Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/The Silk Industry

 

THE SILK INDUSTRY.

 

HE introduction of the silk industry amongst the Chinese is ascribed to Hwang Ti, who flourished about the year 2697 B.C. Coming down to historic times, it is recorded that in the thirteenth century woven silk rolls were accepted at a fixed rate of conversion as tribute, or, with silver, as payment for the salt tax; while Kublai Khan, one of the Mongol Emperors, issued notes, known as "Kiao-chao," which, with a face value of Tls. 1,000, represented Tls. 1,000 worth of silk.

The growth of silk is considered by the Chinese as next in importance to that of rice; and just as, according to the rites of Confucius, the Emperor opens the season of husbandry by holding the plough for one furrow, so the Empress every year inaugurates the process of hatching silkworms and gathering mulberry leaves. The industry in all its branches—silkworm rearing, reeling, and weaving—is almost entirely in the hands of the peasantry, and gives employment to thousands of families.

 

A MAGNIFICENT SPECIMEN OF NATIVE SILK EMBROIDERY
(originally intended for the St. Louis Exhibition), and now in the possession of R. E. Toeg, Shanghai.

 

The life-history of the silkworm is a wonderful illustration of the devious ways in which nature does her work. The silkworm moth, which belongs to the family of bombici, lays thousands of eggs, and dies soon after fulfilling this function. Incubation is fostered by Italian and other continental silk-farmers by means of carefully regulated incubators, and before the eggs are selected a microscopic examination is made of the moths for the purpose of eliminating eggs laid by diseased moths. In China no such elaborate precautions are taken, although the eggs are sometimes exposed to frost to destroy the weaklings. The first of the silkworms make their appearance in about eight or ten days, and are collected on tender mulberry leaves and placed in trays, on which finely chopped leaves are scattered to serve as food. In five or six days—according to the species and to the climatic conditions—the silkworm goes to sleep, waking up twenty-four hours later with a new skin. A second period of eating, lasting four or five days, is followed by a second sleep of twenty-four hours, and a second change of skin. After the third period of feeding the silkworm sleeps for forty-eight hours, and issues from this, its last hibernation, with its third skin, and an almost insatiable appetite. During the following eight days it more than quadruples its size, attaining a maximum length of about three inches and a girth of about an inch and a half. The silk fluid or jelly begins to form in the body of the larvæ, and towards the close of the period the skin becomes distended and semi-transparent. The silk in the body of the worm is a viscous substance which only becomes the silk as seen in the cocoon on exposure to air. The spinning of the cocoon, which contains about six hundred yards of filament, takes from seventy to eighty hours. First a sort of nest, or bag, of loosely-drawn threads is attached to a number of sticks of straw or twigs, and then the actual cocoon is commenced, the worm ejecting the filament from its mouth and winding from the outside to the inside of the cocoon, so that it entirely shuts itself in. As the silk is ejected it passes through two sacs containing a gummy substance, which, gradually hardening, causes the filaments to adhere to each other and makes the wall of the cocoon practically impervious to air. Left to itself, the silkworm becomes transformed in five or six days into a pupa, or chrysalis, and in a further five or six days into a moth. When the moth is ready to emerge it ejects upon the wall of the cocoon a fluid which acts as a solvent on the gummy substance holding the filaments of silk together, and then gradually makes its way out, pushing the filaments aside without breaking a single one. The moths, male and female, are unable to fly, their bodies being out of all proportion to the size of their wings. They can walk but slowly, and they are nearly blind. For commercial purposes, the development is not allowed to proceed beyond the chrysalis stage, except in the case of a small percentage of the finest cocoons, which are kept for supplying the next season's crop of eggs. The reason for this is that the "pierced" cocoons, from which the moths have made their exits, are worth comparatively little, as the silk cannot be unwound from them. In Europe the development is stopped by killing the chrysalides, either by baking the cocoons or by drying them in hot air. The baking method is employed in China in the case of cocoons sold to the steam filatures, so that the cocoons may be kept for longer periods, and more time devoted to sorting them; but the Chinese, having no knowledge of this drying process, are obliged to reel their cocoons at once, and the killing of the chrysalides is only incidental to the reeling process, in which boiling water is used.

