Considering the History of Silk
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.
During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the spinning wheel came to into wide usage, which ended up resulting cheaper manufacturing across the board for cotton, though silk production became more expensive. Silkworm disease epidemics took vast tolls on French silk production, while Japan began exporting a great deal of silk, the same way that China had centuries ago. China was still the largest produce of fabric in the world, though with the advent of nylon and other modern fibers, silk was no longer as rare or as highly prized as it once was.
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.
When technology created improvements in the way silk was being manufactured and other synthetic fibers such as nylon were used as a replacement, Japan was still the world’s leader in raw silk exports after World War II. By 1975, Japan’s role in the silk industry declined and they no longer were exporting raw silk materials.
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, 125, 000 tons of silk is still being produced around the world. The majority of the production is in China. Other countries that are producing silk are Japan, United States, Brazil, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Korea, India, and Thailand. The United States is the largest silk importer presently.
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