Chinese Sericulture System

Timeline

1. c. -3000–-200Middle and lower Yellow and Yangtze River regions · ChinaEarly peoples domesticated wild silkworms and cultivated mulberry trees, forming a 'mulberry–silkworm–silk–weaving' chain. By the Han dynasty, dedicated texts already recorded silkworm rearing rooms, egg-bath treatments, and reeling procedures.
2. 700–1300Taihu Lake basin · JiangnanAfter the economic center shifted south, mulberry planting on embankments, household reeling, and silk shops in market towns flourished. By the Song dynasty, dedicated sericulture texts had appeared alongside both official and private breeding systems.
3. 1421–1430Jiangnan sericulture market-town belt · JiangnanAfter the Yongle Emperor moved the capital north, Jiangnan silk goods were shipped north while overseas tributary trade advanced in parallel. The division of labor in silkworm egg-bathing, rearing on mounting frames and trays, and riverside reeling matured, and sericulture income became a cash source for farming households.
4. 1850Sericulture bases in eastern China · ChinaAfter being hit by competition from imported foreign silk in modern times, the industry underwent strain improvement and mechanization of reeling factories; today it has formed large-scale mulberry plantations, factory-based silkworm rearing, and a deep-processing silk industry chain.