History of Silk
Silk is the centerpiece of countless myths and legends, as well as real history, including lending its name the most important trading route in human history, the Silk Road that linked the Far East with Europe for hundreds of years.
The exact date silk came into widespread use is not known, although according to archaeological evidence, it was certainly well established by 3000 BC. According to legend, around 2600 BC the wife of the Yellow Emperor, Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih, discovered the mystery of silk when a cocoon fell into her cup of tea and unraveled into silk thread. She is also traditionally credited with developing techniques for raising and harvesting silkworms, as well as the loom, and has even been deified as Seine-Than, or 'The Goddess of Silk Worms.' Regardless of whether this is historically accurate, it emphasizes two important points: by that time silk was already firmly integrated into Chinese culture, and it was so highly regarded that an empress-goddess was associated with it. In these early days, silk was only available to Chinese royalty and their courts.
Silk production is a process that demands exacting attention to detail, and as such was especially difficult, increasing silk's value. As the centuries passed and production techniques improved and expanded, silk slowly made its way into the wardrobe of more and more levels of Chinese society. It was still very highly prized, though, and was even used along with gold as a form of currency for payment of taxes and in other trading, with the length of the silk determining its value.
As foreign trade in silk increased, the Chinese regimes recognized their unique knowledge of silk production, and established severe (capital) punishments for anyone revealing the secrets of sericulture to outsiders. The Chinese monopoly of the silk market lasted for a long time, further increasing the intrinsic value of this simple material in foreign markets. For example, a tunic of the finest silk could cost a Roman soldier his entire annual salary.
Eventually, of course, the secrets of the silk worm found their way outside of China, first to Korea and Japan, and then slowly westward through India and the Middle East, and finally to Europe. There are many interesting legends around how the 'secret got out.' One holds that a Chinese princess smuggled cocoons with her when she married a foreign prince. Another holds that Byzantine monks hid the cocoons in their walking staffs at the request of Emperor Justinian. The Silk Road, as an established route for trade between Europe, the Near East, and the Far East, had created such a demand for the material that in the end, it actually aided in the revelation of the secrets of production to outsiders.
Over the centuries, other countries have become world class producers of silk, but China has held its historical place and today is responsible for about half of the silk made in the world. India comes in 2nd place, with 14% of world production.
The Moonlight Silk - Latitude 30 ∘
Silk is a gift from nature, it outshines all man made product when it comes to producing exceptionally strong and brilliant luminescent fabric. Silk is an all-natural protein based fiber originating from the cocoons of the silk moth. The silk reeling process is deceptively simple, yet it was highly guarded as secret in China for thousands of years.
Magie de la Vie uses the purest, whitest and no chemical added silk, we called the Moonlight Silk. Our silk is farmed in China in the region referred to as Latitude 30∘. It’s the best and most propitious geographical latitude to grow Mulberry Silk. According to legend , Latitude 30∘is the birth place of silk, since mulberry trees have been grown in this region more than 3000 years ago. Our silkworms are fed exclusively mulberry leaves of the region. Mulberry silkworms are very sensitive. At the smallest sign of food, air and water contamination, the Mulberry Silkworms dies instantaneously. In order to harvest the purest, whitest, longest and roundest silk fibers, the Mulberry Silkworms require a pollution and chemical free environment. Moonlight Silk is heaven’s gift, no other region offers the same natural backdrop with pristine and chemical free natural resources to successfully raise Mulberry Silkworms.
Silk Farming: Sericulture, the Eco-Friendly Agro-Based Industry
The art of raising silk worm and harvesting its cocoon for its silk is known as Sericulture. In its pupae stage, the silk moth (Bombyx mori) is a small caterpillar with an enormous appetite for leaves of the mulberry tree. These silk moths cannot see or fly, its main function is to lay pinhead size eggs then it dies soon after. The eggs hatch under controlled temperature and baby silk worms are exclusively fed carefully selected unpolluted mulberry leaves.
