The spread of Chinese silk and silk weaving technology began in the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian opened the Western Regions and opened the Silk Road. Since then, there has never been a break in the camel caravan of foreign expeditions to China and the Central Plains.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Huns conquered many small countries in the Western Regions, blocking the way for the Han Dynasty to go west. For military and economic purposes, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought it was necessary to open the road to the west, so he sent Zhang Qian, a famous diplomat, to the Western Regions.

In 138 BC, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions for the first time, led more than 100 people, and went through hardships and dangers. When he returned to Chang'an, there were only two people left, which took 13 years.

In this process, Zhang Qian mastered the military and economic information of many western countries. Through the analysis of these information, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made up his mind to open up the road to the west.

In 119 BC, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions for the second time and organized a huge delegation, bringing 10000 cattle and sheep, gold coins and silk as gifts.

The trip and the accompanying military operations achieved great success, opening the way to the west, enabling the Han Dynasty to start contacts with countries in the Western Regions, and also making the fine silk and other goods in the Central Plains continuously transported to countries in the Western Regions

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After the joint development of all countries along the way, this road became a trade corridor across the Asian Road. Since a large number of Chinese silks were transported westward along this road, it was later called the Silk Road by Chinese and foreign historians.

In fact, the route of the ancient Silk Road was not fixed, nor was there only one route. Its main route was: starting from the Weishui River basin in the east, passing through the Hexi Corridor in the west, and dividing into two routes in Dunhuang: one route passed through the passage north of the Tarim River in today's Xinjiang, crossed the Congling Mountains in the west of Shule, and traveled west through Dawan and Kangju in the south; The other road passes through the channel in the south of Tarim River in Xinjiang today, crosses Congling Mountain in the west of Shache, and goes west by Dariuzhi. The above two routes will rest in peace, and then go west to Daqin via Tiaozhi. The total length is more than 6000 kilometers.

Where the main Silk Road passes, Shule is the later Kashgar, Dawan is the later Fergana Basin in Uzbekistan, and the Kangju is located near Samarqand. Shache is the later Shache County, Dariuzhi is the later Afghanistan and Iran, Tiaozhi is the later Iraq and Syria, and Daqin is the ancient Roman Empire.

The branch lines of the main Silk Road are from Chang'an to Lanzhou, then turn to Xining, along the north bank of Qinghai, and pass through the Qaidam Basin to the west; It also goes west from southern China through Sichuan and Qinghai; It also travels westward from Sichuan and Yunnan through the south of Myanmar and reuse the sea lanes; It is also transferred to ports on the Indian Peninsula via Central Asia and then transported to the west by sea way.

In addition to the above roads, there was also a "Maritime Silk Road" in ancient times, which was also opened by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. At that time, Chinese seagoing ships took a large number of gold, silver, native products and silk, set out from Xuwen in Leizhou Peninsula and Hepu in Guangxi, passed by Duyuan, Yilumo, Chenli and Fugan Dulu, sailed to Huangzhi in the south of the Indian Peninsula, and then returned from the country where they had left, and returned via Pizong.

Where the "Maritime Silk Road" passes by, the State of Yuan is the later Da Nang of Vietnam, the State of Yiluwei is the later Lakpi of Thailand, the State of Chen Li is the later Dana River Forest of Myanmar, the State of Fugandulu is the later Pygmy of Myanmar, the State of Huang Zhi is the later Kangchupram of India, the State of Cheng Buguo is the later Sri Lanka, and the State of Pizong is the later Sumatra of Indonesia.

This "Maritime Silk Road" became the main trade route of China's foreign trade after the gradual decline of the land passage going west after the Tang Dynasty.

Chinese silk weaving skills first spread westward along the Land Silk Road opened by Zhang Qian. The first place to spread was the small country of Khotan in the Western Regions. It was the silkworm seeds brought by the princess of the Han Dynasty and the king of Khotan when they were making peace.

Later, Stein, an Englishman, found an 18th century painting board in Khotan (today's Hotan), which depicts the man who brought the silkworm seeds to Khotan. It was painted by Khotan in memory of her. In addition, Stein also found a mural in the ruins of a large temple near Khotan, which depicts the custom of sacrificing silkworm, which is also passed down from China, reflecting the importance of silkworm in the lives of people in the Western Regions.

North Korea and Japan are close neighbors of China. Chinese sericulture technology was introduced into these two countries much earlier than that in the West. According to historical records, in the Western Jin Dynasty, Gong Yuejun, a descendant of the First Emperor of Qin, led the people of 127 counties to emigrate to Japan through Korea, and divided these people into different parts of Japan to raise silkworms and plant mulberry, making the local sericulture prosperous. In addition, according to the Hanshu Geography Record, when Yin Dao declined, Jizi went to Korea to establish a new country and taught its people to weave with field silkworms.

