China silk was exported to foreign countries in the Han Dynasty. Biography of Dawan in Historical Records records Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, and reports what he saw on this trip to Emperor Wu: Qian said, "I met Qiong Zhuzhang and Shu Bu in the summer and asked," Is this true? " In summer, people in China said, "When my family goes to town, it is poisonous. Body poison is in the southeast of summer, which can be thousands of miles away. Its custom is indigenous, the same as that of summer, but hot and humid; People fight like elephants, and their country is in danger Zhang Qian's mission was in the second century BC, and the Shu cloth and Joan staff he saw in summer were all resold from India. India can export more goods, which shows that its domestic supply and demand are abundant. According to jacoby, an Indian research expert, in the 4th century BC, when Candeira Gupta was in power, Minister Kautilya not only wrote the name of Zina, but also claimed that silk had been trafficked to India. In India, silk is not only used to make clothes, but also as a standard for emperors, fluttering and whispering in the breeze. Among other commodities shipped to India, such as camphor, iron, lead, tea, cinnabar, litchi, beans, horses and peanuts, silk is the best seller. The famous Code of Manu in ancient India juxtaposed Cina with Greece. China silk is also recorded in the epic Mahabharata. Many words related to silk in Sanskrit, such as Cinapatta (bundled silk) and Cinamsuka (silk clothes) mentioned above, are all composed of the word Cina, which shows the influence of China silk on ancient India.
origin
-the legend of Lei Zu's silk reeling method (Sao).
"Spring silkworms will weave until they die, leaving others to keep out the cold." Spring silkworms, a lovely little life, eat mulberry leaves, but spit out wisps; It does not
Silkworm life
In private, he dedicated white silk to human beings for weaving silk, but he used his whole life's hard work to turn it into a pupa and live in his cocoon silently.
How was the silkworm discovered? Who discovered that silkworms spin silk?
In ancient times, the world was long and colorful. At that time, people were badly dressed. Some people put leaves together and put them on their bodies. Some people dry the skin and wrap it around their bodies to make clothes.
And the leaves that are connected in series are scattered at the slightest movement. Where is it hidden? Cold resistance and durability are good, but it is heavy and hard and uncomfortable to wear. In summer, it's sweaty, hot and stuffy, which is unbearable.
Later, it was found that the outer cortex of cannabis plants can be peeled off and torn into strips, hand-processed into hemp thread, and then woven into pieces of linen to make clothes, which is much more comfortable to wear than wearing leaves or animal skins. As a result, people began to grow hemp, weave linen and make linen clothes.
Clothes made of linen are light, breathable and durable, but they are rough and not soft to wear. As a result, people found silk in the search for new clothing materials and used it to weave silk clothes.
Speaking of the discovery of silk, there is a beautiful and touching legend! More than 4500 years ago, after the defeat of Chiyou, Huangdi, who lived in the Yellow River valley, established a tribal alliance, and Huangdi was elected as the leader of the tribal alliance. After the establishment of the tribal alliance, it is managed and operated according to the division of labor, such as managing grain production, manufacturing production tools, making clothes, and so on. The garment department is managed by Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor.
In the process of making clothes and decorations, Lei Zu also recruited three ministers under the Yellow Emperor, namely Hu Cao, who made hats, Apollo, who made clothes, and Yu Ze, who made shoes. There are three ministers directly in charge, and Lei Zu could have enjoyed it all. However, Leizu is a hardworking woman and doesn't want to be idle. During the day, she often leads tribal women to peel bark in the mountains and hemp in the fields, and at night, together with other women, she peels the fur of animals that men hunt back for processing. Soon, all the leaders of the tribe put on their clothes. However, due to overwork, Leizu finally fell ill and didn't think about eating all day. The nurse tried her best to cook many dishes that Leizu usually likes to eat. Lei Zu saw it and shook his head. Three days later, Leizu didn't eat, and the lactating women were anxious. Just then, a woman suggested going up the mountain to pick some delicious fresh fruit for Lei Zu to eat. They thought it was a good idea and hurried up the hill. They traveled all over Qian Shan and picked many fruits, but all of them were delicious, sour or astringent, and it was difficult to eat. Until the sun was about to go down, suddenly a woman found small ginkgo in a mulberry forest. They thought they had found good fresh fruit, so they quickly picked a few and hurried down the mountain. At home, no one can bite with his mouth, and there is no taste. Several women stand together, you look at me, I look at you, so sad that I can't speak.
