Chinese Silk: Sericulture and the Silk Road Trade

Chinese silk production and trade was one of the most important economic activities in ancient world history. For over two thousand years, Chinese silk was the most coveted luxury in the Mediterranean world, and the "Silk Road" was the conduit for this precious commodity — and for the cultural exchanges it enabled.

Sericulture

Silk production (丝绸) begins with the silkworm (蚕), which feeds on mulberry leaves. The cocoons are boiled to kill the pupae and the silk fibers unwound. A single cocoon yields about 1,000 meters of silk thread. This painstaking process was a Chinese secret for millennia.

Silk Trade

Chinese silk was so prized in Rome that Roman senators tried to ban it as a moral threat. Silk traveled westward along the Silk Road, becoming one of the most valuable commodities in ancient world trade. The silk trade connected China with the Roman Empire, India, Persia, and Central Asia.