After more than twenty years at its Cha Ting East Street location in Nanjing’s Jianye District, the Nanjing Yunjin Museum is relocating. The old venue, which opened in 2004, will transition into a dedicated exhibition hall, while a new museum building — designed with a striking silver facade shaped like a bolt of fabric hanging from a loom — is set to open in 2026. Before the move, the museum has staged a farewell event: the “Silk Threads Meet the Year, Noble Steed Launches a New Journey” exhibition, serving both as a tribute to the old space and a celebration of the 2026 bingwu Year of the Horse.
Three Sections Trace Yunjin’s Living Legacy
The farewell exhibition is organized into three thematic sections. “Tracing Warp and Weft” follows the sixty-plus-year journey of the Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute — from its founding in 1957 as one of New China’s first arts-and-crafts research institutions, through its years of deep craft preservation, to its expansion into global cultural exchange. The narrative culminates in 2009, when Nanjing Yunjin’s wooden-loom pattern-weaving technique was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
“Splendid Life” demonstrates how Yunjin has moved beyond museum vitrines into daily use. Exhibits include silk-embroidered fans, decorative mirrors, brocade vests, table ornaments, and wearable accessories — from shawls and scarves to delicate brooches. A particular standout is the “Fortune and Prosperity” patterned vest, which blends traditional Yunjin weaving with modern tailoring. Its warm-toned ground fabric carries clusters of embroidered flowers outlined in gold, while longevity peach, pomegranate, and Buddha’s-hand citron motifs represent the classical “three abundances” of fortune, prosperity, and longevity. Tiger-eye stone buttons add a contemporary finishing touch. Museum staff report that this vest has become one of the best-selling items, proving that Yunjin aesthetics resonate with everyday consumers.
“Weaving Memories of the Years” gathers objects contributed by Nanjing residents over the years — personal items that carry emotional connections between the city and its signature textile. Together, these donations weave a collective narrative of how Yunjin has grown alongside Nanjing itself.
Annual Masterwork: Dragon and Steed Woven in Gold
The exhibition’s centerpiece is the annual masterwork “Dragon and Noble Steed in Rising Enterprise” (Long Teng Jun Ye), woven by representative inheritor Chen Cheng using the Ming-dynasty dragon-robe technique of warp-and-weft interlocking. Inspired by the Qing court painter Giuseppe Castiglione’s “Emperor Qianlong’s Grand Review” held at the Palace Museum, the piece depicts a golden horse standing proud with one foreleg raised, its saddle and harness woven in interlocking blue and gold threads. an auspicious vase carrying a halberd rests on the horse’s back — the Chinese homophone conveying wishes for peace and official advancement. On the left, a ascending dragon intertwines with the steed, symbolizing vigor and enterprise.
The weaving required 20-plus specially dyed silk varieties, ostrich feather inlay, genuine gold thread, and mother-of-pearl thread — all integrated through 17,336 individual pattern-weaving insertions on a traditional wooden loom. From the side, the horse’s mane appears to rise above the fabric surface, achieving a striking three-dimensional effect that distinguishes Yunjin from all other Chinese silk textiles.
The farewell exhibition underscores a broader shift at the Nanjing Yunjin Institute: from preserving heritage as museum artifacts to making it accessible as everyday culture. Brocade vests, decorative mirrors, wearable brooches, and home accessories now carry Yunjin patterns into living rooms, office desks, and daily outfits. The institute’s philosophy of “making ICH part of daily life” has guided a product line that transforms ancient weaving into items people actually use, wear, and gift — turning a UNESCO-listed craft into something far more tangible than a display case.
As the old museum closes its doors and the silver-clad new building prepares to welcome visitors, this farewell exhibition offers a poignant moment of transition: honoring what the Cha Ting East Street space has meant to Yunjin’s story, while signaling that the craft’s next chapter will unfold in a setting designed to match its ambition.