Silk sā chó u English: [Silk cloth; Silk]

Textiles made of silk or synthetic fibers. The general term for silk or rayon fabrics.

Silk source

Silk is a kind of natural protein fiber woven from silkworm cocoons after spinning, and then carefully woven into textiles. When people raise silkworms and prepare for emergence, they put their cocoons into boiling water and spin silk in time. A cocoon can extract 800- 1200m silk. The famous glossy appearance of silk comes from the fiber structure similar to prism, which enables cloth to refract incident light from different angles and scatter light. In China, the word silk also refers to man-made textiles with the same luster as natural silk.

Silk is the fiber that silkworms spit on mulberry trees. Silk is a kind of ecological pollution-free natural fiber. It has irreplaceable unique properties and unparalleled vitality of other fibers and their processed products. After dyeing and weaving, all kinds of colorful silk fabrics are easier to sew and process into all kinds of high-end garments and indoor decorations, tourist souvenirs and many handicrafts. No wonder foreign consumers regard silk as a "source of beauty".

In addition, silk clothing made of real silk has a health care effect on human body. Since ancient times, silk has been known as the "Queen of Silk". In modern times, people have given it the reputation of "healthy fiber" and "health care fiber". Therefore, the health care function of silk fiber is incomparable and irreplaceable by any fiber. Silk fiber contains 18 kinds of essential amino acids, which are almost the same as those contained in human skin. Therefore, it is also called the "second skin" of human beings. Wearing silk clothes can not only prevent ultraviolet radiation, harmful gas invasion and harmful bacteria, but also enhance the vitality of skin cells on the body surface and promote the metabolism of skin cells. At the same time, it has a good adjuvant treatment effect on some skin diseases. In addition, because of its special hygroscopicity and permeability, it also has the function of regulating body temperature and moisture.

The origin of silk

Shengze is one of the largest silk producing areas in China. It is reported that the silk export volume of this town accounts for a quarter of that of China, and the quality is relatively good. Shengze is located in Wujiang city in the south of Suzhou, more than 60 kilometers away from Suzhou.

There are many silk markets in shengze town. According to local people, it is generally safe to buy silk clothes in Shengze Shunxin Middle Road. When buying silk clothing, you must ask whether it is silk, because some merchants will use the method of stealing the concept and replace silk with "silk". Ordinary consumers don't know that silk is silk, so they will buy clothes interwoven with silk and chemical fiber. Underwear made of this fabric is very uncomfortable to wear.

A brief history of silk development

The Holocene Great Warm Period (Atlantic Period) brought a warm climate to China, and silkworm breeding was widely carried out in the Yellow River basin. Legend has it that Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, invented "raising silkworms to get silk", but when silk was invented in reality is still controversial. From 65438 to 0998, archaeologists in China discovered silk fragments dating back about 5,500 years in the archaeological research of Qingtai site in Xingyang, Henan. Another way of saying this is that textile tools have been found in Hemudu site, so it can be inferred that the use of silk will at least not be later than Liangzhu culture (Weiss, a preliminary study of the beginning of silk weaving technology in China). However, the most influential story in the world is the silk fabric discovered by scientists in China in 1958, which dates back to 3700 BC to 3 100 BC (Dawenkou cultural period).

The technology of silk fabrics has been monopolized by China for hundreds of years. Because its knitting technology was a complicated process at that time, it attracted people's attention because of its unique feel and luster. Therefore, before the industrial revolution, silk products became the main international trade materials in the world. At the earliest time, silk fabrics could only be used by emperors, but with the rapid development of silk industry, silk culture penetrated into China culture geographically and socially. It has become an indispensable high-grade commodity for China businessmen in foreign trade.

At first, China strictly controlled the technical circulation of silk weaving and sericulture, and prohibited it from flowing to foreign countries. However, with the help of immigrants from China, South Korea successfully achieved a breakthrough in sericulture technology in 200 BC. In addition, sericulture was successfully carried out in Hotan River Basin (500 years ago -300 years ago) and India (300 years ago). However, it was about 550 years after the Roman Empire got silkworm eggs and developed silkworm rearing technology. It is said that several monks who worked for the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire put silkworm eggs in hollow canes and took them out of China privately to Constantinople. Although this legend is not credible, the Byzantines did develop silk weaving technology and set up silkworm rooms and silk reeling machines in the palace courtyard to serve the emperor. At that time, most of Byzantine native silk was enjoyed by members of the royal family, and the remaining materials could also be sold to the market at high prices.

