Hey, I was wondering if you could recommend resources on Chinese textiles? I’m making both Song and Ming dynasty outfits and I want to make sure the brocade we want is accurate, but I can’t seem to find anything on the patterns.

Oh boy, DO I.

Chinese textile designs, by Hanyu Gao
1992
WorldCat (find it in a library near you!)

When silk was gold : Central Asian and Chinese textiles, by  James C Y Watt et al
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1997
WorldCat

Corpus of Chinese Fabric, Embroidery and Finery: Dying & Weaving
Corpus of Chinese Fabric, Embroidery and Finery: Embroidery
2004
Published by 

Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House
Library of Congress (all volumes)

Treasures in silk : an illustrated history of Chinese textiles, by 

Feng Zhao
1999
WorldCat

Chinese textiles, by 
Yueh-Siang Chang
Victoria and Albert Museum
2010

WorldCat

History of textile technology of ancient China, by 

Weiji Cheng
1992
WorldCat

Exquisite fabrics : traditional weaving and embroidery patterns in China, by Chunming Gao
2010
WorldCat

Chinese Silks, by Dieter Kuhn, et al.
2012
WorldCat

Additionally, please join us over at SCA China on Facebook. We’re great at sharing resources.Happy hunting! <3

Hello, do you have any references for 1250-1350 Irish Garb? I have trouble getting through the English propaganda and later romanticism. Thanks.

Without knowing gender, I’ll keep this pretty vague.

I’ve also got a request out to the Facebook Group, SCA Garb, for more resources. They can be really helpful folk.

Clothing culture, 1350-1650
Author:Catherine Richardson
Publisher:Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, ©2004.
Series:History of retailing and consumption.
Summary:From Russia to Rome, Ireland to France, this volume contains a wealth of examples of the numerous ways clothing was shaped by, and helped to shape, medieval and early modern European society.

Dress in Ireland
Author:Mairead Dunlevy
Publisher:New York : Holmes & Meier, 1989.

Encyclopedia of dress and textiles in the British Isles c. 450-1450
Author:Gale R Owen-Crocker; Elizabeth Coatsworth; Maria Hayward
Publisher:Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2012.

Sources for Irish Re-enactors, from the Reconstructing History blog – includes a bibliography

Good luck, and have fun!

Chinese Onomastics

What are the go to documentation sources for Chinese names?

Anonymous

One thing to consider when doing research regarding China in an SCA context is that you’re one of a relatively small number.

I wasn’t able to find any traditional “books” for Chinese onomastics (fancy word for first names), but I did find some relevant resources.

Introduction to Pre-16th Century Chinese Onomastics
by Ii Katsumori
SCA Heraldry Website [Link]

The Onomastics of Medieval South China: Patterned Naming in the Lang-Yeh and T’ai-Yüan Wang
by Dennis Grafflin
Journal of the American Oriental Society [JSTOR Link]

What IS a Name? Reflections on Onomastics
by William Bright, University of Colorado 
Language and Linguistics [Link]

What’s in an early Chinese name, again? [In German]by Wolfgang Behr

Academia.edu [Link]

Hope this helps!