History of sericulture in China

1. Silkworms in the history of China were originally born on mulberry trees that grew naturally and mainly ate mulberry leaves, so they were also called silkworms.

Before sericulture, our ancestors knew how to reel silk with wild cocoons long ago. It is still difficult to determine when to start artificial sericulture. But as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, the sericulture production in China had made great progress, which shows that the development of artificial sericulture was far before the Yin and Zhou Dynasties.

From ancient literature, we can see the direct records about sericulture. Xia, who reflected the production situation of Huaihe River and Yangtze River in late summer and early Yin Dynasty, said: "Mulberry is picked in March, and my concubine begins to silkworm."

This means that in March of the summer calendar (April of the lunar calendar), mulberry trees will be pruned and women will start sericulture. There are not only words such as silkworm, mulberry, silk and silks in the book of Yin Renjia, but also some complete Oracle Bone Inscriptions related to silk production.

According to the research of Oracle Bone Inscriptions scientist Hu Houxuan, it is recorded in some Oracle Bone Inscriptions that it takes nine hexagrams to inspect silkworm affairs. It can be seen that sericulture was a very important production undertaking at that time.

There are also records about the silkworm god and its worship in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. At that time, in order to raise silkworms well, people sacrificed silkworms with rich sacrifices such as cattle or sheep. It is not the first time that archaeologists have found lifelike jade silkworms in tombs of Yin Ruins, such as the tombs in Anyang, Henan Province and the Shang Dynasty jade silkworms unearthed in Subutun, Shandong Province.

Silkworms are often found as decorative patterns on bronzes in Shang Dynasty. All these show the important position of silkworm in people's minds at that time.

Many bronzes handed down from ancient times in the Yin Dynasty were accompanied by traces of silk or silk fragments. Through research, some silk fabrics reflect that there was already quite advanced silk weaving technology at that time; A large number of facts show that silk became more and more important in the social and economic life at that time and became the intermediate medium of commodity exchange.

To produce a large number of silk products, only by developing artificial sericulture can we provide enough silk raw materials. By the Zhou Dynasty, mulberry planting and sericulture had flourished in the vast areas of northern and southern China.

Silk has become the main raw material of the ruling class at that time. Silkworm rearing and silk weaving are the main productive activities of women.

There are many poems in The Book of Songs that mention sericulture. For example, "The Book of Songs, Wind and July": "The spring is beautiful, and Amin is ploughing.

The woman holds the basket, obeys it and loves the soft mulberry. Beautiful spring, orioles singing.

Women are carrying laundry baskets, walking along endless paths, picking tender mulberry for silkworms. This vividly depicts the labor scene of women picking mulberry and raising silkworms at that time.

Mulberry was planted on a large scale in the Zhou Dynasty. There is a poem in the Book of Songs between Feng Wei and Ten Mu, which says that "between ten mu, mulberry leaves are idle", which means: among the green trees in ten mu mulberry garden, how leisurely it is to pick mulberry leaves.

This shows that mulberry trees have been planted in pieces in the Spring and Autumn Period, and a mulberry garden is as big as ten acres. Mulberry trees planted at that time were probably shrub type and arbor type.

Now, we can also see the vivid images of ancient working women picking mulberry trees with baskets on bronzes during the Warring States period, and we can also see two kinds of mulberry trees planted at that time: trees and shrubs. According to the book of songs, Zuo Zhuan, Yili and other ancient books, silkworms were not only kept indoors at that time, but also had special silkworm houses and equipment.

These utensils include silkworm racks ("squares" or "hammers"), silkworm foils ("bends") and so on. It can be seen that in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, China already had a set of mature mulberry planting and sericulture techniques.

The Warring States Period's "Several Articles on Guanzi Mountain Spring" said: "Anyone who raises silkworms and makes them disease-free will be given a catty of gold and eat eight stones directly. I really want to hear what they say, but Tibetan officials have nothing to do with division and travel. " In other words, if someone is proficient in sericulture technology, can raise silkworms well and prevent diseases, please introduce their experience, give them gold and avoid military service.

