Smuggling Domesticated Silkworms along the Silk Roads | Curator's Corner S9 Ep8 | The Silk Princess

At some point around AD 600-700, a legend started spreading about a princess who snuck mulberry tree seeds and silkworm eggs into the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan (present-day northwest China).
Sericulture, the ancient Chinese technique of silk farming, had been kept a secret for thousands of years. Integral to this technique were silkworms that had been bred to evolve into moths without wings, and needed a strict diet of white mulberry tree leaves (morus alba).
Khotan desperately wanted access to this incredibly lucrative business, and so a political marriage (with a little act of matrimonial smuggling) was arranged with a princess from a nearby 'eastern kingdom'. The princess hid mulberry tree seeds and silkworm eggs in her headdress, crossed the border, married the king, introduced sericulture to her new kingdom, guaranteed that her wardrobe was continually updated with fresh silk robes and eventually became a venerated figure of near-saintly status - not bad for a single day's smuggling?
Join curator Yu-ping Luk for a legendary journey along the Silk Roads.
Silk Roads EXHIBITION TICKETS: shorturl.at/i4tga
Supported by
The Huo Family Foundation
Additional supporters
James Bartos
The Ruddock Foundation for the Arts
Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation
CONTENT WARNING:
You may end up feeling like you didn't quite achieve enough on your own wedding day. You aren't a legendary princess in the 7th c. You are enough.
No silkworms were harmed in the making of this video. The same can't be said for your silk dressing gown (unless it came from Khotan!).
0:39 Silk Princess Painting British Museum
1:00 The Legend of the Silk Princess
2:38 What is Sericulture?
4:28 History of Silk production in China
5:25 How did Sericulture Silk Farming get to Khotan?
7:40 The Spread of Buddhism on the Silk Roads
8:38 Dadan-Uiliq
#curatorscorner #silkroad #silk

[@Meevious]

As a forearmed deity myself, I did not know I was a deity of weaving until now. Ty BM for giving me purpoise (now I just need some pupas).

[@sofiachen1819]

Such an interesting story and thank you for sharing it so eloquently.

[@opwave79]

Amazing silk art and backstory! Thank you for sharing yet another enlightening art history lesson.

[@Mister_Peppers]

Are the three women not all just the same princess? It seems like the artist used similar coding to emphasize this. With the curls, what looks like a beauty mark on the side of the lip, etc. Also it seems to read left to right, is that common for these types of panels? Or is it right to left saying she was a weaver, the deity says hello, she puts on a new hat, and then she has a basket of cocoons that she is saying she got from her hat? Great video guys. I never thought about how these kinds of tech (tex?) spread throughout the world.

[@britishmuseum]

A) excellent use of tech (tex?) B) will have to get back to you after asking Yu-ping. Traditionally right to left for things from China, so that makes sense, but this is the editor of the video, not the expert. Genuinely interesting take on it though. Hopefully have an answer for you soon!

[@kylerarndt]

That's an interesting idea. Usually if a painting were to be placed in a continuous narrative (meaning there are multiple instances of the same figure in one scene), however, the figures should all look the same so that the viewer can discern that. The headdress on the silk princess is very elaborate whereas the headdress on the two other figures is not as elaborate. In addition, all of the figures are wearing different clothes. The figure on the right has a yellow vest with a pattern. The figure on the left has a green sleeve. The silk princess figure is wearing a simple vest. Also, in a continuous narrative, it wouldn't make as much sense for the same figure to be pointing to another figure who is supposed to be the same person. There are also some paintings on wood panel from the same areas of the Taklamakan that are in a vertical orientation and those illustrate that they are attendants due to their placement in the foreground and they also look very different, not the silk princess in multiple parts of the scene (see The Iconography of Khotanese Painting by Joanna Williams 1973). Interesting analysis for a very interesting wood panel painting! I'm interested to see what Yu-ping has to say.

[@vitabricksnailslime8273]

Nah. The woman on the left is a jealous rival for the position of first wife. " _*Guards! *_ "

[@dennisclapp7527]

Thank you Luk. This is very illuminating.

[@chrisball3778]

I'd never heard the Silk Princess legend before. Absolutely fascinating. It's eerily similar to the historical story about Christian monks smuggling silk worms and mulberry seeds out of China and into Byzantium in hollow bamboo walking sticks so they could give them to Justinian I. That story is often treated as historical fact because the Byzantine silk industry did take off around that time. It really makes you wonder how the two stories are related. Did either of them really happen? Did they both happen separately? Is one a retelling of the other? Are both of them based on a third, older legend? The Silk Princess legend first seems to have been recorded by a travelling monk about 100 years after Justinian, based on the dates shown on screen, but the events it describes must have been supposed to have happened much earlier. Maybe Justinian's monks had heard the story of the Silk Princess and got the idea for their caper from it? Or maybe concocted a story based on it to cover up something more mundane like bribery? That'd be incredible.

[@dorteweber3682]

very well presented. Both engaging and informative. And thorough.

[@Ofallthings089]

For those of you who don’t know, silkworms eat almost exclusively mulberry leaves. White mulberry is preferred. Hence the smuggling of mulberry seeds with the silkworms.

