, Hyalophora cecropia, Antheraea pernyi, Samia cynthia''.From (1885–1892) The production of silk originated in central China in the
Neolithic period, although it would eventually reach other places of the world ( culture, 4th millennium BC). Silk production remained confined to China until the
Silk Road opened at some point during the latter part of the 1st millennium BC, though China maintained its virtual
monopoly over
silk production for another thousand years.
Wild silk |left Several kinds of wild silk, produced by
caterpillars other than the
mulberry silkworm, have been known and spun in China,
South Asia, and
Europe since ancient times. However, the scale of production was always far smaller than for cultivated silks. There are several reasons for this: first, they differ from the domesticated varieties in colour and
texture and are therefore less uniform; second, cocoons gathered in the wild have usually had the pupa emerge from them before being discovered so the silk thread that makes up the cocoon has been torn into shorter lengths; and third, many wild cocoons are covered in a mineral layer that prevents attempts to reel from them long strands of silk. Thus, the only way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious and labor-intensive
carding.Some natural silk structures have been used without being unwound or spun. Spider webs were used as a wound dressing in
ancient Greece and Rome, and as a base for
painting from the 16th century. Butterfly caterpillar nests were pasted together to make a fabric in the
Aztec Empire. A technique known as
demineralizing allows the mineral layer around the cocoon of wild silk moths to be removed, leaving only variability in color as a barrier to creating a commercial silk industry based on wild silks in the parts of the world where wild silk moths thrive, such as in
Africa and South America.
China in China, from the
Han dynasty, 2nd century BC|left Silk use in fabric was first developed in ancient China. The earliest evidence for silk is the presence of the silk protein
fibroin in soil samples from two tombs at the
neolithic site
Jiahu in
Henan, which date back about 8,500 years. The earliest surviving example of silk fabric dates from about 3630 BC, and was used as the wrapping for the body of a child at a
Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun near
Xingyang, Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress,
Leizu (Hsi-Ling-Shih, Lei-Tzu). Silks were originally reserved for the emperors of China for their own use and gifts to others, but spread gradually through
Chinese culture and trade both geographically and socially, and then to many regions of
Asia. Because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants. Silk was in great demand, and became a staple of pre-
industrial international
trade. Silk was also used as a surface for writing, especially during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). The fabric was light, it survived the damp climate of the Yangtze region, absorbed ink well, and provided a white background for the text. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk
textiles in a tomb in
Jiangxi province, dated to the Eastern
Zhou dynasty roughly 2,500 years ago. Although historians have suspected a long history of a formative textile industry in ancient China, this find of silk textiles employing "complicated techniques" of weaving and dyeing provides direct evidence for silks dating before the
Mawangdui-discovery and other silks dating to the
Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). the ancient
Kingdom of Khotan by AD 50, and
India by AD 140. In the ancient era, silk from China was the most lucrative and sought-after luxury item traded across the Eurasian continent, and many civilizations, such as the Persians, benefited economically from trade. Wound dressings were frequently woven from silk which proliferated as a practice into numerous early societies. File:Meister nach Chang Hsüan 001.jpg|A painting depicting women inspecting silk, early 12th century, ink and color on silk. File:Women placing silkworms on trays together with mulberry leaves (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s).jpg |The silkworms and mulberry leaves are placed on trays. File:Men preparing twig frames where silkworms will spin cocoons (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s).jpg|Twig frames for the silkworms are prepared. File:Weighing and sorting the cocoons (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s).jpg|The cocoons are weighed. File:Soaking the cocoons and reeling the silk (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s).jpg|The cocoons are soaked and the silk is wound on spools. File:Weaving the silk (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s).jpg|The silk is woven using a loom.
Japan Archaeological evidence indicates that
sericulture has been practiced since the
Yayoi period. The silk industry was dominant from the 1930s to 1950s, but is less common now. Silk from
East Asia had declined in importance after
silkworms were smuggled from
China to the
Byzantine Empire. However, in 1845, an epidemic of
flacherie among European silkworms devastated the silk industry there. This led to a demand for silk from
China and
Japan, where as late as the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Japanese exports competed directly with Chinese in the international market in such low value-added, labor-intensive products as raw silk. Between 1850 and 1930, raw silk ranked as the leading export for both countries, accounting for 20%–40% of Japan's total exports and 20%–30% of China's. Between the 1890s and the 1930s, Japanese silk exports quadrupled, making Japan the largest silk exporter in the world. This increase in exports was mostly due to the economic reforms during the
Meiji period and the decline of the
Qing dynasty in China, which led to rapid industrialization of Japan whilst the Chinese industries stagnated. which led to the decline of the Japanese silk industry and its position as the lead silk exporter of the world. Today, China exports the largest volume of raw silk in the world.
