Yanjin Sericulture

Yanjin Sericulture

　　    The history of sericulture in Zhaotong City can be traced back to the 7th century BC. According to *The Chronicles of the Kings of Shu* by Yang Xiong of the Western Han Dynasty, around 670 BC, during the time when Zhu Ti Du Yu (a native of present-day Zhaotong) founded the Shu Kingdom, he taught the people to develop sericulture. During the Qing Dynasty, Huang Tu Ying and Lin Shao Nian served as prefects of Zhaotong, where they promoted the mulberry planting and silkworm rearing techniques from Fujian, playing a positive role in the development of the local sericulture industry. In the 2nd year of the Republic of China (1913), counties such as Daguan and Yanjin established sericulture classes to promote sericulture production. These classes recruited students from both urban and rural areas and taught them mulberry planting and silkworm rearing methods, achieving good results. Around 1920, some rural areas in counties such as Yanjin, Zhenxiong, Weixin, Suijiang, Yiliang, and Yongshan saw new progress in sericulture production. In townships such as Longtan and Tantou in Yanjin County, over 140,000 to 150,000 mulberry trees were planted, yielding more than 10,000 jin of cocoons annually. In the eastern and southern districts of Zhenxiong County, rural women planted three to five mulberry trees each, raised silkworms and produced cocoons in March of spring for spinning yarn and weaving belts. In Weixin County, areas such as Luohai, Xiajiatun, Siwenpu, and Changguansi produced raw silk each year, with some kept for local use and the rest transported to Sichuan for sale. In Suijiang County, mulberry trees were widely planted in rural areas, producing 105,000 taels of raw silk annually, which was sold to places such as Sichuan and Kunming. In 1934, there were over 3,000 specialized silkworm-raising households in four counties: Yongshan, Suijiang, Yiliang, and Zhenxiong. The raw silk produced from cocoons in Yanjin County was once exported to international markets such as Myanmar and India. By 1947–1949, sericulture production in the entire region had declined, with an average annual output of no more than 10,000 kilograms. (Zhaotong)