China's silkworm culture is rich in connotation, integrating poetry, calligraphy and painting, and all kinds of silk costumes, which are colorful and magnificent.
1. sericulture and poetry
China is the hometown of sericulture in the world and a country with a long history of poetry. As a material production activity with a long history, sericulture production is bound to be reflected in poetry and other literary works. In classical poetry, many works are about sericulture. Some reflect the development process and technical level of sericulture; Some reflected the social stages and class contradictions at that time and exposed the darkness of the old society; Some people expressed their patriotic thoughts and told sad and happy stories in life. Silkworm poetry can be traced back to the Book of Songs 2600 years ago. Among the 305 poems in The Book of Songs, there are 27 related to sericulture, such as: "Silkworm, Moon, Mulberry, Holding Axe, Cutting Far and Wide, Protecting Mother Mulberry." "Between ten acres, mulberries are idle." Ten acres away, mulberries are easy to vent. (Feng Wei, between ten acres), "In order to protect ourselves, we should embrace trade silk." Mulberry leaves will flourish before they fall. (Feng Weimeng) From the Book of Songs, we can know that sericulture production in the Yellow River valley was quite common at that time, and silk and silk products were very extensive. Then exchange in the market.
The sericulture industry further developed in Han Dynasty. There is a famous poem in Yuefu poetry in Han Dynasty, which sings: "Qin has a good daughter who calls herself Luo Fu." Luo Fu likes to raise silkworms and pick mulberry in the south corner of the city ... "
The Tang Dynasty was the prosperous period of sericulture and poetry in China. According to the preliminary statistics of Complete Tang Poems, there are more than 490 poems related to sericulture. In these poems, some reflect the pastoral scenery and the distribution of sericulture: "Mulberry begins to grow green in the deep and remote north of the river, and Luoyang silkworm wants to get old" (Cui Hao's "Give a light car"), and some tell the tragic life of sericulture farmers: "The spring breeze blows silkworms as thin as ants, and mulberry bud is young." In the morning, I found out who was picking girls, holding a long strip of tears like rain "(Don's" Picking Mulberry Girls "). Others lamented the tragedy of love: "Time was long before I met her, but after we parted, the east wind started and a hundred flowers blossomed. Silkworms in spring must spin until they die, and candles must be drained every night "(Li Shangyin has no title); More is to expose the ruling class to urge taxes and rents and cruelly exploit the working people; Bai Juyi reveals the luxurious life of the ruling class in his poem Fu Fu, while the working people are in a tragic situation of "the young are invisible and the old are warm". In the poem Du Lingcuo, he sent a message to the farmers, "Mulberries are sold for official rent, how about food and clothing next year?" Strip our clothes and take the food from our mouths. If you abuse others and hurt others, you are a jackal. Why do you have to scratch your teeth and eat human flesh? " A powerful voice.
After the Song Dynasty, Jiangsu and Zhejiang became the center of the national silk industry, which was reflected in many poets' poems. Fan Chengda, a Jiangsu poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, truly described the sericulture production in his hometown, such as: "There are few cocoons in spring rain and millet piles in autumn." The fire in Nong's house is the brightest tonight, and I really know that the silkworm in the new year is good. (according to Tian silkworm). The poet Dave described his hometown in Huangyan, Zhejiang Province, where "spring silkworms spin silk and summer silkworms spin silk" in "Weaver Girl Sigh". Lu You, a patriotic poet, wrote many excellent poems reflecting rural life at that time, including 1 17 poems related to sericulture, including: "There are no oranges planted in the continent, but a hundred mulberry plants are planted beside the house".
Second, sericulture and agricultural books.
Since ancient times, agriculture and sericulture have developed simultaneously in China, and there are many literatures about sericulture. In addition to the records of sericulture in ancient books such as classics, history and subsets, it mainly focuses on the records of sericulture in comprehensive agricultural books and professional sericulture books specializing in sericulture. According to the research of relevant scholars. From the Han Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 56 kinds of comprehensive agricultural books including sericulture in China, and 2 1 kind of professional sericulture books. This paper briefly introduces the main representative ancient books 10 in each historical period.
1. The ancient books about sericulture in the Han and Tang Dynasties include Silkworm Sutra, Planting Trees and Storing Silkworm Fruits, and Silkworm Weaving. Unfortunately, they have all been lost. The existing sericulture records, in addition to the "four-person monthly order", mainly focus on the following three ancient agricultural books.
(1) The Book of Bi Sheng was written by Bi Sheng at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. There are 18 articles in the book, among which 17 articles are mulberries. The record of mulberry direct seeding in the book is the earliest technical document of mulberry planting in China.
(2) The Book of Qi Yao Min was written by Jia Wei after the Book of Qi Yao Min. It was written around the 6th century A.D. and is the earliest and most complete agricultural science masterpiece in China. 10 volume 92 copies. There is an article about mulberry in the fifth volume (sericulture attached), which specifically introduces mulberry planting methods, mulberry varieties, layering seedling raising and so on. Recording methods of sericulture, mulberry varieties, layering seedling raising, etc. Many kinds of silkworms were recorded, and it was suggested that they should be heated by fire, ventilated and dustproof, and the records of "Yongjia Eight Silkworms" were compiled.
(3) The Outline of the Four Seasons was written by Han and Hubei at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and it was written around 907 AD, which is a kind of book with the nature of farmers' almanac. Among the 245 items about agricultural production in the book, there are 9 sericulture items, such as "planting mulberry to move mulberry" in the first month, "repairing silkworm droppings" in the middle of March, and "planting mulberry to collect silkworm eggs" in May.
