论我国蚕丝业的多中心起源

On the Hearths of Sericulture in China

中国是世界蚕丝业的发源地 ,蚕丝业起源的时间下限在新石器时代晚期 ,距今至少在5 5 0 0年以上。中国蚕丝业起源是多中心的 ,黄河中下游流域、长江中下游流域和四川盆地的三江流域都是蚕丝业的起源地之一。

By the noteworthy archaeological achievement gained in the 20th century together with historical records, fairy tales and legends, it has been proved that China is the hearth of sericulture; it is ancient Chinese who made the great invention of mulberry planting, silkworm breeding, silk reeling and silk weaving. The cocoon shell was unearthed in 1926 on the site of Yangshao Culture at Xiyin Village of Shanxi Province; lenos were unearthed in 1983 on the site of Yangshao Culture at Qingtai Village, Yingyang County, Henan province; two pieces of pottery like silkworm pupae were unearthed in 1980 on the site of Yangshao Culture at Nanyang Village, Zhengding County, Hebei Province; and the oracle bone inscriptions of Yin ruins, representing the pictographic scripts of “silkworm, mulberry, silk and bo (a general term for silk fabrics)”and the oracle inscriptions of divination related to sericulture were excavated at Anyang County, Henan province—all these show that the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River are one of the hearths of sericulture. In addition, silk threads, silk ribbons and tabby silk fragments of the Neolithic Age were unearthed in 1958 at Qianshanyang, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province; black pottery pieces with painted silkworm design were unearthed at the Meiyan site, Wu County, Jiangsu Province; wooden spinning rods, bone needles, wooden warping axles and a small ivory cup carved with the pattern of knitting and silkworms were unearthed in 1977 at the Hemudu site, Yuyao County, Zhejiang province; the archaeological findings of silk clothes of the Shang Dynasty from the coffin were unearthed in1978 at Lianhua Peak, Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province—all these show that the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are another hearth of sericulture. What's more, tiger head and silkworm body ornaments were unearthed at the Sanxingdui site, Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, the legendary stories and fairy tales of the “horse head goddess of silkworms” and the rite of worshiping the “goddess of silkworm” were popular on the Chengdu Plain—all these show that the Chengdu Three River Plain with the Sanxingdui site as the center is the third hearth of sericulture. As there are more than one cradle of ancient Chinese civilization, there are more than one hearth of China's sericulture. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Three River Plain in the Sichuan Basin are all the hearths of sericulture. The silk threads and fabrics unearthed from the Qianshanyang site in 1958 and the silk fabrics from Qingtai Village in Henan Province in 1984 as well as the pottery silkworm pupae from Nanyangzhuan Village in Hebei Province in 1980 demonstrate that our ancestors mastered advanced weaving techniques and began to raise silkworm indoors at least 5 500 years ago. Thus, from the findings of archaeological research, it can be recognized that sericulture occurred in the late period of the Neolithic Age, dating back more than 5 500 years. The utilization and domestication of silkworm by human beings involve gathering wild silk cocoons, planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms indoors.