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Read to

Find Out Silk was discovered

thousands of years

ago m China. How

did this material

become so

important?

photo credits Cover: Terry Why/Index Stock Imagery; 1:

Anthony Bannister/Galla Images/CORBIS; 2: C Sherburne/Photolink/Getty Images; 3: Terry Why/Index Stock Imagery; 4: Burke/Triolo Productions/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images; 5: Lowe Art Museum/SuperStock; 6: Peter Harholdt/SuperStock; 7: Anthony Bannister/ Gallo Images/CORBIS; 10-11: Peter Arnold; 10: (inset) Keren Su/CORBIS; 12: Digital Vision Direct; 14: (I) Wolfgang Kaehler/CORBIS; (r) Dr. Merely Read/Science Photo library; 16: Charles & Josette Lenars/CORBIS; 17: Paul Chesley/ Getty Images; 18: Kevin R. Morris/CORBIS.

illustration: 9: Arvis Stewart.

The McGraw·Hi/1 Compomes

B Macmillan B McGraw-Hill

• • • ' ' i I I • • • • '

STRATEGIES & SKILLS AT A GLANCE

Comprehension • Strategy: Make Inferences and

Analyze

• Skill: Evaluate Fact and Opinion

Vocabulary • dynasties, heritage, overjoyed,

preserve, temples

Vocabulary Strategy • Word Parts: Plural Endings

CONTENT-AREA VOCABULARY

Words related to the history of silk in

China

(see glossary)

NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS

Science • Life Science

Word count: 1,286**

8

Published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Two Penn Plaza, New York, New York 10121. Copyright© by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Printed in the United States of America

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 109 10 09 08 07 06

**The total word count is based on words in the running text and headings only. Numerals and words in captions, labels, diagrams, charts, and sidebars are not included.

The

Story of Silk

by Tricia Levi

Table of Contents Introduction . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 1 Silk Is Discovered in China . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 2 The Silk Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chapter 3 The Secret Gets Out . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 4 Silk in Modern China . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Glossary/Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Comprehension Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Introduction Thousands of years ago in China, people made

an important discovery. They found out that caterpillars of one kind of moth spin cocoons

of silk. And better yet, they found out that the cocoons could be unwound and the silk thread could be woven into fabric.

Silk fabric is shiny. It is soft and smooth to touch. It is very light in weight. And it can be dyed in beautiful colors.

0 The caterpillars that produce valuable silk are

commonly called silkworms , even though they are

not really worms.

0 Silk is strong. A thread of silk is stronger than

some kinds of steel of the same thtckness.

For thousands of years, the Chinese were the

only people who knew how to produce silk cloth. People in other countries wanted to trade for the precious silk fabric. Traders traveled to and from China on one main road. They traded goods

such as spices, glass, and gold for silk. Sometimes they even traded horses for silk. Over time this route became known as the Silk Road.

--

4

Chapter 1

Silk Is Discovered in China

According to an ancient Chinese fable, silk was discovered in China 5,000 years ago. Storytellers might have told the story like this:

Long ago, in the time of our ancestors, there

was an empress named Xilingshi (SHEE-ling-shee).

She was wise and beautiful.

One day the empress was in her garden having

tea under a mulberry tree. Something fell into the

hot tea. It was a cocoon. She looked up and saw

other cocoons hanging from the branches. Small

white caterpillars were spinning the cocoons. Others

were eating the leaves of the tree. She picked up

the cocoon in her teacup. To her surprise she saw

that the cocoon was made of one long thread.

Xilingshi had discovered silk.

Each silkworm cocoon � is made up of a single

thread of silk. This

thread can be up to

h alf a mile (0.80 km)

long.

C: Silk cloth

was used to

make imperial

robes for

China's rulers.

Xilingshi had the idea of turning the silk

threads into yarn. She even invented looms to

weave the silk yarn into fabric. From then on,

making silk became a part of China's heritage.

The people of China raised mulberry trees

and silkworms, the little white caterpillars that

Xilingshi saw, on farms. Women worked in

rooms full of long trays of silkworms. They fed the silkworms mulberry leaves-the only food they would eat. The silkworms spun cocoons.

The women unwound the silk thread. Weavers

made silk yarn and wove silk cloth. Only the people of China made silk.

-

5

1. Female silk moths lay

eggs on mulberry trees.

2. The larvae (silkworms)

hatch and begin to eat

the leaves.

3. The silkworms sp1n

cocoons.

