Silk production: history and modernity

Disputes about when the process of silk production was started continues to this day. However, archaeological finds in China could, in fact, put an end to this matter - the fragments of cloth found in 1958 in Shandong Province, in the east of China, are the world's oldest silk products that have survived to us. Now silk is called the "king of fabrics" and is made in a variety of varieties, and the most valuable and expensive - natural material, is inextricably linked with the history and culture of the Celestial Empire.

The Legend of the Emperor's Wife

Silk production in China has more than 6 thousand years. The history of this magnificent fabric is covered with legends. According to one of them, the husband of the Yellow Emperor Huangdi sat under the mulberry tree and drank tea when a white balloon - a cocoon - fell into her cup. The woman loved to contemplate various phenomena and saw a strong white thread appear from a fluffy ball. After winding the thread on the finger, the emperor's wife realized that such fibers can be used to create tissue. By her order silkworms were grown specially.

Later in China, a primitive loom was invented, after which the production of silk in ancient China during the Shang dynasty in the 16th century BC. E. Reached the highest level.

Under pain of death: the secret of the production of Chinese weavers

His art was kept by Chinese masters in deep secrecy for more than a thousand years. The secret of silk production in the ancient world was classified very strictly - in the history of mankind it was one of the most protected "business secrets". The ban on the export of silkworm larvae, cocoons, mulberry seeds acted on pain of death.

Although in those distant times only emperors had the right to dress in silk outfits and to know, the culture of sericulture and silkworming quickly spread throughout the Celestial Empire, matter was bought by both the middle class and the poor.

Elegant canvases and outfits were famous for their excellent quality and fine workmanship. But neither prohibitions nor executions could stop the advance of silk to other countries.

The Great Silk Road

Silk goods have become an important component of foreign trade of the Chinese empire. Valuable fabric was brought to Europe thanks to the Silk Road. The goods were transported through mountains and deserts, camels and mules, and no obstacles could stop the heavily laden caravans - a valuable cargo promised a considerable profit.

The Great Silk Road ran through Asia and Europe, linking the life and life of various peoples. It began in the valley of the Yellow River, passed through the western part of the Great Wall of China to the Issyk-Kul Lake. Then the way branched out in the northern and southern directions: to the south the road led to Fergana, Samarkand, Iraq, Iran, Syria and to the Mediterranean, and the northern part divided into two segments - one going to Central Asia, and the other downstream of the Syr Darya to the Western Kazakhstan and, skirting the north-east of the Black Sea, to Europe. The total length of the Great Silk Road was more than 7 thousand kilometers.

So the production of silk appeared in Korea, then in Japan, India, and, finally, in European countries and the Roman Empire. Throughout the centuries, the Silk Road was a real idea of global trade in action. Trade routes of the Silk Road were created for thousands of years. "One belt, one road" - this idea is modern and at the present time: in the 21st century, China's policy of reviving the Silk Road with investments in roads, high-speed rails and ports is reviving, which ensures the efficiency of production bases in a wide regional zone.

You can learn about the Great Silk Road in the world's largest silk museum in Hangzhou. It stores a huge number of unique products and fragments of ancient canvases of various dynasties and eras.

Features of the production of natural silk

Although the production of silk in ancient China was strictly classified, according to legend, the Roman monks managed to smuggle cocoons of silkworm into the capital of the Byzantine Empire Constantinople. It was from then on in the Imperial Palace that they built a worm-house (a room for breeding caterpillars of a silkworm) and installed winding machines. Products had a fabulous price - and this is due to the complexity and multi-stage process of obtaining threads and then the finished fabric.

Silkworm breeding and the production of natural silk require great attention, painstaking work and careful control.

The main stages of production

If you describe the production of silk briefly, you will get the following process. Butterfly silkworms during their life, which lasts from 4 to 6 days, lay about 500 eggs. Larvae are fed with mulberry leaves, they have a huge appetite, their weight is rapidly increasing. Growing larvae-caterpillars surround themselves with a substance that is produced by their special glands. Initially, two thin silk that stand in the air stand out. Soon a dense thread net forms around the caterpillar. Having constructed a skeleton of a cocoon, the caterpillar moves to its center, gradually forming a cocoon - a white fluffy ball.

