The word silk itself is beautiful. The story of silk started in China over 4, 000 years ago. One story says a silkworm's cocoon (茧) fell into a woman's teacup. It then opened into a single, unbroken thread (线). This was an important discovery. The Chinese learned they could use the cocoons to make cloth that was both beautiful to look at and soft to touch.
Making silk was a protected secret in China for many years. In other countries, silk was very valuable. Often it was worth more than gold. It was said that the secret was finally given away when a queen left China for India. In her hair, she secretly carried many silkworms.
By the year 1 A. D. , silk was sold as far west as Rome, and all along the Silk Road. Finally, around the year 300, silk also travelled from China to Japan. In 1522, the Spanish brought silkworms to Mexico.
Today people around the world still make many beautiful things from silk. But silk isn't only beautiful. It looks easy to break, but actually it's very strong. For example, people have already used it to make bicycle wheels. And some doctors even use silk threads in hospital. Silk is also lightweight and warm. This makes it great for clothes like winter jackets, trousers and shoes.
All of this is from a little silkworm. That is the magic of silk.
