The Five Historical Stages of the Development of Tussah Silk

2020-04-20

The first stage is the stage of collecting and utilizing wild resources

For quite a long time before 25 AD, China's tussah resources were in a state of self-sufficiency in the mountainous area of central and southern Shandong where they originated. In the natural tussah forest of a suitable ecological year, more tussah cocoons can appear, and then farmers will collect them and process them to make silk wool. At this time, it is impossible to form a large-scale, continuous industry.

The second stage Wild tussah domestication stage

Since 25 AD, the production of tussah silkworm has been artificially preserved and domesticated, and has entered the stage of national advocacy. Until 1744, the first monograph on the stocking of tussah in Chinese history - "The Method of Raising Silkworms in Mountains" was published, which lasted 1,700 years. The sign of technological progress at this stage is to solve the technical problem of tussah silkworm seed retention. The completely wild tussah silkworm is domesticated into artificial seed, and the semi-wild economic insects that are stocked are controlled to obtain a stable tussah silkworm cocoon harvest. In the later stage of this stage, because the problem of seed retention was solved, China's tussah sericulture gradually spread from Shandong Peninsula to Henan, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Anhui and Hubei.

The third stage: the primary stage of artificial stocking and silk weaving

From 1744 to 1930, Huayang Silk Industry Federation established China's first sericulture specialized school in Yantai, focusing on the teaching of tussah. Research on tussah science, tussah stocking and tussah forest cultivation technology. The improvement of silk-making, dyeing and weaving techniques, etc., belonged to the first stage of artificial stocking of tussah, which lasted about 186 years. At this stage, the traditional tussah stocking experience has been quite mature and complete. From the cultivation and management of tussah trees to the production, selection and identification of tussah bells, the stocking management from spring silkworms to autumn silkworms, from juvenile silkworms to strong silkworms. supporting technical system. Guided by these traditional experiences, the later period of this stage became the heyday of Chinese tussah sericulture. In 1921, the total amount of tussah cocoons in China reached 93.5kt, which was the highest record for the production of tussah cocoons in China so far.

The silk weaving technique at this stage is: take the thick juice of oak ash and boil it, put the cocoons in it and cook, remove the silkworm chrysalis after the appropriate heat, wash them with warm water, dry them in the sun, and store them for twisting or spinning. Thread, woven into "earth silk". At this time, the management of silkworm cocoons has developed from farmers putting silkworms, twisting threads and weaving silk by themselves, to capitalists buying silkworm cocoons and establishing "silk houses" and silk factories. There is a clear division of labor between sericulture and silk weaving. In the middle of the 19th century, the reeling of silk by car started in Shandong, that is, water reeling. Its operation method is that one person reeling silk, one person transfers the car, or the silk reeler runs on foot, and the other person manages the fire. The application of silk making and weaving raw materials is closely linked. The traditionally used twisted silk is narrow in width, rough in texture and rough in texture, but very durable. There appeared "Old Kuan Silk" with a width of 2 feet 6 inches and a length of 15 yards, and "Yi Liu Silk" with a width of 1 foot 6 inches and a length of 20 yards.

The fourth stage: the intermediate stage of artificial stocking and silk weaving

From the establishment of Yantai Silk College in 1930 to the establishment of the International Wild Silkworm Research Center in Dandong by the International Wild Silkworm Research Society in 1990, it took 60 years and belonged to the second stage of artificial stocking of tussah.

At this stage, China's tussah industry has experienced many twists and turns. From the 1930s to the 1970s, China's tussah silk industry fell into a low ebb at the beginning of almost every era. The progress of tussah technology is slow. In the early 1960s, the tussah sericulture in Liaoning, the main tussah producing area, was almost destroyed due to the harm of tussah worms. Afterwards, a group of Chinese tussah scientific and technological workers closely combined traditional tussah production experience with modern science and technology. In less than 40 years, they contributed 314 scientific and technological achievements to the country, among which major achievements won national awards. 9 items, and 23 important achievements that have won the provincial and ministerial-level second-class awards. These achievements have become the supporting force for the stable development of my country's tussah industry.

