This photo is from a book, Lunyakyaw-kyo-gyi acheik / လွန်းရာကျော်ကြိုးကြီးချိတ်, written by U Shwe Htun about the textile industry and textile design. It is a good source to understand the history of acheik, its evolution, the process and preservation till 2005. One of the interesting part of the history, as mentioned in the book, is the different attitudes of the reigning regime towards this weaving practice. For example, while acheik  was not allowed to be woven in the Bagan period, but in the Innwa period  (1346-1526 C.E.) only a lower quality was woven. This changed in the late Innwa and the early Konbaung periods, when higher quality weaving was encouraged. The weaving technology developed in Amarapura in these periods because only the royalty and high officials were allowed to wear acheik, especially in the Konbaung period.

The book is a valuable resource of the different methods -lunyakyaw acheik, and mulamuhman kyogyi acheik.  Its true value also lies in it being a comprehensive source of history, value, norms and culture of the acheik as well as of textiles in Myanmar’s history.