Shizeng 釋繒

Shizeng 釋繒 is a book explaining various types of fabric used in the social context. Because it is useful for the interpretation of Confucian regulations, it is seen as a commentary on the Confucian Classics. The author of the Shizeng is Ren Dachun 任大椿 (1738-1789), courtesy name Youzhi 幼植, style Zhitian 芝田 or Zitian 子田, from Xinghua 興化, Jiangsu. Ren participated in the compilation of the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. He obtained the jinshi degree in 1769, was recorder in the Ministry of Rites (libu zhushi 禮部主事), then ministerial department directors (langzhong 郎中), and finally investigating censor (jiancha yushi 監察御史) in the circuit of Shaanxi 陜西. Another study of Ren on ancient garments is his Bianfu shili 弁服釋例. He compiled a series on lexicography, Xiaoxue gouchen 小學鉤沉.

Based on primary and secondary literature from pre-imperial times on, the book analyses, arranges, summarizes and examines the varieties and names of ancient silk fabrics, and proposes three classification methods of ancient silk fabrics. There are the processing status of the material (sheng 生 "raw" – shu 熟 "processed"), the fineness of the fabric and the yarn, and the presence of patterns. It also points at particular problems related to the history of the development of silk in ancient times, for instance, the difference between qi 綺, ling 綾, and duan 緞 fabric. The author saw his study as a supplement to the glossary Erya 爾雅, in which terms in the Classics were explained. In fact, Ren explains the differences between several dozen different types of fabric.

The text is included in Ren's series Yanxitang wu zhong 燕禧堂五種 (together with Zilin kaoyi 字林考逸, Liezi shiwen 列子釋文, Liezi shiwen kaoyi 列子釋文考異, and Shenyi shili 深衣釋例) and the series Huang-Qing jingjie 皇清經解.