Presentation on the topic of Chinese silk. Presentation on the topic “Ancient China. Silk curtains 18th century
Among the many Chinese legends about the birth of silk, there is one such: Empress Xi Lin Chi, getting up early in the morning from bed, went to the balcony of the palace and was amazed at the shine and radiance of the cobwebs in the branches of the trees, illuminated by the rising sun. The Empress wished to receive a canvas of the same lightness and radiance to cover her bed with it. And then the silk obtained from the thread, not a spider, but a silkworm silk, helped the Chinese mistress to transform her bedroom.
The oldest discovered fragments of silk fabrics date back to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Silk has unique properties. Silk fabric is highly hygroscopic. It gives a feeling of dryness, even absorbing moisture by more than a third of its own weight, an indispensable property in the humid and hot subtropical regions of Asia. It easily absorbs moisture from the skin and gives it to the air unusually quickly. That is why silk is not only a material for banners and banners, but also for underwear. It is pleasant to the skin and seems to continue it. The thread secreted by the silkworm is unusually strong and reaches a length of meters (these fragments of threads are spun together and used in weaving). The thread has a triangular cross-section, and, like a prism, reflects light, which is why silk fabrics shimmer so beautifully. Silk is easy to dye, does not cause allergies, is lightweight and does not require special maintenance. In cold weather, it warms, and in hot weather it gives a feeling of coolness.
Before the invention of synthetic materials, silk was used to make the cord of bicycle and car racing tires, and thin cables were made. Its ideal insulating properties were in demand in electrical engineering, and, in contrast to artificial materials, silk retained its dielectric qualities even at high temperatures, completely charred. The real flourishing of silk fabrics came at the beginning of the twentieth century. The development of aviation brought to life a parachute, which required a canvas that was light and strong at the same time. There was no alternative to silk. The silkworm saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of pilots. The American firm Irwin, a pioneer in parachute production, even featured a silkworm caterpillar on its emblem. Each pilot who escaped thanks to the Irwin parachute was given a solid gold badge: a silk worm with ruby eyes, and its owner was enrolled in the Caterpillar club. Silk is resistant to stretching, tearing and extreme stress: 16 layers of silk fabric stacked one on top of the other stop the pistol bullet. Perhaps light and cheap silk body armor will appear soon.
Strong silk thread has long been used in surgery. Its strength, neutrality and smoothness made silk as if specially created for stitching wounds. The ancient Indian medical treatise "Ayurveda" (I millennium BC) speaks about silk as a material for applying surgical sutures. In the 19th century, silk became the most commonly used suture material in Europe. Along with the smoothness, which Pirogov called one of the main properties of the surgical thread, silk was comfortable with its resistance to high temperatures, which made it possible to thoroughly sterilize the surgical thread. The therapeutic effect of the proteins that make up the silk thread has been known for a very long time. Today, cosmetology and medicine have adopted the healing properties of silk. The grated silkworm cocoon added to cosmetics and creams has a stimulating and rejuvenating effect on the skin.
The Byzantine emperor and historian Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (), the author of the work "On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court", strongly advised his successors: "The barbarians should be told that the royal clothes are not made by hands and are brought directly from heaven ... Which of the emperors will make these clothes everyday or give them her - subject to curse! ". The clothes were, of course, silk. This fabric was worth its weight in gold: a bundle of silk was valued at double the precious metal. The production of threads, dyeing with precious purple, patterned weaving - each stage of the production of silk fabric was so laborious, demanded so great an expense that the ceremonial dress of the emperors really seemed a real miracle. She was not only a symbol of power, but as if she embodied power itself.
Silk was extremely loved by artists. Its special brilliance makes it possible to unmistakably identify it in the paintings of painters of any era and any direction. This is a way not only to show descendants the high social status of the depicted person, but also to demonstrate the virtuosity of the brush, which easily conveys different types of silk fabrics on the canvas - proud moire and iridescence of order ribbons, the rigidity and subtlety of taffeta, the shine of smooth and patterned satins, grace and delicate shades of silk. - raw in the famous silk lace "blondes" and "Chantilly", the splendor of brocade and the softness of silk velvet. Francois Boucher. Marquise de Pompadour. 1759
Silks that change their color were especially popular in medieval Europe. The technique of their manufacture appeared in China and consisted in the fact that the weft and warp threads were of different colors. On the fractures of the folds when walking, the blue fabric suddenly gleamed red or blue. For Chinese officials, the combination of shades meant promotion within the same rank. The Byzantines also began to use the effect of a sudden transformation of an important person in the state - when the thick purple color of the fabric in which the ruler was wearing suddenly began to shine pink or light lilac. This weaving technique, which is known as shang-jean, has not gone out of style for many years. The "Choosy Bride" and the heroine in "Major's Matchmaking" by P.A. Fedotov.
