This article is about an animal fiber and the textile woven from it.

For other uses, see Silk

(disambiguation).
"Pure silk" redirects here. For women's professional golf tournament, see Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA
Classic.

Silk

"Silk" in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified

(bottom) Chinese

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese 絲

Simplified Chinese 丝

showTranscriptions

Japanese name

Kanji 絹

Kana シルク
Four of the most important domesticated silk moths. Top to bottom:
Bombyx mori, Hyalophora cecropia, Antheraea pernyi, Samia cynthia.
From Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (1885–1892)

A silk-producing raspy cricket

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of
silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons.[1] The
best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx
mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the
triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at
different angles, thus producing different colors.
Silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used
for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the
molecular level.[2] Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete
metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets, produce silk throughout
their lives.[3] Silk production also occurs in hymenoptera (bees, wasps,
and ants), silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies, and midges.
[2]
 Other types of arthropods produce silk, most notably various arachnids, such as spiders.
 Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
o 2.1Wild silk
o 2.2China
o 2.3Northeastern India
o 2.4India
o 2.5Thailand
o 2.6Bangladesh
o 2.7Central Asia
o 2.8Middle East
o 2.9Ancient Mediterranean
o 2.10Medieval and modern Europe
o 2.11North America
o 2.12Malaysia
o 2.13Vietnam
 3Production process
 4Properties
o 4.1Physical properties
o 4.2Chemical properties
 5Variants
o 5.1Regenerated silk fiber
 6Applications
o 6.1Clothing
o 6.2Furniture
o 6.3Industry
o 6.4Medicine
o 6.5Biomaterial
 6.5.1Biocompatibility
 6.5.2Biodegradability
 6.5.3Genetic modification
 7Cultivation
 8Animal rights
 9See also
 10References
o 10.1Citations
o 10.2Bibliography
 11Further reading
 12External links

Etymology
The word silk comes from Old English: sioloc, from Ancient Greek: σηρικός, romanized: sērikós,
"silken", ultimately from the Chinese word "sī" and other Asian sources—
compare Mandarin sī "silk", Manchurian sirghe, Mongolian sirkek.[4]

History
Main article: History of silk
The production of silk originated in China in the Neolithic period, although it would eventually reach
other places of the world (Yangshao culture, 4th millennium BC). Silk production remained confined
to China until the Silk Road opened at some point during the latter part of the 1st millennium BC,
though China maintained its virtual monopoly over silk production for another thousand years.

Wild silk
Main article: Wild silk

Woven silk textile from tomb no 1. at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan province, China, from the Western Han

dynasty, 2nd century BC

Rearing of wild Eri silk worm, as seen in 7Weaves, Assam

Several kinds of wild silk, produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been
known and spun in China, South Asia, and Europe since ancient times, e.g. the production of Eri silk
in Assam, India. However, the scale of production was always far smaller than for cultivated silks.
There are several reasons for this: first, they differ from the domesticated varieties in colour
and texture and are therefore less uniform; second, cocoons gathered in the wild have usually had
the pupa emerge from them before being discovered so the silk thread that makes up the cocoon
has been torn into shorter lengths; and third, many wild cocoons are covered in a mineral layer that
prevents attempts to reel from them long strands of silk.[5] Thus, the only way to obtain silk suitable
for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious and labor-
intensive carding.
Some natural silk structures have been used without being unwound or spun. Spider webs were
used as a wound dressing in ancient Greece and Rome, [6] and as a base for painting from the 16th
century.[7] Caterpillar nests were pasted together to make a fabric in the Aztec Empire.[8]
Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a white-colored
silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling
water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute
to the ability of the whole cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread, permitting a much
stronger cloth to be woven from the silk. Wild silks also tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from
the cultivated silkworm.[9][10] A technique known as demineralizing allows the mineral layer around the
cocoon of wild silk moths to be removed, [11] leaving only variability in color as a barrier to creating a
commercial silk industry based on wild silks in the parts of the world where wild silk moths thrive,
such as in Africa and South America.

China
Main article: Silk industry in China

A painting depicting women inspecting silk, early 12th century, ink and color on silk, by Emperor Huizong of
Song.