According to archaeological findings, experts speculate that in the middle of Neolithic Age five or six thousand years ago, China began to raise silkworms, collect silk and weave cloth. By the Shang Dynasty, silk production had begun to take shape, with high technical level and complicated loom and weaving technology. China is the first country in the world to raise silkworms and silk reeling. The ancestors of the Chinese nation not only invented silk, but also prospered and used it, which made silk shine in clothing, economy, art and culture, and then made silk clothing spread all over the world. Ancient Shu brocade, Suzhou Song brocade and Nanjing Yunjin, also known as the three famous brocade, are outstanding representatives of silk fabrics and still enjoy a high reputation in the world. Therefore, in a sense, silk represents the long and splendid culture of China.

With the great economic development in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, silk production reached its peak. Silk can be produced in almost all places, and the varieties of silk are also rich, which are mainly divided into three categories: silk, silk and brocade. The appearance of brocade is an important milestone in the history of China silk. It combines the excellent performance of silk with art. Silk is not only a noble material, but also a work of art, which greatly improves the cultural connotation and historical value of silk products and has far-reaching influence. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the silk industry not only developed greatly, but also the trade and export of silk reached unprecedented prosperity with the large-scale expansion of China in the Han Dynasty. The promotion of trade further developed the economic and cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the border areas, and between China and its neighboring countries, thus forming the famous "Silk Road". This road starts from ancient Chang 'an, passes through Gansu and Xinjiang to the west, passes through Central Asia and West Asia, and finally reaches Europe. In BC 126, under the westward policy of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a great deal of China silk was transported westward through the Silk Road. After Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to Tang Dynasty, great changes have taken place in China silk. On the one hand, it conforms to the traditional inheritance, on the other hand, it is compatible with the advantages of foreign technologies and models. The long-term war between the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties caused serious damage to the economy of the Yellow River basin. In the Sui Dynasty, the focus of sericulture and silk industry in China shifted to the Yangtze River valley.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of silk production, and the output, quality and variety reached an unprecedented level. Silk production organizations are divided into three types: palace handicraft, rural sideline and independent handicraft, and their scale is greatly expanded compared with the previous generation. At the same time, the foreign trade of silk has also developed greatly. Not only has the number of "Silk Roads" increased to three, but the frequency of trade is unprecedented. The production and trade of silk made great contributions to the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, with the progress of sericulture technology, China silk had a brief glory. Not only have the varieties of silk colors increased obviously, especially three new varieties with their own characteristics, such as Jin Song, silk and gold decorative cloth, but also a major breakthrough has been made in the summary and popularization of sericulture production technology.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to the germination and development of capitalism, the production and trade of silk have also undergone great changes: the commercialization trend of silk production has become increasingly obvious, and silk overseas trade has developed rapidly. However, the feudal system hindered the development of productive forces. Under the double blow of exorbitant taxes and foreign dumping, China's silk industry fell into a very miserable situation.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the silk industry entered a new historical period. During the ten years from 1980 to 1990, the output of raw silk in China increased from 36,000 tons to 57,000 tons, an increase of 1.58 times. The output of silk products has increased by more than 2 times; The consumption of silk products has also increased from 400 million meters to 654.38+22 million meters, an increase of about 3 times; Raw silk exports account for more than 80% of the world raw silk trade, and silks and satins also account for about 50%. After years of efforts, China has won the leading position in the world silk market, and the silk industry has become a pillar industry for the country to earn foreign exchange. China silk has developed rapidly, and a relatively complete silk industry system has been established. Silk products are sold all over the world 100 countries and regions. Under the new situation of reform and opening-up, China's ancient silk is full of new youth and moving towards a brilliant future.

Silk and China National Culture

With the appearance of silk, sericulture and silk weaving gradually developed into a very important and creative handicraft category in ancient China. The prosperity of silk ushered in a new era of China's silk clothing civilization, which greatly influenced the ancient folk customs and habits of China. At the same time, the great influence of silk on Chinese characters in China can not be ignored.

In the history of mankind, the large-scale economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West triggered by the silk trade have an indelible impact on promoting the whole process of human civilization.

