History of silk
The production of
Silk cultivation had reached
The
In the 20th century, Japan and China regained their earlier dominant role in silk production, and China is now once again the world's largest producer of silk. The rise of new imitation silk fabrics, such as nylon and polyester, has reduced the prevalence of silk throughout the world, being cheaper and easier to care for. Silk is now once again thought of as a luxury good, with a greatly reduced importance compared to its historical heyday.
Early history
First appearance of silk
The earliest evidence of silk dates back to more than 8,500 years ago and has been found at the early Neolithic Age tombs of Jiahu, China.[1] Biomolecular evidence, reported from a study, showed the existence of prehistoric silk fibroin in the tombs. Rough weaving tools and bone needles were also excavated, indicating the possibility that the Jiahu residents may have possessed basic weaving and sewing skills required for making textiles. Other evidence of silk include items found at sites of the Yangshao culture in Xia County, Shanxi, where a silk cocoon was found cut in half by a sharp knife, dating back to between 4000 and 3000 BC. The species was identified as Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm. Fragments of a primitive loom can also be seen from the sites of Hemudu culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang, dated to about 4000 BC.
The earliest extant example of a woven silk fabric is from 3630 BC, used as wrapping for the body of a child. The fabric comes from a Yangshao site in Qingtaicun at Rongyang, Henan.[2] Similar remains of silk fabric were discovered at another Yangshao site located in Wanggou, Henan, in the year 2019. The fabric was used to wrap the body of a child placed inside a burial urn.[3] Scraps of silk were found in a Liangzhu culture site at Qianshanyang in Huzhou, Zhejiang, dating back to 2700 BC.[4][5] Other fragments have been recovered from royal tombs in the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC).[6]
During the later epoch, the knowledge of silk production was spread outside of China, with the
Even though silk spread rapidly across
The
Myths and legends
Many myths and legends exist about origin of silk production. The writings of both
Knowledge of silk production eventually left China via the heir of a princess who was promised to a prince of
Though silk was exported to foreign countries in great amounts, sericulture remained a secret that the Chinese carefully guarded; consequently, other cultures developed their own accounts and legends as to the source of the fabric. In classical antiquity, most Romans, great admirers of the cloth, were convinced that the Chinese took the fabric from tree leaves.[13] This belief was affirmed by Seneca the Elder in his work Phaedra, and by Virgil in his work Georgics. Pliny the Elder notably accurately determined where silk came from; speaking of the Bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural History that, "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk."[14]
Silk usage in Ancient and Medieval China
In China, silkworm farming was originally restricted to women, and many women were employed in the silk-making industry. Even though some saw the development of a luxury product as useless, silk provoked such a craze among the high society that the rules in the
For approximately a millennium, the right to wear silk was reserved for the emperor and the highest dignitaries. Silk was, at the time, a sign of great wealth, due to its shimmering appearance, created by the silk fiber's prismatic structure, which refracted light from every angle. After some time, silk gradually extended to other classes of Chinese society, though this was mainly the uppermost noble classes. Silk began to be used for decorative means and also in less luxurious ways; musical instruments, fishing, and bow-making all utilized silk. Peasants, however, did not have the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911).[6]
Paper was one of the greatest discoveries of ancient China. Beginning in the 3rd century BC, paper was made in all sizes with various materials.[15] Silk was no exception, and silk workers had been making paper since the 2nd century BC. Silk, bamboo, linen, wheat and rice straw were all used, and paper made with silk became the first type of luxury paper. Researchers have found an early example of writing done on silk paper in the tomb of a marchioness, who died around 168[vague], in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan. The material was more expensive, but also more practical than bamboo slips. Treatises on many subjects, including meteorology, medicine, astrology, divinity, and even maps written on silk[16] have been discovered.
During the Han dynasty, silk became progressively more valuable in its own right, and was used in a greater capacity than as simply a material; lengths of silk cloth were used to pay government officials and to compensate citizens who were particularly worthy. In the same manner that one would sometimes estimate the price of products according to a certain weight of gold, a length of silk cloth became a monetary standard in China, in addition to bronze coins. Many neighbouring countries began to grow envious of the wealth that sericulture provided China, and beginning in the 2nd century BC, the Xiongnu people regularly pillaged the provinces of the Han Chinese for around 250 years. Silk was a common offering by the emperor to these tribes in exchange for peace.