Silkworms are liable to several diseases, and in Europe great care is exercised to secure the utmost cleanliness at every stage of rearing. The most dreaded scourge is that known as calcino, which does not manifest itself until the second period of the silkworm's existence. The disease is due to a bacillus, and is so rapid in its effects that a whole crop may be completely destroyed in two days. In China, where less care is taken, a very large percentage of silkworms are lost through various diseases. No microscopic examination is made of the moths, and the only semblance to any form of elimination of weaklings are the practices of exposing the eggs to frost, and of allowing only those silkworms to survive which show themselves to be the most vigorous by being the first to wake out of each successive sleep.

The silk products of China may be classed roughly as raw white, raw yellow, wild silk, and piece goods. The range of the silkworm is from Lat. 22° N. to beyond Lat. 40° N,, the very finest qualities of white silk being derived from the provinces of Kiangsu and Chekiang, which lie between Lat. 27° and 35° N. Yellow silk comes almost entirely from Shantung and Szechwan, while wild silk is obtained from Shantung, Chihli, and Manchuria. Piece goods come from all the silk farming districts, and Shantung pongees are drawn chiefly from the neighbourhood of Chefoo.

The value of silk exports in 1864, the year in which detailed trade reports were first issued by the Statistical Department of the Imperial Maritime Customs, was, in round figures, Tls. 12,000,000. In 1874 the value had increased to Tls. 26,000,000; in 1894, to Tls. 42,500,000; and in 1904 to Tls. 78,000,000. It must, however, be borne in mind that the tael in 1864 was worth 6s. 8d., whereas in 1874, 1894. and 1904 it fell in value to 6s. 4d., 3s. 2d., and 2s. 10d. respectively. The quantity and value of all silk products exported during the years 1903-7 inclusive may be tabulated as above.

RAW WHITE SILK.

Raw white silk, the tsatlee silk of the European market, is produced by hand-reeling at the Chinese silkworm farms. The custom for centuries has been for each farmer to reel his own cocoons, his whole family taking part in the industry. The process is of the most primitive kind. Little care is taken to ensure cleanliness, and the product is so uneven in reeling that it does not fetch nearly so high a price as the product of the steam filatures—the difference being often as much as Tls. 300 or Tls. 400 per picul. The silk is brought into the market by collectors, hundreds of whom are engaged in this work. The raw silk is made up into hanks of nine pounds, and exported in bales of one picul each. When it reaches its destination, in Europe or elsewhere, it is passed through a "throwing" mill, in which three or four threads are combined. The product, known as "thrown" silk, is boiled to remove the residue of the gum, and is then ready for the loom. The best white silk comes from the districts surrounding Shanghai, which contribute by far the largest

1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Piculs. Value. Piculs. Value. Piculs. Value. Piculs. Value. Piculs. Value.

Raw White

Raw„ White„ Steam Filature

Raw„ White„ Yellow

Raw„ White„ Wild

Cocoons

Waste

Refuse Cocoons

Piece Goods

Shantung Pongees

Products, unclassed

19,341 43,979 .375 22,128 19.430 79.882 16,879 14.708 ,499 Taels. ,603,374 ,284,941 ,649.601 ,673,434 ,704,268 .016,637 ,503 ,096,173 ,688,737 ,170,035 .238 47.287 10.374 33,527 11,015 66,893 .719 14,187 ,487 Taels. ,581,790 28,526,115 .357,323 9,861,668 ,685 ,014,202 .519 .600,800 ,162,568 ,742 ,270 .347 10,718 ,584 14,207 87,167 20,806 12,390 ,337 Taels. ,524,010 ,395.999 3,866,402 8,639,062 1,344,286 4,288,525 .818 8,897,627 1,041,123 ,211 ,224 45,821 ,886 .555 11,608 .224 16,970

