|
|
The Invention of Silk |
|
|
One of the most important industries of
China is the growing and weaving of silk. About two-thirds of the silk produced
in China is consumed within the country, the balance being exported. |
| ............. |
|
Chinese history credits the invention
of silk to Yuen Fei, the concubine of an Emperor who ruled in 2,600 B.C.
She, by reason of the discovery, has been deified and is worshipped as the
goddess of silk worms. For many centuries after Yuen Fei the secret of silk
was jealously guarded by the Chinese. |
| |
|
The chief food of the silk worms
is the leaf of the mulberry tree, which is cultivated carefully in China.
The trees live about 50 years. The cultivated trees are about six feet tall
while the wild mulberry is about 40 feet high. The finest silk is produced
from worms fed on leaves of the smaller, domestic tree while the coarser
silks, including pongee, are produced from worms which feed on oak leaves.
When there are plenty of mulberry leaves the eggs of the worms are hatched
artificially, either in incubator trays or, more commonly, by the peasant
themselves who carry the eggs next to their bodies to keep them warm or
put them between blankets beneath their beds. |
| |
|
One ounce of eggs produces about
20,000 worms, and these worms during their lifetime consume a ton of mulberry
leaves. They increase their weight 10,000 times from the day they are hatched
to the time when they begin to spin their cocoons. They are carefully tended.
The peasants believe that noise is very harmful for the worms and are careful
not startle them. Should visitors go to a plantation they should not be
surprised if the caretaker goes ahead of them to inform the worms, so that
they will not be frightened. From the time they are hatched the worms are
fed with plenty of leaves. At maturity they are about two inches long. |
| |
|
Cocoons are spun from the tops of
loose stalks of straw and two or three days only are needed to complete
the spinning. Then the cocoons are gathered and the chrysalis killed by
heating and drying the cocoons or by packing them with leaves and salt in
a jar which is buried in the ground. Were this not done the moth would break
through the sheath. In spite of the prevalence of modern machinery and methods,
a great quantity of beautiful silk is still produced by the old-fashioned
hand reels and looms. The cycle of the ordinary silk worm extends over the
year, but some produce two to seven crops annually. |