The history of thousands of years of Vietnamese silk waves

Growing mulberry, raising silkworms, cultivating silk and weaving silk is a profession that has appeared in the history of Vietnam for a long time. The country has gone through many ups and downs, and the silk industry has also gone through many ups and downs. At times of glory, at times of school, the old profession is still preserved, handed down and continued to develop.

Historical documents have recorded that the profession of growing mulberry, raising silkworms and weaving silk dates back to the 6th Hung Vuong period, initiated by My Nuong Thieu Hoa. Since then, silk has been widely spread throughout the regions, from the plains to the highlands, becoming the proud national cultural quintessence of the Vietnamese people.

Since feudal times, silk has been considered an extremely valuable handicraft product, a symbol of class, nobility and royalty, mainly used for kings, nobles or rich people. Vietnamese silk is used as a diplomatic tribute, sought and purchased by foreign traders to sell to the nobility and the rich.

The book Han Thu – ancient Chinese bibliography clearly states: Lac Viet people know how to grow mulberries to raise silkworms, “there are two rice crops a year, eight generations of silkworms”.

The words of the scholar Le Quy Don composed in “Phu Bien Tap Luc” affirm that ancient Vietnamese silk is not inferior to Chinese silk: “The Ascension people, Dien Ban knew how to weave silk, cloth, cut, and receive, are,

The words of the scholar Le Quy Don composed in “Phu Bien Tap Luc” affirm that ancient Vietnamese silk is not inferior to Chinese silk: “The Ascension people, Dien Ban knew how to weave silk, cloth, cut, and receive, are, The flowers are as beautiful as Cantonese…”.

Around the beginning of the twentieth century, the French capitalists invested in building many silk nurseries in our country, to exploit the potential of the land for growing mulberry to raise silkworms and the skilled labor skills of the natives.

These data have shown the long history of mulberry farming, silkworm rearing, and silk weaving of the Vietnamese people, as well as the high quality and spread of Vietnamese silk products to many countries and territories. In the world.

Theo ghi chép của Hiệp hội Dâu tằm tơ Việt Nam, từ năm 1955, khi chiến tranh ngày càng ác liệt, trồng dâu nuôi tằm và sản xuất tơ bị xóa sổ ở nhiều khu vực. The war destroyed the mulberry fields, the nursery collapsed, natural disasters damaged the mulberry land, the mulberry industry also declined from there.

But the national identity is the source that never stops flowing, the ancestors’ karma can hardly be lost. The artisans who grow mulberry, raise silkworms, nurse silk, weave silk through many hardships still preserve and pass on the royal silk termite profession to the next generations. Vietnam’s silk industry is like a thin but durable silk thread, from decline, smoldering to revival and gradually transforming. Silkworm fences eat freely, clatter, and laugh, interspersed with the bustling voices of workers in traditional craft villages along the north to south: Van Phuc (Hanoi), Nha Xa (Ha Nam), Co Chat (Nam Dinh), Ma Chau (Quang Nam), Bao Loc (Lam Dong), Tan Chau (An Giang)…

In which, Bao Loc silk, although born late after giving birth compared to traditional craft villages with a history of several hundred to thousands of years, has a strong growth rate, currently accounts for 70% of the value of silk production. of the whole country. Considered as the “silk capital of Vietnam”, Bao Loc silk is gradually bringing the Vietnamese silk brand to the international arena.

“Vietnam exports more silk than Japan and China, and also exports more raw silk than Cambodia and Thailand… Vietnam is a country with a long tradition of silk weaving, a vast raw material area, and a high quality of silk. rare high quality…” – The remarks of Mr. Fei Jianming, Secretary General of the World Silk Association not only affirm the rich history and special qualities of Vietnamese silk, but also the dynamics of silk. force for us, the generations after the waves, to continue to “remove the guts and release the silk” to engrave silk names with Vietnamese identity on the world silk map.World silk