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id="toc-Early_history-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-First_appearance_of_silk" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#First_appearance_of_silk"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>First appearance of silk</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-First_appearance_of_silk-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Myths_and_legends" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Myths_and_legends"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Myths and legends</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Myths_and_legends-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Silk_usage_in_Ancient_and_Medieval_China" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Silk_usage_in_Ancient_and_Medieval_China"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Silk usage in Ancient and Medieval China</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Silk_usage_in_Ancient_and_Medieval_China-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Silk usage in Ancient and Medieval China subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Silk_usage_in_Ancient_and_Medieval_China-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Silk_moths_and_production_techniques_used_in_China" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Silk_moths_and_production_techniques_used_in_China"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Silk moths and production techniques used in China</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Silk_moths_and_production_techniques_used_in_China-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Silk_Road_and_trade_(2nd–8th_century)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Silk_Road_and_trade_(2nd–8th_century)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>The Silk Road and trade (2nd–8th century)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Silk_Road_and_trade_(2nd–8th_century)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Global_spread_of_sericulture_(4th–16th_century)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Global_spread_of_sericulture_(4th–16th_century)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Global spread of sericulture (4th–16th century)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Global_spread_of_sericulture_(4th–16th_century)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Use_of_silk_in_the_Medieval_period_(5th–15th_century)" 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luxury good</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Importance_as_a_luxury_good-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Improved_silk_production_technology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Improved_silk_production_technology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.2</span> <span>Improved silk production technology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Improved_silk_production_technology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_silk_industry_in_France" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_silk_industry_in_France"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>The silk industry in France</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-The_silk_industry_in_France-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span 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aria-controls="toc-Silk_in_the_modern_day_(1760–present)-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Silk in the modern day (1760–present) subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Silk_in_the_modern_day_(1760–present)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-The_Industrial_Revolution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Industrial_Revolution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>The Industrial Revolution</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Industrial_Revolution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Decline_in_the_European_silk_industry" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Decline_in_the_European_silk_industry"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.2</span> <span>Decline in the European silk industry</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Decline_in_the_European_silk_industry-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Silk_in_modern_times" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Silk_in_modern_times"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Silk in modern times</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Silk_in_modern_times-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav 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class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">History of silk</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. 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mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_la_seda" title="Historia de la seda – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Historia de la seda" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_de_la_soie" title="Histoire de la soie – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Histoire de la soie" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B2%AC%EC%84%AC%EC%9C%A0%EC%9D%98_%EC%97%AD%EC%82%AC" title="견섬유의 역사 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="견섬유의 역사" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%AE_%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE_%E0%A4%87%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B8" title="रेशम का इतिहास – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="रेशम का इतिहास" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejarah_sutra" title="Sejarah sutra – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Sejarah sutra" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D1%88%D1%91%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B0" title="История шёлка – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="История шёлка" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%86%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%96%D1%8F_%D1%88%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BA%D1%83" title="Історія шовку – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Історія шовку" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%9D%E7%BB%B8%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2" title="丝绸历史 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="丝绸历史" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a 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0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Update plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Update" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Ambox_current_red.svg/42px-Ambox_current_red.svg.png" decoding="async" width="42" height="34" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Ambox_current_red.svg/63px-Ambox_current_red.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Ambox_current_red.svg/84px-Ambox_current_red.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="290" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">Parts of this article (those related to modern usage) need to be <b>updated</b>. The reason given is: the most recent information is from 2006.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">July 2024</span>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_(%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE)_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A group of women wearing high-waisted skirts, wrap-front tops and large hair buns use wooden rods to prepare a length of white silk." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg/300px-Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="351" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg/450px-Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg/600px-Court_ladies_pounding_silk_from_a_painting_%28%E6%8D%A3%E7%BB%83%E5%9B%BE%29_by_Emperor_Huizong.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2024" data-file-height="2366" /></a><figcaption><i><a href="/wiki/Court_Ladies_Preparing_Newly_Woven_Silk" title="Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk">Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk</a></i>, a <a href="/wiki/Chinese_painting" title="Chinese painting">Chinese</a> <a href="/wiki/Silk_painting" title="Silk painting">silk painting</a> sucby <a href="/wiki/Emperor_Huizong_of_Song" title="Emperor Huizong of Song">Emperor Huizong of Song</a>, early 12th century.</figcaption></figure> <p>The production of <a href="/wiki/Silk" title="Silk">silk</a> originated in <a href="/wiki/Neolithic" title="Neolithic">Neolithic</a> <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> within the <a href="/wiki/Yangshao_culture" title="Yangshao culture">Yangshao culture</a> (4th millennium BCE). Though it would later reach other places in the world, the art of silk production remained confined to China until the <a href="/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a> opened at 114 BC. Even after trade opened, China maintained a virtual <a href="/wiki/Monopoly" title="Monopoly">monopoly</a> over <a href="/wiki/Sericulture" title="Sericulture">silk production</a> for another thousand years. The use of silk within China was not confined to <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Chinese_clothing" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancient Chinese clothing">clothing</a> alone, and silk was used for a number of applications, such as writing. Within clothing, the color of silk worn also held social importance, and formed an important guide of <a href="/wiki/Social_class" title="Social class">social class</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Tang_dynasty" title="Tang dynasty">Tang dynasty of China</a>. </p><p>Silk cultivation had reached <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> by 300 AD, and by 552 AD the <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_Empire" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> managed to obtain <a href="/wiki/Silkworm" class="mw-redirect" title="Silkworm">silkworm</a> eggs and were able to begin silkworm cultivation while the Arabs also started to manufacture silk at around the same time. As a result of the spread of <a href="/wiki/Sericulture" title="Sericulture">sericulture</a>, Chinese silk exports became less important, although they still maintained dominance over the <a href="/wiki/Luxury_goods" title="Luxury goods">luxury</a> silk market. The <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a> brought silk production to <a href="/wiki/Western_Europe" title="Western Europe">Western Europe</a>, in particular to many <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italian</a> states, which saw an economic boom exporting silk to the rest of Europe. Developments in the manufacturing technique also started to take place during the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> (5th to 15th centuries) in Europe, with devices such as the <a href="/wiki/Spinning_wheel" title="Spinning wheel">spinning wheel</a> first appearing at this time. During the 16th century, <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> joined Italy in developing a successful silk trade, although the efforts of most other nations to develop a silk industry of their own were unsuccessful. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Industrial_Revolution" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a> changed much of Europe's silk industry. Due to innovations in the spinning of <a href="/wiki/Cotton" title="Cotton">cotton</a>, cotton became much cheaper to manufacture, leading to cotton production becoming the main focus for many manufacturers, and causing the more costly production of silk to shrink. New weaving technologies, however, increased the efficiency of producing silk cloth; among these was the <a href="/wiki/Jacquard_loom" class="mw-redirect" title="Jacquard loom">Jacquard loom</a>, developed for the production of highly detailed silks with embroidery-like designs. An <a href="/wiki/Epidemic" title="Epidemic">epidemic</a> of several silkworm diseases at this time caused production to fall, especially in France, where the industry never fully recovered. </p><p>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 <a href="/wiki/Nylon" title="Nylon">nylon</a> and <a href="/wiki/Polyester" title="Polyester">polyester</a>, 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. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_history">Early history</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Early history"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A closeup of a small white silk cocoon held between two twigs. It has a texture similar to an uneven cloud layer, and fine fibres can be seen covering its surface." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg/200px-Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="200" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg/300px-Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg/400px-Bombyx_mori_Cocon_02.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1425" data-file-height="1425" /></a><figcaption>The cocoon of the domesticated silk moth; unlike wild silk moths, its cocoon is entirely white</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="First_appearance_of_silk">First appearance of silk</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: First appearance of silk"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The earliest evidence of silk dates back to more than 8,500 years ago (late 7th millennium BCE) and has been found at the early Neolithic Age tombs of Jiahu, China.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 also 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 <a href="/wiki/Xia_County" title="Xia County">Xia County</a>, <a href="/wiki/Shanxi" title="Shanxi">Shanxi</a>, 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 <i><a href="/wiki/Bombyx_mori" title="Bombyx mori">Bombyx mori</a></i>, the domesticated silkworm. Fragments of a primitive loom can also be seen from the sites of <a href="/wiki/Hemudu_culture" title="Hemudu culture">Hemudu culture</a> in <a href="/wiki/Yuyao" title="Yuyao">Yuyao, Zhejiang</a>, dated to about 4000 BC. </p><p>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, <a href="/wiki/Henan" title="Henan">Henan</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-silkculture_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-silkculture-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Scraps of silk were found in a <a href="/wiki/Liangzhu_culture" title="Liangzhu culture">Liangzhu culture</a> site at Qianshanyang in <a href="/wiki/Huzhou" title="Huzhou">Huzhou, Zhejiang</a>, dating back to 2700 BCE.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Other fragments have been recovered from royal tombs in the <a href="/wiki/Shang_dynasty" title="Shang dynasty">Shang dynasty</a> (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1600–1046 BCE</span>).<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>During the later epoch, the knowledge of silk production was spread outside of China, with the <a href="/wiki/Koreans" title="Koreans">Koreans</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Japanese_people" title="Japanese people">Japanese</a> and, later, the Indian people gaining knowledge of <a href="/wiki/Sericulture" title="Sericulture">sericulture</a> and silk fabric production. Allusions to the fabric in the <a href="/wiki/Old_Testament" title="Old Testament">Old Testament</a> show that it was known in Western Asia in biblical times.<sup id="cite_ref-Encarta_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Encarta-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Scholars believe that starting in the 2nd century BC, the Chinese established a commercial network aimed at exporting silk to the West.