[@surrog]

Thank you for this presentation, that was really interesting, antique china is a fascinating topic.

[@annettefournier9655]

Warmest and lightest winter coat i ever had was 100%silk. I wore it until it was falling to bits.😅

[@britishmuseum]

Silk is effectively Thor explaining magic Vs science in a real world material. It makes sense it was so secreted (and lucrative).

[@annettefournier9655]

Absolutely, silk is phenomenal.

[@lakshmi11386]

who better to talk about smuggling than the british museum 😂

[@intheshell35ify]

Interesting story. Well told. Nice antiques. Now we just Google it. 😂

[@JJONNYREPP]

Smuggling Domesticated Silkworms along the Silk Roads | Curator's Corner S9 Ep8 | The Silk Princess 2106pm 26.9.24 this is akin to when the Spanish took the pish of the dutch and suggested tulips were to be used as currency just as silk worms became currency due to their being so sought after...

[@causewaykayak]

Super Interesting. Many thanks for producing this video. So much content to be found in such a small object! I wonder who excavated the abandoned shrines to discover this treasure. Silk, Spices and the knowledge spread through the Silk Road is seldom given the credit it deserves for the Making of the Modern World. Its not all Columbus and Steam Engines 😊 Thanks to the curator Yu-ping Luk and your family of sponsors for giving us all this delightful material.

[@incomingcalamity844]

"Its not all Columbus and Steam Engines" Quoted for truth. Unfortunately, the human experience is so deep and vast and there are only so many hours in a life. A journey away from a western emphasis is equally rewarding and enlightening, and well worth the effort if even for a short time.

[@yuenchak]

Fascinating story! Thank you so much for sharing. Wish I was in London to see this exhibit.

[@Viscount_Castlereagh]

Very interesting.

[@mdsfo]

This is so fascinating! The Roman empire imported a lot of Chinese silk through middlemen, and would often unravel the cloth to be rewoven into lighter weight silk like we know today, probably because of the warmer Mediterranean climate.

[@manuellubian5709]

So what is the actual age of the panel and in the weaving comb? What year would you assume that these were both made?

[@bernettebowen6636]

Is there a book that accompanies this exhibit? If so how can I order it? Thanks for your reply.

[@britishmuseum]

There absolutely is, here's a link: shorturl.at/U9Lns

[@zeroxak]

Where is the reply?

[@williamraney3421]

History of the world in 100 objects covers this item, and many more, just not devoted to this topic

[@adamskialders]

So if that panel is of the Silk Princess and her 2 Handmaidens, rather than just the Silk Princess on 3 stages of her journey, does this mean that Khotan and/or China had their own version of the mythic tale of the 3 Weaving Women, who may have Divine or Saintly Power, like The Fates of Ancient Greece or The Norns from the Norse and Viking Sagas?

[@s1cler]

😍😍

[@incomingcalamity844]

Such an interesting snippet of history and artefact beyond our usual western canon. Best wishes for your exhibition. If ever it were to roam the UK and my neck of the woods... a visit would be guaranteed.

[@britishmuseum]

Just checking, I'm assuming you mean London is too far, because it's very much in the UK? But sadly only in London for now.

[@incomingcalamity844]

@@britishmuseum I've visited the BM (etc) many times over the decades but much of our cultural emphasis in terms of funding and accessibility is London-centric, leaving UK regions (including mine) far less-served. Museums in the north have done much to improve over the past thirty-years or so and there are fascinating permanent exhibits to be found but periodic, transient exhibits are predominantly limited to the capital. Which is a shame, as I'd love to see your exhibit. I used to complain about this far more, though these days I value my daily dose of a beautiful natural environment in the wilds of Yorkshire equal to such sporadic cultural access, especially given the access benefits of modern technology! Thanks for the reply and again, best wishes for the success of your Silk Roads exhibition.

[@zeroxak]

@@incomingcalamity844 GPT 4o user spotted

[@RinpochesRose]

Is there a reason why the lighting is so grey on this video 🤔

[@nonamepainter]

I imagine they have to keep the lights low due to the ancient nature of the items she's handling. UV light is pretty destructive

[@2wahineandadog]

Wow super interesting presentation. That one piece covers such a wealth of topics - I think I particularly liked the referral to women's division of labour and the clear value it represented in Ancient Chinese culture. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I live in New Zealand so no opportunity to see the full exhibition so this little tidbit was great!!!

[@Beth-zalin]

Assyrian trader also smugled out silk worms to northern Assyrian nusaibin area. Its a common story in our tellings…. The chinese had full control and didnt sell the silk worms be blught so the assyrian tradesmen put in the worms in their walking stafs that was decorated with crosses,,,, today we have mullberry there as trace from the silk production we had once

[@modero6370]

Thanks for the story. 2 contradictions pop into the mind though. Firstly silk was spun and that needed a technology piece or actually several that you just cannot hide in a headdress. And secondly carrying the eggs of the moth and the seeds of the tree at the same time seems to make no sense. The eggs will hatch within weeks and the caterpillars need fresh food immediately, whereas the tree seeds need a much longer time to germinate and produce a tree and thus the needed leaves as food (probably several years). I guess it was just made up into a legend.

