Posted 2017/5/2
Silk, as a symbol of ancient Chinese culture, has not only weaved an excellent picture in the nation's civilization history, but also has made indelible contributions for the advancement of human beings. For thousands of years, Chinese silk has been known for its superior quality, exquisite patterns, and rich cultural connotations.
Several thousand years ago, when the silk trade first reached Europe via theSilk Road, it brought with it not only gorgeous silk apparel and decorative items, but also the ancient and resplendent culture of the Far East. From then on, silk was regarded as the emissary and symbol of Eastern civilization. The earliest silk article discovered to date is approximately 4700 years old, unearthed from a tomb dating from China'sLiangzhuCulture (c. 3300-2200 BC).
According to an ancient Chinese legend, the Silkworm Goddess appeared to the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people, after he had vanquished his adversary Chi You. She presented him with silk fibers spun from her own mouth as a sign of respect. The Yellow Emperor ordered the fibers woven into cloth and made into silk apparel, which he found exceedingly soft and comfortable.
Lei Zu, the Yellow Emperor's wife, searched until she found some caterpillars capable of spinning silk fibers from their mouth. She raised these silkworms by feeding them mulberry leaves she picked herself. Later generations came to worship Lei Zu as the Silkworm Goddess, and the Yellow Emperor as the God of Weaving.
Sericulture, including cultivating the mulberry plant, raising silkworms, and producing silk fabric, has been an essential form of labor in China throughout the millennia, as China is the birthplace of sericulture. Raising silkworms and reeling the silk from their cocoons was ancient China's greatest achievement in the use of natural fibers.
As long ago as the Neolithic Age (c. 12,000-2000 BC), the Chinese ancestors had invented flat-weaving and figured-weaving techniques, and were tinting cloth using natural (red pigment) vermilion dye. With improvements in looming devices andprintingand dyeing methods, more varieties of silk were developed and a comprehensive system of cloth dying evolved. China possessed the most advanced silk dying and weaving techniques of the ancient world.