<sup id="cite_ref-Encarta_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Encarta-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Silk was used, for example, by the <a href="/wiki/Persian_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Persian Empire">Persian</a> court and its king, <a href="/wiki/Darius_III" title="Darius III">Darius III</a>, when <a href="/wiki/Alexander_the_Great" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> conquered the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-Encarta_7-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Encarta-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Even though silk spread rapidly across <a href="/wiki/Eurasia" title="Eurasia">Eurasia</a>, with the possible exception of Japan, its production remained exclusively Chinese for three millennia. The earliest examples of silk production outside China are from silk threads discovered from the <a href="/wiki/Chanhudaro" title="Chanhudaro">Chanhudaro</a> site in the <a href="/wiki/Indus_Valley_civilisation" class="mw-redirect" title="Indus Valley civilisation">Indus Valley civilisation</a>, which are dated to 2450–2000 BC.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The analysis of the silk fibres shows presence of reeling and sericulture, and predates another example of silk found in <a href="/wiki/Nevasa" title="Nevasa">Nevasa</a> in peninsular India, dated to 1500 BC. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Siberian_Ice_Maiden" title="Siberian Ice Maiden">Siberian Ice Maiden</a>, discovered in the <a href="/wiki/Pazyryk_burials" title="Pazyryk burials">Pazyryk burials</a>, was found clad in a long crimson-and-white striped <a href="/wiki/Wool" title="Wool">woolen</a> <a href="/wiki/Skirt" title="Skirt">skirt</a>, with white <a href="/wiki/Felt" title="Felt">felt</a> stockings. Her yellow blouse was originally thought to be made of wild <a href="/wiki/Tussah" class="mw-redirect" title="Tussah">tussah</a> silk, but closer examination of the fibres revealed the material not to be Chinese in origin, and was instead woven from a <a href="/wiki/Wild_silk" title="Wild silk">wild silk</a> of a different origin, potentially India.<sup id="cite_ref-atlas_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-atlas-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Chinese_silk,_4th_Century_BC.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A fragile piece of silk, turned brown with age, showing an arabesque design of stylised dragons, phoenixes and tigers embroidered with chainstitching in dark red." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG/220px-Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="232" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG/330px-Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG/440px-Chinese_silk%2C_4th_Century_BC.JPG 2x" data-file-width="608" data-file-height="640" /></a><figcaption>Detail of silk ritual garment from a 4th-century BC, <a href="/wiki/Zhou_dynasty" title="Zhou dynasty">Zhou dynasty</a>, China</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Myths_and_legends">Myths and legends</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Myths and legends"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="Two images of a decorated black pot. The top image shows the back view of five figures in flowing green, blue and black robes; the bottom image shows three of these figures now running to the left, chased by a chariot pulled by two horses." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg/220px-Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="131" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg/330px-Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg/440px-Lacquer_painting_from_Ch%27u_State.jpg 2x" data-file-width="697" data-file-height="415" /></a><figcaption>A <a href="/wiki/Lacquerware" title="Lacquerware">lacquerware</a> painting from the Jingmen Tomb (Chinese: <span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh">荊門楚墓</span></span>; Pinyin: <span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh-Latn-pinyin">Jīngmén chǔ mù</i></span>) of the <a href="/wiki/State_of_Chu" class="mw-redirect" title="State of Chu">State of Chu</a> (704–223 BC), depicting men wearing traditional silk dress and riding in a two horsed <a href="/wiki/Chariot" title="Chariot">chariot</a></figcaption></figure> <p>Many myths and legends exist about origin of silk production. The writings of both <a href="/wiki/Confucius" title="Confucius">Confucius</a> and other <a href="/wiki/Chinese_tradition" class="mw-redirect" title="Chinese tradition">Chinese traditions</a> tell a story about Empress <a href="/wiki/Leizu" title="Leizu">Leizu</a>; one day, in about 3000 BC, a silk worm's cocoon fell into her teacup .<sup id="cite_ref-SAGB_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SAGB-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Wishing to extract it from her drink, the 14-year-old girl began to unroll the thread of the cocoon. Seeing the long fibers that constituted the cocoon, the Empress gathered other cocoons and wove it into cloth. Having observed the life of the silkworm on the recommendation of her husband, the <a href="/wiki/Yellow_Emperor" title="Yellow Emperor">Yellow Emperor</a>, she began to instruct her entourage in the art of raising silkworms - sericulture. From this point, the girl became the goddess of silk in <a href="/wiki/Chinese_mythology" title="Chinese mythology">Chinese mythology</a>. </p><p>Knowledge of silk production eventually left China via the heir of a princess who was promised to a prince of <a href="/wiki/Khotan" class="mw-redirect" title="Khotan">Khotan</a>, likely around the early 1st century AD.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The princess, refusing to go without the fabric that she loved, decided to break the imperial ban on silkworm exportation. </p><p>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 <a href="/wiki/Classical_antiquity" title="Classical antiquity">classical antiquity</a>, most Romans, great admirers of the cloth, were convinced that the Chinese took the fabric from tree leaves.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This belief was affirmed by <a href="/wiki/Seneca_the_Elder" title="Seneca the Elder">Seneca the Elder</a> in his work <i><a href="/wiki/Phaedra_(Seneca)" title="Phaedra (Seneca)">Phaedra</a></i>, and by <a href="/wiki/Virgil" title="Virgil">Virgil</a> in his work <a href="/wiki/Georgics" title="Georgics">Georgics</a>. <a href="/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder" title="Pliny the Elder">Pliny the Elder</a> notably accurately determined where silk came from; speaking of the <i>Bombyx</i> or silk moth, he wrote in his <i><a href="/wiki/Natural_History_(Pliny)" title="Natural History (Pliny)">Natural History</a></i> that, "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk."<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Silk_usage_in_Ancient_and_Medieval_China">Silk usage in Ancient and Medieval China</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Silk usage in Ancient and Medieval China"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237032888/mw-parser-output/.tmulti">.mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}</style><div class="thumb tmulti tright"><div class="thumbinner multiimageinner" style="width:308px;max-width:308px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:152px;max-width:152px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg/150px-Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="113" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg/225px-Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg/300px-Silk_from_Mawangdui_2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="768" /></a></span></div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:152px;max-width:152px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg/150px-Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="114" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg/225px-Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg/300px-Silk_from_Mawangdui.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="778" /></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow" style="display:flow-root"><div class="thumbcaption" style="text-align:left">Woven <a href="/wiki/Silk" title="Silk">silk</a> textile from Tomb No. 1 at <a href="/wiki/Mawangdui" title="Mawangdui">Mawangdui Han</a> tombs site, <a href="/wiki/Changsha" title="Changsha">Changsha</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hunan" title="Hunan">Hunan</a> province, China, 2nd century BC, Western <a href="/wiki/Han_dynasty" title="Han dynasty">Han dynasty</a></div></div></div></div> <p>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 <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Classic_of_Rites" class="mw-redirect" title="Classic of Rites">Li Ji</a></i></span> were used to limit its use to the members of the imperial family.<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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; <a href="/wiki/Musical_instrument" title="Musical instrument">musical instruments</a>, <a href="/wiki/Fishing" title="Fishing">fishing</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Bow_and_arrow" title="Bow and arrow">bow-making</a> all utilized silk. Peasants, however, did not have the right to wear silk until the <a href="/wiki/Qing_dynasty" title="Qing dynasty">Qing dynasty</a> (1644–1911).<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Paper" title="Paper">Paper</a> was one of the <a href="/wiki/Four_Great_Inventions" title="Four Great Inventions">greatest discoveries of ancient China</a>. Beginning in the 3rd century BC, paper was made in all sizes with various materials.<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ReferenceA-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Silk was no exception, and silk workers had been making paper since the 2nd century BC. Silk, <a href="/wiki/Bamboo" title="Bamboo">bamboo</a>, <a href="/wiki/Linen" title="Linen">linen</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wheat" title="Wheat">wheat</a> and <a href="/wiki/Rice" title="Rice">rice</a> <a href="/wiki/Straw" title="Straw">straw</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Marquess" title="Marquess">marchioness</a>, who died around 168<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Vagueness" title="Wikipedia:Vagueness"><span title="AD or BC? (October 2020)">vague</span></a></i>]</sup>, in <a href="/wiki/Mawangdui" title="Mawangdui">Mawangdui</a>, <a href="/wiki/Changsha" title="Changsha">Changsha</a>, Hunan. The material was more expensive, but also more practical than <a href="/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" title="Bamboo and wooden slips">bamboo slips</a>. Treatises on many subjects, including <a href="/wiki/Meteorology" title="Meteorology">meteorology</a>, <a href="/wiki/Medicine" title="Medicine">medicine</a>, <a href="/wiki/Astrology" title="Astrology">astrology</a>, <a href="/wiki/Divinity" title="Divinity">divinity</a>, and even maps written on silk<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> have been discovered. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="Two small children, one wearing a white garment with a green wrapped-front collar, the other a beige garment with a red wrapped-front collar, play with a small kitten underneath a pine tree and a plum blossom tree." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg/175px-Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg" decoding="async" width="175" height="326" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg/263px-Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg/350px-Children_Playing_on_a_Winter_Day.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1936" data-file-height="3610" /></a><figcaption>Chinese painting on silk, with playing children wearing <a href="/wiki/Han_Chinese_clothing" class="mw-redirect" title="Han Chinese clothing">silk clothes</a>, by Su Hanchen (active 1130s–1160s), <a href="/wiki/Song_dynasty" title="Song dynasty">Song dynasty</a></figcaption></figure> <p>During the <a href="/wiki/Han_dynasty" title="Han dynasty">Han dynasty</a>, 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 <a href="/wiki/Gold" title="Gold">gold</a>, a length of silk cloth became a <a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Han_dynasty" title="Economy of the Han dynasty">monetary standard in China</a>, in addition to <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Chinese_coinage" title="Ancient Chinese coinage">bronze coins</a>. Many neighbouring countries began to grow envious of the wealth that sericulture provided China, and beginning in the 2nd century BC, the <a href="/wiki/Xiongnu" title="Xiongnu">Xiongnu</a> 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. </p><p>Silk is described in a chapter of the <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Fan_Shengzhi_shu" title="Fan Shengzhi shu">Fan Shengzhi shu</a></i></span> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-silkculture_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-silkculture-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>For more than a millennium, silk remained the principal diplomatic gift of the emperor of China to neighbouring countries or vassal states.<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The use of silk became so important that the character for silk (<span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B3%B8" class="extiw" title="wikt:糸">糸</a></span></span>) soon constituted one of the principal <a href="/wiki/Radical_(Chinese_character)" class="mw-redirect" title="Radical (Chinese character)">radicals</a> of Chinese script. </p><p>As a material for clothing and accessories, the use of silk was regulated by a very precise code in China. For example, the <a href="/wiki/Tang_dynasty" title="Tang dynasty">Tang dynasty</a> and <a href="/wiki/Song_dynasty" title="Song dynasty">Song dynasty</a> used colour symbolism to denote the various ranks of <a href="/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat)" title="Mandarin (bureaucrat)">bureaucrats</a>, according to their function in society, with certain colours of silk restricted to the upper classes only. Under the <a href="/wiki/Ming_dynasty" title="Ming dynasty">Ming dynasty</a>, silk began to be used in a series of accessories: <a href="/wiki/Handkerchief" title="Handkerchief">handkerchiefs</a>, wallets, belts, or even as an embroidered piece of fabric displaying dozens of animals, real or mythical. These fashion accessories remained associated with a particular position: there was specific headgear for <a href="/wiki/Warrior" title="Warrior">warriors</a>, for <a href="/wiki/Judge" title="Judge">judges</a>, for <a href="/wiki/Nobles" class="mw-redirect" title="Nobles">nobles</a>, and others for religious use. The women of high Chinese society also followed these codified practices, and used silk in their garments alongside the addition of countless decorative motifs.<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A 17th-century work, <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Jin_Ping_Mei" title="Jin Ping Mei">Jin Ping Mei</a></i></span>, gives a description of one such motif: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-Meyer_6-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerycaption">Chinese silk making process</li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 210px; height: 130px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="The silkworms and mulberry leaves are placed on trays."><img alt="A small ink drawing showing a group of women inside an open-walled house preparing trays of mulberry leaves; more trays are stacked in another room behind them." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/141px-Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="141" height="100" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/211px-Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/281px-Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1184" data-file-height="842" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">The silkworms and mulberry leaves are placed on trays.