Sericulture

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Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk by Emperor Huizong of Song Court ladies pounding silk from a painting (Dao Lian Tu ) by Emperor Huizong.jpg
Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk by Emperor Huizong of Song

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm. Silk was believed to have first been produced in China as early as the Neolithic period. Sericulture has become an important cottage industry in countries such as Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Today, China and India are the two main producers, with more than 60% of the world's annual production.

Contents

History

According to Confucian text, the discovery of silk production dates to about 2700 BCE, although archaeological records point to silk cultivation as early as the Yangshao period (5000–3000 BCE). [1] In 1977, a piece of ceramic created 5400–5500 years ago and designed to look like a silkworm was discovered in Nancun, Hebei, providing the earliest known evidence of sericulture. [2] Also, by careful analysis of archaeological silk fibre found on Indus Civilization sites dating back to 2450–2000 BCE, it is believed that silk was being used over a wide region of South Asia. [3] [4] By about the first half of the 1st century CE, it had reached ancient Khotan, [5] by a series of interactions along the Silk Road. By 140 CE, the practice had been established in India. [6] In the 6th century CE, the smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire led to its establishment in the Mediterranean, remaining a monopoly in the Byzantine Empire for centuries (Byzantine silk). In 1147, during the Second Crusade, Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) attacked Corinth and Thebes, two important centres of Byzantine silk production, capturing the weavers and their equipment and establishing his own silkworks in Palermo and Calabria, [7] eventually spreading the industry to Western Europe.

Production

The silkworms are fed with mulberry leaves, and after the fourth moult, they climb a twig placed near them and spin their silken cocoons. The silk is a continuous filament comprising fibroin protein, secreted from two salivary glands in the head of each worm, and a gum called sericin, which cements the filaments. The sericin is removed by placing the cocoons in hot water, which frees the silk filaments and readies them for reeling. This is known as the degumming process. [8] The immersion in hot water also kills the silkmoth pupa.

Single filaments are combined to form thread, in a process called "throwing", which is drawn under tension through several guides and wound onto reels. This process of throwing produces various yarns depending on the amount and direction of the twisting. [9] The threads may be plied to form yarn (short staple lengths are spun; see silk noil). After drying, the raw silk is packed according to quality.

Sustainable silk

Peace silk

The most popular substitute for traditional silk is peace silk, also known as ahimsa silk. The primary factor that makes this form of silk more ethical is that moths are permitted to emerge from their cocoons and fly away prior to boiling. It denotes that no pupa is ever cooked alive during manufacture. However, there is a big disadvantage to be aware of. Domesticated silkworms used to make silk have undergone thousands of years of selective breeding, yet they are not "manufactured" to emerge from their cocoons. They are unable to defend themselves against predators since they cannot fly or see clearly. They typically die very rapidly after emerging from their cocoons as a result. [10]

Wild silk

The cocoons of Tussar silkworms, which are found in open woodlands, are used to produce wild silk, also known as Tussar silk. Compared to conventional silk, their cocoons are typically picked after the moths have emerged, making it a more ethical option. Because wild silkworms consume a variety of plants, their fabric is less uniform but more robust. The fabric is made with fewer chemicals as well. The pupae are still inside the cocoons when they are harvested by certain enterprises that employ "wild silk", though. [11]

Stages of production

The stages of production are as follows:

  1. The female silkmoth lays 300 to 500 eggs.
  2. The silkmoth eggs hatch to form larvae or caterpillars, known as silkworms.
  3. The larvae feed on mulberry leaves.
  4. Having grown and moulted several times, the silkworm extrudes a silk fibre and forms a net to hold itself.
  5. It swings itself from side to side in a figure '8', distributing the saliva that will form silk.
  6. The silk solidifies when it contacts the air.
  7. The silkworm spins approximately one mile of filament and completely encloses itself in a cocoon in about two or three days. The amount of usable quality silk in each cocoon is small. As a result, about 2,500 silkworms are required to produce a pound of raw silk. [12]
  8. The intact cocoons are boiled, killing the silkworm pupa.
  9. The silk is obtained by brushing the undamaged cocoon to find the outside end of the filament.
  10. The silk filaments are then wound on a reel. One cocoon contains approximately 1,000 yards (910 m) of silk filament. The silk at this stage is known as raw silk. One thread comprises up to 48 individual silk filaments.

Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". He also promoted "Ahimsa silk", made without boiling the pupa to procure the silk and wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semiwild silkmoths. [13] [14] [ failed verification ] The Human League also criticised sericulture in their early single "Being Boiled". The organisation PETA has also campaigned against silk. [15]

Pupae as food

Beondegi Beondegi.jpg
Beondegi

The conventional method of silk production results in ~8 kg of wet silkworm pupae and ~2 kg of dry pupae per kilogram of raw silk. [16] This byproduct has historically been consumed by people in silk-producing areas. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silk</span> Fine, lustrous, natural fiber produced by various arthropods

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

<i>Bombyx mori</i> Moth mainly used in the production of silk

The domestic silk moth is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva of a silk moth. The silkworm is of particular economic value, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other species of mulberry, and even leaves of other plants like the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.

A silk comforter (絲綿被) is a bed covering, most often used as a duvet, and also commonly referred to as a silk duvet, silk quilt, or silk blanket. Originally used and made in China, since the late 20th century, silk comforters have become more common in Western market areas. Their increasing popularity stems from a combination of factors, including their thermal properties, their light weight, and their natural hypoallergenic properties. The opening of the Chinese market to the world since the 1990s has also played a significant role in the spread of silk comforters, as China is both the world's biggest silk producer and silk comforter manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leizu</span>

Leizu, also known as Xi Ling-shi, was a legendary Chinese empress and wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to tradition, she discovered sericulture, and invented the silk loom, in the 27th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mysore silk</span>

Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk of a total of 20,000 metric tons of mulberry silk produced in the country, thus contributing to nearly 45% of the country's total mulberry silk. In Karnataka, silk is mainly produced in the Mysore district. It is a patent registered product under KSIC. KSIC is an owner of the Mysore Silk brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajshahi silk</span> Textiles produced in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, from various silk fibres

Rajshahi silk is the name given to the silk products produced in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is famous because it is a high quality fabric used for clothing, especially for saris. In 2021, it was given Geographical indication status as a product of Bangladesh.

Assam silk denotes the three major types of indigenous wild silks produced in Assam—golden muga, white pat and warm eri silk. The Assam silk industry, now centered in Sualkuchi, is a labor-intensive industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of silk</span> History of silk production

The production of silk originated in Neolithic China within the Yangshao culture. Though it would later reach other places in the world, the art of silk production remained confined to China until the Silk Road opened at 114 BC. Even after trade opened, China maintained a virtual monopoly over silk production for another thousand years. The use of silk within China was not confined to clothing alone, and silk was used for a number of applications, such as writing. Within clothing, the color of silk worn also held social importance, and formed an important guide of social class during the Tang dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thai silk</span> Silk from the cocoons of Thai silkworms

Thai silk is produced from the cocoons of Thai silkworms. Thailand's silkworm farmers cultivate both types of the domesticated silkworms that produce commercial silk: Samia ricini, commonly known as the eri silkworm, which produces matte eri silk, and the Bombyx mori, producer of the better known, glossy mulberry silk. The latter is by far the larger silk producer of the two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silk industry in China</span>

China is the world's largest and earliest silk producer. The vast majority of Chinese silk originates from the mulberry silkworms. During the larval stage of its life cycle, the insects feed on the leaves of mulberry trees. Non-mulberry silkworm cocoon production in China primarily focuses on wild silk from the Chinese Tussah moth. This moth typically feeds on trees and its larvae spin coarser, flatter, yellower filament than the mulberry silkworms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild silk</span>

