Living Heritage: Chinese Silk Craftsmanship

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(China Daily)

Delicate, lustrous, and soft to the touch. The ethereal fabric that we now call silk has threaded its way throughout China’s history.

One cannot be certain of its origin, but the humble ancient Chinese people credited their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor (the legendary ancestor of all Chinese people), as the inventor of sericulture.

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), with diplomat and explorer Zhang Qian opening up the routes to the western regions, silk graced countries in Central Asia, later extending its reach to other parts of Eurasia and beyond. Fittingly, its name marked China’s major international trade routes, the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

Watch the video to learn more about the sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China, which was listed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.