4. The cocoons are steamed

and put in hot water.

5. The cocoon thread is

unwound.

6. The threads are twisted

together into yarn.

7. The yarn is dyed.

8. The dyed yarn IS woven

into cloth.

�reeding Silkworms To create a cocoon, the silkworm releases a­

liquid that hardens into a silk thread when it is

exposed to the air. The silkworm uses this thread

to spin its cocoon around itself. While inside· its

cocoon, the silkworm begins to pupate into a

moth. When it is fully grown, the moth breaks

open its cocoon. This causes the silk thread to

shred into many pieces.

That's why most of the cocoons are steamed

before the moth is fully grown. Killing the

silkworm before it becomes a moth keeps the

silk thread in one piece.

Some silkworms are allowed to become moths.

They are needed to make more eggs.

0 Silk moths, which are adult silkworms, exist in

captivity only. They cannot survive on their own.

-

8

Chapter 2

The Silk Road For a long time after silk was discovered,

only the emperor and his family wore silk. Later

other wealthy Chinese families began wearing

silk clothing. By about 500 B.c., silk was being

produced in several Chinese provinces. People all

over China began wearing silk.

When people from other countries saw the

shiny cloth, they wanted it too. But the Chinese

were the only ones who knew how to breed

silkworms and how to make silk. Outsiders

wanted to trade with China for silk. The Chinese

figured out how to get silk to them.

A 5,000-mile (8,047-km) road connected

China, India, Persia (now Iran), and the Roman

Empire. Soon the most important product traded

on this road was silk, so it came to be known as

the Silk Road.

Since China was the world's only supplier

of silk, this gave the country a lot of power. It

could charge a high price for the fabric.

0 The Silk Road connected China with countnes

eager to trade silk for other goods. The cities

marked were trading centers along the way.

The Chinese tried to preserve the secret of silk

making for as long as possible. Chinese people guarded the secret with their lives. Sharing or stealing silk-making knowledge was a crime.

Anyone who got caught was put to death.

9

Traveling along the Silk Road was dangerous.

Silk traders had to journey across dry, hot, and

windy deserts. They traveled in camel caravans

loaded with goods. They had to cross over high,

icy mountains, too. But rough weather conditions

were not the only threats on the Silk Road.

Thieves along the path stole silk and other goods.

Traders had to travel in large groups with guards.

s·1 's Value During China's Han dynasty,

pieces of silk served as

money. Soldiers were paid

with silk, and people

paid taxes with

the fabric. The

government bought

the friendship and

control of hostile

groups with silk.

Camels hauled silk �

and other goods

along the S ilk Road.

In many cases traders from the West did not travel the complete length of the Silk Road

themselves. Instead the silk passed through the hands of many traders between China and the final buyers. This added to the cost of moving

goods. China gained most of the wealth it earned from the silk trade during the Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) and Tang (A.D. 618-907) dynasties. ,

0 This is the Silk Road as it looks today.

Ideas Spread Along the Silk Road

People who used the Silk Road shared ideas

about religion and art.

For example, Buddhism (BOO-di-zuhm), a

religion, came to China from India. Buddhists

built temples in China. People in China shared

their ideas about the stars, mathematics, and

papermaking with traders from the West.

ges o B dd 1n

t mp s tho

Chapter 3

The Sel:ret Gets Out Once China began to trade silk cloth with

other countries, the secret of how to make silk

became more and more difficult to keep. Some

people who left China to live in other countries

brought the secret with them to their new homes.

People in Korea, India, and Persia began to

make their own silk. New traders competed with

China.

The ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire

between the years A.D. 527 and 565 was a man

named Justinian (juh-STI-nee-uhn). Justinian

wanted silk, but he did not want to trade with

Persia to get it. Persia and the Roman Empire

were at war with each other. The part of the

Silk Road that reached the Roman Empire ran

through Persia. Justinian tried to find a trade

route to go around Persia. But he was not

successful.

Eventually, people in the Roman Empire

learned how to make silk. Once this happened,

silk making spread throughout Europe.

13

14

In about A.D. 550 some travelers from India

told Justinian that they knew how his empire

could make its own silk. The travelers brought

silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds to Justinian.

Then they showed Justinian's people how to care

for the silkworms and harvest the silk thread.

The Roman Empire finally had China's closely

guarded secret of making silk. Justinian and his

people were overjoyed to be able to make their

own silk.