Silk is described in a chapter of the Fan Shengzhi shu from the Western Han period (206 BC–9 AD), and a surviving calendar for silk production in an Eastern Han (25–220 AD) document. The two other known works on silk from the Han period are lost.[2]
The military payrolls tell us that soldiers were paid in bundles of plain silk textiles, which circulated as currency in Han times. Soldiers may well have traded their silk with the nomads who came to the gates of the Great Wall to sell horses and furs.[17]
For more than a millennium, silk remained the principal diplomatic gift of the emperor of China to neighbouring countries or vassal states.
As a material for clothing and accessories, the use of silk was regulated by a very precise code in China. For example, the
Golden lotus having a quilted backgammon pattern, double-folded, adorned with savage geese pecking at a landscape of flowers and roses; the dress' right figure had a floral border with buttons in the form of bees or chrysanthemums.[6]
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The silkworms and mulberry leaves are placed on trays.
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Twig frames for the silkworms are prepared.
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The cocoons are weighed.
-
The cocoons are soaked and the silk is wound on spools.
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The silk is woven using a loom.
Silk moths and production techniques used in China
Silk was made using various breeds of
More information is known about the looms used. The 'Nung Sang Chi Yao, or Fundamentals of Agriculture and Sericulture (compiled around 1210) is rich with pictures and descriptions, many pertaining to silk.
The Silk Road and trade (2nd–8th century)
Numerous archaeological discoveries show that silk had become a luxury material appreciated in foreign countries well before the opening of the Silk Road by the Chinese. For example, silk has been found in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, in the tomb of a mummy dating to 1070 BC.
Both the
The
Not long after the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC, regular commerce began between the Romans and Asia, marked by the Roman appetite for silk cloth coming from the Far East, which was then resold to the Romans by the Parthians. The Roman Senate tried in vain to prohibit the wearing of silk, for economic reasons as well as moral ones. The import of Chinese silk resulted in vast amounts of gold leaving Rome, to such an extent that silk clothing was perceived as a sign of decadence and immorality.
I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes. ... Wretched flocks of maids labor so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body.
— Seneca the Younger, Declamations Vol. I.[21]
China traded silk, teas, and porcelain, while India traded spices, ivory, textiles, precious stones, and pepper, and the Roman Empire exported gold, silver, fine glassware, wine, carpets, and jewels. Although the term "the Silk Road" implies a continuous journey, very few who traveled the route traversed it from end to end; for the most part, goods were transported by a series of agents on varying routes, and were traded in the bustling markets of the oasis towns.
In the late Middle Ages, transcontinental trade over the land routes of the Silk Road declined as sea trade increased. Centuries went by, civilizations, and dynasties were formed, prospered, or perished, but the route that linked the continents of Europe and Asia survived and expanded, becoming known as the Silk Road.
Global spread of sericulture (4th–16th century)
Although silk was well known in Europe and most of Asia, China was able to keep a near-
Starting in the 4th century BC, silk began to reach the
According to a story by
The Arabs, with their widening conquests, spread sericulture across the shores of the Mediterranean, leading to the development of sericulture in North Africa, Andalusia, Sicily[31] and Southern Italy's Calabria, which was under the Byzantine dominion. According to André Guillou,[32] mulberry trees for the production of raw silk were introduced to southern Italy by the Byzantines at the end of the 9th century. Around 1050, the theme of Calabria had cultivated 24,000, mulberry trees for their foliage, with growth still ongoing. The interactions among Byzantine and Muslim silk-weaving centers of all levels of quality, with imitations made in Andalusia and Lucca, among other cities, have made the identification and date of rare surviving examples difficult to pinpoint.[33]
Catanzaro, in the region of Calabria, was the first center to introduce silk production to Italy between the 9th and the 11th century. During the following centuries, the silk of Catanzaro supplied almost all of Europe and was sold in a large market fair in the port of Reggio Calabria to Spanish, Venetian, Genoese, Florentine and Dutch merchants. Catanzaro became the lace capital of Europe, with a large silkworm breeding facility that produced all the laces and linens used in the Vatican. The city was famous for its fine fabrication of silks, velvets, damasks, and brocades.[34][35] While the cultivation of mulberry was moving first steps in Northern Italy, silk made in Calabria reached a peak of 50% of the whole Italian/European production. As the cultivation of mulberry was difficult in Northern and Continental Europe, merchants and operators used to purchase raw materials in Calabria in order to finish the products, before reselling them for a higher price. Genoese silk artisans also used fine Calabrian and Sicilian silk for the production of velvets.[36]
While the Chinese lost their monopoly on silk production, they were able to re-establish themselves as major silk suppliers during the Tang dynasty, and to industrialize their production on a large scale during the Song dynasty.[37] China continued to export high-quality fabric to Europe and the Near East along the Silk Road; however, following the beginning of the first Crusades, techniques of silk production began to spread across Western Europe.