The silk worm environment requires specific temperature and humidity control. After about a month, the silkworm encases itself in a cocoon of silk, held together with a glue-like substance called Sericin. If it is allowed to hatch, the silk strands will be broken, making it more difficult to spin the fibers into long threads, therefore, the cocoon is usually heated before the worm hatches.
After the cocoons are collected and sorted by quality, they are soaked in hot water to dissolve the Sericin, and ‘reeled’ by using three to ten strands at a time to create a single silk thread. From this point, the silk thread is treated as most fibers. The exception is silk threads used as silk floss for filling or as batting. Silk thread is then woven/knitted and dyed using various techniques to create the wide range of silk and silk blend fabrics available in the current market.
Magie de la Vie works with production facility nearby the Latitude 30∘ within China for products that require the purest state of silk for energetic purposes. It integrates the activities of Sericulture, comprised of eco-friendly mulberry tree planting and mulberry leaves harvesting, then silkworm farming and silk reeling through the final stages of local handmade production avoiding contamination of the silk during process. In addition to the silk quality management, the most alluring motivation about Latitude 30∘ is providing local farmers with the economic and environmental sustainability incentives to maintain the Sericulture, one of the most eco-friendly agro-based industries in China.
Magie de la Vie’s uses the finest silk, collected from silk farming cooperatives of Latitude 30∘. These silk cooperatives include 40,000 farming families or 120,000 individual farmers working over 60,000 acres in China’s Latitude 30∘. The silk fiber production of Latitude 30∘reaches up to 1,500 metric tons annually. To maintain the highest quality at every stage of silk farming, the silk is closely monitored by Sericulture specialists and by Magie de la Vie’s final product designers. The local farmers carefully guarded secrets of success includes harvesting the ‘best’ mulberry leaves, selecting the ‘healthiest’ moths for mating, training workers to reel silk through the last phase that includes quality control.
Silk Farming: Sericulture, the Eco-Friendly Agro-Based Industry
The silk worm environment requires specific temperature and humidity control. After about a month, the silkworm encases itself in a cocoon of silk, held together with a glue-like substance called Sericin. If it is allowed to hatch, the silk strands will be broken, making it more difficult to spin the fibers into long threads, therefore, the cocoon is usually heated before the worm hatches.
After the cocoons are collected and sorted by quality, they are soaked in hot water to dissolve the Sericin, and ‘reeled’ by using three to ten strands at a time to create a single silk thread. From this point, the silk thread is treated as most fibers. The exception is silk threads used as silk floss for filling or as batting. Silk thread is then woven/knitted and dyed using various techniques to create the wide range of silk and silk blend fabrics available in the current market.
Magie de la Vie works with production facility nearby the Latitude 30∘ within China for products that require the purest state of silk for energetic purposes. It integrates the activities of Sericulture, comprised of eco-friendly mulberry tree planting and mulberry leaves harvesting, then silkworm farming and silk reeling through the final stages of local handmade production avoiding contamination of the silk during process. In addition to the silk quality management, the most alluring motivation about Latitude 30∘ is providing local farmers with the economic and environmental sustainability incentives to maintain the Sericulture, one of the most eco-friendly agro-based industries in China.
Silk Properties & Characteristics
- Silk is protein based, like human hair
- Silk is the strongest natural fiber, even compared to a steel thread of same diameter
- Silk fiber consists of 2 main proteins: Sericin (sticky material surrounding fiber, it is in many skin and hair products); and Fibroin (structural part of center of silk fiber)
- Fibroin consists of 18 types of amino acids
- Silk has biological compatibility with human body
- Silk fiber has triangular prism like structure, which allows silk to refract incoming light at different angles, thus gives the natural shimmering and luminous appearance
- Silk is hypoallergenic; it keeps away dust mites, mildew and fungus
- Silk fabric has a natural ‘wick away’ quality. Silk absorbs moisture from the skin and quickly releases moisture to the air. Silk keeps body cool in summer by evaporation; and keeps warm air close to the skin in winter for added warmth.
- Silk can be easily woven into other types of fibers to create shimmering colors and added softness to the blended fabric.