Indeed, the most experienced and knowledgeable people are the vast number of people engaged in production practice. Among them, there are many experts and experts in sericulture. In their long-term sericulture practice, they have constantly created inventions and accumulated extremely rich and valuable experience for sericulture in China and the world.

In ancient China, there were many books describing the techniques of mulberry planting and sericulture. It was mentioned in the Han Dynasty that there were works on sericulture in ancient China, such as Silkworm Law, Silkworm Book, Planting Trees and Hiding Fruits, etc.

Unfortunately, these ancient books have been lost. However, since the Han Dynasty, there have been many ancient books about sericulture for more than 2,000 years, such as Xi Sheng Shu, Qi Yaomin Shu, Qin Guan Silkworm Shu, Gui Feng Shu, Guang Sang Shuo, Silkworm Collection, Wild Silkworm Record, Cocoon Roll and so on.

These secretaries have accumulated rich experience in mulberry planting and sericulture of working people in China in past dynasties. To develop sericulture, it is necessary to cultivate mulberry trees and develop mulberry gardens.

As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people used spreading trees to breed mulberry trees. By the fifth century, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, layering method had been applied to mulberry breeding.

This method is described in Qi Min's Yaoyao. The layering method is to propagate new mulberry trees with mulberry branches, which shortens the growth time a lot compared with sowing.

Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, sericulture farmers in southern China have invented mulberry grafting technology, which is an advanced mulberry planting technology, rejuvenating and renewing old mulberry trees, preserving excellent mulberry characters, accelerating the propagation of mulberry seedlings and cultivating excellent varieties. They are of great significance and still play an important role in production.

Mulberry leaf is the main food of silkworm, and its quality is directly related to the health of silkworm and the quality of silk. China invented the technique of pruning mulberry trees very early.

As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were already low mulberry trees, which may be the kind of "ground mulberry" (Lusang) mentioned later. The Great Book of the Western Han Dynasty specifically talked about this cultivation method of mulberries: in the first year, mulberries were mixed with millet, and when mulberries grew as high as millet, they were cut off on the flat ground, and in the second year, mulberries grew new branches from the roots.

Such mulberries are low and easy to pick and manage. More importantly, such mulberry branches are tender and fat, suitable for sericulture.

Jia Sixie quoted agricultural proverbs in Qi Yao Min Shu, and made a positive evaluation of Rusang, saying: "Rusang is rich in cotton silk, saying that its mulberry is good, which saves labor and uses more." The famous Husang originated from Rusang. Since the Song Dynasty, people have introduced excellent mulberry species from the north to the south through grafting technology.

After long-term practice, people gradually cultivated a new type of milk mulberry "Hu Sang" with the original local Jingsang as rootstock and milk mulberry as scion. The formation of Hu Sang greatly promoted the development of sericulture in China.

Mulberry.

2. Introduce the history of sericulture in China. There are not only words such as silkworm, mulberry, silk and silks in the book of Yin Renjia, but also some complete Oracle Bone Inscriptions related to silk production.

According to the research of Oracle Bone Inscriptions scientist Hu Houxuan, it is recorded in some Oracle Bone Inscriptions that it takes nine hexagrams to inspect silkworm affairs. It can be seen that sericulture was a very important production undertaking at that time.

There are also records about the silkworm god and its worship in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. At that time, in order to raise silkworms well, people sacrificed silkworms with rich sacrifices such as cattle or sheep. It is not the first time that archaeologists have found lifelike jade silkworms in tombs of Yin Ruins, such as the tombs in Anyang, Henan Province and the Shang Dynasty jade silkworms unearthed in Subutun, Shandong Province.

Silkworms are often found as decorative patterns on bronzes in Shang Dynasty. All these show the important position of silkworm in people's minds at that time.

By the Zhou Dynasty, mulberry planting and sericulture had flourished in the vast areas of northern and southern China. Silk has become the main raw material of the ruling class at that time.

Silkworm rearing and silk weaving are the main production activities of women, and mulberry trees were planted on a large scale in the Zhou Dynasty. Guan Zi Shan Quan Shu in the Warring States Period said: "The communication between people and sericulture makes silkworms disease-free, and they are all given a catty of gold and eat eight stones directly, so they listen to what they say, but the official who goes to Tibet has nothing to do with the journey.

