Ancient China Trade and Commodities

Silk Culture Legendary Beginnings – Lady His-Ling-Shih (wife of Yellow Emperor) began raising silk worms and invented the loom (believed to have reigned approx BC) – Excavated silkworm cocoon dated between 2600 to 2300BC – Other evidence suggests silk cultivation began much earlier

Silk Culture The worm – Many varieties throughout the world – Chinese species is blind, flightless – Lays 500 eggs in 4-6 days – 100 eggs weigh less than 1 gram – Silk worm has a smoother, finer filament than other species

Silk Culture Secrets of Cultivation (sericulture) – Need to be carefully changed from 65 to 77 degrees to hatch – Baby worms are feed night and day until they are plump – Roomful of worms have to be kept at a constant temperature – sounds like heavy rain falling in the roof – Have to be kept warm when cocooning and isolated from noises and smells – Produce white fluffy looking cocoons – After 8 days in a warm place, worms are steamed/baked to kill the worms

Silk Culture Cultivation – Entire process of feeding to weaving takes 6 months – Dip puff balls in water to loosen filaments – Unwind filaments onto a spool – One cocoon is between meters long – 5-8 filaments are twisted together to make thread – Considered part of household duties for women

Silk Culture Product – Clothes are light weight Warm in winter Cool in summer Silk Privilege – First – reserved only for emperor and family – Wore robe of white inside palace, yellow outside (color of the earth) – Other classes began wearing silk – Silk developed as an industrial product Instruments, fishing lines, bowstrings, paper

Silk Culture – Tribute paid in rice and silk – Currency – items were priced in lengths of silk – Lost monopoly in 200 AD when Chinese immigrants began to move to Korea – West gained sericulture in 550AD when two monks appeared in Justinian’s court with eggs in hollowed staffs Silk Road – Precious commodity to foreigners – Traders traveled the silk road overland – for months at a time – to get silk – Important artifacts found along the Silk Road

Rice Culture History – Chinese have been cultivating rice for thousands of years – Strong dependence and work put into rice added to strong rural essence – Chinese culture can be called ‘rice culture’ – Hunters and gathers left seeds in low-laying areas and developed system of rice farming – Originated in Yellow (Huang He) and Hanshui basins – Large areas of land viable for rice planting

Rice Culture – Evidence of rice farming as long as 3 to 4 thousand years – Widely accepted by Zhou dynasty ( BC) – By Han dynasty, rice was a staple (260BC-220AD) Developments – Complicated irrigation techniques were required for farming – Year round – ploughing spring, weeding in summer, harvesting in autumn, hoarding in spring – Used to brew wine and offer as sacrifices to gods and ancestors

Rice Culture Central part of Spring Festival – lunar new year – Gao – specialty rice used for celebrations – Rice dumplings made on 15 th night of the 1 st lunar month – for luck Throw rice in river 5 th day of 5 th month to prevent fish from eating the body of legendary leader Qu Yuan (Chu official) 9 th day of 9 th month eat double 9 festival cakes 8 th day of 12 th month people eat porridge with rice, beans, nuts, and dried fruit – Believed that Sakyamuni achieved Buddha-hood on this day