In China's voluminous classical poems, many poems are based on sericulture and silk. For example, the Book of Songs reflects the scene of women engaged in farming and mulberry: "The sun is shining in spring, and Amin is ploughing. The woman holds the basket, obeys it and loves the soft mulberry. ..... "A lot of descriptions about sericulture and silk can reveal the great influence of silk on the ancient poetry culture of China.

As the birthplace of sericulture and silk industry in the world, there are many myths and legends circulating in China. Such as the myth of silkworms and horses, religious figures in Luo Zu, fairy couples and so on. They all sum up people's understanding of silkworm and mulberry silk artistically with naive and beautiful fantasy and fresh and simple style, reflecting the love of ancient Chinese people for silkworm and mulberry silk.

Characteristics of silk

First, comfort. Silk is made of protein fiber, which has excellent biocompatibility with human body and smooth surface, and its friction stimulation coefficient to human body is the lowest among all fibers, only 7.4%. Therefore, when our delicate skin meets smooth and delicate silk, it protects every inch of our skin with its unique soft texture and according to the curve of the human body.

Second, it absorbs and releases water well. Silk protein fiber is rich in amino (-CHNH), amino (-NH2) and other hydrophilic groups, and because of its porosity, water molecules are easy to diffuse, so it can absorb or release water in the air and maintain a certain amount of water. At normal temperature, it can help the skin retain a certain amount of moisture and will not make the skin too dry; When worn in summer, it can quickly release sweat and heat discharged by the human body, making people feel extremely cool. It is precisely because of this characteristic that silk fabrics are more suitable for direct contact with human skin. Therefore, people regard silk clothing as one of the necessary clothing in summer.

Silk not only has good heat dissipation performance, but also has good warmth retention. Its thermal insulation performance is proud of its porous fiber structure. There are many tiny fibers in a silk fiber, and these tiny fibers are composed of even smaller fibers. So the seemingly solid silk is actually more than 38% hollow, and there is a lot of air in these gaps, which prevents the heat from emitting and makes the silk have good warmth retention.

Third, sound absorption, dust absorption and heat resistance. Silk fabric has high porosity, so it has good sound absorption and air absorption performance. Besides making clothes, it can also be used for interior decoration, such as silk carpets, tapestries, curtains, wall cloths and so on. Decorating a room with silk decorations can not only make the room spotless, but also keep the room quiet. Because silk has the properties of moisture absorption, moisture release, moisture retention, air inhalation and porosity, it can also adjust indoor temperature and humidity and absorb harmful gases, dust and microorganisms. In addition, silk fiber has little thermal denaturation and is relatively heat-resistant. When heated to 100℃, the brittleness is only about 5~8%, and the thermal variability of most synthetic fibers is 4~5 times greater than that of silk. The burning temperature of silk is 300~400℃, which is a flame retardant fiber, while the burning temperature of synthetic fiber is 200 ~ 2600℃, which is flammable and fusible. Therefore, using silk fiber as the raw material of interior decoration can not only play the role of sound absorption, dust absorption, heat preservation, but also play the role of flame retardant.

Fourth, prevent ultraviolet rays. Tryptophan and tyrosine in silk protein can absorb ultraviolet rays, so silk has good anti-ultraviolet function. Moreover, ultraviolet rays do great harm to human skin. Of course, after absorbing ultraviolet rays, silk itself will undergo chemical changes, which will make silk fabrics easily yellow under the irradiation of sunlight.

The process of making silk

Silkworm larvae protect themselves in cocoons before they become moths, and each cocoon is a continuous silk with a length of 2000-4000 meters. From silkworm cocoons to silkworm cocoons, they all gather in hot and humid air. Moisture and cold air will kill the larvae, and the silkworms will not spit out. When the cocoon is put into hot water, it will become soft or slowly pulpy, the dirty surface will fall off, and finally the end of the silk will be exposed. Then, put the cocoons into the second tank, and according to the thickness of silk, 4- 12 cocoons can be wound together. A cocoon can produce 1-3 km of silk.

