slightly draped for pants, Circassian and merino double for summer clothes, duvets, cashmere and saline for vests, merino Neapolitan printed and Scottish Winter ties, etc.. Not one of these items can not be applied to suit the Chinese.
This costume consists of four main parts: the po , species cheong-cham, is a long flowing robe that buttoned on the side, down almost to the instep, and the two framed front and back are distinguished by two slits closed by small round buttons embossed copper. The sleeves are wide and long, but the cuffs roll up and fold formed by folding them is held by a button. The collar, usually reported, is linen cloth or silk-blue sky. The po is the garment worn by merchants in their shops, traders in their hongs and dignitaries in their apartments and is the usual dress, costume and working inside. [...] The ma-kua is mainly a sort of cape sleeves, which is buttoned in front and down to the waist. [...] The tai kua is also one especially, a fur coat, almost a coat, it goes down to knees, has wide sleeves ending in a horse's hoof, and found, when one is in the interior, so as not to impede the movements of the hands. This dress is usually worn by dignitaries, merchants and townspeople would not reveal that the days of celebration and ceremony. [...]
These are the four main parts of Chinese costume: the first is gray or blue (light blue and gentian), the second blue mazarin or flower of thought, and the third, tai kua is dark purplish blue, garnet-rich or thought. The liners are preferably Satin damask or blue sky. The shades of pantyhose are infinitely varied. As part of this garment is often not visible, the Chinese choose the color according to their fancy, there are apple-green, pink, bronze, blue sky, yellow straw alone, and thousands green-gold.
These details prove impossible to apply to the costume of the Chinese middle and upper classes of the novelties of Reims about the common people, coolies, craftsmen, boatmen, weavers, too poor to buy woollens They consume only (from cotton and gradually as the breeze freshened, the cold becomes more rigorous, they just multiply them on the number of blue cotton gowns, white or brown, or to endorse one or two padded cotton bombax. [...]
The dress of women differs from the Celestial Empire in all respects, as we have said above, that of Europeans. The clothes are fitted and sealed, and silk centerpieces, light in summer, winter buds, with advantage replace the scarves and shawls, the use of these is unknown and should not expect to give the taste for Chinese. As for ties, the ladies of distinction include the neck, knotted and hanging down carelessly knees, a long wide strip rolled silk soft and light, usually white with grid lines culvert, and lined on both sides of borders stitched. They could make wool similar provisions that would appeal as well. Shawls Reims, most are not suitable for China, at least for the purpose for which they are ordinarily devoted. "
Natalis Rondot *," Report to the Chamber of Commerce in Reims,
Practical study of wool fabrics suitable for China, Japan
Cochin China and the Indian Archipelago, Paris, Chez Guillaumin & Cie, 1847.
* Natalis Rondot (1821-1902): economist, textile manufacturer, he is strapped into an extraordinary mission to the French embassy in China to to negotiate trade treaties in Far East Asia.
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