Wild silks have been known and used in many countries from early times, although the scale of production is far smaller than that from cultivated silkworms. Silk cocoons and nests often resemble paper or cloth, and their use has arisen independently in many societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eri silk</span> Silk from the cocoons of Samia ricini silkworms

Eri silk is the product of the domesticated silkworm Samia ricini, found mainly in North East India and some part of China and Japan. It was imported to Thailand in 1974. The name "eri" is derived from the Assamese word "era", which means "castor", as the silkworm feeds on castor plants. Another type of eri silk is "Ailanthus silk moth", refers to the host plant, Borkesseu, Ailanthus excelsa, practiced in China. Eri silk is also known as endi or errandi in India. The woolly white silk is often referred to as the fabric of peace when it is processed without killing the silkworm. This process results in a silk called Ahimsa silk. Moths leave the cocoon and then the cocoons are harvested to be spun. The eri silkworm is the only completely domesticated silkworm other than Bombyx mori.

<i>Antheraea assamensis</i> Species of moth

Antheraea assamensis, known as the muga silkworm as a larva and Assam silk moth as an adult, is a moth of the family Saturniidae. The species was first described by Johann Wilhelm Helfer in 1837. It is found in Assam in northeast India where 99% of its production occurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tussar silk</span> Coarse silk from wild Antheraea silkworms

Tussar silk is produced from larvae of several species of silkworms belonging to the moth genus Antheraea, including A. assamensis, A. paphia, A. pernyi, A. roylei, and A. yamamai. These silkworms live in the wild forests in trees belonging to Terminalia species and Shorea robusta, as well as other food plants such as jamun and oak found in South Asia, eating the leaves of the trees on which they live. Tussar silk is valued for its rich texture and natural, deep-gold colour, and varieties are produced in many countries, including China, India, Japan, and Sri Lanka.

<i>Antheraea pernyi</i> Species of moth

Antheraea pernyi, the Chinese (oak) tussar moth, Chinese tasar moth or temperate tussar moth, is a large moth in the family Saturniidae. The species was first described by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1855. Antheraea roylei is an extremely close relative, and the present species might actually have evolved from ancestral A. roylei by chromosome rearrangement.

<i>Antheraea paphia</i> Species of moth

Antheraea paphia, known as the South India small tussore, the tasar silkworm and vanya silkworm is a species of moth of the family Saturniidae found in India and Sri Lanka. The bulk of the literature on this species uses a junior synonym, Antheraea mylitta, rather than the correct name, A. paphia. It is one of a number of tasar silkworms, species that produce Tussar silk, a kind of wild silk that is made from the products of saturniid silkworms instead of the domesticated silkworm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire</span> 6th-century event in which two monks smuggled silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire from China

In the mid-6th century CE, two monks, with the support of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, acquired and smuggled living silkworms into the Byzantine Empire, which led to the establishment of an indigenous Byzantine silk industry that long held a silk monopoly in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahimsa silk</span> Type of silk obtained without killing and harming silk worms

Ahimsa silk is a method of nonviolent silk breeding and harvesting. Wild silk moths are bred, rather than the domestic variety. It allows the completion of the metamorphosis of the silkworm to its moth stage, whereas most silk harvesting requires the silkworms to be killed in their cocoon stage. No animals suffer or die for the silk to be produced, making it a favorable alternative to normal silk for those who object to harming animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tajima Yahei Sericulture Farm</span> Building in Gunma Prefecture, Japan

The Tajima Yahei Sericulture Farm is located in the Sakaishima neighbored of the city of Isesaki, Gunma. It was the former home of an influential silk farmer in the early Meiji period, known for writing a new sericulture theory which laid the foundations for modern sericultural production. The building has been protected as a National Historic Site since 2012. It was subsequently included as part of The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Industrial Heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.

<i>Rhodinia fugax</i> Species of moth

Rhodinia fugax, the squeaking silkmoth, is a moth in the family Saturniidae. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877. It is native to Korea, Japan, China, and the Russian Far East.

References

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