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==Materials==
==Materials==
There are five types of fibers used traditionally in Ryukyuan textiles: ''[[bashofu|bashôfu]]'' (banana fiber cloth), ''jôfu'' (ramie), cotton, silk, including ''[[tsumugi]]'' (silk pongee), and finally ''tunbian'', or agave fiber, the use of which is limited chiefly to [[Miyakojima]].
There are six types of fibers used traditionally in Ryukyuan textiles: ''[[bashofu|bashôfu]]'' (banana fiber cloth), ''jôfu'' (ramie), cotton, hemp, silk, including ''[[tsumugi]]'' (silk pongee), and finally ''tunbian'', or agave fiber, the use of which is limited chiefly to [[Miyakojima]].
*''Jôfu'', or ramie, known as ''karamushi'' in Japanese, is said to be "prized for its strength, high luster, remarkable resistance to bacteria and mildew, [for being] absorben[t] yet quick-drying ..., and [for its] affinity to dyes."<ref>''Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion''. p419.</ref> With its name meaning literally "high [quality] cloth," ramie was worn chiefly by members of the royalty and the aristocracy. It was also among the chief forms of tribute goods sent to China and Japan, and an accepted form of tax payment collected by Okinawa from Miyako, the [[Yaeyama Islands]], and elsewhere.
*''Jôfu'', or ramie, known as ''karamushi'' in Japanese, is said to be "prized for its strength, high luster, remarkable resistance to bacteria and mildew, [for being] absorben[t] yet quick-drying ..., and [for its] affinity to dyes."<ref>''Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion''. p419.</ref> With its name meaning literally "high [quality] cloth," ramie was worn chiefly by members of the royalty and the aristocracy. It was also among the chief forms of tribute goods sent to China and Japan, and an accepted form of tax payment collected by Okinawa from Miyako, the [[Yaeyama Islands]], and elsewhere.
*Silk was introduced from China, and came to be cultivated in the Ryukyus. Silk was produced and used in both more standard woven forms, as well as handspun into a soft, fine "pongee" called ''tsumugi'' in Japanese. ''Tsumugi'' cloth is said to have a cottony texture, but the shine of silk. [[Kumejima]] in particular is known for its ''tsumugi'' cloth, which the islanders there dye a reddish color by immersing it in the naturally iron-rich mud of the island's rice paddies.
*Silk was introduced from China, and came to be cultivated in the Ryukyus. Silk was produced and used in both more standard woven forms, as well as handspun into a soft, fine "pongee" called ''tsumugi'' in Japanese. ''Tsumugi'' cloth is said to have a cottony texture, but the shine of silk. [[Kumejima]] in particular is known for its ''tsumugi'' cloth, which the islanders there dye a reddish color by immersing it in the naturally iron-rich mud of the island's rice paddies.
*''Bashôfu'' is made from the fibers of a plant closely related to, but different from, the edible fruiting banana. People of all ranks or classes in society wore ''bashôfu'' garments, though the peasants' ''bashôfu'' tended to be much coarser than that worn by the aristocracy.
*''Bashôfu'' is made from the fibers of a plant closely related to, but different from, the edible fruiting banana. People of all ranks or classes in society wore ''bashôfu'' garments, though the peasants' ''bashôfu'' tended to be much coarser than that worn by the aristocracy. ''Bashôfu'' was divided into a number of types, including by whether the fibers had been twisted (''neri''), resulting in ''neri-bashôfu'', or not. Another variety was known as ''usu-bashôfu'', and was likely light in color, or thin in the material itself.<ref name=tomo150>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 150.</ref>
*A number of other types of textiles, such as felt or woolen cloth (J: ''rasha''), were not produced in Ryûkyû but were imported from China and given as gifts (or "[[tribute]]" goods) to the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], [[Shimazu clan]], or other prominent figures.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 150.</ref>
*Hemp was used in a variety of ways in Ryûkyû, as it was in Japan. One form of hemp textile used to make curtains or banners, and often presented as an emblematic Ryukyuan local product as a gift to foreign elites, was called Taiheifu, or Taihei cloth, after a place known as Taihei.<ref name=tomo150/>
*A number of other types of textiles, such as felt or woolen cloth (J: ''rasha'') and silk crepe (J: ''chirimen''), were not produced in Ryûkyû but were imported from China and given as gifts (or "[[tribute]]" goods) to the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], [[Shimazu clan]], or other prominent figures.<ref name=tomo150/>
==Dyeing and Decoration==
==Dyeing and Decoration==