Non‐invasive analysis of Chinese traditional dyes in royal textiles of the Qing dynasty by excitation–emission matrix fluorescence

Abstract Chinese royal textiles of the Qing dynasty are widely collected around the world, creating a significant demand for dye identification in these textiles. However, the need for sampling in conventional analytical methods greatly limits their applicability. To address this issue, a non‐invasive analysis method based on excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence was developed. In this study, the EEM spectra of 18 typical natural dyeing recipes used for royal textiles of the Qing dynasty were systematically characterized. The results demonstrated that EEM fluorescence is effective in discriminating between natural dyes with similar colour hues and various dyeing techniques. Furthermore, the dyeing recipes of two historical kesi cushions in the Palace Museum, Beijing, were non‐invasively decoded.