1. 755 

3,742 Taels. ,485,481 29,614,449 3,214,873 6,372,970 1,089,872 3,208,162 450,254 8,474.750 1,279,104 1,105,610 ,556 50,296 13,465 23,896 14,263 107,859 ,104 ,653 5,843 Taels. ,804,464 ,047.350 ,746.366 .292,933 1.300,072 5,439,771 ,999 ,602,514 .323,638 ,927 ,221 ,289,703 .727 ,255,412 ,826 ,394,063 ,785 ,295,525 ,935 ,084,034

proportion of the value exported. Among other contributing Customs districts are contributing Customs districts are Shasi, Hankow, Chinkiang, Hangchow, Lappa, and Wuchow. The following table shows the principal Customs districts from which the raw white silk is exported and the chief places to which it is taken:—

RAW WHITE.

Original Export from principal Customs Districts. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Taels. Taels. Taels,

Shanghai 11,283,931 14,859,895 15,370,172

Canton 885,917 568,040 852,938

Chief Countries to which Exported.

Taels. Taels. Taels.

Hongkong 1,144.530 761,208 1,091,569

Great Britain 186,032 186,225 442,771

France 3,757,286 6,011,658 7,294,691

Italy 3,115,539 3,409,071 2,688,203

U.S.A. (including Hawaii) 3,968,136 5,262,881 5,282,138

STEAM FILATURE SILK.

Raw white steam filature silk is by far the most valuable of silk exports, accounting for Tls. 39,047,350 of the total of Tls. 89,084,034 exported during 1907. There are filatures at Shanghai, Canton, Soochow, and Hangchow, the best prices being realised by the products of the Shanghai filatures. The cocoons are collected in the farming districts, and the filatures have to pay exorbitant prices for them; but, owing to the superior processes employed, the filatures are able to reel off silk worth from Tls. 700 to Tls. 800 per picul, while the native hand-reeled silk is worth only about Tls. 500 per picul. The cocoons used in Shanghai are brought chiefly from Wusieh district in the Kiangsu Province, where the silk is by nature the finest in the world; and from Showshing, in Chekiang Province, where it is almost as good in quality but not of so brilliant a white. The cocoons are sorted according to district, size, and colour; the waste silk—the loose silk bag or nest in which the cocoon is suspended—is picked off by hand and forms one of the by-products, and the cocoons are then reeled. In the process of reeling the silk the cocoons are first placed in bassines, which are filled with water kept at about boiling point by means of steam. The cocoons float on the surface, and the water acts as a solvent upon the gum in them, enabling the "brushing girls" to collect the loose ends of silk. The cocoons are then ladled out to two reeling women, who sit on the opposite side of the bassine table, and each woman takes some five or more and passes the filaments over guides and on to the reeling machine. In passing through the guides the filaments are twisted together, and the thread thus produced is the raw silk of export. It takes from 3,000 to 3,500 cocoons to reel one pound of silk, and, like the hand-reeled product, the steam filature silk is hanked into bundles of nine pounds and made up into bales of one picul each. Canton steam filature silk is not of such fine quality as that produced at Shanghai, and realises from Tls. 150 to Tls. 200 per picul less in the market. The principal producing districts and places of destination are shown in the accompanying table.

YELLOW SILK.

Raw yellow silk originates in the provinces of Szechwan and Shantung, the chief producing districts being Chefoo, Kiaochau, Chungking, Ichang, Shasi, Hankow, Shanghai, Pakhoi, and Tengyueh. The export consists entirely of hand-reeled silk, which is collected from the farmers in the same way as other products. The export values for the past five years are given in the appended tabular statement.

WILD SILK.

Wild silk comes principally from Newchwang and Chefoo, other contributing districts being Antung, Darien, Chinwangtao, Kiaochau, Shanghai, Canton, and Lappa. It is the product of a silkworm fed upon oak leaves, and is very coarse in comparison with white and yellow silk. The cocoons are about three times as large as those of other species, and are pear-shaped, for the reason that they are slung from twigs. The piece-goods manufactured from this silk, which is of much the same colour as a pale cocoanut fibre, are known as tussahs.