From the names of silk fabrics of different eras, you can create a fascinating history of tastes and preferences, learn the names of the then heroes of the world and the scene, the creators of fashion. The most valuable was considered silk fabric, called "gro-gro" or "grogron". The word "gro" (gros) denoted large intact cocoons with the longest thread. Therefore, a particle of "gro" in the name of any fabric meant the presence of silk in the raw material. Grodetour, Grodenapl and Grodanwehr were named after the original place of production - the cities of Tours, Naples and Antwerp. Grodeshin, respectively, was Chinese silk, and grodafrik (African) and thromoir got their names from textile ornament. Moire was obtained by processing the finished fabric with special rollers that shifted the threads of the fabric in different directions. The finer and clearer the ebb was obtained, the higher was the value of the thunderstorm that went on the order ribbons.
"Mentenon", "dubarry" or "pompadour" are not the names of the famous favorites of the French court, but old atlases named in their honor and distinguished from other varieties by such a careful execution of floral ornaments in the form of bouquets of flowers and garlands that they gave the impression of embroidery according to the atlas. In this, the creations of weavers from Lyon were not inferior to the perfection of woven ornamentation on fabrics from the workshops of Isfahan, Tabriz or Kashan, Iranian cities, from where the famous "facial" fabrics were exported to Europe in the 16th century. They got their name from the depiction of human figures - graceful young men and beauties playing music in the garden, heroic horsemen who beat dragons and lions, scenes from epics and legends. Images of flowers, birds, butterflies, creating the illusion of presence, were inspired by the Sufi ideas of paradise as a lush garden in bloom. Therefore, images of lilies, hyacinths, carnations, cypresses, plane trees with colorful butterflies and birds fluttering among the branches are so frequent.
Silk was used to weave dense damasks for upholstery and walls, the finest muslins with exquisite embroidery, precious brocade with the introduction of silver and gold threads, and various velvets. Hat silk differed from clothes silk, and shoe silk differed from linen silk. Silk can be worn from head to toe. They can decorate a home - wallpaper, lace curtains, draperies and carpets are made from it. History has preserved the name of the Iranian weaver Giyas al-Din Ali from the city of Yezd, who was distinguished by his incredible skill. But even he couldn't weave more than 10 centimeters of diaper fabric a day. Until the advent of Joseph Marie Jaccard's machine in 1809, which made it possible to mechanize patterned weaving, colored silks remained the privilege of the nobility. Until the 19th century, almost all European countries had laws restricting the use of silk by the lower classes. But even when these laws ceased to operate, silk remained so expensive that few were available.
In the 18th century, Europeans were carried away by everything Chinese, and in the twentieth century they were carried away by everything Japanese, including silk painting. Japanese kimonos that appeared at exhibitions in the second half of the 19th century made a deep impression not only on artists, but also on Parisian fashionistas. At the end of the exhibitions, the silks were sold to European cities, and the method of ornamentation aroused the interest of designers. The kimono did not have to be tried on, it was chosen as a painting. Painting, embroidery, appliqué were applied to the finished kimono, and the artistic composition did not obey the cut. The free painting technique amazed Europeans, and painted shawls and scarves became fashionable for a long time in the twentieth century. The natural thread fascinated people so much that from ancient times they tried to, if not surpass, then repeat the magical properties of silk. But no matter how the textile production improves, enriching itself with new materials, the solemnity of silk, the splendor of brocade, the shine of satin and the softness of velvet will not lose their importance for connoisseurs of natural beauty.
Natural silk
- content
- Caterpillars and cocoons.
- A bit of history.
- Fabric making.
- Silk properties.
- The use of silk.
- Natural silk care
- Presentation author
- Labor training teacher
- Boschenko
- Rima Ivanovna
- Only women of the imperial family bred silkworms, collected and processed cocoons. For divulging the secrets of obtaining silk, they were punished with the death penalty.
- If someone tried to take the silkworm out of China, then the death penalty awaited him too.
