The Influence of China Silk on the Roman Empire

In the eyes of ancient Greece and Rome, far away China has a beautiful name "Silk Country", which literally translates as "Cerise", meaning "silk" or "the place where silk came from". Seres is thought to have originated from the Chinese character "silk" and the Latin word "serica".

As we all know, exquisite silk originated in China. As early as the era of the Yellow Emperor, China began to raise silkworms, collect silks and weave silks. By Shang Dynasty, silk production had begun to take shape, with high technical level and complicated looms and weaving processes. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, silk was produced almost everywhere, and the varieties of silk colors were more abundant, mainly divided into three categories: silk, silk and brocade. However, the reason why there are so many Chinese characters with the radical "one" in Chinese is related to the extremely developed silk industry in China.

Silk unearthed from pit 1 of Mawangdui Han Tomb.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the silk industry not only developed greatly, but also the trade and export of silk reached unprecedented prosperity with the large-scale expansion of China in the Han Dynasty. A "Silk Road" that starts from ancient Chang 'an, passes through Gansu and Xinjiang to the west, passes through Central Asia and West Asia, and finally reaches Europe, connecting China and Eurasia.

Dialogue between Han Dynasty and Roman Empire from a Distance

During Caesar's reign, the Roman Empire spanned Europe, Asia and Africa and was extremely powerful. Its culture, art, architecture and other fields reached the peak of prosperity because of its political unity and economic prosperity. At that time, the East was the Han Dynasty, which was one of the strongest dynasties in the history of China. Its territory borders the sea in the east, the Pamirs in the west, the Indian Peninsula in the south and the Mongolian Gobi in the north. Its politics, economy, culture and art are equally brilliant.

Although far apart, two powerful empires met at this time. Through the Silk Road, the Han Dynasty traveled to several countries, large and small, and exported silk and other items to Rome, which was then known as the "Great Qin State". It records China people's impression of the Great Qin State: on the west side of the sea, it is also called "Haixi State", with a territory of 8,000 miles and more than 400 cities. Within 400 miles of the capital city wall, there are five palaces in the city, which are connected every 10, all made of crystal pillars. It is also said that the state of Daqin is rich in gold, silver and jewels. Big Qin State is tall and strong, a bit like China people, so it is called "Big Qin State".

As for the Romans, they were also full of curiosity and mystery about China on the other side of the Silk Road. People who say "Silk Country" are nearly 20 feet tall, smart, gentle and have a long life. Of course, what amazed the Romans most was China's silk. In Hanshu, the famous Roman scholar Pliny the Old believed that silk originated from leaves: "Cocoons are born from leaves. When it is taken, it is soaked in water and then cut into silk and clothes, which is dazzling. "

Although many conversations between the two empires were fictitious, they finally made real contact through silk.

The first time I saw the shock of diaosi.

In 53 BC, crassus, one of the three giants of ancient Rome, led 40,000 men from seven legions to attack the Eastern Rest Empire. Crassus, far from the rear, crossed the Euphrates River in pursuit of a rest army that actually pretended to escape. After luring the Roman army into the deep desert, the rest surrounded them. The two sides fought fiercely in Kale.

Just as the Roman army's powerful offensive disintegrated the remnants of the army, the remnants played a huge military flag. At this moment, a large number of colorful military flags are flying and rustling in turn, which makes the Romans dumbfounded. The Romans thought that the gods had come down to help others and suddenly lost their fighting spirit. In a panic, they closed their eyes and became ghosts or prisoners of others. More than 20,000 Roman soldiers were killed and more than 10,000 captured.

According to the research of western historians, those colorful military flags are made of China silk. This is the worst battle in Roman history. They were not defeated, but frightened by the gorgeous pennants they had never seen before. This is probably the first time that the Romans saw China's silk fabrics.

Caesar shocked the whole theater.

During the Roman period, one of the social fashions of Roman nobles was to be able to wear silk clothes made in China. Shi Zai, Julius Caesar and his ally Cleopatra all like to wear clothes made of China silk.

One day, during a performance at the Rome Theatre, Julius Caesar suddenly appeared in the theatre wearing a robe made of China silk. The dazzling brilliance and gorgeous colors stunned the audience. Although the performance was wonderful, the audience focused their envious eyes on Caesar and talked about where he got such beautiful clothes. This should be the first time that the Romans had close contact with silk in their own country.