After 8-9 days, the larvae are destroyed, and the cocoons are dipped in hot water to get the threads. Their length can be from 400 to 1000 meters and a thickness of 10-12 microns. A few twisted silkworm threads are raw. Then the resulting threads are turned into a fabric. The laboriousness of obtaining tissue is considerable: about 630 cocoons leave for a female robe.

Further development of Chinese technology

The resulting thread was to be wound around the spool. The first silkworm wheels were invented during the Ming dynasty. In the 18th century, in Jiangsu Province, the masters produced machines in which the wheel was driven by the feet, which increased the productivity of labor.

Then a machine was created to produce a multicolor large-scale fabric, which served to further the development of technology. The Chinese silk fishery was much better than the European one - the first machine, which weaved silk tapes, appeared in Germany only in the 16th century. The demand for silk fabrics grew both in the Middle Kingdom and around the world. Further mechanization of silk production was improved - the history of this fabric is intertwined with the achievements of weaving engineering thought.

Silk spinning and weaving: history and modernity

During the industrialization of the XIX century, there was a decline in the European silk industry. Japan became the second "silk empire" after China. Cheap Japanese silk, especially thanks to the opening of the Suez Canal, was one of many factors reducing its overall cost. In addition, the appearance of artificial fibers has become dominant in the manufacture of products such as stockings and parachutes.

Two world wars interrupted supplies of raw materials from Japan, and the European silk industry was in stagnation. But in the early 50-ies of the XX century silk production in Japan was restored, the quality of raw material was improved. Japan along with China remained one of the world's leading manufacturers of raw silk and almost the only major exporter until the 1970s.

China has gradually rethought its position as a world leader in the production of silk and the exporter of raw yarn, proving that the history of silk follows its own boomerang principles. Today, the world produces about 125 thousand tons of silk. Almost two thirds of this product is supplied by China. Other major producers are India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Brazil. The United States of America is the largest importer of silk products.

Properties of natural fabric

Products made of natural silk should be shiny and delicate, and their color - uniform. It is best to buy silk in China - in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai: all over the world enterprising merchants arrange silk tours to this country.

Buying items made of natural silk, you should consider:

• Silk products require hand washing;
• Stains on products made of silk must be quickly washed in cold water with mild detergents;
• After washing, thorough rinsing of the product and delicate drying are necessary;
• Iron clothes from silk should be at low temperature (it is marked on irons specifically);
• Exquisite products or having a multi-color print is better to give in dry cleaning;
• Store the items best in the case (but not plastic) and away from direct sunlight.

Observance of these simple tips will help to preserve bright clothes and wardrobe items, donated by nature itself for a long time.

Artificial silk: features and differences

At the end of the XIX century, artificial silk first appeared, its production was adjusted from cellulose fiber. . The fabric was called viscose .

Artificial and synthetic types of silk fabrics have a unique shine, they are smooth and durable. How to distinguish between artificial and natural tissue? After all, often in the market you can buy a fake at a high price.

Here are some tips on what to look for when choosing a fabric:

• Natural material to the touch is gentle and warm, unlike artificial, cool and less soft;
• The natural canvas shrinks a little, the artificial crumples harder;
• Natural fabrics slightly shine and shimmer, artificial - have a sharp luster;
• The torn end of an artificial thread looks like a brush with fluffy fibers, and a natural one - on a bundle of individual mini-fibers;
• Wet thread of artificial silk tears easier than dry;
• The way of burning the thread can not always be applied, but it is the most reliable: the natural thread is caked in a dense lump, quickly fades and smells of burnt hair, and the artificial burns to the end, making the smell of burnt synthetics;
• Artificial canvases do not shrink, unlike natural ones;
• The artificial silk practically does not burn out in the sun, and natural fabrics lose color in due course and fade.

Silk can be called a unique product, which came to us from antiquity, without losing its beauty and relevance. Fashion houses around the world - Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino and others create collections based on natural silk, delighting sophisticated connoisseurs of true beauty with new facets of the quality of this material - the gift of nature to the master man.