Chapter 5 Section 5 The rumors of silk and silk weaving skills

Today, silk, a high-grade textile originally produced in China, has been traced all over the world. Many countries are producing and consuming silk. When and how did Chinese silk and silk weaving skills spread? What impact did it have? The spread of Chinese silk was very early, dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries BC.Because in an ancient tomb of more than 500 BC in Stuttgart in southern West Germany, fragments of Chinese silk clothes were found on human bones excavated; , There are also many Chinese silk fabrics unearthed.Europeans also began to know China through silk in the 4th century BC. At that time, the Greek historian Ctesias used the word "seres" to refer to the silk-producing people in his "Book of History and Geography". nation.In Greek, "ser" means silk, and "seres" originally means "those who make silk", which is later extended to "the country of silk", referring to China.However, for a long time before BC, the amount of Chinese silk exported was extremely rare. According to Western historical records, Caesar the Great of Ancient Rome (1st century BC) once wore a Chinese silk robe to watch a play in a theater. Faced with the glorious silk, the princes and ministers for a while had no intention of watching the show, and focused their eyes on the imperial costume, admiring it, thinking that it was something only found in the "heaven" in the myth.Even the relatives of the royal family are so rare and strange about silk, which shows how rare silk was in Europe at that time.This phenomenon was not gradually changed until the opening of the world-famous "Silk Road".

The large-scale and complete opening of this road was during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.At that time, the Xiongnu conquered many small countries in the Western Regions (the Western Regions were the Han Dynasty's name for Xinjiang, Central Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean Sea), blocking the way for the Han Dynasty to go west.For military and economic purposes, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought it necessary to open up the road to the west, so he sent Zhang Qian, a famous diplomat in history, to the Western Regions. In 138 BC, Zhang Qian made his first mission to the Western Regions. He led more than 100 people and went through hardships. When he returned to Chang'an, only two people remained, which took 13 years.During Zhang Qian's more than 10 years of missions, he mastered the military and economic intelligence of many countries in the Western Regions. Through the analysis of these intelligences, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made up his mind to open the road to the west.In 119 BC, Zhang Qian made his second mission to the Western Regions and organized a huge delegation, bringing 10,000 cattle and sheep, "thousands of thousands" of gold coins and silk as gifts.This mission and the subsequent military operations achieved great success, opening up the road to the west, enabling the Han Dynasty to start exchanges with countries in the Western Regions, and also continuously transporting exquisite silk and other items from the Central Plains to countries in the Western Regions.Later, this road was jointly developed by Chinese and foreign people and became a trade channel across the Asian road. Because a large amount of Chinese silk was transported westward through this road, it was called the "Silk Road" by Chinese and foreign historians.

In fact, the route of the ancient "Silk Road" was not fixed, nor was it a single route. Its main route started from the Weishui River Basin in the east, passed through the Hexi Corridor in the west, and divided into two routes in Dunhuang, or passed through the channel north of the Tarim River in Xinjiang today, in the Shu Le (now Kashgar) crossed Congling to the west, and went westward through Dawan (now the Fergana Basin in the Republic of Uzbekistan) and the south of Kangju (near today's Samarkand), or through the passage south of the Tarim River in today's Xinjiang. The west of Shache (now Shache County) crosses Congling, and goes west through Dayuezhi (now Hotan, Afghanistan). Great Qin (that is, the Roman Empire).The main silk road is more than 7,000 kilometers long, and the road conditions are extremely difficult. The Roman historian Florus said in his history book that it takes four years to travel from China to Rome.Its branch line is from Chang'an to Lanzhou, then turns to Xining, along the north shore of Qinghai Lake, crosses the Qaidam Basin to the west; it also goes from southern China to Sichuan and Qinghai to the west; and from Sichuan and Yunnan to southern Myanmar , and then use the seaway to go westward; there are also those that are conveyed through Central Asia to various ports on the Indian Peninsula and then transported westward by seaway.

