Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t12.7

v1.c5.s2.t12.7

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.