- Silk got to India thanks to a cunning Chinese princess who hid silkworm larvae in high hair before she was sent on the way to the groom - the Indian king.
- In European countries, silk was in great demand and was highly valued. Only noble persons were allowed to wear silk clothes.
- In ancient Rome, a pound of gold was paid for a pound of silk.
- In the 13th-15th centuries, silk weaving became the main industry in Italy. Silk was woven in Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan.
- It was only in the 18th century that they learned to weave silk in Russia.
- Cocoons are collected and sorted.
- The best quality cocoons are kept for further breeding.
- The rest of the cockles are boiled in water, which dissolves the glue.
- Fibers from several cocoons are combined into one thread and wound onto a reel, obtaining raw silk.
- Raw silk is twisted into a single silk thread. For this, fibers from 1012 cocoons are joined together.
- Silk fiber properties
- Silk fabrics:
- lungs
- shiny
- breathe well
- quickly absorb moisture
- dry quickly
- little crumple
- do not electrify
- well draped
- do not shrink
- does not attract dust
- hypoallergenic
- Insects do not start in natural silk and
- dust mite.
- Application
- natural silk due to its excellent properties
- Summer or smart clothes
- Tablecloths
- Curtains
- Linens
- Furniture upholstery
- Filling pillows with silk fibers
- What types of silkworms have we met?
- What do silkworms eat?
- In which country did you learn to get natural silk earlier than in others?
- 4.What is a cocoon?
- 5. How long can a fiber be in one cocoon?
- 6. What properties does silk fiber have?
- 7. Name the properties of silk fabrics.
- 8. What products can be made from natural silk?
- You have received some information about natural silk, its production, processing and properties.
- Try to find additional information on this topic and arrange it in the form of an abstract or presentation.
- Pound English:
- trade pound = 0.4536 kg
- 1 pharmaceutical pound = 0.3732 kg
- Russian pound:
- 1 lb = 0.4095 kg
When using materials from this site - and placing a banner - MANDATORY !!!
Slide presentation for a labor lesson in grades 5-7 on the topic: "Natural silk"
Slide presentation provided by: Boschenko Rima Ivanovna, teacher of technology St. Natukhaevskaya MOU secondary school №26 email: [email protected]
- Caterpillars and cocoons.
- A bit of history.
- Fabric making.
- Silk properties.
- The use of silk.
- Natural silk care
Silk learned to make in ancient China about 5 thousand years ago.
Only women of the imperial family bred silkworms, collected and processed cocoons. For divulging the secrets of obtaining silk, they were punished with the death penalty.
If someone tried to take the silkworm out of China, then the death penalty awaited him too.
Silk got to India thanks to a cunning Chinese princess who hid silkworm larvae in high hair before she was sent on the way to the groom - the Indian king.
SILK IN EUROPE.
It wasn't until AD 550 that two roving monks furtively took silkworm larvae to Byzantium. This is how silk appeared in Europe.
In European countries, silk was in great demand and was highly valued. Only noble persons were allowed to wear silk clothes.
In ancient Rome, a pound of gold was paid for a pound of silk.
In the 13th-15th centuries, silk weaving became the main industry in Italy. Silk was woven in Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan.
It was only in the 18th century that they learned to weave silk in Russia.
A silk dress in the 17th century was worth a fortune.
TRACKS AND COCOONS
The silkworm butterfly lays over 500 eggs in early summer.
The silkworm caterpillars feed on the leaves of the white mulberry (mulberry) for a month and a half.
After that, they are ready to weave their cocoon. The thinnest, almost invisible thread is pulled from the hole in the jaws of the caterpillar.
The caterpillar attaches its cocoon to a branch of a tree. Each cocoon contains from 400 to 1100 meters of the finest silk fiber.
Cocoons are collected and sorted.
The best quality cocoons are kept for further breeding.
The rest of the cockles are boiled in water, which dissolves the glue.
Fibers from several cocoons are combined into one thread and wound onto a reel, obtaining raw silk.
Raw silk twisted into a single silk thread. For this, fibers from 1012 cocoons are joined together.
Handloom work attracts tourists. Handmade silk fabric is valued several times more expensive than the factory one.
Mulbury- these are silkworm threads. This type of silkworm is best bred in captivity. This silk is produced most of all in the world.
Tussar very strong thread. It is obtained from wild silkworms by collecting cocoons in the forest. Such threads are used to make fabric for curtains and upholstery.