COCOONS.

Cocoons form only a small item of export. Shanghai, Canton, Lappa, and Hangchow are

RAW WHITE STEAM FILATURE.

Original Export from principal Customs Districts. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Shanghai ,095,183 ,112,638 .335770 ,195.187 ,948,298 Canton ,838,478 ,137,988 ,848,318 ,336,761 ,192,402 Cliief Countries to which Exported. Tads. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Hongkong ,838,478 ,137,988 ,848,318 ,336,761 ,192,402 Great Britain ,620 ,462 ,668 ,030 — France — — .755.513 ,027,783 ,239.592 Italy — — .663 ,573 ,034,770 U.S.A. (including Hawaii)... ,559-925 ,356,128 ,960,105 ,280,302 .573,948 RAW YELLOW. RAW WILD. Original Export from principal Customs Districts. . . . . . Taels. Taels. TaeU. Taels. Taels. Kiaochau ,280 ,137.765 .144 .934 ,477,908 Chungking ,304,836 ,179,224 ,684,238 ,496,957 ,778,169 Hankow .315,778 ,105,203 ,350,622 .577,550 ,142,740 Chief Countries to which Exported. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Hongkong .198 .347 .444 ,039 ,248 British India .285 .193,267 ,493,086 .020,437

,964,406 

Great Britain ,980 .954 — — — Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Aden, Algeria, &c. ,820 .304 ,248 ,302 ,363,966 France — — ,678 ,578 .444 Italy — — .775 ,732 ,082 Original Export from principal Customs Districts. . . •905- . . Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Newchwang .259.634 .821,344 ,786,567 .549.753 ,192,536 Chefoo ,669,130 ,246,329 .330.297 ,240,649 ,492,294- Chungking .387 ,542 .509 ,080 i 125,764 Shanghai ,772 ,938 ,363 ' 57,248' . ■ 49.7 M Canton .405 ,141 ,911 .459 1 • 64,077, Lappa ,026 ,617 ,879 ,174 .270 Chief Countries to which Exported. Taels. Taels. Tads. Taels. Taels. Hongkong .928 ,811 ,226 ,946 .674 Great Britain ,232 .195 .791 ,002 ,316 France — — ,002,288 ,139,097 ,534.025 Italy — — ,280,294 ,083,334 .408 Japan (including Formosa) ,492 ,207 ,443,880 ,132,217 ,460 United States America (including Hawaii) ,374 ,410,287 .551.404 ,351 ,968 the chief contributing centres, but practically all the producing districts furnish their quota. The value of the export is a little over Tls. 1,000,000 a year, Japan (including Formosa) being the chief customers.

WASTE SILK.

Waste silk includes a variety of by-products. One of these is the fluffy silken nest in which the cocoon hangs. This is picked off before the silk on the cocoon can be reeled, and is known as "floss" silk. "Frisson," or "husk" silk is the impure silk coming first from the cocoon during the brushing and reeling process; it is the most valuable of all the waste products, being worth from Tls. 100 to Tls. 150 per picul, according to the market. Then there is what is known as "boiled waste," i.e., the inner layer or two of silk in a cocoon which cannot easily be reeled. The chrysalis and the skin of the silkworm are picked out and themselves form a by-product as manure; while the "boiled waste" is washed, baled, and exported for use in the manufacture of "noil" yarn as distinct from cotton yarn. Again, amongst the cocoons there sometimes occur what are known as "doubles," formed when two silkworms enclose themselves in one cocoon. Although the silk is perfectly good, these "doubles" have to be classed as waste, because they are difficult to unwind. The "perforated" cocoons from which the moths have emerged are also useless for reeling, though the silk is unimpaired; and, lastly, a small percentage of cocoons is spoiled by the agency of a parasite which inhabits the body of the silkworm, and, on coming to maturity, eats its way out of the cocoon. The table shows the principal districts from which waste silk is exported and the countries to which it is sent.

PIECE GOODS.