A prominent feature of the scientific and technological progress of sericulture at this stage is the combination of traditional production experience and contemporary advanced biotechnology.

At this stage, in terms of silk weaving technology and science and education, mechanical silk reeling was used in some parts of the Northeast, but manual silk reeling was still used in most parts of the country. After liberation, my country's silk reeling and silk factories have changed from small hand workshops to large and medium-sized factories using electric machines. Machine production has replaced the cumbersome manual labor of hand-operated pedals, and all mechanized printing and dyeing and other finishing equipment are used. Before liberation, only white silk could be produced, and after liberation, it could produce printing and dyeing silk of various colors. By 1978, there were more than 68,500 threads of water reeling machines, more than 3,700 threads of wood reeling machines, more than 7,500 silk looms of various types, and 33,800 silk spindles. Hundreds of ingots. In the period of planned economy, an industrial pattern with science, industry and trade as the main body and the integration of trade, industry and agriculture was basically formed.

my country has successfully developed new equipment for tussah cocoon sorting and cocoon sorting, cocoon cooking machine, cocoon bleaching machine, combined cooking and bleaching machine, automatic reeling machine for eighteen threads, and vacuum infiltration cocoon cooking and bleaching. Use highly intelligent rapier looms, air-jet looms, water-jet looms, etc. to improve the quality of tussah silk varieties and expand the door width. In view of the characteristics of tussah silk, we have successfully developed pressure-equalizing clothing for live work and acid-proof silk for chemical factory workers. In terms of printing and dyeing, more than 300 dyes of various types have been screened successively, and the water stains, yellowing and shrinkage of tussah, which affect the wearing performance, have basically been solved. At the beginning of the 21st century, a coating agent was developed, which completely solved the problems of fluff, water stains, yellowing and shrinkage of tussah silk. It can produce 14 categories and 27 categories of various styles of thin, medium and thick varieties. The application of the products has been developed to many fields such as clothing, decoration, industry, medicine and health, national defense and so on. Tussah silk products have been developed and expanded to knitted products of various colors and styles.

The fifth stage is the advanced stage of artificial stocking and silk weaving

From the 1990s to today in the 21st century, although the tussah silk industry has encountered unprecedented difficulties, the Chinese tussah silkworm industry started from the start of the Liaoning Sericulture Research Institute's research on the gene engineering of the tussah NPV vector and the establishment of an international research center in Liaoning. Scientific research will strive to improve the scientific utilization of tussah sericulture resources as the main direction. This stage of technological progress is marked by the leap-forward introduction of modern biotechnology into the traditional field of tussah sericulture research, the design and implementation of a number of new tussah sericulture research topics, and the beginning of China's tussah sericulture scientific research to enter the forefront of world biological research . The scientific development and utilization of tussah silkworm chrysalis and moth resources have achieved gratifying results. A large number of tussah biotechnology products, such as "Sky", have begun to enter the international and domestic biopharmaceutical and health care product markets with their unique resource advantages and technological advantages. The tussah NPV vector expression system established by genetic engineering has been confirmed to express a variety of precious polypeptide drugs in SSG cells, tussah ovary primary cells and tussah live pupae. Significant results have been achieved in the application of tussah silk fibroin and silk peptides to food and cosmetics. In addition to the preparation of Trichogramma, the application of tussah eggs is also used to control the pests of Lepidoptera in agriculture and forestry.

In terms of silk weaving technical achievements, it mainly develops high-grade tussah silk varieties and products with special functions, such as acid-proof silk, shielding silk, microwave protective clothing, etc. Printing and dyeing is mainly the application of electronic inkjet printing. In the finishing of tussah silk, coatings and other finishing agents with special functions have been developed to further improve the appearance of tussah silk. The quality, style and performance of tussah silk knitted products have been further improved, and their products have been exported in large quantities. The main sign here is to use modern means to improve the performance of fabrics, improve the technological content and use value, and pay attention to environmental protection and hygienic functions.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the use of tussah silk and its products has become more and more extensive, especially the silk quilt occupies almost half of the silk Quilt.

Previous: Home Textiles Knowledge - Detailed Explanation of Sanded Fabrics Advantages of Sanded Fabrics