Tussar the oak silkworm is much thinner than the usual tussar. Fiber color from beige to chocolate. Its fabric is thinner and very durable. Therefore, it is much more valuable.
Erie- the lowest quality silk. The cocoons of these caterpillars are harvested after the butterflies emerge. Therefore, the threads in them are cut. After washing the cocoons, they are processed and woven like wool or cotton.
Muga- the most expensive type of silk. Caterpillars of this species feed only on leaves of aromatic trees. The fiber is very thin and strong and has a bright golden color. Fabrics made from such threads do not lose their elasticity, natural golden hue and shine for up to 50 years.
Silk fiber properties
Silk fiber:
- uniform in thickness
- elastic
- brilliant
- lasting
- long
Properties of silk fabrics
Silk fabrics:
- lungs
- shiny
- breathe well
- quickly absorb moisture
- dry quickly
- little crumple
- do not electrify
- well draped
- do not shrink
- does not attract dust
- hypoallergenic
- insects and dust mites do not start in natural silk.
Application natural silk due to its excellent properties
- Summer or smart clothes
- Tablecloths
- Curtains
- Linens
- Furniture upholstery
- Filling pillows with silk fibers
Questions to reinforce
- What types of silkworms have we met?
- What do silkworms eat?
- In which country did you learn to get natural silk earlier than in others?
- What is a cocoon?
- How long can a fiber be in one cocoon?
- What properties does silk fiber have?
- What are the properties of silk fabrics?
- What products can be made from natural silk?
A few words after watching
To the northeast of India, behind the high mountains of the Himalayas, lies China. The ancient Chinese called their country the "Celestial Empire" or "Middle Kingdom", as they believed that it lies in the middle of four seas: East, South, Sandy and Rocky. The sandy sea was called the harsh and waterless Gobi desert, and the Rocky Sea was called Tibet, a mountainous region on the other side of the Himalayas. Two large rivers flow in China - the Yellow River and the Yangtze. The names of the rivers mean: "Yellow water" and "Blue water". The Yellow River water is indeed yellowish in color, because it carries a lot of yellow clay with it. The first farmers settled in the fertile Yellow River Valley; they raised millet, raised pigs, cattle. Location of ancient China
In 221 BC, the ruler Qin Ying Zheng united large territories into a single empire and took the title of Qin Shi Huang, which means "First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty." He established sole rule over the entire territory of Inner China and went down in history as the ruler of the first centralized Chinese state. The Qin dynasty he founded, planning to rule China for 10 thousand generations, was overthrown a few years after his death. Qin shihuangdi
Although history records the fact that during the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), the court eunuch Tsai Lun invented a papermaking process using new raw materials, artifacts such as ancient padding and wrapping paper dating from the 2nd century BC. Inventions of Ancient China Discovered in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Veracruz, Mexico, an ancient artifact from Olmec-era hematite dating from around 1000 BC. e., indicates that in Central America, a compass made of magnetic iron ore may have been used long before it was described in China, although the Olmecs did not know iron, and the Chinese after its discovery realized that it is magnetized upon contact with a magnetic iron ore
The main food of the Chinese is rice. Growing rice is hard. The peasants plowed the field knee-deep in water and sowed rice. The economy of ancient China Silk was highly valued. Sometimes people paid for goods not with money, but with cuts of silk. Only noble and wealthy people had the right to wear silk clothes. The Chinese were the first to learn how to grow tea bushes and prepare tea. From them the tea bush got to the countries of Western Europe and to us
normative traditional Chinese literary language, which began to form from the XIV century BC. e. in the Yellow River Valley and, later, in the wider territory of the Great Plain of China. In its written form, the ancient Chinese language became a common literary koine for all of East Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam) and performed this function until the beginning of the 20th century, when, as a result of the May 4 movement (1919) in China, the official written language of the literary language baihua (literally 'understandable language') was declared, which began to form on the basis of living dialects of northern China as early as the period of the Six Dynasties (420-589 AD). Ancient chinese
Like other peoples, In the most ancient period of their history, the ancient Chinese worshiped the forces of nature. They imagined them in the form of good and evil spirits and demons. The dragon was the master of rains, thunderstorms, river waters and all underground forces. Over time, the dragon became the symbol of the king. The Chinese revered five sacred mountains, Taishan was considered the most important. It was called the "world mountain" that connects heaven and earth. The strongest oath of the Chinese began with the words: "Until the Yellow River becomes shallow, until Taishan is leveled to the ground, I swear ...". Ancient Chinese beliefs
Confucius, one of the great sages of antiquity, is a kind of symbol of China, its culture, philosophical thought Confucius is also considered the great first teacher of all Chinese. For many tens of generations, billions of Chinese people (this also applies to their neighbors - Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese) sacredly revered him as a teacher of life. Ancient Chinese sage Confucius
The armament of the ancient Chinese army Luke in ancient China was made of bamboo, which was ideal for the manufacture of throwing devices. By their design, they were divided into two main types: made from one bamboo trunk and made in a combined way from several layers (plates) of bamboo glued together. War chariots can be attributed to the heavy weapons of the Chinese army. Four war horses were usually harnessed to a war chariot, but there could be two or three of them. The war chariot's crew consisted of three warriors, one of whom drove the horses, and the other two fought. If the commander was on the chariot, then he sat on the right, the driver in the center, and the bodyguard on the left.