Countries who wished to make

their own silk needed to grow

mulberry trees so they could

breed silkworms. Justinian's

visitors from India brought him

seeds from the mulberry tree.

China was no longer the only place people

could get silk. As a result China's silk trade

began to drop off. Eventually, more trade between

the East and West took place by sea routes

instead of on the Silk Road. By about 1500 silk

trade over the Silk Road ended.

Silk Time Line

3000 B.c. Silkworms and silk are discovered

in China. Silk making begins.

Wearing of silk clothing is

reserved for the emperor and his

family.

500 B.C.

200 B.C.

A.D. 550

Wearing silk clothing spreads into

several regions of China.

Silk Road to the West opens.

China enjoys successful silk trade

with other countries.

Silkworm eggs and mulberry

seeds are obtained by the

Roman Empire.

Trading of silk along the Silk

Road ends.

15

16

Chapter 4

China Silk Modern • In Today China is not the only place in the

world where silk is produced. Still, more raw silk is made in China than in any other country. Many people in China make a living from silk. One kind of worker breeds silkworm eggs. Others

grow mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms once the eggs hatch. Farmers raise the silkworms and sell the cocoons to factories, which harvest them. Factory workers make silk fabric from silk yarn. Then they make clothing and other items from the fabric.

At the other end of the silk-making process are the merchants who sell silk clothing. There are also people who sell silk to other countries.

Chinese farme ·; <>tiP !> breed siikwcrms o�l(j harvest cocoons.

Who Makes Silk Today?

India

14%

Japan

11%

Other countries

(including

Brazil, Italy,

Thailand, and

Russia)

21%

produces

an amazing

v nety of

Silk

China

54%

Sixty billion pounds of silk are made in China

each year. This silk is used to make things like shirts, ties, and dresses. But the value of silk today is less than it was at the time of the Silk Road. Sales of silk make up a small part of China's economy.

17

Conclusion Silkworms and the fabric that can be made

from silk were important discoveries. The Silk

Road made it possible for China to share silk

with the outside world. China grew wealthy

from the silk it sold. And the Silk Road led to

the spread of important ideas between the East

and West.

Over the years silk became an important

part of Chinese culture. At first the Chinese

were worried about letting out the secret of

silk making. They needed the wealth that

the silk trade brought them. China lost an

important part of its economy when other

countries learned how to make silk. But it

gained something else. When silk making

spread to other countries, a part of Chinese

culture went with it. Stories and myths about

China and silk making were shared with

people from many different countries.

This raw silk does not :> look anything like the

beautiful and costly

fabric it may become.

Glossary caterpillar (KAT-uhr-pi/-uhr) the larva of a butterfly or moth

(page 2)

cocoon (kuh-KOON) the silky case that a caterpiller or other

insect larva spins around itself (page 2)

dynasty (0/GH-nuh-stee) a series of rulers belonging to the

same family (page 10)

larva (LAHR-vuh) the newly hatched form of some insects

and some animals. A caterpillar is the larva of a moth or

butterfly. The plural is larvae (LAHR-vee). (page 6)

moth (MAWTH) an insect that looks like a butterfly. Unlike

butterflies, moths have thick bodies and fly mostly at night.

(page 2)

province (PRAH-vins) a division of a country that is smaller

than a region (page 8)

pupate (PYEW-payt) change form. Inside a cocoon, a silkworm

becomes a moth. (page 7)

Index Buddhism, 72 Han dynasty, 77 India, 8-9, 72-74

Justinian, 73-74 mulberry, 4-6, 74-75, 76

Persia, 8-9, 73

Roman Empire, 8-9, 73-75 Silk Road, 3, 8-72, 73, 75, 77, 78

silkworm, 2, 4-5, 6-7, 8, 74-75, 76, 78

Tang dynasty, 77

Xilingshi, 4-5

19

Comprehension Check

Summarize

Use the photographs in the book to help you

summarize the history of silk making in China.

Think and Compare

1. Look at pages 12-15. What is one fact and one

opinion about how the Roman Empire learned to

make silk? (Evaluate Fact and Opinion)

2. If you could travel the Silk Road today, what do

you think you would see there? (Apply)

3. Why is it important for countries to share

information? (Analyze)

20

Write a Book Review Write a paragraph that tells your opinion

this book. Tell what you like or don't like

about it. Explain why you feel this way.

Report on China important to the history and culture

of China. What else is unique to China's

heritage? Do some research in the library or

on the Internet about another important part

of Chinese culture. Report your findings to the

class.