Just then, a woman who helped the kitchen passed by them, listened to their problems and casually said, "Now there is a fire, and I can't bite." Why not boil it in water? " "yes! Reasonable! " All the women agreed with one voice. They quickly poured ginkgo into the pot, added water and made a fire to cook. But after burning for a long time, I picked up a mouth and took a bite, but I still couldn't bite. At this time, a woman next to her thought, you can't bite what floats on it, but what you touch under the pot must be cooked. So she took a branch and stirred it in the pot. Stir a few times, pull it out, and find a lot of white silk wrapped around the branches. They smoked and tangled, and before long, the ginkgo boiled in the pot turned into thin white silk thread.
The chattering voices of women alarmed Leizu in the bed next door. The noise is getting louder and louder, so Lei Zu insisted on getting up and having a look. With the help of the nurse, he moved with difficulty step by step. When she came to the women, the women told the new story to Lei Zu vividly. Leizu was very excited after hearing this, and her illness was reduced by half. She immediately wanted to try it herself. The women around her wouldn't let her do it, but showed her the thin thread wrapped around the branches. Leizu is a very clever woman. She carefully looked at the thin thread wrapped around the branches and said to the women around her, "This is not the fruit of a fruit tree. Can't eat, but it can come in handy. " Later, Lei Zu inquired in detail where the fruit was picked, which mountain and which tree.
Strangely, the day after this happened, Leizu recovered, began to eat, and his physical strength was restored. Regardless of other people's dissuasion, under the guidance of the woman, she went up the mountain to see it herself. Before they came to the mulberry forest, they sat on a big stone and observed while resting. When they calmed down, they only heard the sound of "spread out, spread out, spread out" from the tree, like the autumn drizzle hitting the leaves. Looking up again, I saw that the tree was covered with soft big bugs, crawling and greedily gnawing mulberry leaves. After a while, all the mulberry leaves around were eaten up. Later, Lei Zu went up the mountain several times to observe and found that the white fruit hanging on the tree was a small oval skin formed by the filaments spit out by the big bugs on the tree, rather than the fruit produced on the tree.
From then on, people called this big worm that can spin silk "silkworm", the small skin of silkworm called "cocoon", and the leaves eaten by silkworm called "mulberry leaf". From then on, Lei Zu planted mulberry, sericulture and silk reeling personally, and passed on this technology to others. In this way, year after year, people learned to grow mulberry and raise silkworms and invented weaving with silk. At that time, when the Yellow Emperor saw this magical treasure, he was jubilant and full of praise, and immediately ordered Apollo to weave it into silk and make clothes. Silk is moist and elegant, like flowing water, exquisite and incomparable, which is a far cry from the thick and hard skins and linen at that time. In this way, Lei Zu was regarded as a "former silkworm" (silkworm eggs) by later generations, and was regarded as the creator of sericulture and silk reeling.
"Lei Zu sericulture" is just a legend, but this legend tells us that the working people in ancient China discovered silk very early. At that time, people found that wild silkworms on trees formed cocoons, and then pulled out long silk from the cocoons and woven them into clothes. Later, I gradually learned to catch wild silkworms at home to feed. In order to provide mulberry leaves for silkworms, I also planted mulberry trees. "Lei Zu" is just a story compiled by Lei Zu, who attributed the creation of working people in China to.
origin
silk
Silk is one of the products of ancient civilization in China, which was invented very early. It is said that Luo Zu, the princess of the Yellow Emperor, began to teach people to raise silkworms. There are many silk books and characters beside them in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. In Mu Chuan, it is recorded that "rest in Huoze (now Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province) to watch mulberry and drink in mulberry forest"; Yugong said in Shangshu: "Yanzhou Jue Gong Qi Bo, Jue Wenzhi; Silk in Qingzhou; Xuzhou, China; Yangzhou weaving shellfish ... "It can be seen that the ancient silk-producing land is wide.