"That is to say, people who are proficient in sericulture can raise silkworms and prevent them from getting sick. Ask him to introduce his experience and give him gold and exemption from military service. In ancient China, there were many books describing the techniques of mulberry planting and sericulture.

In the Han Dynasty, it was mentioned that there were silkworm works in ancient China, such as Silkworm Law, Silkworm Book and Planting Trees to Hide Fruits and Silkworms. Unfortunately, these ancient books have been lost.

However, since the Han Dynasty, there have been many ancient books about sericulture for more than 2,000 years, such as Xi Sheng Shu, Qi Yaomin Shu, Qin Guan Silkworm Shu, Gui Feng Shu, Guang Sang Shuo, Silkworm Collection, Wild Silkworm Record, Cocoon Roll and so on. These secretaries have accumulated rich experience in mulberry planting and sericulture of working people in China in past dynasties.

To develop sericulture, it is necessary to cultivate mulberry trees and develop mulberry gardens. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people used spreading trees to breed mulberry trees.

By the fifth century, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, layering method had been applied to mulberry breeding. This method is described in Qi Min's Yaoyao.

The layering method is to propagate new mulberry trees with mulberry branches, which shortens the growth time a lot compared with sowing. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, sericulture farmers in southern China have invented mulberry grafting technology, which is an advanced mulberry planting technology, rejuvenating and renewing old mulberry trees, preserving excellent mulberry characters, accelerating the propagation of mulberry seedlings and cultivating excellent varieties.

They are of great significance and still play an important role in production. Since the Ming Dynasty, people have recognized some infectious silkworm diseases, such as purulent disease, soft disease and stiff disease, and know the measures to eliminate or isolate silkworm diseases to prevent the spread of silkworm diseases.

There are many descriptions about myiasis and fly prevention in Ming and Qing works. Extended data:

Pay attention to sericulture in summer and autumn.

Don't spray organic pesticides such as dimehypo in silkworm houses and farmland near mulberry fields during silkworm rearing season, because its smell will lead to silkworm poisoning; Feeding silkworm leaves should be confirmed to be non-toxic after trial feeding, and then the leaves can be picked and fed to silkworm. 2. Mosquito-repellent incense, mosquito repellent and insecticide are prohibited in silkworm rooms.

When used in the house adjacent to the silkworm house, the doors and windows of the silkworm house should also be closed to prevent silkworm poisoning. Third, screen doors and screens should be installed in the silkworm room to prevent flies from entering the silkworm room and harming silkworm children, and "silkworm killing fly" emulsion or silkworm spray should be added to kill flies and maggots.

Fourth, before raising silkworms, the rat hole should be blocked, the silkworm frame should keep a certain distance from the wall, and lime powder or silkworm medicine should be sprinkled around the foot of the silkworm frame to prevent rats from climbing up. To raise ground silkworms, it is necessary to do a good job of killing rats with drugs.

5. The temperature of sericulture is high in summer and autumn, so it is necessary to open doors and windows and strengthen indoor ventilation. Spraying clear water on mulberry leaves and blowing a breeze indoors with an electric fan are also beneficial to indoor cooling.

Six, found that sick silkworms should be cleaned up in time, put into a disinfection basin with bleaching powder solution or lime slurry, and prohibit sick silkworms from feeding livestock and poultry to prevent the spread of pathogens and pollute the environment. Seven, silkworm excrement contains a large number of pathogens, do not stand around the silkworm house, should be concentrated in the wild pile retting system or septic pit retting system, in order to prevent the spread of pathogens.

Eight, high temperature in summer and autumn, rapid propagation of bacteria, attention should be paid to picking leaves on demand, timely dispatching leaves, and reasonable storage of leaves. Mulberry storage tanks should be disinfected once every age, and mulberry leaves should not be fed overnight.

Nine, avoid feeding wet leaves in hot and humid weather, store mulberry leaves without sprinkling water, remove sand frequently, sprinkle fresh lime powder, dry straw and other materials to inhibit the growth of germs. Ten, non-sericulture season, don't store food, bran and other things in the silkworm room, so as not to get damp and produce mites, which will cause harm to silkworms when raising silkworms.