India weaving at Kanchipuram Silk has a long history in India. It is known as
Resham in eastern and north India, and
Pattu in southern parts of
India. Recent archaeological discoveries in
Harappa and
Chanhu-daro suggest that
sericulture, employing
wild silk threads from native
silkworm species, existed in
South Asia during the time of the
Indus Valley civilisation (now in
Pakistan and India) dating between 2450 BC and 2000 BC. Shelagh Vainker, a silk expert at the
Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, who sees evidence for silk production in China "significantly earlier" than 2500–2000 BC, suggests, "people of the Indus civilization either harvested silkworm cocoons or traded with people who did, and that they knew a considerable amount about silk." North Bangalore, the upcoming site of a $20 million "Silk City"
Ramanagara and
Mysore, contribute to a majority of silk production in Karnataka. with gold
brocadeIn
Tamil Nadu, mulberry cultivation is concentrated in the
Coimbatore,
Erode,
Bhagalpuri,
Tiruppur,
Salem, and
Dharmapuri districts.
Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh, and
Gobichettipalayam,
Tamil Nadu, were the first locations in India to have automated silk reeling units. In the northeastern state of
Assam, three different types of indigenous variety of silk are produced, collectively called
Assam silk:
Muga silk,
Eri silk and
Pat silk. Muga, the golden silk, and Eri are produced by silkworms that are native only to Assam. They have been reared since ancient times.
Thailand Silk is produced year-round in Thailand by two types of silkworms, the cultured Bombycidae and wild Saturniidae. Most production is after the rice harvest in the southern and northeastern parts of the country. Women traditionally weave silk on hand looms and pass the skill on to their daughters, as weaving is considered to be a sign of maturity and eligibility for marriage. Thai silk textiles often use complicated patterns in various colours and styles. Most regions of Thailand have their own typical silks. A single thread
filament is too thin to use on its own so women combine many threads to produce a thicker, usable fiber. They do this by hand-reeling the threads onto a wooden spindle to produce a uniform strand of raw silk. The process takes around 40 hours to produce a half kilogram of silk. Many local operations use a reeling machine for this task, but some silk threads are still hand-reeled. The difference is that hand-reeled threads produce three grades of silk: two fine grades that are ideal for lightweight fabrics, and a thick grade for heavier material. The silk fabric is soaked in extremely cold water and bleached before dyeing to remove the natural yellow coloring of Thai silk yarn. To do this, skeins of silk thread are immersed in large tubs of
hydrogen peroxide. Once washed and dried, the silk is woven on a traditional hand-operated loom.
Bangladesh The
Rajshahi Division of northern Bangladesh is the hub of the country's silk industry. There are three types of silk produced in the region: mulberry, endi, and tassar.
Bengali silk was a major item of international trade for centuries. It was known as Ganges silk in medieval Europe. Bengal was the leading exporter of silk between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Central Asia ,
Sogdia Middle East In the
Torah, a scarlet cloth item called in Hebrew "sheni tola'at" שני תולעת – literally "crimson of the worm" – is described as being used in purification ceremonies, such as those following a leprosy outbreak (Leviticus 14), alongside
cedar wood and
hyssop (
za'atar). Eminent scholar and leading medieval translator of
Jewish sources and books of the
Bible into
Arabic, Rabbi
Saadia Gaon, translates this phrase explicitly as "crimson silk" – חריר קרמז حرير قرمز. In
Islamic teachings, Muslim men are forbidden to wear silk. Many religious jurists believe the reasoning behind the prohibition lies in avoiding clothing for men that can be considered feminine or extravagant. which could refer to the lustrous quality of silk fabric.
Aristotle wrote of
Coa vestis, a wild silk textile from
Kos.
Sea silk from certain large sea shells was also valued. The
Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk, and Chinese silk was the most highly priced luxury good imported by them. The
Historia Augusta mentions that the third-century emperor
Elagabalus was the first Roman to wear garments of pure silk, whereas it had been customary to wear fabrics of silk/cotton or silk/linen blends. Despite the popularity of silk, the secret of silk-making only reached Europe around AD 550, via the
Byzantine Empire. Contemporary accounts state that monks working for the emperor
Justinian I smuggled silkworm eggs to
Constantinople from China inside hollow canes. All top-quality looms and weavers were located inside the
Great Palace complex in Constantinople, and the cloth produced was used in imperial robes or in diplomacy, as gifts to foreign dignitaries. The remainder was sold at very high prices.