China silk was exported long before the Han Dynasty, and it was very famous abroad. "Historical Records and Biography of Huo Zhi" said:
Wushiluo, animal husbandry. And the reprimand, ask wonders, ask Rong Wang. Rong Wang even doubled his salary. Livestock measure cattle and horses by grain. Nowadays, Qin Shihuang is more interested in conferring a monarch to please the ministers at that time. Wu Luo sold silk goods and shipped them abroad, but he became very rich. Like the monarch, he was listed in the court. The value of China silk in the international market at that time can be seen. No wonder Liang Wudi wanted to go to the southwest later, but she was blocked by Kunming Yi and couldn't go to 2 1. His aim is to monopolize business. Gan Ying is going to Daqin, and the others are good at betrothal gifts, which are also stopped.
However, the export of China silk was exported to foreign countries in the Han Dynasty. Records of the Historian Biography of Dawan records that Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and reported to Wu Chan:
Qian said, "When I saw Joan's bamboo palm and book cloth in summer, I asked,' How did you get this? "China people in summer said," my house is poisonous when it goes to town. Body poison is in the southeast of summer, which can be thousands of miles away. Its custom is indigenous, the same as that of summer, but hot and humid; People fight like elephants, and their country is in danger Zhang Qian's mission was in the 2nd century BC. Shubu and Qiongzhang, which he saw in summer, were all resold from India. India can export more commodities, which shows that its domestic supply and demand are abundant. The famous Code of Manu in ancient India juxtaposed Cina with Greece.
Research conclusion
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silkworm cocoon
According to experts' research, it is found that cocoon can spin silk, and there are many possibilities. Silkworm pupa is probably one of the foods of our ancestors. When peeling, you should tear off the cocoon skin before biting the cocoon shell. Due to accidental reasons, some people put cocoons in their mouths, and after the cocoons were soaked in saliva for a long time, sericin dissolved and the tightly wrapped cocoons separated, thus inadvertently discovering the cocoons wrapped around the cocoons. In addition, during the process of biting the cocoon shell, the silk may also be pulled out. After repeated practice, I realized that cocoon can spin silk and peel at a suitable water temperature, so I soaked the cocoon in hot water, removed sericin, and twisted the silk thread after it floated. This is the earliest silk reeling technology.
Before reeling, you should peel the cocoon, because when the silkworm begins to spin silk, it is a layer of disorderly silk wrapped outside the cocoon shell, so it is called "cocoon coat". Only by peeling off the cocoon shell will the silk thread be exposed. The peeled cocoon coat is called "silk cotton", which has low strength and cannot be used for weaving, but it can be filled in the middle of the coat to keep warm. After cocoon peeling, in order to prevent the pupa from becoming a moth and biting the cocoon shell, silk reeling should be done in time.
Cocoon is very thin, only 20 to 30 microns, so it is difficult to use a single cocoon. Therefore, when reeling, it is necessary to gather and wrap silk, that is, twist several cocoons together to form a raw silk.
Regional differences
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Zhenze Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province (Su Silkworm for short) has been called "Wutou" since ancient times. Since ancient times, sericulture in this town has flourished, and it is one of the five major mulberry townships in the south of the Yangtze River (one of the birthplaces of the ancient Silk Road). Since 1980s, Zhenze Town has vigorously developed the silk industry, because it is a natural animal protein fiber containing essential amino acids, which has the functions of preventing cold, removing dampness and nourishing human skin.
Silk flakes unearthed from Qianshanyang Site in Xing Wu, Zhejiang Province (now Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province) have a smooth and uniform surface and a triangular cross section, indicating that sericin has fallen off and should be taken in hot water. A small broom made of grass stalks was also unearthed in Yangyang, Qian Shan. The handle of the broom was tied with hemp rope, which was very similar to that of a silk reeling tool. It is no accident that this artifact was unearthed together with the silk book.
Caisang girl
Silk produced in Huzhou enjoys a high reputation, and its "Li Ji Husi" (produced in Li Ji Village, Nanxun Town) enjoys a high reputation internationally. 185 1 year, Shanghai businessman Xu Rongcun participated in the first World Expo held in London, England with raw silk produced in Li Ji Village, Nanxun, Huzhou, and won the gold and silver award in one fell swoop. At the 20 10 Shanghai World Expo, Li Ji Lake Silk will appear in the exhibition hall.
