China Part XXXII The Silk Factory

Our next stop was the Silk Factory.

This was a factory tour that I actually was anticipating. A silk comforter was one of the few shopping priorities that I had in China. I have travels quite a lot and I hate being burdened with purchases and souvenirs, however, I wanted a fine silk comforter. I failed to take many photos during this visit as I was preoccupied with the thoughts of making a purchase, so most of the photos here were taken by my traveling companions or from the internet.

Let's start with a little background on Silk.

Silk is a marvelous fabric and has a long and noble history. Chinese tradition says, the history of silk began in the 27th century BC. It was used exclusively in China until the Silk Road opened at some point during the latter half of the first millennium BC. China maintained its virtual monopoly over silk for another thousand years. Although primarily used for clothing, silk was also used for a number of other applications, including writing. The color of silk worn was an important indication of one's social class during the Tang Dynasty.

Silk cultivation spread to Japan in around 300 AD, and by 522 the Byzantines managed to obtain silkworm sericulture, Chinese silk exports became less important, although they still maintained dominance over the luxury silk market. The Crusades Changes in manufacturing techniques also began to take place during the Middle Ages, with devices such as the spinning wheel first appearing. During the 16th century France joined Italy in developing a successful silk trade, most other nations efforts to develop a silk industry were unsuccessful. eggs and were able to begin silkworm cultivation. The Arabs also began to manufacture silk during this same time. As a result of the spread of silk farming or brought silk production to Western Europe, in particular to many Italian states, which saw an economic boom exporting silk to the rest of Europe.

The Industrial Revolution seriously altered the European silk industry. Innovations in spinning cotton made it  much cheaper to manufacture undercutting expensive silk. Silk became less mainstream, however, new weaving technologies increased the efficiency of  its production. One of these advancements was the Jacquard loom, developed for silk embroidery. An epidemic of several silkworm diseases caused production to fall, especially in France, where the industry never recovered. In the 20th century Japan and China regained their earlier role in silk production, and China is now once again the world’s largest producer of silk. The rise of new fabrics such as nylon reduced the prevalence of silk throughout the world, and silk is now once again a somewhat rare luxury good, much less important than in its heyday.

Sericulture - The process of farming, harvesting and producing Silk.  

Silk moths lay eggs on specially prepared paper. The eggs hatch and the caterpillars (silkworms) are fed fresh mulberry leaves. After about 35 days and 4 moltings, the caterpillars are 10,000 times heavier than when hatched and are ready to begin spinning a cocoon. A straw frame is placed over the tray of caterpillars, and each caterpillar begins spinning a cocoon by moving its head in a "figure 8" pattern. Two glands produce liquid silk and force it through openings in the head called spinnerets. Liquid silk is coated in sericin, a water-soluble protective gum, and solidifies on contact with the air. Within 2–3 days, the caterpillar spins about 1 mile of filament and is completely encased in a cocoon. The silk farmers then kill most caterpillars by heat, leaving some to metamorphose into moths to breed the next generation of caterpillars.

Harvested cocoons are then soaked in boiling water to soften the sericin holding the silk fibers together in a cocoon shape. The fibers are then unwound to produce a continuous thread. Since a single thread is too fine and fragile for commercial use, anywhere from three to ten strands are spun together to form a single thread of silk.
Click here for a more detailed description of the silk process.  

Silk is the most beautiful of all textile fibers is acclaimed as the queen of textiles. It comes from the cocoon of the silk worm and requires a great deal of handling and processing, which makes it one of the most expensive fibers also. Today China is the leading silk producer of the world. Other major silk producing countries include Japan, India and Italy.

There are many weaving techniques this video is of a special Japanese style.

As an curious aside, spider silk can be used for making and incredible fabric and the process is even more amazing than that of the Silkworm. Take a look at this video clip.

Want event more bizarre? They now are making silk extracted from goat's milk derived by crossing goat and spider genes, and it makes a bullet proof vest even stronger than Kevlar! The fiber stronger than that from the silkworm and is 5 times stronger than steel Take a look at this:

Much more information about this can be found by clicking here.

There is also a new process that does not require the killing of the Silkworm to utilize its silk. I found this quite interesting and have included the article, with credits below.

New Silk Production Technique Does Not Require Killing Worms

by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 07. 8.06

Fashion & Beauty (textiles)

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Kusuma Rajaiah, an Indian man, has developed a new technique for producing silk that does not require killing silk worms in the process. [Note: We've been informed that a company in Oregon, Peace Silk, already uses this technique]. Right now, producing a silk saree involves killing of at least 50 thousand silkworms. Rajaiah has won the patent for producing the "Ahimsa" silk. Ahimsa is a religious concept which advocates non-violence and a respect for all life. However, the production of the silk is more expensive. For example, a saree which costs 2400 rupees to produce using regular silk, will cost 4000 rupees when made with Ahimsa silk.

Rajaiah says: "My inspiration is Mahatma. He gave a message to the Indian silk industry that if silk can be produced without killing silkworms, it would be better. He dreamt but that did not happen in his lifetime. I am the happiest person that at least I could do this little thing."

Rajaiah says he started giving a serious thought to "Ahimsa" silk when in the 1990s. Janaki Venkatraman, wife of the former President, asked if she could get a silk saree that is made without killing silk worms. Yarn for a silk saree is usually produced by throwing live cocoons of silkworm into boiling water. A single saree needs upto 50,000 cocoons. Rajaiah allows the moth to escape from the cocoon by waiting for 7-10 days and then uses the shells to produce yarn.

Via Ecofriend via NDTV

Meanwhile, back in China...

Unraveling the silk of a cocoon is a delicate process and not all cocoons can be unraveled. These are photos of one of the processes to utilize the silk from such cocoons. These were not usable for weaving since the single fiber could not be unraveled from the cocoon, either the fibers were broken up or tangled hopelessly because there were two worms spinning silk inside the same cocoon. Those cocoons are used for making comforters and pillows among other things.

Below are a few video clips from our Silk Factory visit.

Bob eats a silkworm.

The rest of us thought something different for lunch might be in order.

With our tummies refueled we were ready to invade The Forbidden City.

Up Next: The Forbidden City.