In 1147, while Byzantine emperor
The sudden boom of the silk industry in the Italian state of Lucca, starting in the 11th and 12th centuries, was due to much Sicilian, Jewish, and Greek settlement, alongside many other immigrants from neighboring cities in southern Italy.[40] With the loss of many Italian trading posts in the Orient, the import of Chinese styles drastically declined. In order to satisfy the demands of the rich and powerful bourgeoisie for luxury fabrics, the cities of Lucca, Genoa, Venice and Florence increase the momentum of their silk production, and were soon exporting silk to all of Europe, with 84 workshops and at least 7,000 craftsmen in Florence in 1472 alone.
In 1519, Emperor Charles V formally recognized the growth of the industry of Catanzaro by allowing the city to establish a consulate of the silk craft, charged with regulating and check in the various stages of a production that flourished throughout the 16th century. At the moment of the creation of its guild, the city declared that it had over 500 looms. By 1660, when the town had about 16,000 inhabitants, its silk industry kept 1,000 looms, and at least 5,000 people, in employment. The silk textiles of Catanzaro were not only sold at the Kingdom of Naples's markets, they were also exported to Venice, France, Spain and England.[41]
Use of silk in the Medieval period (5th–15th century)
Importance as a luxury good
The
Improved silk production technology
The 13th century saw an improvement in the already-changing technology of silk production; as with the
From the start of the 14th century, many documents allude to the use of complex weaving machinery.
Towards the end of the 14th century, no doubt on account of the devastation caused mid-century by the Black Death, trends began to shift towards less expensive production techniques. Many techniques that earlier in the century would have been completely forbidden by the guilds for low-quality production were now commonplace (such as using low-quality wool, carding, etc.). In the silk industry, the use of water-powered mills grew.
In the second half of the 15th century, drawloom technology was first brought to France by an Italian weaver from Calabria, known as Jean le Calabrais,
The silk industry in France
Though highly regarded for its quality, Italian silk cloth was very expensive, both due to the costs of the raw materials and the production process. The craftsmen in Italy proved unable to keep up with the needs of French fashions, which continuously demanded lighter and less expensive materials.[49] These materials, used for clothing, began to be produced locally instead; however, Italian silk remained for a long time amongst the most prized, mostly for furnishings and the brilliant nature of the dyestuffs used.
Following the example of the wealthy Italian city-states of the era, such as Venice, Florence, and Lucca (which had become the center of the luxury-textile industry), Lyon obtained a similar function in the French market. In 1466, King Louis XI decided to develop a national silk industry in Lyon, and employed a large number of Italian workers, mainly from Calabria. The fame of the master weavers of Catanzaro spread throughout France, and they were invited to Lyon in order to teach the techniques of weaving. The drawloom that appeared in those years in France was called loom by Jean Le Calabrais.[50]
In the face of protests by the people of Lyon, Louis XI conceded to move silk production to
In the 18th and 19th centuries,
Silk industries in other countries
England under Henry IV (1367–1413) also looked to develop a silk industry, but no opportunity arose until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes the 1680s, when hundreds of thousands of French Huguenots, many of whom were skilled weavers and experts in sericulture, began immigrating to England to escape religious persecution. Some areas, including Spitalfields, saw many high-quality silk workshops spring up, their products distinct from continental silk largely by the colors used.[55] Nonetheless, the British climate prevented England's domestic silk trade from becoming globally dominant.
Many envisioned starting a silk industry in the
Silk in the modern day (1760–present)
The Industrial Revolution
The start of the Industrial Revolution was marked by a massive boom in the textile industry in general, with remarkable technological innovations made, led by the cotton industry of Great Britain. In its early years, there were often disparities in technological innovation between different stages of fabric manufacture, which encouraged complementary innovations. For example, spinning progressed much more rapidly than weaving.
