Sometime around 3,000 bc, a little princess, wife to the great Yellow Emperor of China, was sitting in the palace gardens under her favorite Mulberry Tree sipping tea, chatting, and laughing with her friends, when a cocoon with modest splash fell into her cup of hot tea. Seven faces gathered to cast an eye on the little floating object. Princess Xi Ling Shi carefully caught hold of the thing but just as she was about to drop it into the grass she hesitated to take another look. Moving the creature on her flat hand closer to her eyes, she discovered layers of fine threat, fragile and soft as a cobweb that enclosed whatever was inside. Endlessly slowly she started to unravel the threat into long loops across her hand. So fine it was, yet it lasted, didn’t break until she had reeled the entire cocoon, spun and weaved it into what according to Confucian legend was the first piece of silk.
Even before the Silk Roads were traveled by Chinese traders, silk garments from China reached far beyond the country’s borders, not to the happiness of everyone: as the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger writes “I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one’s decency, can be called clothes. … (and) a husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife’s body”.
Although it was forbidden by death to smuggle silkworms or the secret of making silk beyond the borders, China gradually lost its monopoly. Yet, Chinese silk was for a long time, some of the finest and most precious thanks to Bombyx mori. This blind and flightless moth – originally unique to China – produces 500 or more minuscule eggs, one ounce of which will produce about 30,000 worms that together eat 1 ton of mulberry leaves and their cocoons produce 12 pounds of the smoothest and finest silk threat, a single one of which can reach between 600 to 900 meters. Not only that, according to Chinese sources already in 1090 they had invented a machine to help with the laborious task of unwinding the silkworms and silk spinning machines were introduced in the 13th century!
The story of silk continues for those who want to know more, the Silk Association of Great Britain has plenty of information.
The painting (12th century) shows women striking and preparing silk
May 9, 2009, 07.08 AMby gedwoods
If I remember right the Chinese kept the secret of silk manufacturing partly by spreading false rumours about how it was made (i.e. from a special plant, etc.), an early example of industrial espionage and propaganda! It’s useful to be reminded of just how sophisticated the Chinese empire was for so many thousands of years, including its use of fashions! P.S. I noticed that the word “thread” in your posting seems to be systematically spelled “threat” – I’m not sure if this is an error or intentional for reasons that escape me :)
May 5, 2009, 02.40 AMby princessali
How interesting that the cocoons can produce that much silk thread. We kept silk worms when I was little…not for the silk unfortunately, and the cocoons were smaller than my thumb (and I have small hands).
May 3, 2009, 11.58 AMby harmke
Very interesting and informative! Thank you so much.