As we all know, silk is the invention of China, and in a long period of time, China was the only country producing and using silk. In Chinese legend, Lei Zu, the royal concubine of the Yellow Emperor, was the first one to raise silkworms and make silk. The ancient Chinese emperors all worshipped her as the silkworm goddess. Archaeological data 
shows that the Chinese started using silk from silkworm even earlier than the days of Lei zu.
In addition to anecdotes and fairy tales, there is even more accurate proof on the early use of silk. In 1958 at the Liangzhu historical site located in now what is Yuhang of Zhejiang Province, some silk textiles were excavated made 4,700 years ago, including silk threads, silk ribbons, silk strings, and pieces of silk, all held in the basket. These were made from silk of home raised silkworm according to expert opinion. Although these historical relics have been carbonized, the warps and wefts were still quite clear. The silk ribbons were made from 16 strands of thick and thin silk threads, 5 millimeter in width. The threads were
3 mm in cast width, and made with three strands of silk, a clear sign that the silk textile of that time had reached of sophistication. As early as 3000 years ago, the Shang Dynasty bone shell inscriptions already had characters meaning silkworm, mulberry tree, silk, and gauze. It is apparent that silk was already playing an important role in the production of that time. In 1959, the Meiyan Site of Wujiang, Jiangsu Province unearthed some black pottery with patterns of silkworm, realistically rendered in great familiarity. In Shangshu (Book of Historical Records), a Confucian classic that recorded important information on the language, writing, literature, philosophy, aesthetics, mythology and social life of ancient China, there were clear record of silk as articles of tribute, in all colors and forms.
In the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods, agricultural development reached a new height. One important feature of the economy at that time was the division of labor between men and women, who were engaged separately in farming and weaving. Planting of mulberry trees and weaving of textiles were typical scenes of economic activity of that time. Technology of silk reeling was already very developed, as the silk threads spun from this silk were as even and refined as in the modern day. By Hah Dynasty, the art of spinning and weaving moved further forward. Brocade excavated from the western Han Dynasty Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha of Hunan Province in 1972 had yarns made from 4 or 5 strands of thread, and each thread was spun from 14 or 15 pieces of fibers. That is to say that each yarn is made up of 54 pieces of fiber. High development in spinning pushed further forward the art of dyeing and embroidery, giving the finished product added beauty and vivid expression.
In the profound cultural heritage, the unique beauty of silk has become a symbol of eastern aesthetics. It is can be said that because of silk, Chinese garments had the graceful flow, and the figures in classic Chinese paintings had file graceful style we now so admire.
