How the Silkworm Changed History

Ancient China is an amazing time and place to learn about, as many of the world's most important discoveries and inventions were created in the time before, during, and right after the Han dynasty - between 200 BCE-220 CE. Even though the ancient Chinese had all these wonderful ideas, foods, and other items that could only be found there, they were purposely and literally walled off from the rest of the world. When explorers and traders began to discover the secrets the Chinese had, knowledge of things like earthquake predictors, crossbows, compasses and of course, silk - everyone in the world wanted a piece of this exotic, advanced, and beautiful world. The Han dynasty's international silk trade spawned a movement across continents of people flocking to and from China, all to trade luxury items along paths that spanned almost half the world.

The Silk Road and China's Economy

Originating from Xian (Now Chang'An), roads began popping up leading one place in China to another, mostly moving silk and ceramics and the like. The roads and routes grew and prospered, reaching their height of prosperity during the Tang dynasty. The road went west through India, Europa, and Africa. Smaller routes were also mapped out that spanned over the south and even further west, as well as traveling up coastlines to reach the Germania.

When people from further and further west began traveling longer along these trade routes, they began finding themselves touching the soft and extremely strong fabric that the Chinese had kept to themselves for thousands of years. (Literally, there's proof of silk production dating back to 3000 BC!) News of the strange fabric reached the other continents, and merchants began setting out toward China with carts filled with luxuries, hoping they would be interesting and useful enough to get some much desired silk in exchange.

The silk trade was important to China's economy, and the country flourished when the silk trade was booming. This is mainly because China was (and basically still is) the only place that can properly produce the material to the high standards they demand.

The Silkworm Farm

Creating silk is such a time and life consuming task, that there's an entire culture derived from it - Sericulture. It's the process of raising the silkworms to the cocoon stage, and then properly extracting silk thread from the cocoon before the moth hatches. It is also the delicate process of ensuring the silkworms get a proper diet in proper portions to ensure top quality silk thread, leading to the best quality silk fabric. The people that make silk the old fashioned way live most of their lives tending to the creation of this still much desired fabric.

The cocoons are sorted and put through a series of water and other soluble immersions, softening the "sericin" so as to allow the unraveling of the cocoons themselves. This process lets people turn an insect's cocoon into an incredibly strong and versatile thread that can be easily woven into fabric. When I say that silk is strong, I mean it - it was often made in ancient times (and still is to this day) to make many of the highest quality and strength cords and ropes because of it's strong resistance to pulling and tugging. The soft and silky feeling that material gets is delicate however, so silks that are used for clothing are in need of some pretty tricky care.

Silkworms themselves are pretty picky when it comes to their diet and their surroundings, and in fact there are stories of ancient silkworm rooms where people weren't allowed to enter, as their voices and footsteps would make the worms lose their appetite. The touchy worms were always revered for their job, and their quiet rooms were closely kept by attendants. With the amount of work and preparation that goes into creating a roll of silk, it's easy to see why the Chinese considered it to be the royal cloth, and kept it mostly to themselves for centuries upon centuries.

It goes without saying that the main inspiration for international travel through the thick of China during the Han dynasty was largely due to silk trade. However, we can't overlook the other indispensable goods that were being sold and traded along the same routes, like dyes, ivory, glass, salt, and tea. All of these things did their part in opening China up to the world, and changing the every day person's conception of luxury. The tiny little silkworm's silky cocoon has certainly done it's share of good for China's rich history and it's connection with the rest of the trading world.

Helpful Sites:
The History of Silk
Articles on early silk production
& check out Google Timeline's silk road info!