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 210px; height: 130px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Twig frames for the silkworms are prepared."><img alt="Five men prepare boards with embedded twigs, which are placed face-down on a raised frame." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/177px-Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="177" height="100" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/266px-Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/355px-Men_preparing_twig_frames_where_silkworms_will_spin_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="882" data-file-height="498" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Twig frames for the silkworms are prepared.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 210px; height: 130px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="The cocoons are weighed."><img alt="Two women, two men and a child sit at a table, sorting white cocoons in baskets." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/131px-Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="131" height="100" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/197px-Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/262px-Weighing_and_sorting_the_cocoons_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="998" data-file-height="761" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">The cocoons are weighed.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 210px; height: 130px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="The cocoons are soaked and the silk is wound on spools."><img alt="Two workers soak cocoons in a large vat of water, in front of a weaving loom." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/167px-Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="167" height="100" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/251px-Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/335px-Soaking_the_cocoons_and_reeling_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="896" data-file-height="536" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">The cocoons are soaked and the silk is wound on spools.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 215px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 210px; height: 130px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Weaving_the_silk_(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="The silk is woven using a loom."><img alt="A woman weaves the silk thread on a large, room-length loom, while a child spins more thread in the corner." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/180px-Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="99" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/270px-Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg/360px-Weaving_the_silk_%28Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai%2C_1200s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="869" data-file-height="480" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">The silk is woven using a loom.</div> </li> </ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Silk_moths_and_production_techniques_used_in_China">Silk moths and production techniques used in China</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Silk moths and production techniques used in China"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:SSACRAM_116.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/SSACRAM_116.JPG/220px-SSACRAM_116.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="339" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/SSACRAM_116.JPG/330px-SSACRAM_116.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/SSACRAM_116.JPG/440px-SSACRAM_116.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1002" data-file-height="1546" /></a><figcaption>Polychrome embroidery in silk, 17th century, Antwerp</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Brocart_de_soie_fran%C3%A7ais.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Brocart_de_soie_fran%C3%A7ais.jpg/200px-Brocart_de_soie_fran%C3%A7ais.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="136" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Brocart_de_soie_fran%C3%A7ais.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="294" data-file-height="200" /></a><figcaption>French silk <a href="/wiki/Brocade" title="Brocade">brocade</a> - <a href="/wiki/Lyon" title="Lyon">Lyon</a> 1760–1770</figcaption></figure> <p>Silk was made using various breeds of <a href="/wiki/Lepidoptera" title="Lepidoptera">lepidopterans</a>, both wild and domestic. While <a href="/wiki/Wild_silk" title="Wild silk">wild silks</a> were produced in many countries, the Chinese are considered to have been the first to produce silk fabric on a large scale, having the most efficient <a href="/wiki/Species" title="Species">species</a> of silk moth for silk production, the <i><a href="/wiki/Bombyx_mandarina" title="Bombyx mandarina">Bombyx mandarina</a></i>, and its <a href="/wiki/Domesticated" class="mw-redirect" title="Domesticated">domesticated</a> descendant, <i><a href="/wiki/Bombyx_mori" title="Bombyx mori">Bombyx mori</a></i>. Chinese sources claim the existence in 1090 of a machine to unwind silkworm cocoons; the cocoons were placed in a large basin of hot water, the silk would leave the cauldron by tiny guiding rings, and would be wound onto a large <a href="/wiki/Bobbin" title="Bobbin">spool</a>, using a backward and forward motion.<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ReferenceA-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, little information exists about the spinning techniques previously used in China. The <a href="/wiki/Spinning_wheel" title="Spinning wheel">spinning wheel</a>, in all likelihood moved by hand, was known to exist by the beginning of the Christian era.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify"><span title="When does the 'Christian era' begin? (May 2021)">clarification needed</span></a></i>]</sup> The first accepted image of a spinning wheel appears in 1210, with an image of a silk spinning machine powered by a <a href="/wiki/Water_wheel" title="Water wheel">water wheel</a> that dates to 1313. </p><p>More information is known about the looms used. The '<span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn">Nung Sang Chi Yao</i></span>, or <i>Fundamentals of Agriculture and Sericulture</i> (compiled around 1210) is rich with pictures and descriptions, many pertaining to silk.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It repeatedly claims the Chinese looms to be far superior to all others, and speaks of two types of loom that leave the worker's arms free: the <a href="/wiki/Drawloom" class="mw-redirect" title="Drawloom">drawloom</a>, which is of Eurasian origin, and the <a href="/w/index.php?title=Pedal_loom&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pedal loom (page does not exist)">pedal loom</a>, which is attributed to East Asian origins. There are many diagrams of these that originate in the 12th and 13th centuries. When examined closely, many similarities between Eurasian machines can be drawn. Following the <a href="/wiki/Jin_dynasty_(266%E2%80%93420)" title="Jin dynasty (266–420)">Jin dynasty (266–420)</a>, the existence of silk <a href="/wiki/Damask" title="Damask">damasks</a> was well recorded, and beginning in the 2nd century BC, <a href="/wiki/Loom#Weaving" title="Loom">four-shafted looms</a> and other innovations allowed the creation of silk <a href="/wiki/Brocade" title="Brocade">brocades</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_Silk_Road_and_trade_(2nd–8th_century)"><span id="The_Silk_Road_and_trade_.282nd.E2.80.938th_century.29"></span>The Silk Road and trade (2nd–8th century)</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: The Silk Road and trade (2nd–8th century)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sino-Roman_relations" title="Sino-Roman relations">Sino-Roman relations</a></div> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A map of the Middle and Far East; the roads roughly follow the lower curve of the European continent, with smaller roads generally branching out below this to traverse India, China and Arabia." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png/400px-Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png" decoding="async" width="400" height="240" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png/600px-Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Transasia_trade_routes_1stC_CE_gr2.png 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="480" /></a><figcaption>The main silk roads between 500 BC and 500 AD</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:M%C3%A9nade_danzante,_Casa_del_Naviglio,_Pompeya.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="A young woman with short blonde hair on a black background. She wears a flowing, naturally-coloured dress, holding a scepter in one hand and possibly a hand mirror in the other." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg/220px-M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="278" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg/330px-M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg/440px-M%C3%A9nade_danzante%2C_Casa_del_Naviglio%2C_Pompeya.jpg 2x" data-file-width="663" data-file-height="838" /></a><figcaption>A <a href="/wiki/Roman_art" title="Roman art">Roman fresco</a> from <a href="/wiki/Pompeii" title="Pompeii">Pompeii</a> showing a <a href="/wiki/Maenad" title="Maenad">Maenad</a> in silk dress, 1st century AD</figcaption></figure> <p>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 <a href="/wiki/Valley_of_the_Kings" title="Valley of the Kings">Valley of the Kings</a> in <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, in the tomb of a <a href="/wiki/Mummy" title="Mummy">mummy</a> dating to 1070 BC. </p><p>Both the <a href="/wiki/Greeks" title="Greeks">Greeks</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Roman_people" title="Roman people">Romans</a> - the latter later than the former - spoke of the <i>Seres</i>, "people of silk", a term used for the inhabitants of <a href="/wiki/Serica" title="Serica">Serica</a>, their name for the far-off kingdom of China. According to certain historians, the first Roman contact with silk was that of the legions of the governor of <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a>, <a href="/wiki/Crassus" class="mw-redirect" title="Crassus">Crassus</a>. At the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Carrhae" title="Battle of Carrhae">Battle of Carrhae</a>, near the <a href="/wiki/Euphrates" title="Euphrates">Euphrates</a>, the legions were said to be so surprised by the brilliance of the banners of <a href="/wiki/Parthia" title="Parthia">Parthia</a> that they fled. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a> toward the west was opened by the Chinese in the 2nd century AD. The main road left from <a href="/wiki/Xi%27an" title="Xi'an">Xi'an</a>, going either to the north or south of the <a href="/wiki/Taklamakan" class="mw-redirect" title="Taklamakan">Taklamakan</a> desert, one of the most arid in the world, before crossing the <a href="/wiki/Pamir_Mountains" title="Pamir Mountains">Pamir Mountains</a>. The caravans that travelled this route to exchange silk with other merchants were generally sizeable, constituting 100 to 500 people, as well as <a href="/wiki/Camel" title="Camel">camels</a> and <a href="/wiki/Yak" title="Yak">yaks</a> carrying around 140 kilograms (310 lb) of merchandise. The route linked to <a href="/wiki/Antioch" title="Antioch">Antioch</a> and the coasts of the Mediterranean, about one year's travel from Xi'an. In the south, a second route went by <a href="/wiki/Yemen" title="Yemen">Yemen</a>, <a href="/wiki/Burma" class="mw-redirect" title="Burma">Burma</a>, and India before rejoining the northern route.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Not long after the conquest of <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> in 30 BC, regular commerce began between the Romans and Asia, marked by the Roman appetite for silk cloth coming from the <a href="/wiki/Far_East" title="Far East">Far East</a>, which was then resold to the Romans by the <a href="/wiki/Parthian_Empire" title="Parthian Empire">Parthians</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Roman_Senate" title="Roman Senate">Roman Senate</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Decadence" title="Decadence">decadence</a> and <a href="/wiki/Immorality" title="Immorality">immorality</a>. </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>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.</p><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><a href="/wiki/Seneca_the_Younger" title="Seneca the Younger">Seneca the Younger</a>, <i>Declamations</i> Vol. I.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></div></blockquote> <p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-wood_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wood-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The main traders during Antiquity were the Indian and Bactrian traders, followed by <a href="/wiki/Sogdiana" class="mw-redirect" title="Sogdiana">Sogdian</a> traders from the 5th to the 8th century AD, and then followed by <a href="/wiki/Islamic_economics_in_the_world" class="mw-redirect" title="Islamic economics in the world">Arab and Persian traders</a>. </p><p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>, <a href="/wiki/Indian_Subcontinent" class="mw-redirect" title="Indian Subcontinent">India</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a>, <a href="/wiki/Persia" class="mw-redirect" title="Persia">Persia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arabia" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabia">Arabia</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Rome" title="Ancient Rome">Ancient Rome</a>. Though silk was certainly the major trade item from China, many other goods were traded, and various technologies, religions and philosophies, as well as the <a href="/wiki/Bubonic_plague" title="Bubonic plague">bubonic plague</a> (the "<a href="/wiki/Black_Death" title="Black Death">Black Death</a>"), also traveled along the silk routes. Some of the other goods traded included luxuries such as silk, <a href="/wiki/Satin" title="Satin">satin</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hemp" title="Hemp">hemp</a> and other fine fabrics, <a href="/wiki/Musk" title="Musk">musk</a>, other perfumes, spices, medicines, jewels, glassware, and even <a href="/wiki/Rhubarb" title="Rhubarb">rhubarb</a>, as well as slaves.<sup id="cite_ref-wood_22-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wood-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Global_spread_of_sericulture_(4th–16th_century)"><span id="Global_spread_of_sericulture_.284th.E2.80.9316th_century.29"></span>Global spread of sericulture (4th–16th century)</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Global spread of sericulture (4th–16th century)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg/220px-Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg/330px-Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg/440px-Thr_muze_art_islam_4.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2272" data-file-height="1704" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Sassanid" class="mw-redirect" title="Sassanid">Sassanid</a> inspired two-sided silk cloth, with winged <a href="/wiki/Lion" title="Lion">lions</a> and <a href="/wiki/Tree_of_life" title="Tree of life">tree of life</a>, from the early Islamic period in <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a>, <a href="/wiki/National_Museum_of_Iran" title="National Museum of Iran">National Museum of Iran</a>.