Description
THE STORY BEHIND
Samarkand paying tribute to the millenial history of the mythical Silk Route connecting the East to the West.
For more than 4000 years, the Chinese have considered silk as most luxury material. Originally, only emperors could wear a silk cloth. Later, the privilege was extended to the highest dignitaries. As manufacturing techniques improved, the silk was democratized. It was considered much more valuable than gold and was used as a bargaining chip.
In the second century BC, the Han emperors, besieged by nomadic barbarians, needed allies and horses. To buy both, China ceded its most precious value: the silk. The Chinese decided to open up to trade and to deal with the exterior markets. Thanks to the Silk Route, China began to sell the silk abroad. The secret of its manufacture had been jealously kept under the death sentence for more than 2,500 years…
In the second century BC, the Han emperors, besieged by nomadic barbarians, needed allies and horses. To buy both, China ceded its most precious value: the silk. The Chinese decided to open up to trade and to deal with the exterior markets. Thanks to the Silk Route, China began to sell the silk abroad. The secret of its manufacture had been jealously kept under the death sentence for more than 2,500 years…
In the middle of the 6th century, it’s said that the Byzantine Emperor Justinian used mysterious Christian monks as secret agents who managed to conceal silkworms in their bamboo pilgrim canes and brought them back to Constantinople (Istanbul nowadays). Thus, Byzantium finally had access to the raw material without having to import it from China or pay the ransom imposed by Persian intermediaries.
A century later, the Arabs who had conquered Persia, developed the breeding of silk around the Mediterranean. We had to wait seven hundred years to see the first silk productions in Italy and then France. Since then, we know that the breeding of small caterpillars hanging on the branches of the mulberry tree can give birth to one of the most fascinating, sensual and resistant natural materials. The silk threads make rich and sumptuous fabrics which are adorned with the most beautiful residences, as well as the most elegant clothing… Even today, silk evokes fascination and softness.