2. There are more than 20 kinds of sericulture books in Song and Yuan Dynasties, the most representative of which are:
(1) The Book of Qin Guan Silkworm was written by Qin Guan in the Northern Song Dynasty. Written in 1084, it is the earliest professional silkworm book in China. The book introduces the relationship between silkworm age and mulberry consumption, temperature and moth-eaten, puts forward the technique of multiple dilute feeding, and records the actual production process from bathing seed to reeling in detail. This book is more than 600 years earlier than the earliest Japanese silkworm book "Silkworm Feeding Law".
(2) Chen Fu Agricultural Book, written by Chen Fu in the Southern Song Dynasty, was written in 1 148, which was the first agricultural book in China to summarize the experience of agricultural production in South China. Divide the whole book. Medium. There are 22 books in the second volume and 5 books in the second volume, which are divided into mulberry planting, silkworm egg collection, silkworm egg rearing, silkworm egg collection with fire, silkworm egg rearing, cocoon storage with foil, etc. It is the first time to record mulberry grafting and low temperature treatment technology.
(3) The Compendium of Agriculture and Mulberry was written by the Ministry of Agriculture in Yuan Dynasty, and it was the earliest official agricultural book in China, which was written in 1273. The book is divided into seven volumes, of which the third volume is mulberry planting and the fourth volume is sericulture. The biggest feature of this book is the emphasis on sericulture. The title of the book is tied to agriculture, and sericulture accounts for almost one-third of the book.
④ Nong Shu was written by Zhen and was written in 13 13. The book is divided into three parts, namely, the formula of agriculture and mulberry, the spectrum of 100 grains and the map of farmland. There is a record of mulberry planting technology in Nong Sang Fang, and a description of sericulture technology in the sericulture reeling chapter. The map of farmland is the feature of this book, with tools such as picking mulberry, cutting leaves, raising silkworms and reeling, which can be explained at a glance. Another feature of this book is that it compares the techniques of nutrition between the North and the South, and puts forward some suggestions.
3. There were 180 kinds of silkworm books in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and three of them are introduced.
(1) Wu Kai in Tiangong, written by Song Dynasty in Ming Dynasty, was written in 1637, with a total volume of 18. The book focuses on the sericulture and silk weaving techniques in Zhejiang Province, scientifically expresses the key measures for planting mulberry and raising silkworm, and records the reeling and silk reeling techniques in detail. This book is regarded as one of the four classic sci-tech novels in ancient China.
(2) The Book of Supplementing Agriculture is divided into two volumes. The author of the first volume is Shen Shi, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, and it is called "Shen Shi Agricultural Books", which was written in the last years of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty. The second volume was supplemented by Zhang Lvxiang, a book-burner in Tongxiang, and it was named "The Book of Supplementing Agriculture", which was written on 1658. Later generations will publish the two volumes together, collectively referred to as "color-matching agricultural books." This book systematically summarizes the experience of agriculture and sericulture production in Hangjiahu area in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, records the output level of mulberry leaves at that time, and makes a practical discussion on the high-yield techniques of mulberry gardens and sericulture.
(3) The Story of Lake Silkworm by Wang Qingzhen consists of four volumes. In addition to the general introduction, this paper discusses in detail the sericulture, mulberry planting, sericulture, reeling and seed production, which reflects the characteristics of sericulture in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province.
Third, sericulture and painting and calligraphy.
Silk was first used in China, and the ancients used silk as a writing material, which complemented bamboo and wood. Mozi said: "The bamboo and silk of books are handed down to later generations" (silk is the general term for silk in ancient China), so it can be seen that silk was used for writing from the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was still popular to write with plain silk in the Tang Dynasty. The paper we are talking about now is made of plant fibers, while the paper mentioned in the literature before the Han Dynasty mainly refers to cocoon and silk paper. Cai Lun's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" said: "Since ancient times, books have mostly used bamboo slips as book contracts, and those who use silks call them paper." There are more than1.20,000 words in silk unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, and there are more than 20 kinds of ancient books written, which provides physical evidence for the ancient Chinese characters written in silk. Today, cocoon and silk paper has always been loved by calligraphers. 1986, Fuyang county agricultural bureau made cocoon silk paper 13.5 kg, accounting for 388 square meters. Sha Menghai, a famous Chinese calligrapher, wrote Preface to the Lanting Pavilion with the county cocoon silk paper, and published a paper entitled "Making New Silk Paper in Fuyang" in the second issue of West Cold Art Collection 1989, which was greatly appreciated. Xu Buyun, a famous calligrapher in Jiangsu, tried to print "Hundred Days Map" with Fuyang cocoon and silk paper, and the effect was very good and he was very happy.
Silkworm rearing also has a profound influence on China's painting. On the one hand, silk is the specific material of China's early paintings; On the other hand, sericulture painting is an important theme. Before the Song Dynasty, all paintings were made of silk, and silk paintings can be traced back to before the Warring States Period. The earliest extant Chinese painting in China is "Phoenix and Dragon" unearthed from Chu Tomb in Warring States Period. According to textual research, these two silk paintings are both works in the mid-Warring States period. Natalie, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, painted a picture of Tao Ren (now in the Boston Museum), which depicts the silk-making work of women in the Tang Dynasty. Now the image of rural women in the Song Dynasty in the Palace Museum is spinning hard, but their clothes are torn. Our ancestors combined silk weaving with painting, which was widely used in daily handicrafts such as fans and silk umbrellas. There were fans in China as early as the Yin Dynasty, and in the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was a saying that "the fan is like the moon and comes from the machine". Fan is an exquisite handicraft, including Fan Luo, Silk Fan, Fan Ling, Bisha Fan and Cicada Fan. After the Song Dynasty, it was popular to engrave and paint on fans. People's stories, landscapes, flowers and other paintings have all entered an incomplete scale plate. Later, the silk umbrella of Xihu Lake and various silk kites developed by combining silk painting were all unique silk handicrafts in China.