Medieval and modern Europe Italy was the most important producer of silk during the Medieval age. The first center to introduce silk production to Italy was the city of
Catanzaro during the 11th century in the region of
Calabria. 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, Genovese, and Dutch merchants. Catanzaro became the lace capital of the world with a large silkworm breeding facility that produced all the laces and linens used in the Vatican. The city was world-famous for its fine fabrication of silks, velvets, damasks, and brocades. Another notable center was the Italian
city-state of
Lucca which largely financed itself through silk-production and silk-trading, beginning in the 12th century. Other Italian cities involved in silk production were
Genoa,
Venice, and
Florence. The
Piedmont area of Northern Italy became a major silk producing area when water-powered
silk throwing machines were developed. The
Silk Exchange in Valencia from the 15th century—where previously in 1348 also
perxal (
percale) was traded as some kind of silk—illustrates the power and wealth of one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities. Silk was produced in and exported from the province of
Granada, Spain, especially the
Alpujarras region, until the
Moriscos, whose industry it was, were expelled from Granada in 1571. Since the 15th century, silk production in France has been centered around the city of
Lyon where many mechanic tools for mass production were first introduced in the 17th century.
James I attempted to establish silk production in England, purchasing and planting 100,000 mulberry trees, some on land adjacent to
Hampton Court Palace, but they were of a species unsuited to the silk worms, and the attempt failed. In 1732 John Guardivaglio set up a
silk throwing enterprise at
Logwood mill in Stockport; in 1744, Burton Mill was erected in
Macclesfield; and in 1753 Old Mill was built in
Congleton. These three towns remained the centre of the English silk throwing industry until silk throwing was replaced by
silk waste spinning. British enterprise also established silk filature in
Cyprus in 1928. In England in the mid-20th century, raw silk was produced at
Lullingstone Castle in Kent. Silkworms were raised and reeled under the direction of
Zoe Lady Hart Dyke, later moving to
Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire in 1956. During
World War II, supplies of silk for UK parachute manufacture were secured from the Middle East by
Peter Gaddum. File:Vestido Javiera Carrera.jpg|Dress made from silk File:WLA vanda Bed lit a la polonaise.jpg|Bed covered with silk File:"Almgrensrosen"- ett 100 år gammalt mönster 2013.JPG|A hundred-year-old pattern of silk called "Almgrensrosen" File:Necktie knot.jpg|The
necktie originates from the
cravat, a neckband made from silk.
North America Wild silk taken from the nests of
native butterfly and
moth caterpillars was used by the
Aztecs to make containers and as paper. Silkworms were introduced to
Oaxaca from Spain in the 1530s and the region profited from silk production until the early 17th century, when the king of Spain banned export to protect Spain's silk industry. Silk production for local consumption has continued until the present day, sometimes spinning wild silk. King
James I introduced silk-growing to the British colonies in America around 1619, ostensibly to discourage
tobacco planting. The
Shakers in Kentucky adopted the practice. , produced by
William Skinner & Sons of
Holyoke, Massachusetts, the largest producer of such textiles in the world in the early 20th century The history of industrial silk in the United States is largely tied to several smaller urban centers in the Northeast region. Beginning in the 1830s,
Manchester, Connecticut emerged as the early center of the silk industry in America, when the Cheney Brothers became the first in the United States to properly raise silkworms on an industrial scale; today the
Cheney Brothers Historic District showcases their former mills. With the
mulberry tree craze of that decade, other smaller producers began raising silkworms. This economy particularly gained traction in the vicinity of
Northampton, Massachusetts and its neighboring
Williamsburg, where a number of small firms and cooperatives emerged. Among the most prominent of these was the cooperative utopian Northampton Association for Education and Industry, of which
Sojourner Truth was a member. Following the destructive
Mill River Flood of 1874, one manufacturer,
William Skinner, relocated his mill from Williamsburg to the then-new city of
Holyoke. Over the next 50 years he and his sons would maintain relations between the American silk industry and its counterparts in Japan, and expanded their business to the point that by 1911, the Skinner Mill complex contained the largest silk mill under one roof in the world, and the brand Skinner Fabrics had become the largest manufacturer of silk satins internationally. Other efforts later in the 19th century would also bring the new silk industry to
Paterson, New Jersey, with several firms hiring European-born textile workers and granting it the nickname "Silk City" as another major center of production in the United States.
World War II interrupted the silk trade from Asia, and silk prices increased dramatically. U.S. industry began to look for substitutes, which led to the use of
synthetics such as
nylon. Synthetic silks have also been made from
lyocell, a type of
cellulose fiber, and are often difficult to distinguish from real silk (see
spider silk for more on synthetic silks).
Malaysia In
Terengganu, which is now part of
Malaysia, a second generation of silkworm was being imported as early as 1764 for the country's silk textile industry, especially
songket. However, since the 1980s, Malaysia is no longer engaged in sericulture but does plant mulberry trees.
Vietnam In Vietnamese legend, silk appeared in the first millennium AD and is still being woven today. ==Production process==