In addition to the above-mentioned roads, there was also a maritime "Silk Road" in ancient times, which was also opened by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.At that time, Chinese ships brought a large amount of gold, silver, local products and silk. They set off from today’s Xuwen on the Leizhou Peninsula and Hepu in Guangxi, passing through Duyuan State (now Da Nang, Vietnam), Yilumi State (now Ratchaburi, Thailand), Chen Liguo (now Tanah Forest, Myanmar) and Fugandulu Country (now Pyay, Myanmar), sailed to Huangzhiguo (now Konchipuram, India) in the southern part of the Indian Peninsula, and then returned from Jichengbuguo (now Sri Lanka) , via Pi Zongguo (now Sumatra, Indonesia) to return home.This sea channel became the main commercial route for my country's foreign trade after the land channel going westward gradually declined after the Tang Dynasty.

The "Silk Road" is not only a road of material exchange of Chinese silk and foreign jewelry, but also a road of cultural technology exchange between the East and the West. Its influence is so far-reaching, it is no wonder that some scholars compare the "Silk Road" to the "axis" of world history, the "mother's womb" of the world's major cultures, and the "bridge" of Eastern and Western civilizations. Chinese silk weaving skills also spread westward along the "Silk Road".It was first spread to Yutian [tiantian] country (now Hotan, Xinjiang), a small country in the Western Regions. According to historical records, there was no sericulture in Yutian in the Han Dynasty, so the king of Yutian sent envoys to the Han Dynasty to ask for silkworm seeds and mulberry. Unexpectedly, the Han Dynasty not only refused to give them, but also issued an order to strictly prohibit the export of silkworm and mulberry seeds.Khotan had no choice but to ask for peace with the Han Dynasty.After getting permission, the welcoming messenger informed the princess that Khotan "has never had silkworm seeds", and the king asked her to bring the silkworm seeds with her to leave the cabinet.When the princess left Han, she hid the silkworm and mulberry seeds in a silk cap, but the guards at the Han border did not dare to check them. The princess successfully brought the silkworm seeds to Khotan.Since then, there has been sericulture production in Khotan ("Da Tang Western Regions"), and it has gradually become a famous silk producing area.At the beginning of this century, British Stein discovered an 18th-century painting plate in Hotan (now Hotan, ancient Yutian), which depicts the princess of the Han Dynasty who brought silkworm seeds to Khotan in a hat. , presumably because of the princess's contribution to the local people, it was portrayed in memory of her.In addition, Stein also found a mural in the ruins of a large temple near Khotan, which depicts offering sacrifices to "silkworm ancestors". important role in people's lives.

The Western Regions is the gateway to the West in ancient my country. After the silk weaving skills were introduced to the Western Regions, further spread to Persia.Its time was probably during the Three Kingdoms period in China, because in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Persians were already able to produce silk brocade with high technical requirements.Both Chinese and Western history books have some introductions to the silk weaving of ancient Persia. For example, many Chinese history books mentioned Persian brocade when they talked about Persian famous products. One Western history book also recorded that in the 6th century, there were two The Persians traveled thousands of miles to China to learn sericulture and silk weaving techniques. After the 7th century, although Persia was famous for its advanced textile technology among surrounding countries, silk textile technology still lagged far behind China. At that time, skilled textile craftsmen in my country went to Central Asia and West Asia to teach textile technology.When Du Huan of the Tang Dynasty went to Dashi (in present-day Iraq), he saw with his own eyes two people from Hedong named Le Huan and Lu Li teaching textile technology there.

The time when Chinese sericulture technology was introduced to Europe was also around the 6th century.Prior to this, not only China strictly prohibited the spread of sericulture skills, but even Persia, which had mastered sericulture skills, kept it secret for its own economic interests.So how did sericulture technology spread to Europe?According to European historical records: In the time of Emperor Justinian, two monks returned to Rome from China, hiding silkworm eggs in bamboo sticks, walking with sticks, like tourists pilgrimage.Although the export was strictly prohibited by the Chinese authorities, it was stolen to Constantinople.Since then, the rise of sericulture began in Europe.It can be seen that the introduction of sericulture technology to Europe took a lot of trouble.Chinese pedal looms and flower machines were also introduced to Europe in the 6th century.Before that, the looms used in Europe were relatively backward vertical looms, without flower looms, and could not weave large pattern fabrics.The introduction of these two kinds of looms changed the structure of western looms, and began to change from vertical to horizontal, and could weave some more complicated jacquard fabrics.

