5-3 The Spread of Silk Weaving Technology in China during the Six Dynasties

Hello everyone, last section we have talked about the spread of silk, wool weaving and batting in Qin and Han dynasties. Now let's continue to learn the spread of silk weaving technology in China during the Six Dynasties. During the Six Dynasties, there were many records about the foreign exchange of silk weaving technology and the export of products. Based on the records of the Three Kingdoms in 238 AD, the Japanese queen Zhou Minghu has sent envoys to China and bring the Emperor Ming of Wei dynasty to pieces of clothes with bat fibers. The Emperor Ming of Wei has returned more than 100 pieces of silk fabrics, such as brocade and silk. In addition to bringing back these precious textiles, the Japanese envoys also brought back China's textile technologies such as jacquard weaving and printing and dyeing through visits and understanding. Wu clothing, that is Hefu at that time, is made of silk imported from Dongwu, now Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Three Kingdoms period. This kind of Wu clothing is still Japan's national clothing based on the Japan's chronicle of ancient events during the Eastern Jin dynasty and the Southern and Northern dynasties in China. Japan sent envoys to Jiangsu and Zhejiang province in China to seek textile and sewing workers to teach their skills in Japan. They also brought back the precious silk fabrics to goose feathers. These Chinese textile workers living in Japan contributed to the development of ancient Japanese textile printing and dyeing and sewing technology. Up to now, in the ancient painting hidden in Japan's longevity temple, there are still portraits of ancient Chinese textile workers. It not only embodied the Chinese people's nostalgia and reverence for them, but also a clear proof of the friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese people. Based on the biographies of Faxian in the Eastern Jin dynasty, the Buddhist monks traveled from Chang'an to Tianzhu, now India, through the Silk Road on land to learn from the silk purchase, and then returned home by sea. When he passed by Sri Lanka today, he saw the local businessmen using the Shanxi white silk fan. His nostalgia for his motherland arises spontaneously. This shows that as early as around the 4th century, our country's silk fabrics were transported to Sri Lanka, an island country in the Indian Ocean. Based on the history of the western spread of Chinese silk, around the 6th century, two envoys from the ancient period traveled a long distance to China. After learning about silk culture and silk weaving techniques in China, they brought back some silkworm eggs. In order to avoid the impact of bad weather on their journey, they put silkworm eggs in bamboo tubes and experienced hardships. Valuable silkworm eggs were settled in Persia in the 6th century. When silviculture technology in our country was introduced to Byzantium, Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey, and then Emperor Justin set up a weaving workshop in the palace, and he had exclusive power to weave and sell silk. This shows how much our beautiful silk is valued and welcomed there. Okay, that's all the content of this course. The content of next course will be the spread of weaving and dyeing technology in the flourishing Tang Dynasty. See you next course.