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy,_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg/220px-Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="184" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg/330px-Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg/440px-Afrasyab_Chinese_Embassy%2C_carrying_silk_and_a_string_of_silkworm_cocoons.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1730" data-file-height="1446" /></a><figcaption>Chinese Embassy, carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 7th century CE, <a href="/wiki/Afrasiyab_(Samarkand)" title="Afrasiyab (Samarkand)">Afrasiyab</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sogdia" title="Sogdia">Sogdia</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-SW_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SW-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></figcaption></figure> <p>Although silk was well known in Europe and most of Asia, China was able to keep a near-<a href="/wiki/Monopoly" title="Monopoly">monopoly</a> on silk production for several centuries, defended by an imperial decree and condemning to death anyone attempting to export silkworms or their eggs.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (March 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to the <span title="Japanese-language romanization"><i lang="ja-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Nihongi" class="mw-redirect" title="Nihongi">Nihongi</a></i></span>, sericulture reached Japan for the first time around 300 AD, following a number of international students, having been sent from Japan to China, recruiting four young Chinese girls to teach the art of plain and figured weaving in Japan.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Techniques of sericulture were subsequently introduced to Japan on a larger scale by frequent diplomatic exchanges between the 8th and 9th centuries. </p><p>Starting in the 4th century BC, silk began to reach the <a href="/wiki/Hellenistic_world" class="mw-redirect" title="Hellenistic world">Hellenistic world</a> by <a href="/wiki/Merchants" class="mw-redirect" title="Merchants">merchants</a> who would exchange it for <a href="/wiki/Gold" title="Gold">gold</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ivory" title="Ivory">ivory</a>, <a href="/wiki/Horse" title="Horse">horses</a> or precious stones. Up to the frontiers of the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, silk became a monetary standard for estimating the value of different products. <a href="/wiki/Hellenistic_Greece" title="Hellenistic Greece">Hellenistic Greece</a> appreciated the high quality of the Chinese goods and made efforts to plant <a href="/wiki/Mulberry" class="mw-redirect" title="Mulberry">mulberry</a> trees and breed silkworms in the <a href="/wiki/Mediterranean_basin" title="Mediterranean basin">Mediterranean basin</a>, while <a href="/wiki/Sassanid" class="mw-redirect" title="Sassanid">Sassanid</a> Persia controlled the trade of silk destined for Europe and <a href="/wiki/Byzantium" title="Byzantium">Byzantium</a>. The Greek word for "silken" was <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">σηρικός</span></span>, from <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language romanization"><i lang="grc-Latn">Seres</i></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Σῆρες</span></span>), the name of the people from whom silk was first obtained, according to <a href="/wiki/Strabo" title="Strabo">Strabo</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Greek word gave rise to the <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> <span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">'sericum'</i></span>, and ultimately the <a href="/wiki/Old_English" title="Old English">Old English</a> <span title="Old English (ca. 450-1100)-language text"><i lang="ang">'sioloc'</i></span>, which later developed into the <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a> <span title="Middle English (1100-1500)-language text"><i lang="enm">'silk'</i></span>. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Justinien.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Justinien.jpg/200px-Justinien.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="200" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Justinien.jpg/300px-Justinien.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Justinien.jpg 2x" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="360" /></a><figcaption>The monks sent by <a href="/wiki/Justinian" class="mw-redirect" title="Justinian">Justinian</a> give the silkworms to the emperor.</figcaption></figure> <p>According to a story by <a href="/wiki/Procopius" title="Procopius">Procopius</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> it was not until 552 AD that the <a href="/wiki/Byzantine" class="mw-redirect" title="Byzantine">Byzantine</a> emperor <a href="/wiki/Justinian" class="mw-redirect" title="Justinian">Justinian</a> obtained the first silkworm eggs. He had sent two <a href="/wiki/Nestorian_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Nestorian Church">Nestorian</a> <a href="/wiki/Monk" title="Monk">monks</a> to <a href="/wiki/Central_Asia" title="Central Asia">Central Asia</a>, and they were able to <a href="/wiki/Smuggling_of_silkworm_eggs_into_the_Byzantine_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire">smuggle</a> silkworm eggs to him hidden in rods of <a href="/wiki/Bamboo" title="Bamboo">bamboo</a>. While under the monks' care, the eggs hatched, though they did not cocoon before arrival. The church manufacture in the <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_Empire" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> was thus able to make fabrics for the emperor, with the intention of developing a large <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_silk" title="Byzantine silk">silk industry</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Roman_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Eastern Roman Empire">Eastern Roman Empire</a>, using techniques learned from the <a href="/wiki/Sassanid" class="mw-redirect" title="Sassanid">Sassanids</a>. These <span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">gynecia</i></span> had a legal monopoly on the fabric, but the empire continued to import silk from other major urban centers on the <a href="/wiki/Mediterranean" class="mw-redirect" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The silk produced by the Byzantines was well known for its high quality, owing to the meticulous attention paid to the execution of its weaving and decoration, with weaving techniques taken from Egypt used to produce the fabric. The first diagrams of semple <a href="/wiki/Loom" title="Loom">looms</a> appeared in the 5th century.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Arabs, with their widening <a href="/wiki/Early_Muslim_conquests" title="Early Muslim conquests">conquests</a>, spread sericulture across the shores of the Mediterranean, leading to the development of sericulture in North Africa, <a href="/wiki/Andalusia" title="Andalusia">Andalusia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Emirate_of_Sicily" class="mw-redirect" title="Emirate of Sicily">Sicily</a><sup id="cite_ref-Tissuart_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tissuart-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Southern_Italy" title="Southern Italy">Southern Italy</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Calabria" title="Calabria">Calabria</a>, which was under the Byzantine dominion. According to André Guillou,<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 <a href="/wiki/Theme_(Byzantine_district)" title="Theme (Byzantine district)">theme</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Lucca" title="Lucca">Lucca</a>, among other cities, have made the identification and date of rare surviving examples difficult to pinpoint.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg/220px-Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="149" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg/330px-Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg/440px-Gelsibachicoltura_Nord_Italia_1250-1650_-_Map_Early_industrialization_1992_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_CART-TEM-073.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1486" data-file-height="1006" /></a><figcaption>Silk production in Northern Italy from 13th to 17th centuries</figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/Catanzaro" title="Catanzaro">Catanzaro</a>, 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 <a href="/wiki/Reggio_Calabria" title="Reggio Calabria">Reggio Calabria</a> to <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spanish</a>, <a href="/wiki/Venice" title="Venice">Venetian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Genoa" title="Genoa">Genoese</a>, <a href="/wiki/Florence" title="Florence">Florentine</a> and <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Dutch</a> merchants. Catanzaro became the lace capital of Europe, with a large silkworm breeding facility that produced all the laces and linens used in the <a href="/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City">Vatican</a>. The city was famous for its fine fabrication of silks, velvets, damasks, and brocades.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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. <a href="/wiki/Genoa" title="Genoa">Genoese</a> silk artisans also used fine Calabrian and Sicilian silk for the production of velvets.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>While the Chinese lost their monopoly on silk production, they were able to re-establish themselves as major silk suppliers during the <a href="/wiki/Tang_dynasty" title="Tang dynasty">Tang dynasty</a>, and to industrialize their production on a large scale during the <a href="/wiki/Song_dynasty" title="Song dynasty">Song dynasty</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> China continued to export high-quality fabric to Europe and the <a href="/wiki/Near_East" title="Near East">Near East</a> along the Silk Road; however, following the beginning of the first <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a>, techniques of silk production began to spread across Western Europe. </p><p>In 1147, while Byzantine emperor <a href="/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos" title="Manuel I Komnenos">Manuel I Komnenos</a> was focusing all his efforts on the <a href="/wiki/Second_Crusade" title="Second Crusade">Second Crusade</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Normans" title="Normans">Norman</a> king <a href="/wiki/Roger_II_of_Sicily" title="Roger II of Sicily">Roger II of Sicily</a> attacked <a href="/wiki/Corinth" title="Corinth">Corinth</a> and <a href="/wiki/Thebes_(Greece)" class="mw-redirect" title="Thebes (Greece)">Thebes</a>, two important centers of Byzantine silk production. They took the crops and silk production infrastructure, and deported all the workers to <a href="/wiki/Palermo" title="Palermo">Palermo</a> and Calabria,<sup id="cite_ref-AM_39-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-AM-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> thereby causing the Norman silk industry to flourish.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Sack_of_Constantinople" title="Sack of Constantinople">sack of Constantinople</a> by the <a href="/wiki/Fourth_Crusade" title="Fourth Crusade">Fourth Crusade</a> in 1204 brought decline to the city and its silk industry, and many artisans left the city in the early 13th century.<sup id="cite_ref-Tissuart_32-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tissuart-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Italy developed a large domestic silk industry after 2,000 skilled weavers came from <a href="/wiki/Constantinople" title="Constantinople">Constantinople</a>. Many also chose to settle in <a href="/wiki/Avignon" title="Avignon">Avignon</a> to furnish the <a href="/wiki/Avignon_Papacy" title="Avignon Papacy">popes of Avignon</a>. </p><p>The sudden boom of the silk industry in the Italian state of <a href="/wiki/Lucca" title="Lucca">Lucca</a>, starting in the 11th and 12th centuries, was due to much <a href="/wiki/Sicily" title="Sicily">Sicilian</a>, Jewish, and Greek settlement, alongside many other immigrants from neighboring cities in southern Italy.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> With the loss of many Italian trading posts in the <a href="/wiki/Orient" title="Orient">Orient</a>, the import of Chinese styles drastically declined. In order to satisfy the demands of the rich and powerful <a href="/wiki/Bourgeoisie" title="Bourgeoisie">bourgeoisie</a> for luxury fabrics, the cities of <a href="/wiki/Lucca" title="Lucca">Lucca</a>, <a href="/wiki/Genoa" title="Genoa">Genoa</a>, <a href="/wiki/Venice" title="Venice">Venice</a> and <a href="/wiki/Florence" title="Florence">Florence</a> 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. </p><p>In 1519, Emperor <a href="/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor" title="Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor">Charles V</a> formally recognized the growth of the industry of <a href="/wiki/Catanzaro" title="Catanzaro">Catanzaro</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Catanzaro" title="Catanzaro">Catanzaro</a> were not only sold at the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Naples" title="Kingdom of Naples">Kingdom of Naples</a>'s markets, they were also exported to <a href="/wiki/Venice" title="Venice">Venice</a>, France, Spain and <a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Use_of_silk_in_the_Medieval_period_(5th–15th_century)"><span id="Use_of_silk_in_the_Medieval_period_.285th.E2.80.9315th_century.29"></span>Use of silk in the Medieval period (5th–15th century)</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Use of silk in the Medieval period (5th–15th century)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Importance_as_a_luxury_good">Importance as a luxury good</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Importance as a luxury good"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:M%C3%BBrier.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/M%C3%BBrier.JPG/150px-M%C3%BBrier.JPG" decoding="async" width="150" height="200" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/M%C3%BBrier.JPG/225px-M%C3%BBrier.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/M%C3%BBrier.JPG/300px-M%C3%BBrier.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1536" data-file-height="2048" /></a><figcaption>A mature mulberry tree in <a href="/wiki/Provence" title="Provence">Provence</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The <a href="/wiki/High_Middle_Ages" title="High Middle Ages">high Middle Ages</a> (1000–1250 AD) saw continued use of established techniques for silk manufacture without change in either materials or tools used. Small changes began to appear between the 10th and 12th centuries, followed by larger and more radical innovations in the 13th century, resulting in the invention of new fabrics; other, more mundane fabrics made of hemp and cotton also developed. Silk remained a rare and expensive material,<sup id="cite_ref-Liu_43-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Liu-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> but improved technology saw Byzantine <a href="/wiki/Magnaneries" class="mw-redirect" title="Magnaneries">magnaneries</a> in Greece and <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a> (6th to 8th centuries), silk production centres in <a href="/wiki/Calabria" title="Calabria">Calabria</a> and those of the Arabs in Sicily and Spain (8th to 10th centuries) able to supply the luxury material in much greater abundance.<sup id="cite_ref-Liu_43-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Liu-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Improved_silk_production_technology">Improved silk production technology</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Improved silk production technology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The 13th century saw an improvement in the already-changing technology of silk production; as with the <a href="/wiki/Industrial_Revolution" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a> of late-18th century England, advances in silk production also possibly accompanied more general advances in the technology of modern society as a whole.