[@LafayetteCCurtis]

The first one would have been far from insurmountable. Khotan almost certainly had the technology to spin other fibres (probably wool) before the introduction of silk, and would probably have been able to adapt the techniques to some extent.

[@TheZinmo]

Sorry to have to bust the legend, but mulberry tree seeds and silkworm eggs could not have been smuggled at the same time. The trees must have already been growing, or the hatching silkworms would have hade nothing to feed on. So it must have been a little more complicated. But nice story.

[@CrisSelene]

You don't know what a legend is, do you? It isn't actual history, otherwise it would be called history. A legend takes place in a nebulous time and actions don't have to be chronological or logical

[@williamraney3421]

Maybe the swallows carried the coconut between them on a string?

[@willbaren]

The seeds were for domesticated mulberry trees. Wild white mulberry are indigenous to South and East Asia and so would have been available to feed the caterpillars until the higher quality domesticated mulberry trees had started to grow.

[@professorsogol5824]

A good point, TheZinmo. But according to one source, the silk worm eggs can be stored for five years. So smuggle both, promptly plant the mulberry tree seeds and wait until the trees are producing leaves before hatching the eggs. Here is Wikipedia on the topic (the antecedents of "they" in the following are, variously, the silk worms, their eggs and the two monks). Since adult silkworms are rather fragile and have to be constantly kept at an ideal temperature, lest they perish,[9][clarification needed] they used their contacts in Sogdiana to smuggle out silkworm eggs or very young larvae instead, which they hid within their bamboo canes.[clarification needed][8][4] Mulberry bushes, which are required for silkworms, were either given to the monks or already imported into the Roman Empire.[8] All in all, it is estimated that the entire expedition lasted two years.[10]

[@intheshell35ify]

​@@williamraney3421what would you guess is the airspeed of those laden swallows? 🧐 🤸

[@ianteo-productionoutlet2969]

Ouch, the advertisements are becoming more dangerous. I was examining case breakers after looking at so-called NKVD traitors. The narrative bothering me unfortunately revolves around makeshift intel from fast food containers, so my level of this knowledge of metamorphosis will have to be kept around the need to follow the damn train.

[@dacealksne]

What is the best way to cook a silk worm?

[@britishmuseum]

We will check with Yu-ping and hopefully get back to you. Fair warning, almost 💯 she's never had first hand experience

[@atlantic_love]

@@britishmuseum Two hackers were making bets over what the other person's IP address would reveal. They also had the same name. Neither wanted to run a command first, so they just yelled the other person's name.

[@dacealksne]

@@britishmuseum Thank you! Please hurry, it's getting away

[@Projectswebhoporg]

Fascinating journey - is there a connection through The Mulberry Tree to Chinese Paper making along the SilkRoad? As in kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZTQfoSclquqns0 - for instance.

[@tomholroyd7519]

It's so insane. I thought "Silk Road" just meant "China" wow it's too bad China doesn't export anything anymore, silk sucks btw you cannot wash it

[@lenabreijer1311]

You can wash it with no problem if you wash your fabric before you sew it. I have been wearing men's silk shirts since they were popular in the 90s. I buy them second hand and wash them in the washing machine. They last for years. It is the sweat that destroys them eventually.

[@atlantic_love]

@@lenabreijer1311 Huh? You can wash if you wash them before you sew them, but you wash them after buying them used. Your comment makes no sense.

[@Sm2Lb]

Lena said “…wash your FABRIC before you sew it”. That makes sense, and it’s true of many natural textiles. Fibers often shrink or expand or get plumper, etc. when being washed with the greatest change occurring the first time or two. Think about buying a large cotton T-shirt that becomes a medium T-shirt after laundry day. If the garment is sewn first, then washed, the seams and alignments can be strained by the changes the cloth undergoes in the washer and dryer. By washing the fabric before it’s made into a garment, the cloth becomes more stable and less likely to stress seams or bag or permanently wrinkle. Of course, if you’re not sewing your own clothes, it’s important to look for the word “prewashed“ when you are shopping. Alternatively, buy second hand like Lena. Assuming they washed it, the original owner would have already tested the garment, and you can see the result before you buy.

[@lenabreijer1311]

@@atlantic_love I do both. Silk very much washable. It will change its texture somewhat depending on the weave. Shirts especially are completely washable. The problem with many more complex items is shrinkage of different components. Because manufacturers are to cheap to properly process their fabrics. Then there is problems with cheap dyes that run. But silk is very washable and durable. They made parachutes out of silk. They definitely got wet.

[@rodmarker2071]

For and old person in the UK, if you have to choose between buying food or heating ? do you really have time to enjoy the history of silk worms ? dunno really

[@christianfrommuslim]

Absolutely! We all need interesting but rather unimportant topics to think about, so that we don't focus constantly on our problems and get depressed.

[@LQY]

Is this possible biologically? I doubt the authenticity of this historical legend.