Chinese Silk: Facts, History and Production | Sīchóu
After Chinese President Xi proposed “the Belt and Road Initiative”, the Silk Road of China gets more and more popular around the world. Almost half the world’s country leaders talk about the Silk Road from time to time. But what is the Silk Road? Where is the Silk Road located, how long is it, and how far does it stretch? Why it is called the SILK road? You can learn more here.
Actually, the reason why the Silk Road is called by this name is that it was a trade route that transport silk to the west originally. Let’s learn a bit of information about Chinese silk together first. Then, the Silk Road information could be easier to digest.
Chinese Silk Facts
Silk (丝绸 [sī chóu]), a kind of textile made of fibers produced by silkworms, which was first developed in ancient China — one of China’s contributions to the world. Silk is a specialty of China. The ancient Chinese people invented and produced silk products on a large scale, which opened the first large-scale commercial exchange between east and west in the history of the world, known as the Silk Road. For that reason, China was called “Silk Country”.
Silk contains a kind of natural fiber called silk fiber that makes it soft and glossy. Due to its quality of porosity, silk has good permeability and hygroscopicity, for which it is called “Queen of Fibre”. Clothes made of silk have good quality not only heat dissipation but also heat preservation. Besides, in addition to making clothes, it can also be used for interior decoration to regulate indoor temperature and humidity and absorb sounds, harmful gases, dust, and microorganisms. The silk fiber is heat-resistant, and its combustion temperature is at 300–400 ℃ (572–752 ℉). The silk protein inside the silk can absorb the ultraviolet ray and also has certain health care function to the human body. Wearing silk clothes not only can prevent ultraviolet radiation, but also can enhance the vitality of skin cells on the body surface as well as promote the metabolism of skin cells.
However, silk is very fragile. Although silk is strong, it isn’t elastic and is easy to wrinkle. After absorbing ultraviolet light, the silk itself will undergo chemical changes, thus making the silk fabric easy to fade under the sunlight. Therefore, it isn’t suggested to use silk curtains or draperies. Silk clothing should be hand washed with mild detergent and lukewarm water. Delicate silks should be dry-cleaned to prevent the colors from fading. In addition, Storing silk clothing should avoid strong light or direct sunlight.
Since China was the first country to produce and use silk, silk in China has developed a lot. There are 14 main classifications and 35 subgroups of silk. And although other countries can produce silk items, some types exist only in China. Silk is mostly used for clothing, especially as the material of qípáo (旗袍), one of the most typical, traditional, and female body-hugging dress with distinctive Chinese features.
Origins and Development of Chinese Silk
The history of Chinese silk can be traced back to almost 6,000 years ago when Chinese ancestors already used textile tools and natural silk. The oldest surviving silk products were found at Qianshanyang Site in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1950s. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (1748–771 BC), agriculture developed greatly, and the silkworm industry also reached a certain scale. The ruling class had carried out strict organization and management on handicraft industry production.
During the Spring & Autumn and Warring State period (770–221 BC), sericulture and silk industry were paid a lot of attention to. The development of agriculture and mulberry planting had become an important national policy of countries to enrich the country.
During the Qin and Han dynasties (306 BC–220 AD), the silk industry not only developed greatly but also experienced unprecedented prosperity in silk trade and export, with the large-scale expansion of China’s foreign trade in the Han dynasty. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, people had opened up the Silk Road which promoted cultural and economic exchanges between China and the West.
Wars continued in the period of Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (220–589 AD). Social upheaval and other factors have made silk production difficult to develop, but rich in content and diverse in appearance. By the Sui Dynasty (581–618), China’s sericulture and silk industry had shifted its center to the Yangtze river basin. During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), China’s silk industry experienced a high tide of development and its output, quality as well as variety had reached an unprecedented level. The important silk-producing areas have basically formed a tripartite situation.
With the progress of sericulture technology, Chinese silk had a brief glory during the Song and Yuan Dynasties (960–1368). In addition to the obvious increase of silk design and color varieties, especially the emergence of three distinctive new types — Song brocade, silk cloth, and fabric with decorative golden thread, the summary, and promotion of silkworm mulberry production technology had also made a great breakthrough. After the mid-Yuan Dynasty, the industrial pattern changed greatly. Silk production in northern China declined, and Jiangnan area became more important.
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) was the most active period in the development of Chinese silk. The overseas trade in silk developed rapidly. The Suhu area in the south of the Yangtze River had become the most important silk producing area. A number of typical silk professional towns had been developed, and the official weaving became more and more mature. In the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912), the silk industry suffered heavy losses in wars, despite the encouragement measures adopted by emperor Kangxi (1662–1772) (康熙 [kāng xī]). With the continuous development and innovation of science and technology, the development momentum of Chinese silk in modern times is considerable, and the silk output ranks first around the world.
Silk Production
Silk production is a lengthy process which requires not only techniques but also patience.
After silk moths lay eggs, caterpillars that are hatched grow up by eating mulberry leaves. Storing up enough energy, caterpillars (silkworms) will secrete fibers around them and then form the cocoons where silk comes from. People usually boil cocoons, draw silk from them and later spin it into thread. A silkworm can spit natural silk about 1,000 meters long. After processing, raw silk is divided into warp and weft threads which interweave with each other according to certain organizational rules to form silk fabric, and that process is the weaving process. Silk is composed of two single filaments, the main body of which is silk protein and the outer layer of which is covered with sericin. Raw silk requires the removal of sericin and other impurities to become boiled-off silk. Bleaching is then carried out to remove the natural pigments and then dyeing. In addition to dyeing, printing techniques are often used to make silk colorful.
In terms of texture and workmanship, there are four kinds of Chinese silk that are the best and most popular. They are produced in Jiangsu, Hunan, Sichuan, and Guangdong provinces. Besides, there are three famous brocades in China: the Nanjing brocade (the cloud brocade), the Shu brocade from Sichuan, and the Song brocade from Suzhou. They are all listed in the first batch of intangible cultural heritage in China.
View more contents at Pandarow.
