Traditional Chinese Silk（3）

The dissemination of Chinese silk abroad has a history of over two thousand and hundreds of years. According to Greek historians, Chinese silk was transported to Europe no later than the 4th century BC; The discovery of fabrics with silk in European archaeology dates back even earlier. In the third year of the Jianyuan reign of the Han Dynasty (138 BC), before Zhang Qian passed through the Western Regions, Western Asian merchants had already come to China to trade silk. Later, this trade route that traversed Asia and Europe was known as the "Silk Road". Maritime transportation with Japan, North Korea, and Vietnam began during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, and silk trade was still ongoing between the Qin and Han dynasties and various countries in the South China Sea. During the Qin Dynasty, a group of people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang traveled to Japan to teach silk techniques. During the Western Han Dynasty, the technique of weaving silk was also introduced to Japan through Korea. During the Three Kingdoms period, Japanese envoys to China brought back a large amount of silk, and during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, relief printing was introduced to Japan.

During the Tang Dynasty, Japanese envoys sent more silk back home. A large number of Tang Dynasty Chinese silk treasures are still preserved in places such as Masakura Temple and Falong Temple in Japan. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, excellent Chinese silkworm eggs were transmitted to Persia, Arabia, and Byzantium. At the same time, stencil printing and dyeing with neem ash as mordant were introduced into Japan. Chinese craftsmen also went to present-day Iraq and other places to teach silk weaving techniques, and in the future, Chinese foot looms were spread to Europe. In the Song Dynasty, with the development of shipbuilding and navigation, maritime transportation developed, and Japanese visitors returned to China to produce silk resembling China in the Bodo region. At that time, the "Bodo weaving" became famous throughout Japan. During the Yuan Dynasty, overseas trade flourished, and Chinese letterpress and hollow out printing techniques were introduced to Europe.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, silk was an important export item for China. During the Ming and Zheng dynasties' seven voyages to the West, there was more exchange of silk goods and techniques between China and foreign countries. In the 16th century, Portugal and Spain successively sent ships to China for trade, with Spanish ships carrying more silk. In the 17th century, the Netherlands, Britain, and France successively sent ships to China. After 1785, the trade in silk was monopolized by the British East India Company. At the same time, there are also merchant ships from the United States coming to China. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, China's silk exports remained strong, with an average of approximately 1100 tons per year from 1800 to 1804 and an average of 80424 tons from 1909 to 1911. After the Opium War, China became a semi colony, and the silk industry in France and Japan began to flourish. Traditional Chinese silk faced fierce competition.