WinterSilks Home Page
1-888-782-2224   Home  |  My Account  |  LIVE HELP  |  Shopping Bag (0 items)
 
Silk Long Underwear Ladies Men New Summer Moms, Dads and Grads
  
New for Summer
Moms, Dads, and Grads
Silk Long Underwear
Silk for Ladies
Silk for Men
Silk Accessories
Premiere Silk Shop:
Online Exclusives

New Naturals
Collections
Silk du Jour
Mix and Match Deals
Bestsellers on Sale
Bonus Sale!
Clearance
Silk Legend and the History of Silk

For centuries, the knowledge of silk and silk production remained an impenetrable mystery within the borders of mainland China. Quoting the Roman historian, Pliny, from his Natural History volumes, "Silk was obtained by removing the down from the leaves with the help of water..." In 70 BC, factual information regarding the origin of silk was, at best, scanty...

The infamous Silk Road represented the first significant overland trade route between China and the western world. Officially, this remarkable link opened to commerce during the 2nd century BC, and provided, over hundreds of years, a conduit for intellectual, religious and commercial exchange. The influential Han emperor, Wudi, was the first to recognize trade potential with the western provinces. Exotic spices, cascades of shimmering silk, gunpowder, fine porcelain, and the technology of moveable-type printing flowed along this path eventually into Persia, India, and, eventually, the foreign lands beyond.

Only the ruling Chinese dynasties were privy to the secrets behind silk cultivation. But, as farming methods in China yielded increasingly lucrative industrial grade silks, this coveted fabric found its place among the peasant classes. The less valuable silks were used to make musical instruments, fishing-lines, and even rag paper, the world's most luxurious stationery. The ability to develop high-quality silk remained, for the time, the sole dominion of Chinese sericulturists. Farmers, in fact, paid their taxes in grain and silk. Such was its esteemed value.

However, in AD 550, two Nestorian monks arrived from China at the portals of Byzantine Emperor Justinian's court with silkworm eggs concealed in their hollow staves. Church and state conspired, constructing imperial workshops, which produced lower-grade silks. This expansion into the western world did not affect commerce along the Silk Road, though, as the Chinese still held tenaciously to the science of sericulture. The Silk Road's greatest era arrived during the Tang dynasty. Changan, gateway city to the Silk Road, prospered under Tang rule, and became one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

By the 13th century, Marco Polo, in league with his father and uncle, ventured the 7,500 mile journey down the Silk Road into interior China. Over the course of trade negotiations, Kublai Khan, then leader of the Mongols, divulged the complete knowledge of silk production. Two thousand skilled weavers transferred their talents, shortly thereafter, to Italian soil. This event marked the introduction of fine-quality silk manufacture west of Constantinople.

The shroud of mystery which once cloaked the exotic world of silk, had finally lifted.

 Back
Back to Top

  Catalog Quick Order |  Snowflake Guide |  Silk Care |  Silk Fabrics & Terms |  Why Silk? |  Silk Quarterly |  Gift Cards |  E-mail Sign-up

Contact Us |  Customer Service |  Request A Catalog |  Size Info |  Shipping Rates |  About WinterSilks |  Origin Silk |  Privacy & Security
  © 2008 WinterSilks, LLC. - 11711 Marco Beach Drive - Jacksonville, FL 32224 - 1-888-782-2224 . WinterSilks