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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t12: Silk

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t12

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English

Silk

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The production of silk has always been identified with the Chinese civilisation and it is widely accepted that the Chinese people have developed the art and technique of silk-making for a longer time and to a higher level of sophistication than any other people.

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Silk is produced by unravelling the filament of the cocoon spun by certain species of moth which is then woven to produce silk cloth. Although Chinese silk has, from antiquity, been the home of the finest domesticated and processed silk, the technique of producing raw silk from a number of wild species of moth has been known to many other societies including India. For instance, recent studies have revealed the presence of silk in sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation in present-day Pakistan. Dating back to the 3ʳᵈ millennium BCE, this is the earliest evidence of silk outside China.

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Stone image of Han dynasty weaving in China

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The earliest archaeological evidence for silk in China dates back to about 2570 BCE from the Huzhou Neolithic site of Qianshanyang. Chinese silk is identified with the domesticated species of moth, *Bombyx mori*. The silkworms are reared primarily on a diet of white mulberry leaves. The silkworm cocoons are boiled in a slightly alkaline solution in order to remove a gum called sericin. By boiling the cocoons before the moths come out, it is possible to draw out an unbroken filament which results in a very fine quality of the silk.

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Princess in natural silk

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Chinese silk was known and prized in India since early times, quite possibly as early as the 5th century BCE. The term *cinamsuka*, referring to silk cloth from China, was mentioned in the *Brhadkalpabhasya* and in the famous Indian epic *Mahabharata*. Another version, probably with a design, was known as *uchitra cinamsuka*. The term *cinampatta* was also known in this period. Chinese silk flags (*cinamsukamketo*) are also mentioned in the Sanskrit play *Sakuntala* by Kalidasa. A Chinese type upper garment used by Indian royalty in the early years of this era was known as *cinamcolaka*. Chinese silk was not only in demand within India but from India it was shipped further west to Arabia and Rome as testified to in the Greek work *The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*. Chinese silk came to India both via the Central Asian route and also very likely from southwest China via Assam.

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Given the importance of silk to the Chinese economy, there were strict prohibitions against the technique of silk production being made known to the outside world. Nevertheless, Chinese sericulture and silk-making techniques did find their way out of China and into other societies. It is believed that Chinese sericulture reached north India in the 3ʳᵈ century CE. It was probably carried by travelling Buddhist monks and built upon already existing methods of silk production in India. It is also possible that the technique of producing the characteristic *muga* silk of Assam, which involves drawing the silk thread after the moth has come out of the cocoon, was brought to the region through the migration of Tibeto-Burman peoples.

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Even though India produced its own silk during the Gupta period (4ᵗʰ-6ᵗʰ centuries CE), there was continued demand for Chinese silk which was of a different quality. There are a number of references to the import of Chinese silk into India particularly from the 7ᵗʰ and 8ᵗʰ centuries CE. The 8ᵗʰ century CE text *Kuvalayamala* records that Indian merchants were engaged in silk trade with Southeast Asia and China. The demand for painted silk fabric from China is described in *Malatimadhavam* and the *Jaina Mahakayas* and is also mentioned by 8ᵗʰ century CE Indian writers such as Dandin, Rajasekhara, Damodara Gupta and Dhanapala. Chinese sources record that Tang embassies as well as Chinese pilgrims to India carried with them large quantities of Chinese silk, both to defray their expenses and to make religious donations and purchase commodities related to Buddhist practices. The demand for Chinese silk began to decline only after the 11ᵗʰ century CE, with north India becoming a major production centre for silk. Nevertheless, even as late as the 13ᵗʰ and 14ᵗʰ centuries CE, there is evidence of a large amount of Chinese silk coming into India through ports on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts and through Bengal.

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(*Madhavi Thampi*)

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