It is believed that China was the place where silk was first woven. According to legend, in third millennium BCE, Si Lin Chi, the wife of Emperor Huang Ti Hsi-ling-shi, discovered silk when a cocoon dropped into her hot tea and the long, lustrous fibers were revealed. For almost 2,000 years, the Chinese kept the technique of securing silk and making fabrics a secret from the outside world. During the 3rd century BCE, Alexander the Great was given the credit for discovering silk in India. For many centuries afterwards, people in the West could only import silk as the technique to secure this mysterious new fabric and weave fabrics from it was still unknown to them.
After the Chinese discovered the properties of silk, an increasing number of their dresses were made of patterned silks that were both comfortable to wear and attractive to look at. However, due to the high cost of silk, only the rich could afford such clothes. The poor used clothes made of ramie or hemp. During the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368 A.D), the Mongols brought cotton to the land and encouraged its use. Slowly, cotton became the most favorite fabric of the people as it was warmer, stronger, softer and cheaper as compared to silk. |
