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Silk History

According to well-established Chinese legend, Empress Hsi Ling Shi, wife of Emperor Huang Ti (also called the Yellow Emperor), was the first person to accidentally discover silk as weavable fibre. One day, when the empress was sipping tea under a mulberry tree, a cocoon fell into her cup and began to unravel. The empress became so in love with the shimmering threads, she discovered their source, the Bombyx mori silk worm found in the white mulberry.    
The empress soon developed sericulture (production of silk), the gardening of silkworms and invented the reel and loom. Thus began the history of silk.
Though first kept for Chinese royalty. Silk spread slowly but surely through the Chinese culture both geographically and socially. From there, silken garments began to reach regions throughout Asia. Silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas, because of its texture and beauty.
Demand for this exotic fabric eventually created the rewarding trade route now known as the Silk Road, taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wools to the East. It was named the Silk Road after its most valuable goods; silk was considered even more precious than gold!
The Chinese realized the value of the beautiful material they were producing and kept its secret safe from the rest of the world for more than 30 centuries. Travelers were searched thoroughly at border crossings and anyone caught trying to smuggle eggs, cocoons or silkworms out of the country were summarily executed. Thus, under penalty of death, the mystery of sericulture (production of silk) remained a well-kept secret for almost three thousand years.
The Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk. Despite its popularity, however, the secret of silk making was only to reach Europe around CE 550. According to a legend, monks working for the emperor Justinian smuggled silkworm eggs to Persia in hollow bamboo walking sticks (The earliest known example of industrial spying). They were as secretive...