Silk picked in hot water is raw silk. Raw silk contains all kinds of impurities. Only by scouring and removing impurities can we bleach and dye, and then we can show the luster, feel and sound of silk and become mature silk. The ancients called tempering "training" or "beating". Silk is made of ash, slugs and other alkaline substances.
Silkworms are domesticated from wild silkworms. The original silk source came entirely from wild silkworms. With the development of silk production and the increasing demand, the domestication of wild silkworm began, and silkworm appeared.
Identification method
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Check the appearance
High-quality silk is milky white, slightly yellow, with soft surface luster, no blackening, no astringency and long silk quality. After the surface silk is pulled open, there is no flocculent broken silk inside.
Combustion discrimination
After burning, it smells of burnt feathers, because it contains protein, which turns into powder with the color of wildfire after burning. When burning, it gives off the smell of burnt hair, and there is no fire.
color reaction
Concentrated nitric acid turns yellow
touch control
High-quality silk feels soft, greasy, elastic and free of lumps, while inferior silk feels rough, inflexible and wet.
fibre strength
The better the strength and elongation of silk, the better the quality. After stretching, the longer the silk quilt, the better the quality.
superiority
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silk thread
Silk is the lightest, softest and finest natural fiber in nature. After the external force is removed, it can be easily restored to its original state. The inner tube is not caked, tight, uniform and soft, and can be used permanently without turning over. Silk is made of fine silk and has a novel fiber structure, so that water vapor can circulate freely. Coupled with the unique air permeability and moisture permeability of silk itself, silk is more slippery, cool but not warm, warm but not dry. Mulberry silk is mainly composed of animal protein, which is rich in 18 amino acids necessary for human body. It can promote the vitality of skin cells, prevent vascular sclerosis, prevent skin aging after long-term use, have special antipruritic effect on some skin diseases, and have certain health care effects on arthritis, scapulohumeral periarthritis and asthma. Known as "the second skin of human body" and "the queen of fiber".
classify
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silk goods
Silk, also known as "natural silk", is a kind of continuous long fiber which is solidified by silk liquid secreted by mature silkworms during cocoon formation. Like wool, it is one of the earliest animal fibers used by human beings. According to different foods, it can be divided into silkworm, tussah, cassava silkworm, camphor silkworm, willow silkworm and wild silkworm. Silk strips extracted from a single cocoon are called cocoon filaments, which are made of two single fibers bonded and wrapped by sericin. Silk strips extracted from several cocoons and wrapped with sericin can be divided into mulberry silk (also called raw silk) and tussah silk, collectively referred to as silk. Silk without sericin is called refined silk. Taking them as raw materials, they can be processed into various fabrics by loom. The so-called mulberry silk is the silk extracted from the cocoon in the place where mulberry trees are planted, which is used to support the family. This kind of silk is slightly yellow in white, delicate and smooth, and has a unique faint smell of animal fibers. The quilt made of mulberry silk is particularly soft and close-fitting, and the silk quilt laminated by hand is more durable. Another kind of silk is tussah silk, which is spun from the cocoon of tussah. Tussah, commonly known as wild silkworm, mainly lives in the northern region. It was farmed in the wild oak forest and fed on oak leaves. Compared with mulberry silk, tussah silk is darker in color and thicker in fiber, and its natural color is dark gray. It needs bleaching to make silk quilts acceptable to consumers. Although the appearance of the finished product is similar to that of mulberry silk, there is a big gap between them in quality and price.
system of selection
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Silk quilt
First of all, the so-called silk usually refers to the mulberry quilt, which is a domestic silkworm egg with mulberry leaves as its staple food. The silk spit out by silkworms is yellowish white, delicate and smooth, and the quilt made of this silk is soft and close to the skin. The bulkiness, warmth retention and air permeability of mulberry silk quilt are better than those of tussah silk quilt, and its service life is longer than that of tussah silk quilt. The service life of a bed of mulberry silk quilt is about 10 to 15 years, while tussah silk quilt can only be used for two to three years.