Classification of silk

Fourteen types of silk:

According to the fabric structure, warp and weft combination, processing technology and the types of silk that show the shape of silk surface, it is divided into 14 categories. Among them, except yarn, yarn and velvet, flowers and ground organization are not considered, and the category of anchor is mainly ground organization. Each kind of silk surface can have a plain color (scouring, bleaching and dyeing) or a flower (weaving and printing).

(1). Spinning: plain weave, original weaving or semi-color weaving process. Generally, the warp and weft are not twisted or weakly twisted, the silk surface is relatively flat and stiff, and the spun fabric is light and strong.

(2) Crepe: a fabric with obvious crepe effect and elasticity made of plain weave or other weave or warp and weft interwoven.

(3) Satin fabric: a smooth and bright satin fabric.

(4) Twill: A fabric with obvious twill texture on the silk surface by using or changing the twill weave.

(5) Yarn: a fabric woven entirely or partially from yarn, and every other weft yarn is twisted by warp yarns A and B..

(6) Rory: A fabric that uses Rory weave in whole or in part is made by twisting A and B warp yarns every other odd weft yarn or more, which is called Rory.

(7). Velvet: A fabric made entirely of velveteen with velvet or terry on the surface.

(8) Brocade: A kind of yarn-dyed jacquard fabric with exquisite and colorful patterns and satin and twill weave.

Tencel: a light porous fabric made of plain weave or yarn winding weave.

(10). Woven fabrics with various tissues and thick warp and weft lines are rich in texture and furry.

(1 1). Ge: a kind of fabric with plain weave, twill weave and its changing weave, with thin warp and thick weft, thick texture and transverse woven pattern on the silk surface.

(12). Black: plain weave fabric, with long filaments as warp yarns and cotton or other yarns as weft yarns, with thick texture.

(13). Silk: A fine, flat and crisp fabric used for plain knitting.

(14). Silk: plain weave or fabric with different weaves, with closely interwoven warp and weft.

34 subclasses of silk:

Mainly according to the performance of silk surface:

(1). Crepe de Chine: A kind of fabric with plain weave, twistless weft and strong twist yarn on both sides, which produces a uniform crepe effect on the silk surface.

(2).Georgie: plain weave, with two strong twisted yarns on the left and right sides in the warp and weft, with light texture, holes in the silk surface and crepe effect.

(3).Bicrepe, which uses Bicrepe thread (20/22Dx3 plus S twist 1600T/m, then 20/22D 1 and Z twist 1600T/m) as weft after untwisting, is a fine crepe fabric.

(4) Smooth quilting: A kind of untwisted fabric, which uses unidirectional strong twisted yarn in the weft and has straight crepe on the surface.

(5) taffeta: a thin and crisp cooked fabric, which is first dyed with plain weave and warp and weft.

(6) Electrospinning: Mulberry silk (tussah silk) is used to weave plain fabrics.

(7) Fine spinning: plain woven fabric with a yarn weight of less than 6m/m per square meter.

(8) Silk spinning: plain fabric with silk in both warp and weft.

(9) Cotton silk: both warp and weft are plain fabrics woven with drawn silk.

(10). Double palace silk: a fabric made entirely or partially of double palace silk.

(1 1). Knot: a fabric made of knots and slub silk in whole or in part, which has a knot effect.

(12). Star pattern: crepe weave fabric is used.

(13). Ribbed fabric: fabric with light stripes on one or both sides.

(14). Yarn: a fabric that uses twisted yarn or color matching yarn in whole or in part.

(15). Stripe: A fabric with horizontal and linear stripes on the surface of silk.

(16). Grid: a fabric with a grid pattern on the surface of silk.

(17). Thorough cooling: weave with false yarn to form permeable fabric with similar yarn holes.

(18). Yarn-dyed fabric: fabric made entirely or partially of colored silk.

(19). Double-sided fabric: A three-layer fabric with the same twill or satin weave on both sides.

(20). Bump: Fabric with bump pattern.

(2 1). Yamagata; Fabric with obvious mountain-shaped or zigzag twill weave.

(22). Flower: Jacquard fabric.

(23) Trimming: Trimming jacquard fabric.

(24). Glossy: pure rayon fabric, with shiny viscose yarn or semi-shiny cuprammonia yarn.

(25) Matte: pure rayon fabric with matte viscose yarn or matte cuprammonia yarn.

(26). Flash is made of pure woven or interwoven synthetic filaments, with bright super-bright special-shaped cross section, which is a fabric with flash effect.

