1888, 28-29): "Changchow in the Middle Ages was the seat of a great
silk manufacture, and the production of its looms, such as gauzes, satins
and velvets, were said to exceed in beauty those of Soochow and Hangchow.
According to the Fuhkien Gazetteer, silk goods under the name of Kinki,
and porcelain were, at the end of the Sung Dynasty, ordered to be taken
abroad and to be bartered against foreign wares, treasure having been
prohibited to leave the country. In this Kinki I think we may recognise
the Kimkha of IBN BATUTA. I incline to this fact, as the characters Kinki
are pronounced in the Amoy and Changchow dialects Khimkhi and Kimkhia.
Anxious to learn if the manufacture of these silk goods still existed in
Changchow, I communicated with the Rev. Dr. TALMAGE of Amoy, who, through
the Rev. Mr. Ross of the London Mission, gave me the information that
Kinki was formerly somewhat extensively manufactured at Changchow,
although at present it was only made by one shop in that city. IBN BATUTA
tells us that the King of China had sent to the Sultan, five hundred
pieces of Kamkha, of which one hundred were made in the city of Zaitun.
This form of present appears to have been continued by the Emperors of the
Ming Dynasty, for we learn that the Emperor Yunglo gave to the Envoy of
the Sultan of Quilon, presents of Kinki and Shalo, that is to say,
brocaded silks and gauzes.
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