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> At the beginning of the 13th century, a primitive form of milling silk yarns was in use; <a href="/wiki/Johannes_de_Garlandia_(philologist)" class="mw-redirect" title="Johannes de Garlandia (philologist)">Jean de Garlande</a>'s 1221 dictionary and <a href="/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Boileau" title="Étienne Boileau">Étienne Boileau</a>'s 1261 <span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr">Livre des métiers</i></span> (<i>Tradesman's Handbook</i>) both illustrate many types of machinery which can only have been <a href="/wiki/Doubling_(textiles)" title="Doubling (textiles)">doubling machines</a>. This machinery was further perfected in <a href="/wiki/Bologna" title="Bologna">Bologna</a> between 1270 and 1280. </p><p>From the start of the 14th century, many documents allude to the use of complex weaving machinery.<sup id="cite_ref-Techniques'_p.557_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Techniques'_p.557-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Depictions of fabric production techniques from this time period can be found in several places; the earliest surviving depiction of a European <a href="/wiki/Spinning_wheel" title="Spinning wheel">spinning wheel</a> is a panel of <a href="/wiki/Stained_glass" title="Stained glass">stained glass</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Cathedral_of_Chartres" class="mw-redirect" title="Cathedral of Chartres">Cathedral of Chartres</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> alongside <a href="/wiki/Bobbin" title="Bobbin">bobbins</a> and <a href="/wiki/Warp_(weaving)" class="mw-redirect" title="Warp (weaving)">warping</a> machines appearing both together in the stained glass at Chartres and in a <a href="/wiki/Fresco" title="Fresco">fresco</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Cologne" title="Cologne">Cologne</a> Kunkelhaus (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1300</span>). It is possible that the toothed warping machine was created by the silk industry, as it allowed the for a longer length of warp to hold more uniformity throughout the length of the cloth.<sup id="cite_ref-Techniques'_p.557_45-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Techniques'_p.557-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Towards the end of the 14th century, no doubt on account of the devastation caused mid-century by the <a href="/wiki/Black_Death" title="Black Death">Black Death</a>, trends began to shift towards less expensive production techniques. Many techniques that earlier in the century would have been completely forbidden by the <a href="/wiki/Guild" title="Guild">guilds</a> for low-quality production were now commonplace (such as using low-quality wool, <a href="/wiki/Carding" title="Carding">carding</a>, etc.). In the silk industry, the use of water-powered mills grew. </p><p>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,<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> who was invited to <a href="/wiki/Lyon" title="Lyon">Lyon</a> by <a href="/wiki/Louis_XI_of_France" class="mw-redirect" title="Louis XI of France">Louis XI</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He introduced a new kind of machine, which had the ability to work the yarns faster and more precisely. Further improvements to the loom were made throughout the century.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_silk_industry_in_France">The silk industry in France</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: The silk industry in France"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/w/index.php?title=File:Silk_production_France.svg&lang=en" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Silk_production_France.svg/330px-Silk_production_France.svg.png" decoding="async" width="330" height="269" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Silk_production_France.svg/495px-Silk_production_France.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Silk_production_France.svg/660px-Silk_production_France.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1382" data-file-height="1128" /></a><figcaption>French production of fresh silkworm cocoons.</figcaption></figure> <p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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. </p><p>Following the example of the wealthy Italian city-states of the era, such as Venice, <a href="/wiki/Florence" title="Florence">Florence</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Lucca" title="Lucca">Lucca</a> (which had become the center of the luxury-textile industry), <a href="/wiki/Lyon" title="Lyon">Lyon</a> obtained a similar function in the French market. In 1466, King <a href="/wiki/Louis_XI" title="Louis XI">Louis XI</a> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the face of protests by the people of Lyon, Louis XI conceded to move silk production to <a href="/wiki/Tours" title="Tours">Tours</a>, but the industry in Tours stayed relatively marginal. His main objective was to reduce France's <a href="/wiki/Trade_deficit" class="mw-redirect" title="Trade deficit">trade deficit</a> with the Italian states, which caused France to lose 400,000 to 500,000 golden <a href="/wiki/%C3%89cu" title="Écu">écus</a> a year.<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was under <a href="/wiki/Francis_I_of_France" title="Francis I of France">Francis I</a> in around 1535 that a royal charter was granted to two merchants, Étienne Turquet and Barthélemy Naris, to develop a silk trade in Lyon. In 1540, the king granted a <a href="/wiki/Monopoly" title="Monopoly">monopoly</a> on silk production to the city of Lyon. Starting in the 16th century, Lyon became the capital of the European silk trade, notably producing many reputable fashions.<sup id="cite_ref-Chauvy_53-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chauvy-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Gaining confidence, the silks produced in the city began to abandon their original Oriental styles in favor of their own distinctive style, which emphasized landscapes. Thousand of workers, the <a href="/wiki/Canut" title="Canut">canuts</a>, devoted themselves to the flourishing industry. In the middle of the 17th century, over 14,000 looms were used in Lyon, and the silk industry fed a third of the city's population.<sup id="cite_ref-Chauvy_53-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chauvy-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Planche_Soie.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Planche_Soie.jpg/250px-Planche_Soie.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="391" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Planche_Soie.jpg/375px-Planche_Soie.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Planche_Soie.jpg 2x" data-file-width="453" data-file-height="709" /></a><figcaption>A picture from the <span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr"><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A9die" title="Encyclopédie">Encyclopédie</a></i></span> of <a href="/wiki/Diderot" class="mw-redirect" title="Diderot">Diderot</a> and <a href="/wiki/D%27Alembert" class="mw-redirect" title="D'Alembert">d'Alembert</a>, showing the different steps in sericulture and the manufacture of silk.</figcaption></figure> <p>In the 18th and 19th centuries, <a href="/wiki/Provence" title="Provence">Provence</a> experienced a boom in sericulture that would last until <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a>, with much of the silk shipped north to Lyon. <a href="/wiki/Viens,_Vaucluse" title="Viens, Vaucluse">Viens</a> and <a href="/wiki/La_Bastide-des-Jourdans" title="La Bastide-des-Jourdans">La Bastide-des-Jourdans</a> are two of the <span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr"><a href="/wiki/Communes_of_France" title="Communes of France">communes</a></i></span> of <a href="/wiki/Luberon" title="Luberon">Luberon</a> that profited the most from its now-extinct mulberry plantations.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, silk centers still operate today.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Working at home under the <a href="/wiki/Domestic_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Domestic system">domestic system</a>, silk spinning and silk treatment employed many people and increased the income of the working class. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Silk_industries_in_other_countries">Silk industries in other countries</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Silk industries in other countries"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>England under <a href="/wiki/Henry_IV_of_England" title="Henry IV of England">Henry IV</a> (1367–1413) also looked to develop a silk industry, but no opportunity arose until <a href="/wiki/Edict_of_Fontainebleau" title="Edict of Fontainebleau">the revocation of the Edict of Nantes</a> the 1680s, when hundreds of thousands of French <a href="/wiki/Huguenots" title="Huguenots">Huguenots</a>, many of whom were skilled weavers and experts in sericulture, began immigrating to England to escape religious persecution. Some areas, including <a href="/wiki/Spitalfields" title="Spitalfields">Spitalfields</a>, saw many high-quality silk workshops spring up, their products distinct from continental silk largely by the colors used.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nonetheless, the <a href="/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Climate of the United Kingdom">British climate</a> prevented England's domestic silk trade from becoming globally dominant. </p><p>Many envisioned starting a silk industry in the <a href="/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States" title="Colonial history of the United States">British colonies in America</a>, starting in 1619 under the reign of King <a href="/wiki/James_I_of_England" class="mw-redirect" title="James I of England">James I of England</a>; however the silk industry in the colonies never became very large. Likewise, silk was introduced to numerous other countries, including Mexico, where it was brought by <a href="/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s" title="Hernán Cortés">Cortez</a> in 1522. Only rarely did these new silk industries grow to any significant size.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Silk_in_the_modern_day_(1760–present)"><span id="Silk_in_the_modern_day_.281760.E2.80.93present.29"></span>Silk in the modern day (1760–present)</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Silk in the modern day (1760–present)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:M.I._Tatischeva_by_David_Luders_(1759,_GTG).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/M.I._Tatischeva_by_David_Luders_%281759%2C_GTG%29.jpg/220px-M.I._Tatischeva_by_David_Luders_%281759%2C_GTG%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="280" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/M.I._Tatischeva_by_David_Luders_%281759%2C_GTG%29.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="283" data-file-height="360" /></a><figcaption><div align="center">Portrait of <i>Maria Ivanovna Tatischeva</i> by David Lüders (1759)<div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div>Moscow, <a href="/wiki/State_Tretyakov_Gallery" class="mw-redirect" title="State Tretyakov Gallery">State Tretyakov Gallery</a></div> Mme Tatischeva is shown wearing a paduasoy silk dress.</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Industrial_Revolution">The Industrial Revolution</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: The Industrial Revolution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The start of the <a href="/wiki/Industrial_Revolution" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a> was marked by a massive boom in the textile industry in general, with remarkable technological innovations made, led by the cotton industry of <a href="/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a>. In its early years, there were often disparities in technological innovation between different stages of fabric manufacture, which encouraged complementary innovations. For example, <a href="/wiki/Spinning_(textiles)" title="Spinning (textiles)">spinning</a> progressed much more rapidly than weaving. </p><p>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 <a href="/wiki/Brocade" title="Brocade">brocades</a> was a very delicate and precise process, with each color needing its own dedicated <a href="/wiki/Shuttle_(weaving)" title="Shuttle (weaving)">shuttle</a>. In the 17th and 18th centuries, progress began to be made in the simplification and standardization of silk manufacture, with many advances following one after another. <a href="/wiki/Basile_Bouchon" title="Basile Bouchon">Bouchon</a> and Falcon's <a href="/wiki/Punched_card" title="Punched card">punched card</a> loom appeared in 1775, later improved on by <a href="/wiki/Jacques_de_Vaucanson" title="Jacques de Vaucanson">Jacques de Vaucanson</a>. Later, <a href="/wiki/Joseph-Marie_Jacquard" class="mw-redirect" title="Joseph-Marie Jacquard">Joseph-Marie Jacquard</a> improved on the designs of Falcon and Vaucanson, introducing the revolutionary <a href="/wiki/Jacquard_loom" class="mw-redirect" title="Jacquard loom">Jacquard loom</a>, which allowed a string of punched cards to be processed mechanically in the correct sequence.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The punched cards of the Jacquard loom were a direct precursor to the modern <a href="/wiki/Computer" title="Computer">computer</a>, in that they gave a (limited) form of programmability. Punched cards themselves were carried over to computers and were ubiquitous until their obsolescence in the 1970s. From 1801, embroidery-style designs became highly mechanized, due to the effectiveness of the Jacquard loom in imitating embroidered fabrics. The mechanism behind the Jacquard looms even allowed complex designs to be <a href="/wiki/Mass_production" title="Mass production">mass-produced</a>. </p><p>The Jacquard loom was immediately denounced by workers, who accused it of causing <a href="/wiki/Unemployment" title="Unemployment">unemployment</a>, but it soon became vital to the industry. The loom was declared as public property in 1806, and Jacquard was rewarded with a <a href="/wiki/Pension" title="Pension">pension</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Royalties" class="mw-redirect" title="Royalties">royalty</a> on each machine. In 1834, there were a total of 2,885 Jacquard looms in Lyon alone.<sup id="cite_ref-Chauvy_53-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chauvy-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Canut_revolt" class="mw-redirect" title="Canut revolt">Canut revolt</a> in 1831 foreshadowed many of the larger worker uprisings of the Industrial Revolution. The canuts occupied the city of Lyon, refusing to relinquish it until a bloody repression by the army, led by <a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Jean_de_Dieu_Soult" class="mw-redirect" title="Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult">Marshal Soult</a>. A second revolt, similar to the first, took place in 1834. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Decline_in_the_European_silk_industry">Decline in the European silk industry</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Decline in the European silk industry"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The decline in the European silk industry has roots in epidemics among silkworm populations. In 1849, France's silk crop failed due to a unknown disease affecting the silkworms.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The disease remained pervasive, and soon spread to Italy, Spain, Syria, Turkey, and China.<sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1807, bacteriologist <a href="/wiki/Agostino_Bassi" title="Agostino Bassi">Agostino Bassi</a> began a 25-year investigation into what caused the silkworm disease <i>mal de segno</i> (white muscardine disease). In 1835, he published <i>Del mal del segno, calcinaccio o moscardino</i> ("The Disease of the Sign, Calcinaccio or Muscardine") in which he demonstrated the disease was caused by the parasitic fungus <i><a href="/wiki/Beauveria_bassiana" title="Beauveria bassiana">Beauveria bassiana</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> His findings were the first to demonstrate the transmission of disease between animals, and led to a better understanding of how the disease was transmitted between silkworms. This enabled silk producers to better prevent the transmission of <i>Beauvaria bassiana.</i><sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>62<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Muscardine was not the only disease to affect the European silk industry at this time. In France, disease among silkworms continued to devastate silk production in the country. In 1865, <a href="/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Dumas" title="Jean-Baptiste Dumas">Jean-Baptiste Dumas</a>, France's Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, asked <a href="/wiki/Louis_Pasteur" title="Louis Pasteur">Louis Pasteur</a> to study what was causing the epidemic.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>63<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Pasteur investigated the cause between 1865 and 1870, leading to his discovery of two separate diseases infecting the silkworms: <a href="/wiki/P%C3%A9brine" title="Pébrine">pébrine</a> and <a href="/wiki/Flacherie" title="Flacherie">flacherie</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_64-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>64<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Pébrine, known as "pepper disease," was caused by the <a href="/wiki/Microsporidia" title="Microsporidia">microsporidia</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Nosema_bombycis" title="Nosema bombycis">Nosema bombycis</a></i> and characterized by brown dots.<sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>65<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Pasteur published his findings and recommendations for silk farmers. Soon, he received feedback from farmers who had followed his recommendations. Most had reared healthy crops, other farmers had not. With more investigation, he discovered the worms were infected with something other than pébrine. The other condition, flacherie, was caused by a viral infection. Pasteur recommended the removal of infected worms from the population. These recommendations allowed silkworm producers to restore their strocks and revive silk production.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>66<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:0_64-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>64<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Nevertheless, the increase in the price of silkworm cocoons and the reduction in the importance of silk in the garments of the <a href="/wiki/Bourgeoisie" title="Bourgeoisie">bourgeoisie</a> in the 19th century caused the decline of the silk industry in Europe. The opening of the <a href="/wiki/Suez_Canal" title="Suez Canal">Suez Canal</a> in 1869 and the silk shortage in France reduced the price of importing Asian silk, particularly from China and Japan.<sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>67<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Starting from the <a href="/wiki/Long_Depression" title="Long Depression">Long Depression</a> (1873–1896), Lyonnais silk production had become totally industrialized, and handlooms were rapidly disappearing. The 19th century saw the textile industry's progress caused by advances in chemistry. The <a href="/wiki/Chemical_synthesis" title="Chemical synthesis">synthesis</a> of <a href="/wiki/Aniline" title="Aniline">aniline</a> was used to make <a href="/wiki/Mauveine" title="Mauveine">mauveine</a> (aniline purple) <a href="/wiki/Dye" title="Dye">dye</a>, and the synthesis of <a href="/wiki/Quinine" title="Quinine">quinine</a> was used to make <a href="/wiki/Indigo" title="Indigo">indigo</a> dye. In 1884, Count Hilaire de Chardonnet invented <a href="/wiki/Viscose" class="mw-redirect" title="Viscose">viscose</a>, intended as an artificial silk, and in 1891 opened a factory dedicated to the production of viscose, which cost much less and in part replaced natural silk. </p> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 195px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 190px; height: 250px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="A Jacquard loom."><img alt="A Jacquard loom." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg/157px-DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg" decoding="async" width="157" height="220" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg/235px-DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg/314px-DMM_29263ab_Jacquardwebstuhl.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2324" data-file-height="3256" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">A <a href="/wiki/Jacquard_loom" class="mw-redirect" title="Jacquard loom">Jacquard loom</a>.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 195px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 190px; height: 250px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Silk_industry-_spinning,_winding,_doubling_and_throwing_machines._(_1858-_).jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="An illustration of spinning, winding, doubling, and throwing machines used in silk textile production in England, 1858."><img alt="An illustration of spinning, winding, doubling, and throwing machines used in silk textile production in England, 1858." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg/150px-Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="220" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg/226px-Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg/301px-Silk_industry-_spinning%2C_winding%2C_doubling_and_throwing_machines._%28_1858-_%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="520" data-file-height="760" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">An illustration of spinning, winding, doubling, and throwing machines used in silk textile production in England, 1858.</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 195px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 190px; height: 250px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:1887_silk_panel.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Silk, cotton and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped cotton panel, machine-woven in Scotland c. 1887. The tulip motif is inspired by Turkish textiles."><img alt="Silk, cotton and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped cotton panel, machine-woven in Scotland c. 1887. The tulip motif is inspired by Turkish textiles." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/1887_silk_panel.jpg/117px-1887_silk_panel.jpg" decoding="async" width="117" height="220" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/1887_silk_panel.jpg/175px-1887_silk_panel.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/1887_silk_panel.jpg/234px-1887_silk_panel.jpg 2x" data-file-width="368" data-file-height="692" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Silk, cotton and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped cotton panel, machine-woven in Scotland <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1887</span>. The tulip motif is inspired by Turkish textiles.</div> </li> </ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Silk_in_modern_times">Silk in modern times</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Silk in modern times"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg/200px-Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg/300px-Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg/400px-Khotan-fabrica-seda-d19.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="768" /></a><figcaption>A woman weaving with silk threads in <a href="/wiki/Hotan" title="Hotan">Hotan</a>, China.</figcaption></figure> <p>Following the crisis in Europe, the modernization of <a href="/wiki/Sericulture" title="Sericulture">sericulture</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Yokohama" title="Yokohama">Yokohama</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-68"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>68<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-SAGB_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SAGB-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Asian countries, formerly exporters of <a href="/wiki/Raw_material" title="Raw material">raw materials</a> (cocoons and raw silk), progressively began to export more and more finished garments. </p><p>During the <a href="/wiki/Second_World_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second World War">Second World War</a>, silk supplies from Japan were cut off, so western countries were forced to find substitutes. Synthetic fibers such as <a href="/wiki/Nylon" title="Nylon">nylon</a> were used in products such as parachutes and stockings, replacing silk. Even after the war, silk was not able to regain many of the markets lost, though it remained an expensive luxury product.<sup id="cite_ref-SAGB_11-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SAGB-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Postwar Japan, through improvements in technology and a <a href="/wiki/Protectionism" title="Protectionism">protectionist</a> market policy, became the world's foremost exporter of raw silk, a position it held until the 1970s.<sup id="cite_ref-SAGB_11-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SAGB-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The continued rise in the importance of synthetic fibers and loosening of the protectionist economy contributed to the decline of Japan's silk industry, and by 1975 it was no longer a net exporter of silk.<sup id="cite_ref-69" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-69"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>69<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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 <a href="/wiki/Tonnes" class="mw-redirect" title="Tonnes">tonnes</a> out of a world production of 81,000, followed by India at 13,000 tonnes. Japanese production is now marginal, at only 2,500 tonnes. Between 1995 and 1997, Chinese silk production went down 40% in an effort to raise prices, reminiscent of earlier shortages.<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-70"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>70<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the <a href="/wiki/International_Year_of_Natural_Fibres" title="International Year of Natural Fibres">International Year of Natural Fibres</a>, so as to raise the profile of silk and other <a href="/wiki/Natural_fibre" class="mw-redirect" title="Natural fibre">natural fibres</a>. </p><p>In 2024, a group of researchers from the <a href="/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> and other institutions created a very thin piece of modified silk that vibrates when electrical <a href="/wiki/Voltage" title="Voltage">voltage</a> is applied. This means it is able to suppress <a href="/wiki/Sound_waves" class="mw-redirect" title="Sound waves">sound waves</a> and insulate noise effectively, even as a thin material.<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-71"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>71<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the late 2010s and up to the early 2020s, silk <a href="/wiki/Pillowcases" class="mw-redirect" title="Pillowcases">pillowcases</a> have become increasingly popular, being associated with skin and hair benefits. These claims are not supported with much scientific research and are anecdotal, mostly because not many studies have been conducted on this topic.<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-72"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>72<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>From around 2015, Japanese startups using the “smart sericulture system” have developed products such as shampoo, body soap, and body cream using fibroin, a protein extracted from cocoons.<sup id="cite_ref-73" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-73"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>73<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p> Silk-based bio-materials are being used in numerous biomedical and biotechnological applications.<sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-74"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>74<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><div style="clear:both;" class=""></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width reflist-columns-2"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Yuxuan Gong, Li Li, and Juzhong Zhang <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5152897/#:~:text=Prehistoric%20biomolecular%20evidence%20of%20silk,burial%20objects%20were%20not%20ubiquitous.">"Biomolecular Evidence of Silk from 8,500 Years Ago"</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-silkculture-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-silkculture_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-silkculture_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFVainker2004" class="citation book cs1">Vainker, Shelagh (2004). <i>Chinese Silk: A Cultural History</i>. <a href="/wiki/Rutgers_University_Press" title="Rutgers University Press">Rutgers University Press</a>. pp. 20, 17. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8135-3446-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8135-3446-6"><bdi>978-0-8135-3446-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese+Silk%3A+A+Cultural+History&rft.pages=20%2C+17&rft.pub=Rutgers+University+Press&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=978-0-8135-3446-6&rft.aulast=Vainker&rft.aufirst=Shelagh&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.chinasilkmuseum.com/info_180.aspx?itemid=27699">"China Focus: World's earliest silk fabrics discovered in central China's ruins-China Silk Museum"</a>. <i>www.chinasilkmuseum.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">25 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.chinasilkmuseum.com&rft.atitle=China+Focus%3A+World%27s+earliest+silk+fabrics+discovered+in+central+China%27s+ruins-China+Silk+Museum&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chinasilkmuseum.com%2Finfo_180.aspx%3Fitemid%3D27699&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Tang, Chi and Miao, Liangyun, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://203.72.198.245/web/Content.asp?ID=27524&Query=1">"Zhongguo Sichoushi" ("History of Silks in China")</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071123095921/http://203.72.198.245/web/Content.asp?ID=27524&Query=1">Archived</a> 2007-11-23 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclopedia_of_China" title="Encyclopedia of China">Encyclopedia of China</a></i>, 1st ed.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.asianart.com/textiles/intro.html">"Textile Exhibition: Introduction"</a>. Asian art<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-08-02</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Textile+Exhibition%3A+Introduction&rft.pub=Asian+art&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asianart.com%2Ftextiles%2Fintro.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Meyer-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Meyer_6-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> Charles Meyer, <i>Des mûriers dans le jardin du mandarin</i>, Historia, n°648, December 2000.