Silk piece goods are woven on hand-looms by small weavers, who either buy raw silk from the farmers and sell the manufactured articles themselves, or weave to order silk supplied them by merchants. The whole of the producing districts contribute to this heading of export, but the figures given below do not afford any indication of the amount of silk actually woven in the country, for by far the greater proportion of the finest silk—that woven from the first crop of raw silk—finds a market within the borders of the Empire among the official and wealthy classes. Between two and three hundred kinds of silk piece goods are woven in the provinces of Kiangsu and Chekiang, the industry centring chiefly round Soochow, Wusieh, and Nanking in the former province, and around Showshing and Hangchow in the latter. Each weaver produces one particular kind of silk, and the various descriptions are bought by collectors sent out by Chinese silk brokers, who classify them and dispose of them to Chinese and foreign merchants. From the districts named come all the very finest white pongees, brocades, plains, crepes, &c., as well as the bulk of the heavier kinds and coarse common silks. The Canton products are in less variety and of poorer quality. Yellow silk piece goods are derived principally from Szechwan and Shantung Provinces. Formerly the dyes used in colouring silk were purely Chinese vegetable dyes, which kept their colour well, and rendered the silk more durable; but now, owing to the demand for cheaper silk, foreign dyes are largely employed. Of recent years the foreign market has shown a preference for machine-made Japanese and European silks, because of their superior finish, but the product of the hand-looms of China will probably never be excelled for strength and durability.

WASTE.

Original Export from principal Customs Districts.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Newchwang 125,458 175,663 185,334 115,104 256,190

Chefoo 227,661 165,042 194,575 196,200 219,526

Hiaochau 224,285 218,665 331,841 187,496 51,078

Kankow 236,241 260,253 244,988 186,617 115,246

Shanghai 1,127,285 896,296 925,823 735,701 962,790

Hangchow 49,967 174,613 357,598 446,657 552,293

Canton 2,470,595 1,468,381 1,849,469 1,413,412 2,702,570

Wuhu — — — 90,997 97,459

Chief Countries to which Exported.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Hongkong 2,437,601 1,454,776 1,849,469 1,413,538 2,705,475

Great Britain 638,134 286,428 764,568 620,446 589,516

France — — 1,280,841 838,785 1,653,405

Italy — — 235,363 206,189 403,886

SILK PIECE GOODS.

Original Export from principal Customs Districts. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Nanking 1,510,938 2,281,457 2,123,725 2,538,429 2,497,099

Chinkiang 542,440 759,000 889,621 781,801 657,491

Shanghai 6,254,522 6,992,199 7,184,251 5,958,056 5,823,854

Soochow 316,270 403,180 776,753 811,982 1,088,637

Hangchow 1,472,167 1,776,703 2,244,824 1,774,496 1,805,529

Canton 8,306,361 6,222,372 5,663,424 5,603,934 6,836,420

Kowloon 773,127 521,555 394,014 413,175 457,435

Chief Countries to which Exported.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Hongkong 10,526,012 8,427,129 7,098,082 6,708,002 8,383,035

Singapore, Straits, &c. 435,192 395,059 343,899 345,741 413,740

Great Britain 56,878 118,635 79,012 89,960 124,313

Korea 639,269 713,013 717,694 439,883 907,584

SHANTUNG PONGEES.

Original Export from principal Customs Districts. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Chefoo 2,005,920 1,178,587 1,076,519 1,178,906 1,352,610

Kiaochau 1,521 56,735 79,401 271,000 1,136,414

Shanghai 10,143 9,632 32,348 47,141 12,751

Chief Countries to which Exported.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Hongkong 359,746 378,304 389,745 371,424 500,464

Great Britain 262,770 110,647 125,899 248,432 384,246

France — — 202,041 399,793 1,032,055

SHANTUNG PONGEES.

Shantung pongees are commonly known as "Chefoo" silk, and are made from wild silk, the produce of silkworms fed upon oak leaves. They are esteemed for their cheapness and durability, and are much used by Europeans in the Far East for summer wear. From the foregoing tabular statement it will be seen that Chefoo's predominance is now being challenged by Kiaochau.