(function (w, d, n, s, t) (w [n] = w [n] ||; w [n] .push (function () (Ya.Context.AdvManager.render ((blockId: "RA -143470-6 ", renderTo:" yandex_rtb_R-A-143470-6 ", async: true));)); t = d.getElementsByTagName (" script "); s = d.createElement (" script "); s .type = "text / javascript"; s.src = "//an.yandex.ru/system/context.js"; s.async = true; t.parentNode.insertBefore (s, t);)) (this , this.document, "yandexContextAsyncCallbacks");
The first silk fabrics were very rare and expensive, so only rulers and their family members wore them. In all likelihood, inside the palace they wore white robes, and at ceremonial exits - c. With the expansion of production, silk gradually became available to the court, and then to wider sections of the population.
Gradually, a real silk cult arose in China. Old Chinese texts mention sacrifices to the silkworm god, as well as sacred mulberry groves and the veneration of individual mulberry trees.
Already in the era of the Fighting Kingdoms (475-221 BC), silk and silk products were ubiquitous in China in almost all segments of the population. Mencius (372-289 BC), "The Second Perfect Wise," suggested planting mulberry trees along the perimeter of the "well fields" so that young and old could wear silk clothes.
Silk was widely used in the household. In addition to being used as fabric for clothing and embroidery, strings for musical instruments, bowstrings for bows, fishing lines and even paper were made from it. During the reign of the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), silk became a kind of universal monetary equivalent: the peasants paid taxes in grain and silk, the government also paid the officials with silk.
The value of silk was calculated based on its length and was equated to gold. Silk became, in fact, the currency used in settlements with other countries. The important role of silk in Chinese culture is evidenced by the fact that out of 5 thousand most commonly used about 230 have the key "silk".
The technologies of sericulture, embroidery, and dyeing of fabrics were rapidly improving. This continued until the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
The volume and quality of silk products gradually increased. Brightness of colors, richness and perfection of embroidery were amazing. From the II century. BC. foreign trade was established - the famous Silk Road. A key role in this process was played by Zhang Qian 张 骞 (? -114 BC), a Chinese diplomat and traveler who opened the countries of Central Asia to China and Chinese trade. On caravan routes, some of which existed before, caravans loaded with Chinese goods set off to the West.
However, a number of historical and archaeological facts indicate that in other countries they learned about Chinese silk much earlier. So, in one of the Egyptian villages near Thebes and in the Valley of the Kings, female mummies were found wrapped in silk fabrics dating back to the 11th century. BC. This is probably the earliest find.
After the accession of the Tang dynasty (618-907), special weaving workshops were founded, initially producing ceremonial headdresses, and later, multicolored silk fabrics. The fabrics were dyed with plant dyes: flowers, leaves, bark, plant roots. The main weaving centers were located in the modern provinces of Henan, Hebei, Shandong and Sichuan. The Tang era was a time of intensive silk trade; it was found on the territory of modern Xinjiang, Turfan, Tajikistan and even in the North Caucasus.
The Greeks and Romans called China the "Country of Silk" - Serik. Silk was very popular among the nobility. It was extremely expensive, but, nevertheless, it was eagerly bought. The price could go up to 300 denarii - the salary of a Roman legionary for a whole year! Silk imports were already threatening the very economy of the Roman Empire. In 380 the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330 - after 395) wrote that "The use of silk, which was once limited only to the nobility, has now spread to all classes without distinction, even the lowest.".