(27). Bright light: a fabric made of gold, silver and money (aluminum skin) and having bright light effect.

(28). Raw silk: Woven with raw silk without washing.

(29). Special dyeing: The warp or weft adopts special dyeing processes such as tie-dyeing, showing the effect of dichroism and tie-dyeing.

Warp-knitted printing: A fabric printed with silk and then knitted.

(3 1). Tufted fabric.

(32) Vertical pile: fabric finished with vertical pile.

(33). Kimono: The width of the door is less than 40cm, or the whole width is woven with a seam less than 40cm, which is used for processing kimono special products.

(34) Large stripes: plain fabric with tussah large stripes in warp and weft.

Types of satin:

Satin has many classifications according to different standards, which can be divided into:

Silk: Satin made of silk is the general term for satin made of silk.

Rayon: Satin made of rayon.

Synthetic silk: Satin made of synthetic fibers.

Interwoven silk: Satin interwoven with two different materials.

Classification by purpose:

Take silk for example: silk and satin are used as raw materials for garment processing (clothing, scarves, headscarves, ties, etc.). ).

Decoration: decorative silk (silk for decorating walls, mounting pictures, book covers, bags, etc. ).

Industrial silk: industrial silk (typewriter ribbon, etc. ).

Health care silk: medical silk (silk artificial blood vessel, artificial skin, etc. , green silk).

Classification by processing method:

Woven silk: Silk woven with warp and weft yarns on a silk loom.

Knitted silk: Silk woven with coils of silk thread.

Woven without reeling: it is a kind of silk that is made by processing waste silk into a fiber web and then mechanically processing it, without weaving or knitting.

According to the surface properties and dyeing classification of silk:

Jacquard silk: silk woven by jacquard machine (jacquard silk, jacquard silk).

Printed silk: silk printed with dyes on the base silk by screen printing machine (printing platen).

Dyed yarn: the yarn dyed with dye on the base yarn with a dyeing machine (dye vat).

Tie-dyed silk: Tie-dyed silk is to tie cotton yarn to a certain part of the blank silk according to the designed arrangement, then dye it, and then remove the tied yarn after dyeing.

Classification by process:

Raw silk: unrefined silk is called raw silk.

White silk: refined silk.

Bleached silk: refined and bleached silk.

Mature silk: Refine and degum warp and weft into refined silk (mature silk) and then weave it into silk.

Flash silk: silk dyed in different colors after scouring by warp and weft, that is, silk interwoven by warp and weft of different colors.

How to choose silk

A simple way to identify silk is:

1. field of view. See whether the luster of the fabric is soft and bright, whether the color is bright and symmetrical, and whether there is color difference, color file and color flower. Whether there are defects on the surface, such as broken warp and weft.

2. Touch by hand. Whether the hand feel is soft and waxy, and whether the contact silk surface has a pulling hand feel. If there is no such feeling, it is not real silk.

3. Friction. Dry silk will make a crisp sound when rubbing against each other, commonly known as silk sound. If there is no silk noise, it is chemical fiber silk instead of real silk.

Burning. Take a bunch of silk thread from the broken edge of the cloth and light it with a match. Silk burns slowly. First, it curls into a ball and gives off an odor similar to burning hair or bird hair. It turns into a dark brown ball after burning, and it will break into powder when touched by hand. When the tow leaves the flame, it stops burning.

Maintenance of silk fabric

Here are some tips on silk fabric maintenance:

(1) dark clothes or silk fabrics should be washed separately from light colors;

(2) Sweated silk clothing should be washed immediately or soaked in clear water, and it is not advisable to wash it with hot water above 30 degrees;

(3) When washing silk, use acid detergent or alkaline detergent, preferably special detergent for silk;

(4) It is best to wash by hand, and it is forbidden to rub hard or scrub with a hard brush. After gently rubbing, rinse with clear water, gently squeeze out water with hands or towels, and dry in the shade;

(5) Ironing should be carried out when it is 80% dry, and it is not suitable to spray water directly. Ironing should be carried out on the reverse side of clothes, and the temperature should be controlled between 100- 180 degrees;

(6) When collecting, it should be washed, dried, stacked, wrapped in cloth and put in the cabinet, and camphor or sanitary balls should not be put.