According to legend, silk was first developed by Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih, the young wife of the mythical "Yellow Emperor." She is credited with developing the first usable loom and for introducing the principles of silkworm cultivation in 3000 BC. The most recent archeological evidence, however, a small ivory cup craved with the silkworm design and spinning tools, silk thread, and fabric fragments, seems to indicate that the development of sericulture or silk production could have taken place as much as a thousand years earlier. During the Han dynasty (200 BC – 200 AD) soldiers wages were even paid in silk.

One of the earliest known instances of silk reaching the west is that of a female mummy discovered in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes in Egypt, with silk that is dated from 1070 BC. The establishment of the Silk Road around 130 BC introduced silk to the West on a broader scale. There are references to silk in the Old Testament, and when the Persian Emperor Darius III surrendered to Alexander the Great it was said that he was so splendidly clothed in silk that Alexander demanded payment of seven million dollars worth of silk as part of the spoils of war.

Camel caravans began carrying silk from China to Damascus, Syria, which was the marketplace where East met West. Silk soon became the fabric of choice for royalty and the wealthy in the Roman Empire. Gaius Julius Caesar attempted to limit its use to himself and his most favored officials but was unsuccessful in doing so.

The secret of silk production that China had so successfully guarded for hundreds of years eventually became known to other cultures. The Koreans are thought to have obtained the technology as early as 200 BC and the Japanese shortly thereafter. In 440 AD a prince of Khotan fell in love with and married a Chinese princess who then risked her life by smuggling silkworm eggs out of the country in her huge wig. The penalty for anyone caught doing so was death. Finally, in 550 AD sericulture reached the west when two monks, supposedly under orders from Emperor Justinian, were able smuggle live silkworm eggs out of China in their specially made, hollowed out, bamboo walking sticks. The Byzantine Empire soon became a center of silk production and effectively ended the Chinese monopoly. The highest quality silk fabrics were still manufactured in China, however, and for some time thereafter traffic along the Silk Road continued to be heavy. It was not until the 12^th and 13^th centuries that Italy became the western most center of silk production.

The art of sericulture, or the raising of silkworms for the production of silk, requires that two very important conditions be met. The worms must be fed a very special diet, and must not be allowed to hatch out of their cocoons. The Chinese found the secrets for both.

The eggs must first be kept at 65 degrees F. The temperature is then gradually increased to 77 degrees F until the eggs hatch. The worms are then fed a steady diet of handpicked and cut mulberry leaves until are very fat. The silkworms multiply their weight 10,000 times within a month and change their color as they shed their skin several times. While they are growing they should be kept from loud noises, drafts, and strong smells, such as that of fish.

When the worms are ready to begin spinning their cocoons, small branches from trees or shrubs are placed into the rearing houses. The worms then climb these branches and spin their cocoons, which takes about eight days. After another eight days the cocoons are ready to be harvested. The cocoons are boiled or baked in ovens to kill the worms or pupas inside, and then the cocoons are soaked in water to dissolve the gummy substance that hold the cocoon filament in place. The filaments of four to eight cocoons are then twisted together and joined with other filaments to make a thread that is wound on a reel. Each cocoon is made up of a filament that is between six hundred and eight hundred meters long.

III. Definitions, Fabric terms and types

Raw Silk: Silk fiber as it comes from the cocoon and is covered with a protective layer called silk gum or sericin. The silk gum is dull and stiff.

Reeled Silk or Thrown Silk: the term for silk fiber that is unwound from the cocoons. It is the finest of all the silks. The strands are very long, shiny, and strong.

Spun Silk: consists of several fibers of silk spun into narrow threads. It is often made from the broken cocoons from which moths have hatched.

Noil: refers to the shorter strands of silk that are left over after the longer threads have been combed out or reels off of the cocoon. These are one inch or shorter bits of fiber and often include little tangled fibrous knots. There is little or no shine, however, fabric made of noil is both inexpensive and comfortable to wear. Noil is a recent invention.

Tussah Silk: silk made from wild silk worms. It is usually not white, but shades of beige, brown, or gray. It is coarser than cultivated silk.

China Silk: light to medium weight silk; takes dyes very well; most often found commercially in shirts.

Warp: the set of strands or fibers that are placed length-wise in a loom.

Weft: The set of strands or fibers that intersect the warp fibers cross-wise.

Dupionni: silk from two or more cocoons and has what is referred to as "slubs," or longish lumps along the length of the fabric where the new strands were added to continue the thread. Both warp and weft are woven with this fiber and this produces an interesting texture. Originally made of tussah silk, but now of many different kinds.

Shantung: has only one of the warp, weft directions strung with dupionni thread. It is very shiny and commonly imitated in synthetics.

Watered Silk: a term that is applied to two different techniques.

1. Silk that has had a design printed on the warp before weaving. Gives the design a watery, dampened, indistinct look.

2. Moire: tow lengths of heavy-thread silk are dampened and then smashed. This makes a kind of design where the threads cross. Also done with engraved rollers.

Organza, Organdy: a light transparent fabric that is made of plain weave silk that has not had the gum removed.

Samite: Twill faced, patterned silk. This was the weave used in ancient Persia and Byzantium.

Shot Silk: Silk woven with one color in the warp and another in the weft. This produces a color change effect in changing light conditions.

Taffeta: a plain weave silk that is closely woven and is very glossy. This was the type woven in Europe in the early middle ages and was one of the first western woven silks.

Thai Silk: Medium to heavy plain-weave silks from Thailand. They are tightly woven and very luxurious.