K'O-SSU

Chinese silk tapestry woven in a pictorial design. The designation k'o-ssu, which means cut silk, derives from the visual illusion of cut threads that is created by distinct, unblended areas of colour. The earliest surviving examples of k'o-ssu date from the T'ang dynasty (618907), but it first became widely used during China's Southern Sung period (11271279). The technique became particularly popular during the Ming period (13681644) and thrived until the end of the Ch'ing dynasty in 1911/12. The k'o-ssu technique was often used to copy famous paintings.