雙語科技百科(農業) 第52期:絲綢
The Silk
The silk is the symbol of the anaent Chinese culture and the old silk in-dustry formed one of the glorious chapters in the history of the Chinese culture, making an indelible con-tribution to the development of the world cMlization. The Chinese silk is known throughout the world for its excellent qualities, exquisite colors and rich cultural connota-tions. Several thousand years ago, when the silk trade first reached Europe via the Silk Road,it brought with it not only the gor-geous silk apparel and decorcrtive items, but also the anaent and resplendent Oriental then on, silk was regarded as the emissary and symbol of the Oriental cMlization. The eadiest silk article discovered to date is approximately 4700 years old, un-earthed from a tomb dating from China’s Liangzhu Culture. According to an ancient Chinese legend, the Silkworm Goddess appeared to the Yellow Emperor, the leg-endary ancestor of the Chinese people, after he vanquished his adversary Chi presented him with silk fibers spun from her own mouth as a sign of Yellow Emperor ordered the fibers woven into cloth and made into the silk ap-parel, which he found exceedingly soft and comfortable. His wife Lei Zu searched until she found a type of caterpillar capable of spinning silk fibers from its raised these silkworms by feeding them mulberry leaves she picked r generations came to worship Lei Zu as the Silkworm Goddess, and the Yellow Emperor as the God of Weaving. Sericulture, including cultivating the mulberry plant, raising silkworms, and producing silk fabric, was a fundamental form of la-bor throughout thousands of years in ancient China. China is the birthplace of seri-culture. Raising silkworms and reeling the silk from their cocoons was ancient China’s greatest achievement in the utilization of natural fibers.
絲綢是中國古老文化的象徵,中國古老的絲綢業爲中華民族文化織繡了光輝的篇章，對促進世界人類文明的發展作出了不可磨滅的貢獻。中國絲綢以其卓越的品質、精美的花色和豐富的文化內涵聞名於世。幾千年前，當絲綢沿着古絲綢之路傳向歐洲，它所帶去的，不僅僅是一件件華美的服飾、飾品，更是東方古老燦爛的文明。絲綢從那時起，幾乎就成爲了東方文明的傳播者和象徵。目前已知的最早絲織物，是出土於距今約4700年良諸文化的遺址。關於絲綢中國有一個悠遠的傳說：遠古時代，黃帝打敗了蚩尤，“蠶神”親自將她吐的絲奉獻出來以示敬意。黃帝命人將絲織成了絹，以絹縫衣，穿着異常舒服。黃帝之妻嫘祖便去尋找能吐絲的蠶種，採桑飼蠶。後世民間崇奉嫘祖爲養蠶的蠶神，黃帝爲織絲的機神。採桑養蠶與制絲織綢，便成了中國古代社會幾千年的基本勞作手段。中國是養蠶業的發源地，養蠶，繅絲是我國古代在纖維利用上最重要的成就。