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Encarta-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Encarta_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Encarta_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Encarta_7-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> "Soie'" (§2. Historique), <i>Encyclopédie Encarta</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMeadow2009" class="citation journal cs1">Meadow, Richard (January 2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.academia.edu/27010012">"New Evidence for Early Silk in the Indus Civilization"</a>. <i>Archaeometry</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Archaeometry&rft.atitle=New+Evidence+for+Early+Silk+in+the+Indus+Civilization&rft.date=2009-01&rft.aulast=Meadow&rft.aufirst=Richard&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F27010012&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGoodKenoyerMeadow2009" class="citation journal cs1">Good, I. L.; Kenoyer, J. M.; Meadow, R. H. (2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/1/14117751/1/287832.pdf">"New Evidence for Early Silk in the Indus Civilization*"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Archaeometry</i>. <b>51</b> (3): 457–466. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1475-4754.2008.00454.x">10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00454.x</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1475-4754">1475-4754</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Archaeometry&rft.atitle=New+Evidence+for+Early+Silk+in+the+Indus+Civilization%2A&rft.volume=51&rft.issue=3&rft.pages=457-466&rft.date=2009&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1111%2Fj.1475-4754.2008.00454.x&rft.issn=1475-4754&rft.aulast=Good&rft.aufirst=I.+L.&rft.au=Kenoyer%2C+J.+M.&rft.au=Meadow%2C+R.+H.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdash.harvard.edu%2Fbitstream%2F1%2F14117751%2F1%2F287832.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-atlas-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-atlas_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBahn2000" class="citation book cs1">Bahn, Paul G. (2000). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldarch00paul/page/128"><i>The Atlas of World Geology</i></a></span>. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldarch00paul/page/128">128</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8160-4051-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8160-4051-3"><bdi>978-0-8160-4051-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Atlas+of+World+Geology&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=128&rft.pub=Checkmark+Books&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=978-0-8160-4051-3&rft.aulast=Bahn&rft.aufirst=Paul+G.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fatlasofworldarch00paul%2Fpage%2F128&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-SAGB-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-SAGB_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SAGB_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SAGB_11-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SAGB_11-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070929063801/http://www.silk.org.uk/history.htm">"The History of Silk"</a>. The Silk Association of Great Britain. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.silk.org.uk/history.htm">the original</a> on 2007-09-29<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-10-23</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+History+of+Silk&rft.pub=The+Silk+Association+of+Great+Britain&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.silk.org.uk%2Fhistory.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hill (2009), "Appendix A: Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan in the 1st Century AD.", pp. 466-467.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJean-Noël_Robert" class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source"><a href="/wiki/Jean-No%C3%ABl_Robert" title="Jean-Noël Robert">Jean-Noël Robert</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070522153024/http://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE/les_relations_entre_le_monde_romain_et_la_chine__la_tentation_du_far_east.asp">"Les relations entre le monde romain et la Chine: la tentation du Far East"</a> (in French). clio.fr. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE/les_relations_entre_le_monde_romain_et_la_chine__la_tentation_du_far_east.asp">the original</a> on May 22, 2007<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 6,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Les+relations+entre+le+monde+romain+et+la+Chine%3A+la+tentation+du+Far+East&rft.pub=clio.fr&rft.au=Jean-No%C3%ABl+Robert&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clio.fr%2FBIBLIOTHEQUE%2Fles_relations_entre_le_monde_romain_et_la_chine__la_tentation_du_far_east.asp&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder" title="Pliny the Elder">Pliny the Elder</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Natural_History_(Pliny)" title="Natural History (Pliny)">Naturalis Historia</a></i> 11.xxvi.76</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ReferenceA-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ReferenceA_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ReferenceA_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> <i>Histoire des techniques</i> p.455</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPlous" class="citation web cs1">Plous, Estelle. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015706/http://www.travellady.com/Issues/December03/AHistoryofSilkMaps.htm">"A History of Silk Maps"</a>. <i>TravelLady Magazine</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.travellady.com/Issues/December03/AHistoryofSilkMaps.htm">the original</a> on 2007-09-28<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-05-20</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=TravelLady+Magazine&rft.atitle=A+History+of+Silk+Maps&rft.aulast=Plous&rft.aufirst=Estelle&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.travellady.com%2FIssues%2FDecember03%2FAHistoryofSilkMaps.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Liu (2010), p. 12.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Joseph Needham, Francesca Bray, Hsing-Tsung Huang, Christian Daniels, Nicholas K. Menzies, <i>Science and Civilisation in China</i>, Cambridge University Press, 1984 p. 72 <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-25076-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-521-25076-5">0-521-25076-5</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> "Histoire de la Route de la soie", <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Universalis" title="Encyclopædia Universalis">Encyclopædia Universalis</a></i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> Charles Meyer, "Les routes de la soie: 22 siècles d'aventure", <i>Historia</i>, n°648 December 2000.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Seneca_the_Elder" title="Seneca the Elder">Seneca the Elder</a>, <i>Declamations</i> Vol. I.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-wood-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-wood_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-wood_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWood2002" class="citation book cs1">Wood, Francis (2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/silkroadtwothous0000wood/page/9"><i>The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia</i></a>. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/silkroadtwothous0000wood/page/9">9, 13–23</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-24340-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-520-24340-8"><bdi>978-0-520-24340-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Silk+Road%3A+Two+Thousand+Years+in+the+Heart+of+Asia&rft.place=Berkeley%2C+CA&rft.pages=9%2C+13-23&rft.pub=University+of+California+Press&rft.date=2002&rft.isbn=978-0-520-24340-8&rft.aulast=Wood&rft.aufirst=Francis&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fsilkroadtwothous0000wood%2Fpage%2F9&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">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, <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2123969">http://www.jstor.org/stable/2123969</a>. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHogan" class="citation web cs1">Hogan, C. Michael. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006">"The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map: Silk Road, North China [Northern Silk Road, North Silk Road] Ancient Trackway"</a>. www.megalithic.co.uk<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2008-07-05</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+Megalithic+Portal+and+Megalith+Map%3A+Silk+Road%2C+North+China+%5BNorthern+Silk+Road%2C+North+Silk+Road%5D+Ancient+Trackway&rft.pub=www.megalithic.co.uk&rft.aulast=Hogan&rft.aufirst=C.+Michael&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.megalithic.co.uk%2Farticle.php%3Fsid%3D18006&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-SW-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-SW_25-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWhitfield2004" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Susan_Whitfield" title="Susan Whitfield">Whitfield, Susan</a> (2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110"><i>The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith</i></a>. British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. p. 110. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-932476-13-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-932476-13-2"><bdi>978-1-932476-13-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Silk+Road%3A+Trade%2C+Travel%2C+War+and+Faith&rft.pages=110&rft.pub=British+Library.+Serindia+Publications%2C+Inc.&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=978-1-932476-13-2&rft.aulast=Whitfield&rft.aufirst=Susan&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DArWLD4Qop38C%26pg%3DPA110&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHelzer" class="citation web cs1">Helzer, Sarah. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://stowawaymag.byu.edu/the-silk-road">"The Silk Road"</a>. <i>Stowaway Magazine</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">August 12,</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Stowaway+Magazine&rft.atitle=The+Silk+Road&rft.aulast=Helzer&rft.aufirst=Sarah&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fstowawaymag.byu.edu%2Fthe-silk-road&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Cook (1999), 144.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Strabo 11.11.1, 15.1.34. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">25 March</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.britannica.com&rft.atitle=Catanzaro+%26%23124%3B+Italy+%26%23124%3B+Britannica&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fplace%2FCatanzaro-Italy&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMalanima2004" class="citation book cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source">Malanima, Paolo (2004). "Le sete della Calabria". In Fusco, Ida Maria (ed.). <i>La seta. E oltre...</i> (in Italian). Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane. pp. 55–68. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/88-495-0949-9" title="Special:BookSources/88-495-0949-9"><bdi>88-495-0949-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Le+sete+della+Calabria&rft.btitle=La+seta.+E+oltre...&rft.pages=55-68&rft.pub=Edizioni+Scientifiche+Italiane&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=88-495-0949-9&rft.aulast=Malanima&rft.aufirst=Paolo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp194_justinian_silk.pdf">Heleanor B. Feltham: <i>Justinian and the International Silk Trade</i></a>, p. 34</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-AM-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-AM_39-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Muthesius, Anna, "Silk in the Medieval World". 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Brill. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-900-422-4063" title="Special:BookSources/978-900-422-4063"><bdi>978-900-422-4063</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Southern+Italy+in+the+Late+Middle+Ages%3A+Demographic%2C+Institutional+Change+in+the+Kingdom+of+Naples%2C+c.1440-c.1530&rft.pub=Brill&rft.date=2012&rft.isbn=978-900-422-4063&rft.aulast=Sakellariou&rft.aufirst=Eleni&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Liu-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Liu_43-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Liu_43-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Xinru_Liu" title="Xinru Liu">Xinru Liu</a>, <i>Silk and Religion: An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People AD 600-1200</i>, Oxford University Press US, 1998.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> <i>Histoire des Techniques</i> p. 553</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Techniques'_p.557-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Techniques'_p.557_45-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Techniques'_p.557_45-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> <i>Histoire des Techniques</i> p.557</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ronan (1994), 68,</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span> <i>Histoire des Techniques</i> p.639</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRubino2006" class="citation book cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source">Rubino, Angela (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kOGJKQAACAAJ&q=seta+catanzaro"><i>La seta a Catanzaro e Lione. Echi lontani e attività presente</i></a> [<i>Silk in <a href="/wiki/Catanzaro" title="Catanzaro">Catanzaro</a> and Lyon. Distant echoes and present activity</i>] (in Italian). 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">6 August</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=The+Seattle+Times&rft.atitle=Are+increasingly+popular+silk+pillowcases+really+worth+the+hype%3F&rft.aulast=Carefoot&rft.aufirst=Helen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seattletimes.com%2Fexplore%2Fat-home%2Fare-increasingly-popular-silk-pillowcases-really-worth-the-hype%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-73"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-73">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMIZUNO2024" class="citation web cs1">MIZUNO, KEI (2024-10-04). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://jstories.media/article/united-silk">"Japanese silk has potential for applications in medicine, food and biotechnology"</a>. <i>jstories.media</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-11-23</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=jstories.media&rft.atitle=Japanese+silk+has+potential+for+applications+in+medicine%2C+food+and+biotechnology&rft.date=2024-10-04&rft.aulast=MIZUNO&rft.aufirst=KEI&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fjstories.media%2Farticle%2Funited-silk&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-74"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-74">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBabuSuamte2024" class="citation journal cs1">Babu, Punuri Jayasekhar; Suamte, Laldinthari (2024-03-01). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666138123000609#sec0026">"Applications of silk-based biomaterials in biomedicine and biotechnology"</a>. <i>Engineered Regeneration</i>. <b>5</b> (1): 56–69. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.engreg.2023.11.002">10.1016/j.engreg.2023.11.002</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2666-1381">2666-1381</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Engineered+Regeneration&rft.atitle=Applications+of+silk-based+biomaterials+in+biomedicine+and+biotechnology&rft.volume=5&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=56-69&rft.date=2024-03-01&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1016%2Fj.engreg.2023.11.002&rft.issn=2666-1381&rft.aulast=Babu&rft.aufirst=Punuri+Jayasekhar&rft.au=Suamte%2C+Laldinthari&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS2666138123000609%23sec0026&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Main sources: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bertrand_Gille_(historian)" title="Bertrand Gille (historian)">Bertrand Gille</a>. <i>Histoire des techniques</i>, Gallimard, coll. <a href="/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_de_la_Pl%C3%A9iade" title="Bibliothèque de la Pléiade">La Pléiade</a>, 1978 <small>(<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-07-010881-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-2-07-010881-7">978-2-07-010881-7</a>)</small><span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li>The <a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A9die" title="Encyclopédie">Encyclopédie</a> of <a href="/wiki/Diderot" class="mw-redirect" title="Diderot">Diderot</a> and <a href="/wiki/D%27Alembert" class="mw-redirect" title="D'Alembert">d'Alembert</a> <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li>Catherine Jolivet-Lévy et Jean-Pierre Sodini, "Byzance", <i>in <a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Universalis" title="Encyclopædia Universalis">Encyclopædia Universalis</a></i>, 2006. <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li>"La Soie, 4000 ans de luxe et de volupté", <i><a href="/wiki/Historia_(Antiquity_journal)" class="mw-redirect" title="Historia (Antiquity journal)">Historia</a></i>, n°648, décembre 2000. <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li>Ron Cherry, "Sericulture", <i><a href="/wiki/Entomological_Society_of_America" title="Entomological Society of America">Entomological Society of America</a></i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19961107013241/http://www.insects.org/ced1/seric.html">CED1: History of Sericulture</a></li> <li>Cook, Robert. <i>Handbook of Textile Fibres Vol. 1: Natural Fibres.</i> Cambridge: Woodhead, 1999.</li> <li>"Silk", <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" title="Encyclopædia Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i></li> <li>"Soie", <i><a href="/wiki/Encarta" title="Encarta">Encyclopédie Encarta</a></i> <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li>Hill, John E. (2009) <i>Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE</i>. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4392-2134-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4392-2134-1">978-1-4392-2134-1</a>.</li> <li>Anne Kraatz, Marie Risselin-Steenebrugen, <a href="/wiki/Mich%C3%A8le_Pirazzoli-t%27Serstevens" title="Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens">Michèle Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens</a> et Madeleine Paul-David, "Tissus d'art", <i>in Encyclopædia Universalis</i>, 2006. <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xinru_Liu" title="Xinru Liu">Liu, Xinru</a> (2010). <i>The Silk Road in World History</i>. Oxford University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-516174-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-516174-8">978-0-19-516174-8</a>; <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-533810-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-533810-2">978-0-19-533810-2</a> (pbk).</li> <li>Sakellariou, Eleni, <i>Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional and Economic Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440-c.1530</i>, Brill, 2012. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-900-422-4063" title="Special:BookSources/978-900-422-4063">978-900-422-4063</a></li> <li>Toshiharu Furusawa, "The history of Sericulture in Japan – The old and innovative technique for Industry-", Center for Bioresource Field Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://businessdocbox.com/Agriculture/77093471-Sericulture-and-silk-industry.html">pdf</a>)</li> <li>"Métiers agricoles - Magnaniers", Institut supérieur de l'agroalimentaire <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070127170123/http://www.isaa.fr/M%C3%A9tiers%20agricoles.htm">Métiers agricoles</a></li> <li>Ronan, Colin. <i>The Shorter Science and Civilization in China.</i> Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1994. <span class="languageicon">(in French)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joan_Thirsk" title="Joan Thirsk">Thirsk, Joan</a> (1997) <i>Alternative Agriculture: A History from the Black Death to the Present Day.</i> Oxford: Oxford University, 1997.</li> <li>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.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWatt,_James_C.Y.Wardwell,_Anne_E.1997" class="citation book cs1">Watt, James C.Y.; Wardwell, Anne E. (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/62400/rec/5"><i><span></span></i>When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles<i><span></span></i></a>. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87099-825-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-87099-825-6"><bdi>978-0-87099-825-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=When+silk+was+gold%3A+Central+Asian+and+Chinese+textiles&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=978-0-87099-825-6&rft.au=Watt%2C+James+C.Y.&rft.au=Wardwell%2C+Anne+E.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Flibmma.contentdm.oclc.org%2Fcdm%2Fcompoundobject%2Fcollection%2Fp15324coll10%2Fid%2F62400%2Frec%2F5&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHistory+of+silk" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=History_of_silk&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou, China (中国丝绸博物馆) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171203224557/http://en.chinasilkmuseum.com/">China National Silk Museum</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111001082534/http://www.reseau-asie.com/article-en/months-articles-archive/reseau-asie-s-editorial/sericulture-asia-bernard-mauchamp/">"Sericulture in Asia: Yesterday, today, tomorrow", Asia and Pacific Network</a></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist 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mill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_throwing" title="Silk throwing">Silk throwing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_waste" title="Silk waste">Silk waste</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Types</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ahimsa_silk" title="Ahimsa silk">Ahimsa silk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assam_silk" title="Assam silk">Assam silk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atlas_silk" class="mw-redirect" title="Atlas silk">Atlas silk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Byzantine_silk" title="Byzantine silk">Byzantine silk</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Burmese_silk&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Burmese silk (page does not exist)">Burmese silk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_silk" class="mw-redirect" title="Chinese silk">Chinese 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style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Silk_in_the_Indian_subcontinent" title="Silk in the Indian subcontinent">Silk in the Indian subcontinent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_industry_in_China" title="Silk industry in China">Silk industry in China</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_industry_of_Cheshire" title="Silk industry of Cheshire">Silk industry of Cheshire</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Products</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sari" title="Sari">Sari</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tenun_Pahang_Diraja" title="Tenun Pahang Diraja">Tenun Pahang Diraja</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" 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template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Textile_arts" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Textile_arts" title="Textile arts">Textile arts</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Fundamentals</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beadwork" title="Beadwork">Beadwork</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crochet" title="Crochet">Crochet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dyeing" title="Dyeing">Dyeing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Embroidery" title="Embroidery">Embroidery</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lace" title="Lace">Lace</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Macram%C3%A9" title="Macramé">Macramé</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Needlework" title="Needlework">Needlework</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile" title="Textile">Fabric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Felt" title="Felt">Felting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fiber" title="Fiber">Fiber</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Knitting" title="Knitting">Knitting</a></li> <li>Layering <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Appliqu%C3%A9" title="Appliqué">Appliqué</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Patchwork" title="Patchwork">Patchwork</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quilting" title="Quilting">Quilting</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/N%C3%A5lebinding" title="Nålebinding">Nålebinding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plying" title="Plying">Plying</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rope" title="Rope">Rope</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rug_making" title="Rug making">Rug making</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sewing" title="Sewing">Sewing</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Passementerie" title="Passementerie">Passementerie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stitch_(textile_arts)" title="Stitch (textile arts)">Stitch</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spinning_(textiles)" title="Spinning (textiles)">Spinning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_printing" title="Textile printing">Textile printing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Weaving" title="Weaving">Weaving</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yarn" title="Yarn">Yarn</a></li></ul> </div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="5" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Alpackaull.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Alpackaull.jpg/110px-Alpackaull.jpg" decoding="async" width="110" height="83" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Alpackaull.jpg/165px-Alpackaull.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Alpackaull.jpg/220px-Alpackaull.jpg 2x" data-file-width="756" data-file-height="567" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">History of ...</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_clothing_and_textiles" title="History of clothing and textiles">Clothing and textiles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_quilting" title="History of quilting">Quilting</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Silk</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Byzantine_silk" title="Byzantine silk">Byzantine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk_in_the_Indian_subcontinent" title="Silk in the Indian subcontinent">Indian subcontinent</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_manufacture_during_the_British_Industrial_Revolution" title="Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution">Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_manufacturing_by_pre-industrial_methods" title="Textile manufacturing by pre-industrial methods">Textile manufacturing by pre-industrial methods</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_clothing_and_textiles_technology" title="Timeline of clothing and textiles technology">Timeline of clothing and textiles technology</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Regional and ethnic</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/African_textiles" title="African textiles">African</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kongo_textiles" title="Kongo textiles">Kongo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kuba_textiles" title="Kuba textiles">Kuba</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_fibrecraft" title="Australian Aboriginal fibrecraft">Australian Aboriginal</a></li> <li>Burmese <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Acheik" title="Acheik">Acheik</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hmong_textile_art" title="Hmong textile art">Hmong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_arts_of_the_Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas" title="Textile arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas">Indigenous peoples of the Americas</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Andean_textiles" title="Andean textiles">Andean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mapuche_textiles" title="Mapuche textiles">Mapuche</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maya_textiles" title="Maya textiles">Maya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textiles_of_Mexico" title="Textiles of Mexico">Mexican</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Navajo_weaving" title="Navajo weaving">Navajo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textiles_of_Oaxaca" title="Textiles of Oaxaca">Oaxacan</a></li></ul></li> <li>Indonesian <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Balinese_textiles" title="Balinese textiles">Balinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textiles_of_Sumba" title="Textiles of Sumba">Sumba</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Korean_fabric_arts" title="Korean fabric arts">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/M%C4%81ori_traditional_textiles" title="Māori traditional textiles">Māori</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Blocking_(textile_arts)" title="Blocking (textile arts)">Blocking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conservation_and_restoration_of_textiles" title="Conservation and restoration of textiles">Conservation and restoration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fiber_art" title="Fiber art">Fiber art</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wearable_art#Wearable_fiber_art" title="Wearable art">wearable fiber art</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_industry" title="Textile industry">Industry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_manufacturing" title="Textile manufacturing">Manufacturing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mathematics_and_fiber_arts" title="Mathematics and fiber arts">Mathematics and fiber arts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Textile_recycling" title="Textile recycling">Recycling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Units_of_textile_measurement" title="Units of textile measurement">Units of measurement</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Glossaries</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_dyeing_terms" title="Glossary of dyeing terms">Dyeing terms</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_sewing_terms" title="Glossary of sewing terms">Sewing terms</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_textile_manufacturing" title="Glossary of textile manufacturing">Textile manufacturing terms</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="3"><div><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Emojione_1F458.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Emojione_1F458.svg/16px-Emojione_1F458.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Emojione_1F458.svg/24px-Emojione_1F458.svg.png 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