Ni Hao Maa friends.
This looks so delicate! Doesn’t it?
But its really strong! You know why?
Because this is made of silk!
Oh yes!
And it feels really soft and looks royal!
But do you know how we got silk?
Come on lets find out! Zooooom in.
According to Chinese legend, almost 5000 years ago,..
..Empress Hsi Ling Shi, wife of Emperor Huang Ti,..
..was the first person to invent silk.
One day, the empress was sharpening her sword and sipping tea under a mulberry tree.
A cocoon fell into her steaming cup of white tea and began to unravel in just a little while!
The empress was about to take a sip..
..and to her surprise she saw shiny threads roll out!
The empress was so fascinated with these shiny threads..
..that she went on a hunt to discover its source!
Her search led her to finding the bombyx mori silkworm.
She frantically went around the mulberry tree gazing at all the cocoons.
Seeing the worms wrapped up in their cocoons, covered in thread like material,..
..it gave the smart empress an idea of weaving it into a fabric!
She rode back to her chamber and designed a method of production..
..to create this fabric we know as silk.
After much work, she sent the workers to collect eggs laid by the silkworms.
Baby worms known as larva, hatched 2 weeks later..
..and were fed mulberry leaves for a month!
This increased their body weight 10,000 fold and they grew up to 3 inches!
The larva began to secrete liquid raw silk from their salivary glands.
When the liquid came in contact with air, it solidified into a single thread.
The pupating larva spun itself into thick cozy cocoons!
This my friends was the first step towards the formation of silk fiber!
The cocoons were then boiled for 3 minutes to kill the pupa before it transformed into a moth!
Boiling the cocoon melted the gelatinous protein that was binding the cocoon.
They took 50 cocoons and reeled them through a single hole of a bamboo stick..
..from a hand operated reel.
As the threads passed through together, the remaining protein glued it together..
..forming a single thick thread.
The threads were finally woven into shimmery and smooth pieces of silk cloth.
Until 200 BC, silk was reserved for the personal use by Chinese royalty only.
And because the mulberry silkworms were found only in China,..
..they used it to their advantage!
China had the monopoly over silk trade and kept the worm a secret.
Demand for Silk became extremely popular.
And people from around the world traded it for gold and silver coins.
But the secret could not be held for long!
By 300 AD, Korea started producing silk, thanks to a few Chinese immigrants settled there.
Soon the production of silk spread to Japan, India and Persia too!
And very quickly China lost its monopoly.
By the 13th century, Italy had entered the hall of fame in silk history.
It became the highest producer of silk.
Soon France started challenging Italy’s dominance over silk.
But today China has regained its number 1 status as the King of Silk Production!
Ohh I almost forgot! I have to tell you something really fascinating!
Trivia Time!
Did you know that a silk rope is stronger than an equally thick metal wire?
In fact it is the strongest natural fiber known to man.
It is also used to dress wounds, as it can dissolve and be absorbed into the body.
Woah! This is cool!
So you see friends how useful silk can be?
So the next time you see someone wear a beautiful piece of silk cloth, you know the story behind it.
Off I go in search of another story for you guys!
This is me zooming out.