Considering the History of Silk
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Silk is an amazing luxurious material with a history that goes back to 2700 BC. Until the Silk Road introduced it to the rest of the world in 1 BC, China was the only producer and consumer of silk, and it used silk in everything from clothing to writing paper. Silk was truly a material that was reserved for those who could afford it, and wearing silk was often considered sign of wealth and affluence, especially during the Tang Dynasty.
It wasn’t until 300 AD that silk production spread to Japan, and by 522, the Byzantines had obtained the technique. Around about this time period, the Arabs began manufacturing silk as well, and because sericulture was becoming more well known, silk imports from China became less important. Western countries like Italy began to export their own silk and the Renaissance saw a change in the method of production. France also started to trade silk with Italy, and they remained the two leaders when it came to silk in the European world that did not come from China.
dThe silk industry changed during the industrial revolution in Europe. The spinning wheel became innovative in spinning cotton, which resulted in cheaper manufacturing and silk production became more expensive. France never recovered from their silk industry when silkworm diseases became an epidemic. Japan began to produce silk and followed in the footsteps of China. China is still the largest producer in the world of the fabric. New fabrics like nylon were discovered and silk has become a rarity since the fabric is not as prevalent as it once was when it was first manufactured.
After Europe suffered such a set back with its sericulture, Japan began to take steps to modernize their own silk industries, at which point they became the world’s largest producers of silk. Italy recovered from the epidemic in a way that France never did, and European silk manufacture ceased exporting its goods to other countries. In turn, Japan started importing raw silk as Europe halted production, and in general many Eastern countries started to export more silk clothes
During World War II, Japan’s silk supplies were not being exported. Therefore, Western countries had to find silk substitutes and fabrics like nylon were replacing silk. After World War II, the Japanese silk industry could not regain its productivity.
However, it is still important to remember that technology had greatly improved the way that silk was manufactured and though nylon was still used as a substitute, Japan still took its place as the leader in raw silk exports after the war. By 1975, Japan was no longer exporting raw silk materials to the rest of the world.
At this point, China is still the world’s largest producer of silk. In 1996, this country produced 58,000 tons, far ahead of the the second largest producer, which was India with 13,000 tons. In the same year, Japan produced only 2,500 tons. In 1997, however, China’s silk production did suffer. Though the global demand for silk during the nineties did dip, silk production was still fairly strong in India and in the UK. There were complaints about the low quality of the silk produced.
Today, silk is still being produced in the range of 125,000 tons all over the world. While China leads the world in silk production, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Korea, Thailand, India and the United States all produce it as well, with the United States being the world’s largest silk importer.
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