Portrait of a silk merchant in Guangzhou, Qing dynasty, from Peabody Essex Museum

Silk use in fabric was first developed in ancient China. [12][13] The earliest evidence for silk is the
presence of the silk protein fibroin in soil samples from two tombs at
the neolithic site Jiahu in Henan, which date back about 8,500 years.[14][15] The earliest surviving
example of silk fabric dates from about 3630 BC, and was used as the wrapping for the body of a
child at a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun near Xingyang, Henan.[12][16]
Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu (Hsi-Ling-Shih, Lei-Tzu). Silks
were originally reserved for the Emperors of China for their own use and gifts to others, but spread
gradually through Chinese culture and trade both geographically and socially, and then to many
regions of Asia. Because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the
many areas accessible to Chinese merchants. Silk was in great demand, and became a staple of
pre-industrial international trade. Silk was also used as a surface for writing, especially during the
Warring States period (475-221 BCE). The fabric was light, it survived the damp climate of the
Yangtze region, absorbed ink well, and provided a white background for the text. [17] In July 2007,
archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province,
dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty roughly 2,500 years ago.[18] Although historians have suspected a
long history of a formative textile industry in ancient China, this find of silk textiles employing
"complicated techniques" of weaving and dyeing provides direct evidence for silks dating before
the Mawangdui-discovery and other silks dating to the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD).[18]
Silk is described in a chapter of the Fan Shengzhi shu from the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD).
There is a surviving calendar for silk production in an Eastern Han (25–220 AD) document. The two
other known works on silk from the Han period are lost. [12] The first evidence of the long distance silk
trade is the finding of silk in the hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty, c.1070 BC.[19] The
silk trade reached as far as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. This
trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes between Europe and Asia came to be
known as the Silk Road.
The Emperors of China strove to keep knowledge of sericulture secret to maintain the
Chinese monopoly. Nonetheless sericulture reached Korea with technological aid from China around
200 BC,[20] the ancient Kingdom of Khotan by AD 50,[21] and India by AD 140.[22]
In the ancient era, silk from China was the most lucrative and sought-after luxury item traded across
the Eurasian continent,[23] and many civilizations, such as the ancient Persians, benefited
economically from trade.[23]

 Chinese silk making process

 The silkworms and mulberry leaves are placed on trays.
 
 Twig frames for the silkworms are prepared.
 

The cocoons are weighed.

 

The cocoons are soaked and the silk is wound on spools.

 
 

The silk is woven using a loom.

Northeastern India
In the northeastern state of Assam, three different types of indigenous variety of silk are produced,
collectively called Assam silk: Muga, Eri, and Pat silk. Muga, the golden silk, and Eri are produced
by silkworms that are native only to Assam. They have been reared since ancient times similar to
other East and South-East Asian countries.

India
Main article: Silk in the Indian subcontinent

Silk sari weaving at Kanchipuram

Silk has a long history in India. It is known as Resham in eastern and north India, and Pattu in
southern parts of India. Recent archaeological discoveries in Harappa and Chanhu-daro suggest
that sericulture, employing wild silk threads from native silkworm species, existed in South
Asia during the time of the Indus Valley Civilisation (now in Pakistan and India) dating between 2450
BC and 2000 BC, while "hard and fast evidence" for silk production in China dates back to around
2570 BC.[24][25] Shelagh Vainker, a silk expert at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, who sees
evidence for silk production in China "significantly earlier" than 2500–2000 BC, suggests, "people of
the Indus civilization either harvested silkworm cocoons or traded with people who did, and that they
knew a considerable amount about silk."[24]
India is the second largest producer of silk in the world after China. About 97% of the raw mulberry
silk comes from six Indian states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil
Nadu, Bihar, and West Bengal.[26] North Bangalore, the upcoming site of a $20 million "Silk
City" Ramanagara and Mysore, contribute to a majority of silk production in Karnataka. [27]

Antheraea assamensis, the endemic species in the state of Assam, India

A traditional Banarasi sari with gold brocade

In Tamil Nadu, mulberry cultivation is concentrated in

the Coimbatore, Erode, Bhagalpuri, Tiruppur, Salem, and Dharmapuri districts. Hyderabad, Andhra
Pradesh, and Gobichettipalayam, Tamil Nadu, were the first locations to have automated silk reeling
units in India.[28]

