Silk is a thin, but strong fiber that silkworms produce when they are making their cocoons. It can be woven into a very soft and smooth fabric. Silk fabric was invented in Ancient China and played an important role in their culture and economy for thousands of years.
Legend has it that the process for making silk cloth was first invented by the wife of the Yellow Emperor, Leizu, around the year 2696 BC. The idea for silk first came to Leizu while she was having tea in the imperial gardens. A cocoon fell into her tea and unraveled. She noticed that the cocoon was actually made from a long thread that was both strong and soft.
Leizu then discovered how to combine the silk fibers into a thread. She also invented the silk loom that combined the threads into a soft cloth. Soon Leizu had a forest of mulberry trees for the silkworms to feed on and taught the rest of China how to make silk.
Making Silk
The ancient Chinese bred special moths to produce the quality silk they wanted. Here are the steps in the process for making silk:
Baby worms hatch from the eggs are fed mulberry leaves for one month until they are fat
The worms spin cocoons
The cocoons are steamed to kill the growing moth inside
The cocoons are rinsed in hot water to loosen the threads
Women would unwind the cocoons and then combine six or so fibers into silk threads
The threads are woven into cloth
The cloth is then pounded to make it softer
Silk in Chinese Culture
Silk cloth was extremely valuable in Ancient China. Wearing silk was an important status symbol. At first, only members of the royal family were allowed to wear silk. Later, silk clothing was restricted to only the noble class. Merchants and peasants were not allowed to wear silk. Silk was even used as money during some Ancient Chinese dynasties.
Keeping Silk a Secret
Silk became a prized export for the Chinese. Nobles and kings of foreign lands desired silk and would pay high prices for the cloth. The emperors of China wanted to keep the process for making silk a secret. Anyone caught telling the secret or taking silkworms out of China was put to death.
Smuggling Silk
The Chinese managed to keep silk a secret for over 1000 years. However, in 550 AD the secret of silk became known to other countries when two monks from the Byzantine Empire managed to smuggle some silkworm eggs out of the country. They hid the eggs inside of their bamboo walking sticks.
Interesting Facts about Silk
It wasn't until the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1644 to 1911, that peasants were allowed to wear silk clothing.
Silk was used for other purposes than clothing such a paper, fishing lines, bowstrings, and canvas for painting.
Around the thirteenth century, Italy became one of the major producers of silk. Some of the finest silk in the world is made in Italy today.
Silk clothing was often embroidered with designs. The most popular designs were of flowers and birds.
Silk was such an important product from China that the trade route from Europe to China became known as the Silk Road.
For more information on the civilization of Ancient China:
Overview Timeline of Ancient China Geography of Ancient China Silk Road The Great Wall Forbidden City Terracotta Army The Grand Canal Battle of Red Cliffs Opium Wars Inventions of Ancient China Glossary and Terms
Dynasties Major Dynasties Xia Dynasty Shang Dynasty Zhou Dynasty Han Dynasty Period of Disunion Sui Dynasty Tang Dynasty Song Dyanasty Yuan Dynasty Ming Dynasty Qing Dynasty
Culture Daily Life in Ancient China Religion Mythology Numbers and Colors Legend of Silk Chinese Calendar Festivals Civil Service Chinese Art Clothing Entertainment and Games Literature
People Confucius Kangxi Emperor Genghis Khan Kublai Khan Marco Polo Puyi (The Last Emperor) Emperor Qin Emperor Taizong Sun Tzu Empress Wu Zheng He Emperors of China
Works Cited
History >> Ancient China
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According to an ancient Chinese legend, empress Hsi Ling Shi, Emperor Huang Ti's wife, (also called the Yellow Emperor, the legendary father of Chinese civilization lived around 3.000 b.C.) was sipping tea under a mulberry tree, when a cocoon accidentally fell into her cup, beginning to lose cohesion and show the wires ...
The writings of both Confucius and other Chinese traditions tell a story about Empress Leizu; one day, in about 3000 BC, a silk worm's cocoon fell into her teacup .Wishing to extract it from her drink, the 14-year-old girl began to unroll the thread of the cocoon.
Silk was also an esteemed gift. Given to tributary states in appreciation of their loyalty, it was an impressive symbol of the Chinese emperor's great wealth and largesse. For example, in 25 BCE alone, the Han gave as gifts an incredible 20,000 rolls of silk cloth.
Silk was the ultimate medieval cloth, and Song Dynasty China was its main producer. More than just clothing, it served as money, art, and symbol of imperial power. Francesca Hodges speaks, facing camera There's an amazing scroll in the collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
How silk was discovered: According to the 27th century BC tale, the discovery of silk was an accident. It stated that Empress Leizu was having tea one day when a silk worm's cocoon fell into her cup.In its attempt to get out, the thread of the cocoon began to unroll. So the Empress thought of weaving the thread.
Silk symbolizes the essence of purity and resembles the rich cultural heritage and history of India. Due to its rich texture and shine with exclusivity, silk has been the evergreen fabric for generations for any function or ritual in Indian tradition and household. Do you like silk dresses?
Silk has a smooth, soft texture that is not slippery, unlike many synthetic fibers. Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers, but it loses up to 20% of its strength when wet. It has a good moisture regain of 11%. Its elasticity is moderate to poor: if elongated even a small amount, it remains stretched.
How did Silk come to be found by the rest of the world? Two poor monks told Emperor Justinian of Constantinople that they had learned the secret of Silk, after arriving back in Constantinople after travelling to China.
Cánshén (Chinese: 蚕神, "Silkworm God") or Cánwáng (蚕王 "Silkworm Ruler") is the deity of silkworm and sericulture in Chinese religion. There are two main Canshen, who are two deified mytho-historical personalities who contributed to the invention and diffusion of sericulture in China.
Silk became a prized export for the Chinese. Nobles and kings of foreign lands desired silk and would pay high prices for the cloth. The emperors of China wanted to keep the process for making silk a secret. Anyone caught telling the secret or taking silkworms out of China was put to death.
In Chinese, the silk radical is pronounced as “mì” and written as 糸. The radical silk 糸 is listed as radical 120 and is one of the 29 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals) composed of 6 strokes. The silk radical can be seen in characters that represent items with fine texture or are made from fine material.
According to it the wife of Great Yellow Emperor Shi Huang , Lei Zu, sat under the shady crone of mulberry enjoying her herbal tea. Suddenly, a silkworm cocoon fell in her fragrant beverage. The angry empress took the cocoon out from her bowl and found that it started to unwind and the thread was endless …
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