The Birth, Development and Westward Propagation of Chinese Silkworm and Silk Weaving

Yang Qunzhang， born in 1931， is a native of Renshou， Sichuan. He is a professor and master’s supervisor. Professor Yang Qunzhang has long been engaged in teaching and research on world history， the history of Sino-foreign relations and the works of Marx and Lenin.

This book is one of the 13th Five-Year Plan for the key book publishing project of the People’s Republic of China. Based on archaeological data， documentary records and the research results from the prominent experts and scholars， this book describes the emergence， development and exportation of sericulture and silk weaving in China， This book explains why the construction of silk road by sericulture and silk weaving industry in turn promotes China’s economic and social development， trade exchanges with the world， the communication between the East and the West， the dissemination of Chinese civilization etc.

The Birth， Development and Westward Propagation of Chinese Silkworm and Silk Weaving

Jiangxi Education Publishing House

December 2018

58.00 （CNY）

Before artificial fibers like nylon and polyester were invented， human beings had long used natural fibers like wool， cotton， hemp， rattan， palm， and silk for making textiles. Of these materials， silk features an unrivalled fineness， durability， smoothness， softness， airiness， lustre， acid-resistance， elasticity and an easiness to dye， which makes it a best material for the textile industry. It can be made into beautiful satin， or mixed with other fibers to make fine clothing materials. It can also have uses in military， communication， and medicine. For instance， it can be used to make parachutes， insulators， and surgical stitches. It really deserves the title of “queen of all fibers.”

The silkworm moth has small swings and a fat body that disable it to fly. A female moth is bigger than a male. The moth will die after mating. When the eggs are hatched， black larvae will come out， which are called ant silkworms or silkworm ants as they are as small as ants. These larvae are fed with tender mulberry leaves and will take four sleeps at an interval of six or seven days before they become mature silkworms. At the eighth day after their fourth sleep， the silkworms will be moved to the “cluster，” where they will start to make silk and cocoons. This may last for two or three days and nights until they stop making silk and start shrinking their bodies in the cocoons. After another two days， they will become brown and fat pupa， which after some time will become moths again and restart the whole process of mating and reproduction.

Silkworms are insects in temperate zones. The most suitable temperature for them to grow ranges between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Most areas in China have mild climate that is favorable to silkworm farming. In the southern part of China， silkworm farming can have seven or eight harvests in a year between February and November， in the water sheds of the Yangtse， four to five harvests between late April and late October， in the north， three to four harvests between May and September.

In addition to domesticated silkworms， there are also tussah silkworms and wild silkworms. The tools for raising silkworms are called “silkworm trays” in the south， and “silkworm plaques” in the north. The facility for the silkworms to make cocoons is called “cluster” both in the south and in the north.

Silk is the secretion from the silk gland of the silkworm. It comes out as liquid， but solidifies into silk as soon as it is exposed in air. Its main components include 75% silk fibroin， and 20% sericin. Silk fibroin is a kind of fiber that is insoluble in water， while sericin， which is sticky and water soluble， is a covering on the surface of silk fibroin. Serincin solidifies in cold. Each silkworm has two silk glands， from which two streaks of silk fibroin come out and become natural silk when solidified by the sericin.

When a silkworm makes silk， its head sways this way and that to produce silk in a seemingly disorderly manner and form a shell-like structure. That is cocoon in the making. When the process is nearly finished， it starts to produce regular chunks of silk in the shape of" “8，” followed by irregular spurting of silk to form a lining for the cocoon. Then it moves its body around to press the layers of silk so hard that they are stuck together.

To turn the cocoons into silk requires a process called reeling， which traditionally is to boil the cocoons to dissolve the sericin so that silk ends from cocoons （usually eight） can be led out to be tied to some holes or hooks on the reeling machine to form a silk thread or yarn， which will be rolled onto a roller. Meanwhile， control the water temperature and concentration of the secricin by constantly adding cold water.

The silk made this way is called “raw silk，” with the sericin covering on the silk fibroin not entirely removed. Raw silk is highly resilient and elastic， so is best for use as warp in weaving. To make it into whiter and more lustrous and softer “processed silk，” a “bleaching” process is necessary， which is usually done with boiled soap water or alkali solutions to get rid of the sericin covering the silk fibroin.

The lengths of silk vary between 700 and 900 meters， 900 and 1，300 meters， and 1，100 and 1，400 meters. The longer， the better. For longer silk contains less cocoon remains and gives higher yield and better quality. For silk of the same length， the heavier， the thicker， the lighter， the finer.

The raw silk is too fine and too uneven in length to be used directly for weaving， and has to be spun; The earliest form of spinning was done by kneading and joining the ends of threads or yarns together with hands. This was replaced by spindles and looms and more modern spinning machines.

Textiles made of silk have different names like sha， luo， juan， zeng， wan， qi， lin， jin， duan， cai， and zou due to their differences in texture， thickness， pattern and dyes used.

Tools for spinning silk has evolved from the most primitive types of looms to vertical looms， horizontal looms and modern weaving machines.