Fabric Composition and Wearability Analysis of Zhuanghua

Zhuanghua is a representative variety of Nanjing Yun brocade, symbolising the highest achievement of ancient Chinese textile technology. It has been widely used as a clothing fabric since its appearance. This paper firstly explored the characteristics of weaving materials, fabric weaves, and fabric weaving of Zhuanghua based on a literature review, manufactory visiting, and a market survey. To preserve the textile application, the permeability, shape preservation property, and appearance preservation property of fabric were tested for wearability. Specifically, six pieces of Zhuanghua satin were selected as the primary samples, along with six pieces of customised plain satin as the matching samples. Influenced by the Zhuangzhi technique, the Zhuanghua satin presented the following features. The thickness and air permeability of the Zhuanghua satin varied between patterned and non-patterned parts. The Zhuanghua satin in the weft direction showed higher tensile strength, stronger stiffness, and weak crease recovery ability. The average weft elongation at break of Zhuanghua satin increased by 25% and the weft flexural rigidity by 3–8 times, while the average weft crease recovery angle decreased by nearly 30°. The performance of anti-fuzzing and anti-pilling was improved, and the grades increased by 1 and 2, respectively. The study is conducive to a more scientific understanding and development of Yun brocade.