Thailand
Main article: Thai silk
Silk is produced year-round in Thailand by two types of silkworms, the cultured Bombycidae and wild
Saturniidae. Most production is after the rice harvest in the southern and northeastern parts of the
country. Women traditionally weave silk on hand looms and pass the skill on to their daughters, as
weaving is considered to be a sign of maturity and eligibility for marriage. Thai silk textiles often use
complicated patterns in various colours and styles. Most regions of Thailand have their own typical
silks. A single thread filament is too thin to use on its own so women combine many threads to
produce a thicker, usable fiber. They do this by hand-reeling the threads onto a wooden spindle to
produce a uniform strand of raw silk. The process takes around 40 hours to produce a half kilogram
of silk. Many local operations use a reeling machine for this task, but some silk threads are still
hand-reeled. The difference is that hand-reeled threads produce three grades of silk: two fine grades
that are ideal for lightweight fabrics, and a thick grade for heavier material.
The silk fabric is soaked in extremely cold water and bleached before dyeing to remove the natural
yellow coloring of Thai silk yarn. To do this, skeins of silk thread are immersed in large tubs
of hydrogen peroxide. Once washed and dried, the silk is woven on a traditional hand-operated
loom.[29]

Bangladesh
Main article: Rajshahi silk
The Rajshahi Division of northern Bangladesh is the hub of the country's silk industry. There are
three types of silk produced in the region: mulberry, endi, and tassar. Bengali silk was a major item
of international trade for centuries. It was known as Ganges silk in medieval Europe. Bengal was the
leading exporter of silk between the 16th and 19th centuries. [30]

Central Asia
Chinese Embassy, carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons, 7th century CE, Afrasiyab, Sogdia.[31]

The 7th century CE murals of Afrasiyab in Samarkand, Sogdiana, show a Chinese Embassy

carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons to the local Sogdian ruler. [31]

Middle East
In the Torah, a scarlet cloth item called in Hebrew "sheni tola'at" ‫ – שני תולעת‬literally "crimson of the
worm" – is described as being used in purification ceremonies, such as those following a leprosy
outbreak (Leviticus 14), alongside cedar wood and hyssop (za'atar). Eminent scholar and leading
medieval translator of Jewish sources and books of the Bible into Arabic, Rabbi Saadia Gaon,
translates this phrase explicitly as "crimson silk" – ‫חריר קרמז حرير قرمز‬.
In Islamic teachings, Muslim men are forbidden to wear silk. Many religious jurists believe the
reasoning behind the prohibition lies in avoiding clothing for men that can be considered feminine or
extravagant.[32] There are disputes regarding the amount of silk a fabric can consist of (e.g., whether
a small decorative silk piece on a cotton caftan is permissible or not) for it to be lawful for men to
wear, but the dominant opinion of most Muslim scholars is that the wearing of silk by men is
forbidden. Modern attire has raised a number of issues, including, for instance, the permissibility of
wearing silk neckties, which are masculine articles of clothing.

Ancient Mediterranean

The Gunthertuch, an 11th-century silk celebrating a Byzantine emperor's triumph

In the Odyssey, 19.233, when Odysseus, while pretending to be someone else, is questioned by

Penelope about her husband's clothing, he says that he wore a shirt "gleaming like the skin of a
dried onion" (varies with translations, literal translation here) [33] which could refer to the lustrous
quality of silk fabric. Aristotle wrote of Coa vestis, a wild silk textile from Kos. Sea silk from certain
large sea shells was also valued. The Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk, and Chinese silk
was the most highly priced luxury good imported by them. [23] During the reign of
emperor Tiberius, sumptuary laws were passed that forbade men from wearing silk garments, but
these proved ineffectual.[34] The Historia Augusta mentions that the third-century
emperor Elagabalus was the first Roman to wear garments of pure silk, whereas it had been
customary to wear fabrics of silk/cotton or silk/linen blends. [35] Despite the popularity of silk, the secret
of silk-making only reached Europe around AD 550, via the Byzantine Empire. Contemporary
accounts state that monks working for the emperor Justinian I smuggled silkworm
eggs to Constantinople from China inside hollow canes.[36] All top-quality looms and weavers were
located inside the Great Palace complex in Constantinople, and the cloth produced was used in
imperial robes or in diplomacy, as gifts to foreign dignitaries. The remainder was sold at very high
prices.

Medieval and modern Europe

Silk satin leaf, wood sticks, and guards, c. 1890

Italy was the most important producer of silk during the Medieval age. The first center to introduce
silk production to Italy was the city of Catanzaro during the 11th century in the region of Calabria.
The silk of Catanzaro supplied almost all of Europe and was sold in a large market fair in the port
of Reggio Calabria, to Spanish,