If you want to know the early history of this network of trade routes, you can trace its beginnings to the 5th century BC on the Persian Royal Road.
The route, more than 6,000 kilometers long, starts from a Chinese province and heads northwest, passing through the Taklamakan Desert, over the Pamir Mountains and leading through Afghanistan to the Levant, from where trade goods were shipped across the Mediterranean. The route was used as a general itinerary for every conceivable interest. Traders and missionaries, merchants, scholars and even the military traveled the route on rare occasions.
The name of this ancient and well-known trade route is due to the fact that one of the most coveted products of the time was Chinese silk.
It created fascination because of its luster and soft feel, as well as its delicate texture and lightness. Although gold and many other goods, such as valuable spices, were also traded on the trade route, its name remained associated with the fascination of silk.
The development of silk weaving in China dates back to the second millennium BC. The production of large quantities for export, accompanied by the development of silk manufactures, did not take place until the end of the “Warring States Period” in the 3rd B.C. The oldest finds of Chinese silk in Europe were made in the Celtic princely tomb in the castle of Heuneburg (Sigmaringen district), dating from the 6th century B.C. (Source wikipedia).
What is Silk?
Silk is an animal product. When the mulberry caterpillar spins a cocoon, it can be collected and, with great care, a very fine fiber can be obtained from these very fine fibrils.
To do this, however, the glue that holds the cocoon together must first be removed.
The cocoon is then unraveled, which is what the unraveling process is called in the true sense of the word.
However, since the result is a very fine, yet relatively tear-resistant and elastic yarn, the raw material must be weighted. This gives it weight and increased tensile strength and tear strength. After all, much is demanded of the finished fabric when it is worn as a garment.
A short but Basic explanation of the process how silk is Obtained and Manufactured, -In its original form-.
Now you can imagine that it is no longer so romantic…. In the masses where silk is produced today, there have, of course, long existed farms that grow trees for these animals. And they don’t wait for these animals to hatch before reeling them. When they hatch, the thread spun by the caterpillar is torn, and these bulging areas cannot be released. This results in short threads with the typical visual characteristics of small to large nodules, as known from wild silk.
If you are interested in animal welfare, you should find out how and where silk is produced.
By the way, nowadays there is hardly any genuine silk from India! It is mainly produced in China.