The silk industry, however, did not gain any benefit from innovations in spinning, as silk did not require spinning in order to be woven. Furthermore, the production of silver, and gold silk
The Jacquard loom was immediately denounced by workers, who accused it of causing
Decline in the European silk industry
The first silkworm diseases began to appear in 1845, creating an epidemic. Among them were
Nevertheless, the increase in the price of silkworm cocoons and the reduction in the importance of silk in the garments of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century caused the decline of the silk industry in Europe. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the silk shortage in France reduced the price of importing Asian silk, particularly from China and Japan.[59]
Starting from the
-
AJacquard loom.
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An illustration of spinning, winding, doubling, and throwing machines used in silk textile production in England, 1858.
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Silk, cotton and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped cotton panel, machine-woven in Scotland c. 1887. The tulip motif is inspired by Turkish textiles.
Silk in modern times
Following the crisis in Europe, the modernization of sericulture in Japan made it the world's foremost silk producer. By the early 20th century, rapidly industrializing Japan was producing as much as 60 percent of the world's raw silk, most exports shipping through the port of Yokohama.[60] Italy managed to rebound from the crisis, but France was unable. Urbanization in Europe saw many French and Italian agricultural workers leave silk growing for more lucrative factory work. Raw silk was imported from Japan to fill the void.[11] Asian countries, formerly exporters of raw materials (cocoons and raw silk), progressively began to export more and more finished garments.
During the
With its recent economic reforms, the People's Republic of China has become the world's largest silk producer. In 1996 it produced 58,000
In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the
Notes
- ^ Yuxuan Gong, Li Li, and Juzhong Zhang "Biomolecular Evidence of Silk from 8,500 Years Ago"
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8135-3446-6.
- ^ "China Focus: World's earliest silk fabrics discovered in central China's ruins-China Silk Museum". www.chinasilkmuseum.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Tang, Chi and Miao, Liangyun, "Zhongguo Sichoushi" ("History of Silks in China") Archived 2007-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopedia of China, 1st ed.
- ^ "Textile Exhibition: Introduction". Asian art. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
- ^ a b c d e f (in French) Charles Meyer, Des mûriers dans le jardin du mandarin, Historia, n°648, December 2000.
- ^ a b c (in French) "Soie'" (§2. Historique), Encyclopédie Encarta
- ^ Meadow, Richard (January 2009). "New Evidence for Early Silk in the Indus Civilization". Archaeometry.
- ISSN 1475-4754.
- ISBN 978-0-8160-4051-3.
- ^ a b c d "The History of Silk". The Silk Association of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ Hill (2009), "Appendix A: Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan in the 1st Century AD.", pp. 466-467.
- ^ Jean-Noël Robert. "Les relations entre le monde romain et la Chine: la tentation du Far East" (in French). clio.fr. Archived from the original on May 22, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 11.xxvi.76
- ^ a b (in French) Histoire des techniques p.455
- ^ Plous, Estelle. "A History of Silk Maps". TravelLady Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ Liu (2010), p. 12.
- ISBN 0-521-25076-5
- ^ (in French) "Histoire de la Route de la soie", Encyclopædia Universalis
- ^ (in French) Charles Meyer, "Les routes de la soie: 22 siècles d'aventure", Historia, n°648 December 2000.
- ^ Seneca the Elder, Declamations Vol. I.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-24340-8.
- ^ Ma, Debin. "The Modern Silk Road: The Global Raw-Silk Market, 1850-1930." The Journal of Economic History, vol. 56, no. 2, 1996, pp. 330–55. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2123969. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.
- ^ Hogan, C. Michael. "The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map: Silk Road, North China [Northern Silk Road, North Silk Road] Ancient Trackway". www.megalithic.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2.
- ^ Cook (1999), 144.
- ^ Strabo 11.11.1, 15.1.34. The earliest example of the adjective 'σηρικός' was recorded in the 2nd century AD, found in Lucian (De saltatione 63), Cassius Dio (43.24), and Pausanias (6.26.6).
- ^ "Internet History Sourcebooks Project".
- ^ (in French) Catherine Jolivet-Lévy and Jean-Pierre Sodini (2006), "Byzance", in Encyclopædia Universalis
- ^ (in French) Histoire des Techniques p.435
- ^ a b (in French) Anne Kraatz, Marie Risselin-Steenebrugen, Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens and Madeleine Paul-David (2006), "Tissus d'art", in Encyclopædia Universalis
- ^ Guillou, André; Delogu, Paolo (1983). "Il Mezzogiorno dai Bizantini a Federico II". Storia d'Italia (in Italian). Vol. III. UTET.
