Chinese silk is a unique material thatcombines incredible strength, amazing smoothness and thermostatic properties. For many centuries, the technology of manufacture of this unique material was kept in the strictest confidence.
How did silk appear?
Chinese silk is a waste productmulberry caterpillars that make strong cocoons around them. But who was the first to figure out how to make cloth? So, one of the legends attributes this merit to the wife of the mythical emperor Juan di Lei-tzu. A young woman drank tea sitting under a mulberry tree. When several silkworm cocoons fell into the cup, she pulled them out and found that they unwind into a long thread. After collecting all the cocoons, the empress weaved luxurious silk and sewed clothes for her husband. Since then, Lei-tzu was called Silin-chi, and also began to be considered the goddess of sericulture.
Another legend
There is another legend explaining howchinese silk So, in one village lived an old man with his daughter. They had a flying horse, which also knew how to speak. One day my father did not return home. The girl asked the horse to find a man, promising to be his wife as a reward. Returning home, the man found out about the terrible oath and killed the horse. But the soul of an innocent animal picked up the girl and carried her away, laying on a mulberry tree. The beauty turned into a silkworm caterpillar.
Common version
Наиболее правдоподобной является версия о том, that Chinese silk was discovered quite by accident. Collecting fruit from the trees, the women stumbled upon strange white fruits. They were too hard for food, so they tried to cook them. But it did not bring results. Then the Chinese began to beat them with batons, as a result of which the unique properties of silkworm cocoons were discovered.
More than 5 thousand years ago in the Asian regionBegan to produce the most valuable fabric. Chinese silk was made exclusively by women. The Empress opened the season in spring. After that, for 6 months, Chinese women were engaged in sericulture.
The first fabrics were very expensive, and thereforeOnly noble families could afford them. But with the expansion of production, the material became more affordable, and silk products became widespread among all segments of the Chinese population (even commoners had valuable cloth items in their wardrobe).
Because silk was as precious as gold,in fact, it became a currency, and therefore was used in trade settlements with other countries. The fact that more than 230 hieroglyphs are dedicated to him is also evidence of the importance of this material.
Chinese silk making technology longtime remained under the veil of secrecy, and anyone who tried to bring the silkworm larvae out of the country was immediately executed. Nevertheless, the technology still left the borders of China. Byzantium became the first Western country where they began to produce this material. Despite the fact that today this technology is spread all over the world, China remains the only leader in this industry.
Production technology
Chinese natural silk is characterizedcomplex manufacturing process. The female silkworm after mating with the male lays about 500 eggs. Experts select healthy larvae and place them in special conditions, and burn the rest.
A week later there are small worms,which within a month should increase their size several times. For this, they are fed with chopped mulberry leaves. Having reached a certain age, the worm begins to twist a cocoon, highlighting fibroin, sericin, fats, salts and waxes. After that, they are sorted by color, shape, size and placed in certain conditions.
After a certain time the pupakill and begin to unravel the cocoon. Each of them gives 600-1000 meters of valuable thread. After the yarn is produced, which passes the refining procedure. And only after this, the raw materials enter the spinning and weaving mills, where the most beautiful and most expensive fabrics in the world are made.
Conclusion
Incredibly beautiful, smooth and delicate ischinese silk Photos of fabrics and products from them just fascinate. Despite the fact that fabric production is automated and spread all over the world, the price remains so high that not everyone can afford such luxury.
