Due to the budding and development of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty, silk production and trade have undergone major changes: the commercialization trend of silk production has become increasingly obvious, and the overseas trade of silk has developed rapidly. The Suhu area in the south of the Yangtze River has become the most important silk producing area. A number of typical silk specialized towns have been developed, and the official weaving has become increasingly mature. At this time, the development of Chinese silk has reached its most active period.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the policy of concentrating efforts to develop wasteland, build water conservancy and revitalize agriculture was adopted, which changed the status of handicraft slaves in the Yuan Dynasty and greatly liberated labor productivity. In addition to taking turns on a regular basis, hereditary handicraftsmen can make their own handicrafts and sell them on the market most of the time, while also reducing commercial taxes. The restoration of agriculture, handicrafts and commerce has promoted the progress and development of sericulture and silk production technology. Many books of high academic value have been published in the Ming Dynasty. For example, Li Shizhen’s "Compendium of Materia Medica" has made a scientific classification of mulberry varieties; Xu Guangqi's "Nongzheng Quanshu" in "Sericulture Chapter" has a comprehensive discussion on sericulture production; Song Yingxing's "Heavenly Creations" was the most important work on silk production at that time.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a series of measures were adopted to emphasize agriculture and thrift. The production area of sericulture and silk industry has been reduced, but a regional intensive production centered on the south of the Yangtze River has been formed, of which Suzhou, Hangzhou, Song, Jia, and Hu are the five major silk towns. . After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the social atmosphere gradually became extravagant. Under the conditions of commodity economy and professional division of labor, the silk industry and commerce in the Jiangnan region enjoyed great prosperity.
In the Ming Dynasty, the government-run weaving industry was relatively large. In addition to the establishment of central dyeing and weaving institutions in Nanjing and Beijing, local weaving and dyeing bureaus were established in Suzhou and Hangzhou in the silk-producing areas and more than 20 places across the country to supply the palace and the government every year. The required segment. There are two types of production methods, "local weaving" and outgoing "collar weaving". Local weaving is a shift service system, and the collar weaving is a private machine. The personal attachment of craftsmen is looser than that of the Yuan Dynasty.
Silk products flowed into neighboring countries and regions in the form of royal rewards. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the government set up "Shibosi" in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Ningbo and other places. Chinese raw silk and silk were sold in large quantities to Japan and to Europe via Macau.
