Talk:Silk
From Academic Kids
From:
http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinhist.html
"The Chinese had settled in the Huang He, or Yellow River, valley of northern China by 3000 BC. By then they had pottery, wheels, farms, and silk, but they had not yet discovered writing or the uses of metals."
From:
http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html
Regarding "The Silk Road" trade route.
"Secondly, the Silk Road was not a trade route that existed solely for the purpose of trading in silk; many other commodities were also traded, from gold and ivory to exotic animals and plants. Of all the precious goods crossing this area, silk was perhaps the most remarkable for the people of the West. It is often thought that the Romans had first encountered silk in one of their campaigns against the Parthians in 53 B.C, and realised that it could not have been produced by this relatively unsophisticated people. They reputedly learnt from Parthian prisoners that it came from a mysterious tribe in the east, who they came to refer to as the silk people, `Seres'. In practice, it is likely that silk and other goods were beginning to filter into Europe before this time, though only in very small quantities. The Romans obtained samples of this new material, and it quickly became very popular in Rome, for its soft texture and attractiveness. The Parthians quickly realised that there was money to be made from trading the material, and sent trade missions towards the east. The Romans also sent their own agents out to explore the route, and to try to obtain silk at a lower price than that set by the Parthians. For this reason, the trade route to the East was seen by the Romans as a route for silk rather than the other goods that were traded. The name `Silk Road' itself does not originate from the Romans, however, but is a nineteenth century term, coined by the German scholar, von Richthofen. "
Can someone describe this synthetic silk and its production? --blades 22:56, May 15, 2004 (UTC)
Comment moved from the article:
Nothing in this article mentions the portuguese trade of silk from china (in return for japanese silver) around 1600 which was the largest source of silk at that time and was a large income for the portuguese who (under spanish rule at the time), under Philip were at war with England and Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
— Chameleon My page/My talk 18:33, 2 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Inlcude more please!
What about the characteristics of silk??? Come on, the method of manufactureing silk in not included. look at this site for intstance. It is very comprehensive and includes many more things that the Wikipedia page. http://www.ancientroute.com/resource/cloth/silk.htm
