Three washes, nine steamings, and eighteen dryings, one ounce of gold for one ounce of yarn.
Xiangyunsha is a mysterious oriental textile and a legend of Chinese silk, with a history of at least five or six hundred years. It is the only silk in the world that uses pure plant dyeing. The dyeing and finishing techniques are complicated and require specific raw materials and climate conditions. Artisans can only produce it in Foshan, Guangdong, China and its surrounding areas.
In 2008, Xiangyunsha earned recognition as a national intangible cultural heritage for its unique dyeing and finishing techniques. So, what exactly is Xiangyunsha?
Many people new to Xiangyunsha ask the same question: is it a fabric or a colour?
In fact, it is neither. Xiangyunsha is a dyeing and finishing process — a method of dyeing silk with plant dyes. Craftsmen make it from mulberry silk using the “three steaming, nine boiling and eighteen drying” method. People also call it “Langsha.” It is an ancient handmade plant dyeing fabric from China with a history of more than 1,000 years.
The craftsmanship of Xiangyunsha is the most complicated among silk products. It passes through 14 kinds of crafts and 36 processes. After that, makers store it for 1 to 3 years before it is ready for clothing. This is why people call it “soft gold.”
Xiangyunsha makes a “rustling” sound when it sways in the wind — hence the name.
Women from famous families have always preferred Xiangyunsha. Today, wearing it signals emotional depth, a love of traditional culture, and a distinctive personal style.
In the past, Lingnan mothers sewed their daughters a set of Xiangyunsha clothes as a wedding dowry. The gift carried a quiet wish: that her daughter, like the fabric, would only grow more elegant with age. Life, like fine wine, gets sweeter the longer it matures.
Xiangyunsha carries the marks of time. Under the arcades of Lingnan, women wore long braids against the brown cloth. The “rustling” of the fabric mixed with the “tick-tick” of clogs on stone. Walking in the sunset, it felt like wearing time itself.
Origins in the Pearl River Delta
The story of Xiangyunsha has humble beginnings. Historical records trace its early production to Shunde, Foshan, and Nanhai in the Pearl River Delta.
The Pearl River Delta is rich with crisscrossing rivers and mulberry-fish ponds. Mulberry trees grow beside the water. Silkworms eat the leaves. Their pupae feed the fish, and the pond mud fertilises the trees. This virtuous cycle made the region exceptionally resource-rich.
Historical records show that the Pearl River Delta has cultivated mulberry, raised silkworms, and woven silk since the Han Dynasty. Many local people made their living by fishing. Fishermen discovered that soaking nets in the juice of a local vine — Dioscorea strychnifolia — made them strong and durable.
From Fishing Nets to Soft Gold
While fishing, river mud clung to their bodies and mixed with sweat. Their clothes were always cycling between wet and dry.
Over time, they noticed this mud-treated cloth was both cool and durable. They began wearing it widely. It became the fisherman’s signature “work clothes.”
Later, people applied this same method to silk. Combined with the unique river mud of the Pearl River Delta, the yam juice produced silk that was black, shiny, and soft. It was also cool and durable — perfectly suited to Lingnan’s hot, humid climate.
Since the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Xiangyunsha has been exported abroad. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, demand grew even further. Legend has it that a single piece fetched 12 taels of silver. The reputation of “soft gold” was well earned.
Xiangyunsha is light, cool, and elegant in colour. It does not cling to the skin, resists wrinkling, and is easy to care for. No wonder the ladies of the Republic of China loved it.
Xiangyunsha garments are not overtly luxurious. They are understated — a little lazy, a little decadent, deeply feminine, and full of literary character.
If the mulberry ponds of the Pearl River Delta created Xiangyunsha, the unique dyeing and finishing techniques made it truly noble.
Selecting the Silk and Preparing the Dye
The dyeing and finishing of Xiangyunsha uses highly complex traditional techniques. Craftsmen complete every step by hand. Each link in the process demands precision.
First, craftsmen select silk cloth with high count and high density. Only this grade can survive the demands of the processes ahead. The dye comes from the reddish-brown pigment in natural yam. Workers soak the silk blank in yam water for coloring, turning it constantly with careful strength and rhythm.
Different silk blanks need different proportions of yam water. There is no fixed standard. The master adjusts by experience alone, with no room for error.
The “drying yam” stage is equally precise. Only two windows exist each year: April to June and September to November. Only these months offer enough sunshine, low rainfall, and high heat to produce yarn of superior quality.
The grass layer must be 1–2 cm thick and evenly spaced for proper air circulation. Soft grass cannot support the weight of the silk. Hard grass will scratch the surface.
This stage demands strength, coordination, and teamwork.
Workers spread the cloth out, turn it by hand, roll it up, then spread it again. This ensures even drying and full absorption of the ramie water.
As one side spreads out, the other side is already ready to roll. More than a dozen workers operate simultaneously. It is the most physically demanding step in the entire process.
In the later stage, workers use a broom made of sunflower leaves to apply ramie water evenly across the cloth, then dry it again. Workers must repeat this boiling and sealing process many times to fix the colour.
Applying the River Mud
“Guo Wu” means applying river mud — and this is no casual task. Craftsmen wield large brushes in unison, calling out slogans and moving in rhythm. Together they coat the cloth evenly, producing that deep black, shiny surface.
After many repetitions of this process, the fabric takes on the appearance of black ceramics — mysterious and elegant.
Once complete, the fabric rests for 3 to 6 months to let the colour fully stabilise. Only then do makers consider it finished.
The entire cycle — from selecting raw silk to the final resting stage — takes at least one year. Every step carries a ritual quality, like primitive artistic creation.
Three washes, nine steamings, and eighteen dryings, one ounce of gold for one ounce of yarn.