Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China

Overview

Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China, based in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces near Shanghai and Chengdu in Sichuan Province, have an ancient history. Traditionally an important role for women in the economy of rural regions, silk-making encompasses planting mulberry, raising silkworms, unreeling silk, making thread, and designing and weaving fabric. It has been handed down within families and through apprenticeship, with techniques often spreading within local groups. The life cycle of the silkworm was seen as representing the life, death and rebirth of human beings. In the ponds that dot the villages, silkworm waste is fed to fishes, while mud from the ponds fertilizes the mulberry trees, and the leaves in turn feed the silkworms. Near the beginning of the lunar year, silkworm farmers invite artisans into their homes to perform the story of the Goddess of the Silkworm, to ward...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: China
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: China
Countries: China

How the System Works

Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuidd52b981f-ceb8-4db0-9716-e198c6664648

ich_public_ref197

inscription_year2009

title_enSericulture and silk craftsmanship of China

title_frLa sériciculture et l’artisanat de la soie en Chine

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesCN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00197

concepts_primary_namesTechnical skills, Weaving

concepts_secondary_namesApprenticeship, Costumes, Family, Handicrafts, Life cycle, Prosperity ritual, Ritual purification, Rural economy, Textile arts, Visual arts, Women workers

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/01137-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightChina National Silk Museum, 2008

main_image_authorLi Yongjia

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/UYiubgSuRUE

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Technical skills Weaving Apprenticeship Costumes Family Handicrafts Life cycle Prosperity ritual Ritual purification Rural economy UNESCO representative list World Heritage connection: Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

Review and Corrections

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