At that time, Romans generally wore cloak-like robes made of coarse wool cloth with bare arms, while nobles wore soft and transparent linen clothes made of linen. However, when they saw the beautiful silk, they couldn't help falling in love with it. Silk soon became a luxury that swept the upper class in Rome. It is a luxury, because a catty of high-grade silk is worth 12 gold.

Cleopatra, in particular, has an extraordinary preference and pursuit for China silk. At that time, in order to preserve the precious silk thread, she gave the silk shipped from China to the court weavers. First, take apart the silk garments bought from China one by one, and then weave them into garments or make them into decorations for decoration.

In the luxurious downtown area of Rome, Cross also has a special market selling China silk. In 92 AD, Titus Flavius Domitianus, the Roman emperor, built a special warehouse for storing China silk in Rome. With the help of the nobles, people in Rome like this gorgeous object from the Far East more and more. Today, archaeologists can also find figures wearing transparent robes and soft materials, namely silk, in some ancient Roman stone carvings, pottery and paintings. For example, on the statue of Parthenon in the Acropolis in Athens, and on the priestess of Bacchus in the collection of Naples Museum in Italy, you can see the elegant and moving silk clothes worn by people in Greek and Roman times.

On the other hand, a large number of China silks entered the country, which caused the rapid expansion of the trade deficit of the Roman Empire. Therefore, Rome pays 654.38 million ounces of gold every year to buy imported China silk. The massive outflow of gold forced the Roman Empire to enact laws prohibiting people from wearing silk. For example, the Roman emperor Aureliano took the lead in not wearing silk robes and forbade nobles to wear silk fabrics. However, for a long time, Roman society became extravagant. By the 3rd and 4th centuries, silk products had become the only fashion dress of HaoBC people in Ninghe County, and were highly respected by the whole country.

Battle of silk

At that time, the silk imported by the Roman Empire was resold by Persian merchants, and the Romans had no pricing power, which was the reason for the high price of silk. The inevitable conflict happened.

In the book Natural History written by Master Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty, he noticed that Justinian, the emperor of the East Rome, had planned to unite with Ethiopians, bypass Persia, go to India to buy silk from the sea, and then transport it to Rome. Unfortunately, however, this plan was learned by the Persians, and the Persian king threatened Ethiopia with force to stop them from helping the Romans buy silk. In desperation, Justinian had to ask Turkic Khan, a Persian neighbor, to mediate.

Unexpectedly, the king of Persia not only refused to listen to mediation, but also poisoned the envoys of Turkic Khan, intensifying the contradictions between the two sides. Finally, in 57 1 year, the Eastern Roman Empire joined forces with the Turkic Khan to attack Persia. This famous "Silk War" in western history lasted for 20 years, and it is still inconclusive.

Europe has a silk industry.

The Silk War severed the ties between Rome and Persia. Because of this, the silk in Rome is scarce, the price is soaring, and the silk processing industry is stagnant. Justinian had to work hard to develop sericulture in his own country.

A missionary who has been to the East claims to know how to make silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds. He hid silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds in bamboo sticks and went back to Rome for a year. Under his guidance, the Romans buried silkworm eggs in the ground, put mulberry seeds in their arms and hatched like chickens. The result can be imagined.

Soon, the big joke spread to several Indian monks in Rome, who taught the Romans the correct planting and breeding skills. Since then, sericulture has gradually spread in European countries.

/kloc-in the 20th century, during the Crusades, King Roger II of South Italy captured 2,000 silk workers and brought them back to Italy to raise silkworms, reel silk and weave cloth. However, until the era of Kelpolo, that is, the Yuan Dynasty in China, Europeans still regarded silk as a "hard currency" that could circulate and appreciate like gold.

/kloc-in the 3rd century, China's silk textile technology began to mature in Italy. /kloc-in the 4th century, the silk patterns produced by Lucca, the Italian silk textile center, showed obvious China influence. /kloc-At the end of 0/5, it became a fashion for Italian textile workshops to directly imitate China's design. On the silk made in Italy, birds, lotus flowers, waterfowl, rockeries and cirrus clouds from China appeared. Italy has gradually become the center of European silk industry, but the memory of "Silk Country" left to Rome and even Europe has not disappeared.