The records in Hanshu Geography clearly show that as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties, "Jizi Korea" had mastered China's sericulture technology. As for the specific time when it was introduced into Japan, according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms · Biography of Dongyi, in 243, "the Japanese king sent eight envoys to offer silk products such as Japanese satin, purple and blue elevators, cotton, clothes and silk, and then mixed brocades in different languages". It can be seen that the introduction of Chinese sericulture technology into Japan should not be later than the Han Dynasty。

After the Three Kingdoms, the exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese people became more and more frequent. The records about the introduction of China's advanced silk weaving technology into Japan and the promotion of Japan's silk weaving technology also began to increase.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, due to the increasingly frequent traffic between China and foreign countries, China's cultural exchanges with foreign countries also increased. Many foreigners came to China to visit and study. At this time, Chinese sericulture technology was introduced into Europe.

According to European historical records, during the reign of Justinian the Great, two monks returned to Rome from China, hiding silkworm eggs in bamboo sticks and walking with them like pilgrims. Although the Chinese authorities strictly prohibited the export at that time, no one expected that the silkworm eggs would be taken to Constantinople. Since then, sericulture began to rise in Europe. It can be seen that the introduction of sericulture technology into Europe took a lot of trouble.

During this period, the most important influence of China's silk weaving technology on Europe was the use of pattern looms and pattern books. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China, that is, before the 6th century, Europeans could not weave silk fabrics with large patterns. It was not until the 6th and 7th centuries that they could get the manufacturing methods of Chinese flower looms and flower books. They began to weave more complex jacquard fabrics, which have been used since then.

After the Europeans got the Chinese flower machine and flower book equipment, although there were some changes occasionally, they never broke away from the original pattern of Chinese textile equipment. Even the jacquard machine of Jacquard in France and the leading machine in common use all over the world, which appeared later, also had a very close relationship with the Chinese jacquard machine. Their basic structure was still the same. Although the pattern book was changed into a pattern plate, the principle remained unchanged, but the form was slightly different.

The introduction of pattern looms and pattern based construction methods into Europe has changed the structure of western looms, starting the transition from vertical to horizontal, and can weave some more complex jacquard fabrics.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China, Persia also sent two envoys to China to learn about silk weaving technology and collect silkworm eggs for trial breeding.

During this period, Japan also sent people to recruit silk weaving technicians along the coast of Zhejiang Province to teach skills in Japan. While recruiting Chinese textile technicians to Japan, they also introduced looms. A Japanese scholar described in his book that the imported loom was a silk loom with reed capable of beating weft... It was the "shed loom" made in China later.

This loom became popular in the 8th century and played a great role in weaving. In addition, some northerners of China settled in Japan and specialized in textiles, becoming the backbone of Japan's textile industry at that time.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China's silk weaving technology had a more significant impact on the outside world. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China, Japan once purchased a large amount of silk fabrics from China, and later many of them were still preserved in the Masakura Hall of the National Museum of Japan and other museums.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Persian textile technology was outstanding in the Western world at that time, but it still could not be compared with China, and China's textile technology was very needed, so Chinese craftsmen were often used to help them weave

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Du Huan, a traveller of the Tang Dynasty, said in his Jing Xing Ji that he had been to Dashi in 751 and had seen Lv Li, a native of Hedong in China, and others knitting silk there.

In the Song Dynasty, Japan sent people to China to learn weaving technology. After returning to China, they used Chinese technology to transform old loom equipment in Bodo, and the textiles produced were named "Bodo Weaving", which is world-famous. It can be seen that the rise of Japan's modern silk weaving industry is not accidental, it is inseparable from the long-term continuous learning and learning from China's advanced silk weaving technology.

The territory of the Yuan Dynasty is very large, spanning Europe and Asia. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty once gathered all kinds of technicians and placed them in all provinces of the country and in places where the Yuan Empire's forces could reach.

As early as the Mongol Empire, Qiu Chuji, a famous Quanzhen Taoist priest, once traveled thousands of miles to Central Asia at the call of Genghis Khan. Later, Li Zhichang, a Taoist priest in the early Yuan Dynasty, wrote the Journey to the West of Changchun Immortal Qiu Chuji, recording his journey to the west. The book describes that thousands of Han craftsmen were also seen weaving silk fabrics there, such as silk, silk, brocade and silk, which are similar to the production process in the Central Plains.

The above is a general introduction of Chinese silk and silk weaving technology into West Asia, East Asia and Europe. In addition, China's sericulture technology was introduced into India through Sichuan and Tibet in the 2nd century BC, Myanmar from the 2nd to the 3rd century BC, and the ancient Kholin State in the 6th century BC. The ancient Mahaling State is also known as the State of Jawava, which later became the Java Island of Indonesia.

The spread of Chinese silk and its techniques has enriched and beautified the lives of the people of the incoming countries, improved the clothing of the people in the incoming areas, and promoted the progress of textile technology in the incoming countries. At the same time, it has promoted economic and cultural exchanges between China and other countries, and enhanced friendship and understanding among people of all countries. The influence of the spread of Chinese silk and its techniques is not limited to the textile industry of the importing country. The exchange of culture and technology between the East and the West, the improvement and enrichment of the material and spiritual lives of the people of the East and the West, have a profound impact on the progress of human civilization.