10th February, 2001
Silkworms Producing Silk Cocoons After Feasting On Mulberry Leaves; Silk Stronger Than Steel; No Worms Roasted, Grilled Or Fried In Restaurant Dishes
August, 1987
Silkworms producing silk, to be spun and woven was the main attraction in Wuxi. When we arrived at Wuxi we disembarked from the boat which had brought us on the canal from Suzhou, by walking across the deck of another boat which was moored at the landing stage, then we were whisked away to a restaurant to have some lunch. There was always a good selection of dishes brought to the table, wherever we had our meals, and all palatable to the Western taste buds, and I am sure that on this occasion, there was no roasted, grilled or fried silk worms, discarded from the workshops we were about to visit ! In Suzhou we had seen silk fashioned and embroidered into works of art, and now we were to see the source of this remarkable material. We were told that a single thread of silk was stronger than its equivalent in steel, a statement we had to accept, despite the fact that the thread looked extremely delicate. A spider's web can hold a struggling fly !
The silk worm emerges from its tiny egg with a voracious appetite for mulberry leaves which it consumes until it is ready to pupate and weave a cocoon around itself. For most of them the effort is futile as the product of their labours is taken for use by humans. Some are left to complete the
pupation then the moth can produce the eggs, to generate the worm, so that thread can be spun and fabric woven......
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