Silks

-History-

  Silk originated in China over 6000 years ago. The first mention of silks was in a myth about Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih, wife of the Yellow Emperor, who supposedly ruled China in 3000 BC. His-Ling-Shih was credited to have invented the loom and introduced silkworm rearing too. People say that she is the Goddess of Silk.

-Where silk comes from-

   There are several different varieties of silk worms in many different countries. Yet there are some very special differences about the Chinese silkworm. One difference is that their silkworm moth is blind and flightless. This special kind of silkworm moth is called Bombyx mori. Bombyx mori lays over 500 eggs in the span of four to six days, but once it's eggs are laid, it dies. The eggs are very light, and about 100 of them would be equal to about a gram. Once the eggs hatch they begin to eat a lot of mulberry leaves.

-Harvesting-

   The making of silk is long and requires a lot of attention. There are things that one has to do to make the best kind of silk. One of the things is to make sure the moth never hatches from the cocoon, and you must make sure that the moth has a diet of special things to eat so that the cocoon can turn out the right way.

  The Chinese kept the eggs at no less than 65 degrees F, but they raised temperature of the room they were in to 77 degrees. Once the temperature reaches 77 degrees the egg will hatch. After they hatch the worms are fed fresh mulberries every half hour. While the worms eat they are put on trays, which are stacked on top of one another. They stay on the trays eating and within a month the worms will have gained 10,000 times their initial weight. Finally when the larva have gained enough weight and energy they spin their cocoons. When in their cocoons they cannot be exposed to wind, noises, or even strong smells. Their cocoons are made of a substance that comes from their silk glands. These cocoons are made within three to four days.

  In eight or nine days the cocoons become dry, which means they are ready to be undone, so they steam the cocoon to make sure the worm is dead and then they start to unwind the fine filaments of the cocoon. At the end of the unwinding there could be up to 900 meters of filaments from just one cocoon. After unwinding, the cocoons 5-8 filaments are twisted together to create a thread of silk. Then the thread is sewn together to make fine silk garments.

-Demand-

   There was a demand for silk because it was only found in China and so it was really rare. Silk was thought to be only for royalty, but that thought didn't really last long. Gradually silk became more and more popular and common people were soon wearing it in China.

- Connection-