Silky silk
So silky by La'Fredrick Jackson... A real ninja
Who Invented it and when?
Silk worms invented silk, but the silk was discovered by the Chinese. It was discovered around 3000 B.B.C. and it's stated that it was discovered by the wife of the the Yellow Emperor, her name was Shi-Ling-Shih.
The reason?
Silk was a luxurious item to own, and it was a symbol of social status. During the Qing dynasty peasants were only just being allowed to wear silk. Silk was also useful for making other things, like lines for fishing poles, canvases for artists to paint on, and many other things.
This is a silk worm idk his name
This is raw silk
This is what you can make of silk
How does silk work? Well, idk but I'm gonna explain any way
The ancient Chinese bred special moths to produce the quality silk they wanted. Here are the steps in the process for making silk:
- A moth lays 500 or so eggs and then dies
- Baby worms hatch from the eggs are fed mulberry leaves for one month until they are fat
- The worms spin cocoons
- The cocoons are steamed to kill the growing moth inside
- The cocoons are rinsed in hot water to loosen the threads
- Women would unwind the cocoons and then combine six or so fibers into silk threads
- The threads are woven into cloth
- The cloth is then pounded to make it softer
- Copy and paste much?
Other stuff
- Silk, was also used as a currency. Because it was so valuable people were able to trade it for other items.
- Silk was traded along the famous Silk Road, also China was the only place where silk was being made because they managed to keep the process of making it from the rest of the world for 1000 years. The way in which they did this was that if anyone was found sharing the secrets or smuggling silk worms they were put to death. Eventually two monks smuggled some eggs out by hiding them in their waling sticks... No one else thought of this?
- The creation of silk contributed to nice lingerie, that's awesome!
Frequently asked questions
Did I do this in 30 minutes?
Why yes, yes I did.
Do I love silk?
Of course I do!
Are you not entertained?
You better be!
Summary Paragraph
The way that silk reached Europe, which I went over in my presentation, was that it was smuggled out of China by two monks, there's two ways, who hid silkworms in their walking sticks. I also went over why it took centuries for silk to reach Europe in my presentation, the reason was because that anyone found sharing the secrets of silk or smuggling it out was put to death. I don't think anyone can give Europe the credit for silk, Europe's just going to have to take the L and admit that China did it first!
I'm happy that the Chinese discovered silk because the fabric is so soft and it's nice to have to lay on at night, it's also nice to wear because I feel "free" when I wear silk. I think we do use silk to it's full capacity which is good because it's not going to waste. The most important thing that I learned is that you can't always trust monks, they might spill your secrets.