Chinese silk is a unique material that combines incredible strength, amazing smoothness and thermal control properties. For many centuries, the manufacturing technology of this unique material has been kept a closely guarded secret.
How did silk appear?
Chinese silk is the product of the life of the mulberry caterpillars that make strong cocoons around them. But who was the first to guess how to make fabric? So, one of the legends ascribes this merit to the wife of the mythical emperor Huang di Lei Tzu. A young woman was drinking tea while sitting under a mulberry tree. When several silkworm cocoons fell into the cup, she pulled them out and found that they were unwinding into a long thread. Having collected all the cocoons, the empress wove luxurious silk and sewed clothes for her husband. Since then, Lei-zu began to be called Xilin-chi, and also began to consider her the goddess of sericulture.
Another legend
There is another legend explaining how Chinese silk came about. So, in one village an old man lived with his daughter. They had a flying horse, who also knew how to speak. One day, my father did not return home. The girl asked the horse to find a man, promising to become his wife as a reward. Returning home, the man found out about the terrible oath and killed the horse. But the soul of an innocent animal picked up the girl and carried away into the distance, laying on a mulberry tree. The beauty has turned into a silkworm caterpillar.
Common version
The most plausible version is that Chinese silk was discovered by accident. Picking fruits from the trees, the women came across strange white fruits. They were too hard for food, and therefore they tried to cook them. But this did not bring any result. Then the Chinese women began to beat them with batons, as a result of which the unique properties of silkworm cocoons were discovered .
A bit of history
More than 5 thousand years ago, the most valuable fabric began to be produced in the Asian region. Chinese silk was made exclusively by women. The Empress opened the season in spring. After that, for 6 months, Chinese women were engaged in sericulture.
The first fabrics were very expensive, and therefore only noble families could afford them. But with the expansion of production, the material became more accessible, and silk products became widespread among all sectors of the Chinese population (even commoners had valuable cloth in their wardrobe).
Since silk was as valuable as gold, in fact, it became a currency, and therefore was used in trade settlements with other countries. The importance of this material is also evidenced by the fact that more than 230 characters are dedicated to him.
The manufacturing technology of Chinese silk has long remained under a veil of secrecy, and anyone who tried to remove silkworm larvae from the country was immediately executed. Nevertheless, technology still left the borders of China. Byzantium became the first Western country to start producing this material. Despite the fact that today this technology is spread all over the world, China remains the only leader in this industry.
Production technology
Chinese natural silk is characterized by a complex manufacturing process. After mating with a male, a silkworm female lays about 500 eggs. Specialists select healthy larvae and place them in special conditions, and the rest are burned.
After a week, small worms appear, which within a month should increase their size several times. To do this, they are fed with chopped mulberry leaves. Having reached a certain age, the worm begins to twist the cocoon, secreting fibroin, sericin, fats, salts and waxes. After that, they are sorted by color, shape, size and placed in certain conditions.
After a certain time, the pupa is killed and the cocoon begins to unravel. Each of them gives 600-1000 meters of valuable thread. After that, yarn is produced, which goes through a refining procedure. And only after that the raw materials enter the spinning and weaving workshops where the most beautiful and most expensive fabrics in the world are made.
Conclusion
Incredibly beautiful, smooth and delicate is Chinese silk. Photos of fabrics and products from them are simply mesmerizing. Despite the fact that the production of fabrics is automated and distributed throughout the world, the price remains so high that not everyone can afford such a luxury.