The barbarians were also captivated by this amazing material. Goth Alaric, who conquered Rome in 409, demanded, among other things, 4,000 silk tunics.
However, the mystery of silk making remained unsolved for a long time. Many fantastic explanations have been offered. So, Virgil (1st century BC), for example, believed that silk was made of fleece from leaves. The Greek historian Dionysius (1st century BC) believed that silk was made of flowers. It has been suggested that shiny silk threads grow on trees, or that it was created by huge beetles, or that it is made from the fluff of birds. Roman historian of the 4th century Ammianus Marcellinus presented the following explanation: “Silk fabrics are made from soil. Chinese soil is soft as wool. After watering and special processing, it can be used to form silk threads ".
The Chinese zealously guarded the secret of making silk. Anyone who tried to transfer eggs, larvae, silkworm cocoons abroad was executed. Nevertheless, in Korea, and then in Japan, they learned the secret of silk production. It is believed that to Korea around the 2nd century. BC. it was brought by the Chinese themselves, who emigrated there. Silk appeared on the Japanese islands in the 3rd century AD. Then, in the 4th century, silk production was established in India.
There are several legends about how the silk-making technology became known in other countries. One of them agrees, the Chinese princess was engaged to the Prince of Khotan. Her fiancé wished his fiancée to bring along mulberry seeds and silkworm larvae. According to another version, the princess herself wanted to bring them to her new homeland. She hid the seeds and maggots in her lush hair and took them outside of China. It happened around 440. And from there, the secret of silk production spread throughout the world.
According to another semi-legend, semi-history, the secret was divulged by two Nestorian monks. Around 550, they secretly brought silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds to the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (483-565) in their hollow bamboo staves.
Thus, Byzantium became the first country entering the Western world, where its own silkworm breeding appeared. Church and state created their silk workshops, monopolizing production and zealously guarding the secret of its manufacture. In the 6th century, the Persians mastered the art of silk weaving and created their own masterpieces.
Catholic prelates wore rich silk robes and they decorated altars. Gradually, the fashion for silk spread among the nobility. In the VIII-IX centuries, silk began to be produced in Spain, and four centuries later silk was successfully produced by the cities of the Apennine Peninsula, several cities of which gave their names to fabrics. It is believed that Italian silk originates from two thousand skilled craftswomen who were brought to Italy from Constantinople in the 13th century.
Today silk is produced in many countries of the world: in China, Italy, India, Spain, France. But China is still the world's largest exporter of raw silk and silk products.
Silk production technology
For centuries, silk remained a luxury commodity for most countries of the world, for which they gave their last money. Silk production is a very long and painstaking process that requires constant attention. Currently, a number of procedures have been automated.
Over the centuries, sericulture has developed and improved, turning into an exact science. But even now, silk production technology is based on old methods.
Silk is obtained from silk moth cocoons. There are many varieties of wild silk moths. But only one of them became the progenitor of the famous Bombyx mori- a blind, wingless moth, from which the best silk is obtained. It is believed that she descended from Bombyx mandarina mori- a wild silk moth that lives on white mulberry trees only in China. In the process of selection, she lost her ability to fly and can only eat, mate, produce offspring and produce silk fibers.
In addition, there is another type of moth in nature - Antheraea mylitta also producing silk fiber, but coarser. The threads obtained from it are called tussa.
Female Bombyx mori, hatching from a cocoon, mates with a male. After that, within 4-6 days, she lays up to 500 or more eggs, and soon after that dies. Only healthy eggs are selected for further use. They are graded and tested for infection. Sick eggs are burned. Silkworm eggs are very small and light - the weight of a hundred hardly reaches 1 gram. They are kept at a temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius, gradually increasing to 25 degrees Celsius.
Around the seventh day, small worms hatch, the size of which does not exceed 2 mm. It is this larval stage of the moth that is called, in fact, the silkworm. Then, for a month, silkworms constantly eat, increasing their weight and size. So, at the age of 4-5 weeks, their length reaches 3 cm or more, and during this time the weight increases thousands of times!
They feed exclusively on mulberry leaves, which are harvested and selected by hand for them, and then crushed. Feeding takes place regularly, day and night. During this time, thousands of feeding worms are kept in special trays, which are stacked one on top of the other.