- JSTOR 3591386.
- ^ "The Ancient and Noble Art of Silk". 14 May 2015.
- ^ "Catanzaro | Italy | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ISBN 88-495-0949-9.
- ^ Heleanor B. Feltham: Justinian and the International Silk Trade, p. 34
- ^ Muthesius, Anna, "Silk in the Medieval World". In Jenkins (2003), p. 331.
- ISBN 2-228-07061-0
- ^ (in French) Histoire des techniques p.551
- ISBN 978-900-422-4063.
- ^ a b Xinru Liu, Silk and Religion: An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People AD 600-1200, Oxford University Press US, 1998.
- ^ (in French) Histoire des Techniques p. 553
- ^ a b (in French) Histoire des Techniques p.557
- ^ Ronan (1994), 68,
- ^ (in French) Histoire des Techniques p.639
- ISBN 88-7574-127-1.
- ^ A Brief History of Figured Textile Production
- ^ (in French) Autour du Fil, l'encyclopédie des arts textiles
- ^ Rossi, Cesare; Russo, Flavio (2016). Ancient Engineers' Inventions: Precursors of the Present.
- ISBN 2-03-505047-2
- ^ a b c (in French) Gérard Chauvy, "La dure condition des forçats du luxe", Historia, n°648, December 2000
- ^ (in French) Guide Gallimard - Parc naturel LUBERON
- ^ Waters, Sarah. "The Silk Industry in Lyon, France." Museum of the City. Accessed 6 October 2017. http://www.museumofthecity.org/project/the-silk-industry-in-lyon-france/ Archived 2017-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Thirsk (1997), 120.
- ISBN 0-395-65237-5
- ^ (in French) Histoire des techniques p.718
- ^ "Louis Pasteur," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. Archived 2009-11-01.
- ^ A. J. H. Latham and Heita Kawakatsu, Japanese Industrialization and the Asian Economy p. 199
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3655-2.
- ^ "The Cocoon Strikes Back: Innovative Products Could Revive a Dying Industry". Japan Information Network. 2000. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
- ^ Anthony H. Gaddum, "Silk", Business and Industry Review, (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica
References
Main sources:
- ISBN 978-2-07-010881-7)(in French)
- The d'Alembert(in French)
- Catherine Jolivet-Lévy et Jean-Pierre Sodini, "Byzance", in Encyclopædia Universalis, 2006. (in French)
- "La Soie, 4000 ans de luxe et de volupté", Historia, n°648, décembre 2000. (in French)
- Ron Cherry, "Sericulture", Entomological Society of America CED1: History of Sericulture
- Cook, Robert. Handbook of Textile Fibres Vol. 1: Natural Fibres. Cambridge: Woodhead, 1999.
- "Silk", Encyclopædia Britannica
- "Soie", Encyclopédie Encarta (in French)
- Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
- Anne Kraatz, Marie Risselin-Steenebrugen, Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens et Madeleine Paul-David, "Tissus d'art", in Encyclopædia Universalis, 2006. (in French)
- ISBN 978-0-19-533810-2(pbk).
- Sakellariou, Eleni, Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional and Economic Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440-c.1530, Brill, 2012. ISBN 978-900-422-4063
- Toshiharu Furusawa, "The history of Sericulture in Japan – The old and innovative technique for Industry-", Center for Bioresource Field Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology (pdf)
- "Métiers agricoles - Magnaniers", Institut supérieur de l'agroalimentaire Métiers agricoles
- Ronan, Colin. The Shorter Science and Civilization in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1994. (in French)
- Thirsk, Joan (1997) Alternative Agriculture: A History from the Black Death to the Present Day. Oxford: Oxford University, 1997.
- Fabio Bertini, "Il Settecento capitalista. Setaioli commercianti banchieri e nobili fra la Firenze delle accomandite e l'Europa", Cagliari-Milano-Roma, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto dell'Europa mediterranea, 2017.
Further reading
- Watt, James C.Y.; Wardwell, Anne E. (1997). When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-825-6.
External links
- China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou, China (中国丝绸博物馆) China National Silk Museum
- "Sericulture in Asia: Yesterday, today, tomorrow", Asia and Pacific Network