China's Sericulture and Silk craftsmanship has a history of more than 5000 years and is based in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces near Shanghai and Chengdu in Sichuan Province. The skill involves traditional sericulture, silk dyeing, and weaving. These skills have been passed down from generation to generation, along with relevant folk customs. Excavations in sites around Taihu Lake, dating back over 4,000 years ago, revealed silk fragments, preliminary looms, and potteries decorated with silkworm patterns. This demonstrates the long history of sericulture and silk production in the region. Traditionally, women played an influential role in the economy in these areas when they planted mulberries, raised silkworms, unreeled silk, made a thread, and weaved fabric.
Chinese people first adopted sericulture because they believed that the perfect harmony between humans and nature could be achieved through the morphological life of silkworms and humans. It was an ancient philosophy that connected the egg, caterpillar, pupa, and moth of silkworms to the imagined life cycle of humans from birth to death, and rebirth into the heavens. In response to this, people began to revere and raise silkworms indoors. A series of customs and traditions associated with silk culture developed over a period of time. These include festivals and celebrations, life protocols, folk beliefs, language and literature, and traditional arts. For example, during the Silkworm Flower festival, held in early April every year, female silkworm farmers travel from their hometowns to Jiaxing and Huzhou. They wear silk or paper flowers on their heads. The silkworm farmers make offerings to the Goddess of Silkworm and pray for a bountiful cocoon harvest. There is also "Silkworm flower sweeping", a festival held during the Spring Festival after the start of the lunar year. The story of the Goddess of Silkworm is performed at home to drive away demons and ensure a bountiful cocoon harvest.
Sericulture and silk are prominent cultural symbols of the Chinese nation. The area where sericulture and silk are produced has historically been referred to as the Home of Silk. The area shares similar customs and living environments, which creates a common cultural circle. Sericulture and silk production are also the most environmentally friendly production modes with the natural environment in the region. It is important to note that silk production was the most important economic source here.
This art is passed from generation to generation and is constantly renewed. It is usually passed down in families, among teachers and apprentices, or among a group of individuals. As far back as the Song dynasty (10th century), the teacher-apprentice mode had been commonly used in private workshops, and in the imperial workshops set up in Hangzhou and Suzhou during the Ming and Qing periods (14-19th century), sharing of craftsmanship was common among groups of weavers. At the same time, the region had also been among the first to summarize and publish the work of its sericulture and silk craftsmanship, both in text and in image form.
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