The room where the worms are kept is kept constant temperature and humidity. They must be protected from any fluctuations in the external environment, such as: loud sounds, drafts, strong food odors and even sweat. From thousands of jaws grinding mulberry leaves, there is a constant hum, reminiscent of the sound of heavy rain drumming on the roof. During this time, the worms shed several times, gradually changing their color from gray to pale pink.
Finally, it's time to cocoon. The silkworm begins to worry, shaking its head back and forth. The caterpillars are placed in separate compartments. With the help of two special glands - spinnerets - the worms begin to produce a gelatinous substance that hardens upon contact with air. The substance that silkworms produce has two main components. The first is fibroin, an insoluble protein fiber that accounts for 75-90% of production. The second is sericin, a sticky substance designed to hold cocoon fibers together. In addition to them, there are also fats, salts, wax.
For three to four days, silkworms wind a cocoon around themselves, placing themselves inside it. They become like white fluffy elongated balls. At this time, cocoons are sorted by color, size, shape, etc.
Then another 8-9 days pass, and the cocoons are ready to unwind. If time is missed, the pupa will turn into a moth and break through the cocoon, damaging the integrity of the filament. Therefore, the chrysalis must first be killed. To do this, it is exposed to heat, after which the cocoon is dipped into hot water to dissolve the sticky substance sericin that holds the threads together. At this moment, only a small part of it is removed, about 1%, but this is enough for the thread to be unwound.
After that, they find the end of the thread, pass it through the porcelain peephole and carefully begin to unwind, winding it on the bobbin. Each cocoon produces a thread with an average length of 600 to 900 meters, and individual individuals - up to 1000 meters or more!
Then 5-8 threads are twisted together to get one thread from them. When one of the threads ends, a new one is twisted to it, and thus a very long thread is formed. Sericin promotes adhesion of one strand to another. The resulting product - raw silk, is wound into skeins of yarn. This process is currently automated.
The skeins of raw silk yarn are sorted by color, size and other characteristics. Then the silk threads are twisted again to achieve a uniform structure and density. Different yarns can be twisted at this stage to obtain different fabric textures. Then the threads are passed through special rollers. After that, the yarn goes to the weaving mill.
Here, the yarn is again soaked in warm soapy water. Refining takes place, as a result of which the weight of the yarn is reduced by about 25%. After that, the yarn acquires a creamy white color and can then be dyed and subjected to additional processing processes. Only then can you start making the fabric.
Silk fibers that were not used for spinning, for example, from broken cocoons, torn ends, etc., can also be twisted into threads, like those obtained from cotton or flax. The quality of this silk is lower, it tends to be weak and fuzzy. It can be used, for example, to make a silk blanket.
Interesting statistics: silk for a men's tie requires, on average, 111 cocoons, and silk for sewing a women's blouse - 630!
Despite the fact that now there are many artificial fibers - polyester, nylon, etc., none of them can compare in quality with real silk. Silk fabrics warm in cool weather and cool in hot weather, they are pleasant to the touch and pleasant to the eye. Besides, silk thread is more durable than steel thread of equal diameter!
In conclusion - a short poem about the difficulties of silkworm breeding:
养蚕词
Yăng cán cí
Silkworm Feeding Songs
作者：缪嗣寅
Zuòzhě: Miào Sìyín
蚕初生，
Cán chū shēng
[When] the silkworm is born,
采桑陌上提筐行；
Cǎi sāng mò shàng tí kuāng xíng
I collect mulberry leaves, walk along the border with a basket;
蚕欲老，
Cán yù lǎo
[When] the silkworm caterpillar prepares to ripen,
夜半不眠常起早。
Yèbàn bù mián cháng qǐ zǎo
I don't sleep late at night and often get up early.
衣不暇浣发不簪，
Yī bù xiá huàn fà bù zān
I don't have time to wash my clothes and I don't put my hair down,
还恐天阴坏我蚕。
Hái kǒng tiān yīn huài wǒ cán
I'm also afraid the rainy weather will spoil my silkworms.
回头吩咐小儿女，
Huítóu fēnfù xiǎo nǚ’er
Looking back, I teach my little daughter,
蚕欲上山莫言语。
Cán yù shàng shān mò yányŭ
[When] the silkworm caterpillars are about to climb [to highlight the silk], don't you dare talk!
©, 2009-2019. Copying and reprinting any materials and photographs from the site site in electronic publications and print media is prohibited.
