Lyon in the 18th Century: the Prosperity of the Silk Capital in the Age of Enlightenment-China Silk Museum

Lyon in the 18th Century: the Prosperity of the Silk Capital in the Age of Enlightenment

Exhibition place：Textile Conservation Gallery

Exhibition time：2024.6 - 2024.9

The 18th century of France was an epic era, with the society gradual transitting into the capitalist system, which exerted a far-reaching and crucial influence on the entire modern Western civilization.

In the 18th century, Lyon was the second largest city in the Kingdom of France, the center of commercial, industrial, and financial networks, and the silk weaving industry was an important pillar that supported this wealthy city. In the mid-15th century, with the support of Louis XI's policies and laws, France began to develop its national silk industry in Lyon, established and developed silk trade with its surroundings, and since then ushered in the pinnacle of France's silk weaving industry. This exhibition aims to showcase the cross-cultural dialogue between the east and west ends of the Silk Road through Lyon's urban development, silk, commercial life, and artistic creation.

The cultural exchange between China and France has a long history. As early as the end of the 17th century, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty and King Louis XIV of France began exchanging books and gifts. With the successive arrival of French Jesuit missionaries to China, they brought science and technology of the early stage of Western capitalism after the Renaissance to China, and also introduced traditional Chinese culture to the West. During the Kangxi and Qianlong periods, French missionaries introduced China to France through letters and other means, sparking a "China fever" in French society. The French society, from the court to the public, was fascinated by Chinese culture, and the influence of Chinese culture on France was incomparable to that of other European countries. It is against this background that the exchange of Chinese and French silk culture has been developing.