North Korea and Japan are China's close neighbors. The time when my country's sericulture technology was introduced to these two countries must have been much earlier than that of the West, but it is still difficult to determine when it started.According to the records of "Hanshu Geographical Records": "Yin Dao declined, Jizi went to Korea to found a country, and taught its people to weave silkworms." That is to say, as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties, my country's sericulture technology may have been passed to North Korea. .As for the specific time when it was introduced to Japan, there is no exact record in the history books. According to "Three Kingdoms: Dongyi Biography"; Judging from the fact that silk products such as silk, cotton, and silk products were presented in the eighth year of Zhengshi, the time of introduction should not be later than the Han Dynasty.After the Three Kingdoms period, the exchanges between the people of China and Japan became more and more frequent, and there were more and more records about the introduction of China's advanced silk weaving technology to Japan and the promotion of Japanese silk weaving skills.For example, during the Western Jin Dynasty in history, Gong Yuejun, a descendant of the First Empress of Qin Dynasty, led people from 127 counties to emigrate to Japan via Korea, and distributed these people to various parts of Japan to raise silkworms and plant mulberries, making the sericulture industry flourish.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Japan sent envoys to the Jiangnan area of ​​China many times to recruit textile craftsmen to teach their skills in Japan.A Japanese scholar said in his book: While recruiting Chinese textile technicians to Japan, looms were also introduced, "The imported looms are silk looms with reeds that can beat wefts... it is the "shed loom" made in my country in the future. '. This kind of loom became popular in the 8th century and played a great role in weaving production." During the Tang and Song Dynasties, some Japanese came to China to learn weaving technology. After returning to Japan after learning, they used Chinese weaving technology. equipment to produce some silk varieties that are famous all over Japan.It can also be seen from this that the rise of Japan's modern silk weaving industry is not accidental, it is inseparable from the long-term continuous study and reference of China's advanced silk weaving technology.

The above is the general situation of the introduction of my country's silk weaving technology to West Asia, East Asia, and Europe. In addition, my country's sericulture technology was introduced to India through Sichuan and Tibet in the 2nd century BC, and to Burma in the 2nd-3rd century AD. In the 6th century, it was introduced to the Guhe Mausoleum (also known as the country of Japa, now Java Island in Indonesia). 1. The spread of Chinese silk and its craftsmanship enriched and beautified the lives of the people in the countries where it was introduced, and improved the clothing of the people in the areas where it was introduced.According to Western historical records, before Chinese silk was introduced to Europe, Europeans used only wool and flax as raw materials for sewing clothes. When soft, bright, gorgeous and beautiful silk was introduced to Europe, it was immediately welcomed.According to Chinese historical records, there were still naked men in Funan (now Cambodia) during the Three Kingdoms period. After being persuaded by the Chinese envoy Kangtai, the King of Funan ordered men to use silk to cover their bodies, changing the custom of nudity.

Second, it has promoted the progress of textile technology in the imported country.Before the spread of Chinese silk, other countries knew nothing about sericulture. With the introduction of Chinese silk and silkworm weaving technology, these countries began to understand sericulture, began to use it, and gradually produced some local famous products.The introduction of silk looms, especially jacquard looms, promoted the transformation of western looms from vertical looms to flat knitting machines, and opened up the way of modern mechanical perforated patterns. 3. The influence of the spread of Chinese silk and its skills is not limited to the textile industry of the country where it was introduced, but more importantly, it has a positive effect on the politics, economy and even history of the country where it was introduced.For example, in the 13th century, Italy’s rapid economic development and becoming the start of the European Renaissance was inseparable from the vigorous development of the silk industry; in the late 17th century, France’s economic situation improved and it became a European power, which was also related to the rise of the silk industry. After the Meiji Restoration (AD 1868), the government attached great importance to the development of the silk weaving industry, and by opening up foreign raw silk markets, the Japanese economy flourished and Japan transformed from a backward feudal country into a modern capitalist country. .

4. It has promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between China and other countries in the world, and enhanced the friendship and understanding between people of various countries.