Only 500 produced worldwide, each with its own serial number.

Your Tang Heritage Bag will include:

1. Gold Metal Authenticity Card (To Certify A Tang Heritage Original)

2. Unique Engraved Serial Number

3. Complimentary Premium Gift Packaging

Across a deep black ground, a Qilin moves through full peony blooms in fine gold thread. The qilin is a mythical composite creature of Chinese legend, blending several animals into one: a dragon's head, the scaled body and cloven hooves of a deer, and often a single horn, which is why it is sometimes called the Chinese unicorn. Here it forms a quiet conversation with the peony, the auspicious beast of virtue beside the flower of wealth and honour, carried now on an open, generous tote made for the days you need to bring more with you.

The Story Behind the Bag

In Chinese tradition, the qilin is a gentle creature of good omen. It is said to harm no living thing and to appear only in times of peace, and so it has long stood for integrity, prosperity, and the arrival of greatness. The peony, the King of Flowers, carries its own blessing of wealth and honour (富贵), celebrated since the Tang court as the nation's beauty and heaven's fragrance (国色天香).

Woven together, the two form a single wish. Success that rests on good character, abundance that is earned and lasting. On this larger tote, the motif has room to breathe, the qilin stepping through clouds and open peonies across the full width of the brocade panel.

Woven, Not Printed

The face of this bag is genuine Song Brocade (宋锦), known as the Crown of Brocades (锦绣之冠) and one of the three great brocades of China. In 2006 it was inscribed in the first national list of China's intangible cultural heritage. The pattern is not printed onto the cloth. It is built thread by thread on the loom, dyed with natural colours, which is why the gold catches the light along the qilin's body and the petals hold their depth from every angle.

The gold here is a gilt effect (鎏金), achieved with a gold thread that lets the qilin and the peony illuminate one another against the black ground, lending the whole piece a noble, regal warmth.

This brocade comes from the workshop of Lu Meiying (陆美瑛), a Suzhou Arts and Crafts Master and a representative inheritor of the Song Brocade tradition, who trained under the celebrated national master Wang Jinshan (王金山). Hers is a documented master-to-apprentice lineage, not a borrowed style.

Key Features

Genuine Song Brocade — the Crown of Brocades, woven on a jacquard loom and inscribed in China's first national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2006.
Named-master provenance — brocade from the workshop of Suzhou master and ICH inheritor Lu Meiying, trained under national master Wang Jinshan.
Auspicious qilin and peony motif — the qilin, a mythical creature with a dragon's head and the scaled, hooved body of a deer, stands for virtue and success, woven beside the peony's wealth and honour. A blessing meant to be carried.
Gilt gold-thread effect — a luminous 鎏金 finish that lifts the pattern against a deep black ground.
Mulberry silk face — the brocade is woven in 100% natural mulberry silk, gold thread aside, soft to the touch and rich in colour.
Generous open tote — a roomy everyday shape with structured leather sides, made to carry more in quiet style.
Two ways to carry — rolled top handles for the hand, plus a detachable wide strap for the shoulder.
One of a kind — no two cuts of brocade fall the same way, so your bag is yours alone.

Premium Materials

The body is finished in top-grain cowhide with a soft TOGO grain, hand-selected hide by hide for its character. This is the uppermost layer of the leather, the most supple and enduring part, left close to its natural state so that the fine pores remain visible across the surface and the leather stays breathable and alive to the touch. It carries the gentle, pebbled depth that only genuine full-surface hide can give, deepening quietly with the years rather than wearing thin. Set in a deep, understated black, it frames the woven panels like a setting frames a stone, with the brocade taking the light at the centre.

The woven panels are 100% natural mulberry silk apart from the gold thread, backed for structure and lined for everyday use. Hardware is a refined silver tone, with rolled top handles and a detachable shoulder strap.

Product Details

Pattern — Gilt Qilin and Peony in Song Brocade (鎏金麒麟牡丹纹)
Colour — Black
Dimensions — 31.5cm wide, 14cm deep, 20cm high
Weight — 0.54kg
Material — Top-grain cowhide with TOGO grain, 100% mulberry silk Song Brocade panels (gold thread excepted)
Hardware — Silver-tone zinc alloy
Lining — Polyester
Carry — Rolled top handles, with detachable shoulder strap
Strap — Detachable, 96.5cm
Interior — Open main compartment with an inner zip pocket
Firmness — Structured, soft to hold
Note — Hand measurement may vary by 1 to 3cm. Please refer to the bag you receive.

Every Bag Is One of a Kind

Because the brocade is woven and then cut by hand, the qilin and the peony fall a little differently on every bag. The placement of the gold, the turn of a petal, the line of the cloud beneath the qilin's step. These small differences are not flaws. They are the mark of a piece made by hand, for you.

Authenticity and Craft

This bag is made with genuine Song Brocade from a recognised heritage workshop, not a printed imitation. It carries the work of a named master and the weight of a tradition kept alive in Suzhou for generations. Cared for gently, it is made to stay with you, and to be handed on.

Every Tang Heritage piece is produced in limited quantities. The embroidery is stitched by hand, by craftspeople working within a tradition that has been passed down for generations. Each bag is inspected before it leaves the workshop.

Every Tang Heritage piece comes with a metal authenticity card and a unique engraved serial number logged in our records — verifiable directly with us at any time.

Pre-order Note

This piece is prepared in limited batches to preserve the integrity of its craftsmanship. Your order will be dispatched within 10–12 working days, allowing each bag to be carefully completed and inspected before it reaches you. We believe pieces of this nature are worth the wait.

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