| Description |
Sericulture and Silk Craftsmanship refers to the craftsmanship applied in traditional sericulture, silk dyeing and weaving process, which has been handed down from generation to generation, and relevant folk-customs derived thereby.
China’s sericulture and silk craftsmanship boasts a history of 5000 years. The silk fragments, preliminary loom and potteries decorated with silkworm patterns excavated from sites dating 4000 years ago in the Taihu Lake area; demonstrate the time-honoured history of the sericulture and silk production in the region. Alongside the historical process, traditional manufacturing craftsmanship develops, and the main elements include:
Mulberry planting: including cultivation of mulberry seedling, mulberry trimming, and various methods of engraftment;
Silkworm production: including the selection, hybridization, and breeding of silkworm eggs, incubation, instruments for silkworm rearing, control of the temperature and humidity, and frame mounting methods;
Silk reeling: including sorting and stripping of cocoons, ways for preserving the cocoons such as drying and salting, temperature control and process for boiling the cocoons, facilities and techniques for silk reeling, etc;
Silk floss making: including techniques of water rinsing and tearing;
Weaving tools: including various looms such as treadle looms, multi-shaft and multi-treadle patterning looms, lesser draw looms, greater draw looms, etc, and arrangement of heddle drafts and programming of patterns on draw looms;
Design and weaving of fabrics: including the design and weaving of various structures and patterns, such as the Shuanglin silk damask which is calendared by stamp rocks, the Hang gauze with warps crossed, the Shu silk with warp-faced patterns, the Song-style silk in lampas weave, and Kesi woven in tapestry structures. |
| Social and cultural significance |
Sericulture is an important component of the local cultural heritage. The origin of sericulture in China was related to the Chinese people’s idea of the perfect harmony between human and nature. Previous generations connected the morphological life of silkworm from an egg to caterpillar, pupa and finally to a moth, with the imagined life cycle of human beings-- from life to death, and rebirth into the heaven.
As a result, people began to revere and bread silkworms indoors, and a series of folk customs distinctively featured with silk culture evolved, including festivals and celebrations, life protocols, folk beliefs, language and literature, and traditional arts. For instance, during the Silkworm Flower festival in the Qingming period (early April) every year, female silkworm farmers gather in Jiaxing and Huzhou from their hometowns, wearing colourful silkworm flowers made of silk or paper on their heads. They make offerings to the Goddess of Silkworm, and pray for a good cocoon harvest. Meanwhile, there’s another activity called “Silkworm flower sweeping”. After every Spring Festival (beginning of the lunar year), silkworm farmers invite artisans home to perform the story of the Goddess of Silkworms, to drive away devils and ensure a bountiful cocoon harvest.
Sericulture and silk is a cultural symbol of the Chinese nation, and this area has always been referred to as the Home of Silk. Due to sericulture and silk, people here share the same customs and living environment, and a common cultural circle is thus formed. Same techniques are adopted for the mulberry planting and silkworm breeding while in terms of weaving; professional division of labour exists among cities and towns. For instance, silk damask and crepe are produced in Huzhou, silk taffeta in Jiaxing, gauze in Hangzhou, lampas and silk tapestry in Suzhou, warp-faced polychrome silk in Chengdu, and through mutual exchange and supplementation, a complete system of silk production takes shape. Because of sericulture and silk, people here also share a similar lifestyle. They not only like to wear silk costumes, but prefer the use of silk floss quilts, silk umbrellas and fans, and also flowers made of thin silk. In short, they live with silk all through their lives, making this the foremost feature of the region.
Sericulture and silk production is also the most active and most compatible production mode with natural environment in the region, and silk production used to be the most important economic source here. The region is the most water-abundant area in China, and the soil, temperature and water conditions are all suitable for sericulture. The ponds that dot the villages are converted into mulberry-base ponds, where a positive biological chain is formed: the silkworm excretion is used to feed the fishes, while the mud from the ponds can be used as fertilizer for the mulberry trees, and the mulberry leaves in turn are used to feed the silkworms. The network of canals leading in all directions becomes the best way of transportation among these silk production sites, and the trade of silk promotes the development of the regional economy. |
| Transmission method |
The sericulture and silk craftsmanship is transmitted from generations to generations, and keeps being renovated. It is mainly passed on within families, among teachers and apprentices, or among a group of people. Sericulture is an important aspect of the traditional “men for agriculture and women for textile” rural economy in China, and is usually passed on within families. While since the Song dynasty (10th century), the teacher-apprentice mode was commonly adopted in private workshops, and in the imperial workshops set up in Hangzhou and Suzhou in the Ming and Qing period ( 14-19th century), techniques were usually circulated among a group of weavers, where sharing of craftsmanship was popular. At the same time, the sericulture and silk craftsmanship in this region was also the first to be summarized and published in text and image forms. The Picture of Sericulture and Weaving painted by Lou Shou (1190-1162) specifically depicted the process of silk manufacturing in Hangzhou, and in the Book of Agriculture written by Chen Fu (1149), there was a dedicated chapter recording the sericulture and silk reeling in this region. These were manifestations of the local people’s deep knowledge of nature, and their development of sericulture according to the local climate, soil and water conditions. |
| Community |
Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou in Zhejiang province are communities transmitting Chinese sericulture manufacturing craftsmanship and folk customs; the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province is the overall guardian and dissemination centre of China’s sericulture and silk craftsmanship; while groups for transmitting the silk weaving craftsmanship include Hangzhou Fuxing Silk Factory, Suzhou Silk Museum, Master Wang Jinshan’s Workshop, and Chengdu Shu Silk Institute. These communities and groups value sericulture and silk craftsmanship and relevant folk custom activities, and consider them as a crucial element of their cultural heritage. |
| Type of UNESCO List |
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List |
2009 |