When choosing, you usually follow seven steps. At first glance, many manufacturers' silk quilts are marked with 100% silk, which is problematic because both mulberry silk quilts and tussah silk quilts can be called silk quilts. Second inspection: high-quality silk should be milky white, slightly yellow, with soft surface luster, no blackening, no astringency and no flocculent broken silk inside. Three-pull: pull a small amount of silk from the sample seal. If it is easy to pull, it is probably fake. Four burns: burn with a lighter to see if there is burnt feather smell. Five kneading: first knead the silk at the sample mouth by hand, and then knead other places. If it feels different, it proves that other ingredients have been added. Six-pressure: press hard after folding the wire to see if the rebound is slow. Seven smells: mulberry silk quilt has a faint fragrance.
New use
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The spun silk with protein as the main component not only plays its high-quality fiber function in the clothing field, but also develops various new functional materials through various chemical or physical treatment methods, which broadens the new uses of silk.
1. Medical field? Silk fibroin and sericin are components of spun silk, which can be treated with concentrated sulfuric acid to obtain the same substance as heparin. They have anticoagulant activity and delay coagulation time, and can be used to develop blood testing equipment or antithrombotic materials. By changing some processing conditions in the same way, spun silk rich in water absorption and water retention can be processed into advanced water-based materials or other physiological health care products. In addition, the spun silk is chemically synthesized by polymer, so that calcium or phosphorus can be condensed with the spun silk, and an "orthopedic material" for orthopedic treatment can be developed. Similarly, after chemical treatment, artificial muscles or artificial ligaments can also be developed. Silk fibroin films made of spun silk can also be made into wound protection films for treating burns or other skin injuries.
2. Industrial field? The silk powder processed into particles can be used as an additive for cosmetics or health food, and can also be made into silk paper or food fresh-keeping packaging materials and antibacterial silk materials containing silk powder. Silk fibroin film is not only used to process contact lenses, but also can be used to mix silk powder as fine as 0.3μm with resin to develop a new product called silk leather. High-grade coatings made by adding silk powder into some coatings can be used to spray furniture supplies, increase the elegant appearance and good touch of utensils, and are widely used in various indoor decorations.
3. Natural silk fabric mask, leading the new beauty trend [2]?
The structure of natural silk is very similar to human skin, so it has the reputation of "second skin" of human body. Silk beauty has a long history in China. As early as the Ming Dynasty in China, silk was used by court ladies for daily beauty and health preservation because of its important medicinal value. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, silk protein powder can eliminate skin dark spots and treat suppurative dermatitis. Modern medical experiments further prove that the protein content of silk is much higher than that of pearl, in which the nitrogen content is 37 times that of pearl, and the main amino acid content is as high as 10 times. These amino acids can be directly absorbed and adsorbed by human hair and skin. That is, it is easier to penetrate into the outer layer of human epidermis and accelerate the metabolism of skin. Silk amino acids can also effectively inhibit the production of skin melanin. Since 2000, with the advocacy of returning to nature and green revolution, silk has attracted more and more attention and pursuit. From expensive silk quilts to silk pillows and underwear, to silk medical sutures and silk artificial skin in the medical field, silk plays an increasingly important role. Nowadays, the beauty industry has set off a wave of silk beauty. Silk cosmetics made of silk have become the first choice for countless women who love beauty.
chemical composition
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The chemical composition of silkworm cocoons raised by mulberry leaves is: moisture 1.40%, ash 1. 14%, protein 97.34%, ether soluble extract 0.26% and fiber 0.39%. Cocoons are mainly made of fibrous protein FIROIN wrapped with another sericin from protein, and also contain a small amount of oil, pigment and inorganic substances. In raw silk, silk fibroin accounts for about 70% and sericin accounts for about 22%. Silk fibroin is a kind of keratin, and its amino acids are glycine and alanine, which account for about 80% of the total nitrogen. 105g fibroin contains amino acids in the following order (the number after the substance is the number of moles): glycine 578, alanine 38 1, valine 29, leucine 7, isoleucine 9, serine 157, threonine 12, tyrosine 67, phenylalanine 8 and proline.
Sericin is also keratin, and its amino acids are similar to silk fibroin, but slightly different from glycine, alanine and tyrosine.