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Xi Ling-Shi sitting under a mulberry tree

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Legend has it that while Xi Ling-Shi was drinking tea under a mulberry tree, a silkworm fell into her cup, and the rest is history.

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Xi Ling-Shi with strands and strands of silk

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The popularity of Xi Ling-Shi's invention of silk fabric gained her the title "The Goddess of Silk."

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This image is of the young empress Xi Ling-Shi who, by Chinese legend, was the founder of silk.

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Empress Xi Ling-Shi and Emperor Huang-Ti

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Xi Ling-Shi was the wife of one of China's most impactful emperors, Huang-Ti. He is said to have helped Xi Ling-Shi invent the loom and production of silk.

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After Xi Ling-Shi's discovery of silk, it became the number one fabric used to make clothes in China.

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The best kept secret in history - The House of Silk

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China was able to keep the production of silk a precious secret for 2000 years!

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A statue dedicated to Empress Xi Ling-Shi who invented silk

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There have been many statues made in honor of the Empress Xi Ling-Shi who invented the very successful silk.

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Xi Ling-Shi discovered that feeding silkworms mulberry leaves produced the best silk.

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China: Silk Production. Chinese Silk Painting, C1650-1726.

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Sericulture is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk which is what helped Xi Ling-Shi successfully make silk.

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Antique Chinese Silk Painting in the style of the song and yuan dynasties

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Not only were clothes being made from Xi Ling-Shi's invention of silk, but even started being used for art!

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The Silk Road was a very popular trading route where silk was one of the main items traded from China all the way to the Roman Empire.

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A noble women oh so elegantly wearing a gown made of silk

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Dresses and clothing made of silk became a determinant of your status and how wealthy you were.

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These are silkworms munching on mulberry leaves

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These white worms are the silkworms that produce the lovely silk that Xi Ling-Shi discovered.

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Weaving the silk (Sericulture by Liang Kai, 1200s)

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Chinese legend also says that Empress Xi Ling-Shi and Emperor Huang-Ti made the silk loom which strings silk into fabric.

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Xi Ling-shi standing next to trays of silkworms

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Xi Ling-Shi's invention of silk exceptionally boosted China's economy and led to commerce with the rest of the world.

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These are the cocoons silkworms make to protect themselves and produce new larvae

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Some of these cocoons are preserved by the silk growers to produce new eggs and new larva and thus more cocoons.

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Emperor Huang-Ti, famously known as the Yellow Emperor, was the husband of Xi Ling-Shi, and also credited as the founder of the Chinese nation, creator of humanity, founder of religious Taoism, creator of writing, and inventor of the compass and the pottery wheel.

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Silk Castle is not pictured, but another stunning painting of Xi Ling-Shi is because there are no paintings of her silk castle

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Xi Ling-Shi's invention of silk became so big and successful that Huang-Ti created a castle just for the production of silk: The Silk Castle.

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An animated painting of young Empress Xi Ling-Shi

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The great invention of silk made by Xi Ling-Shi is only a legend, and it has never been confirmed that Xi Ling-Shi really made the discovery.

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This is someone's creative portrait of Empress Xi Ling-Shi 

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Instead of clothes being made of feathers and animal skin, silk became the fabric people yearned to wear.

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This is the lovely fabric made from silkworms

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The visible shine and smoothness of silk makes it obvious why Xi Ling-Shi's invention became so successful throughout the world.

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A painting of Xi Ling-Shi holding silk in her hands.

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Widely used for clothing and decoration, silk quickly was put to business use, becoming one of the principal elements of the Chinese economy and used in conjunction with musical instruments, fishing equipment, archery, and even paper.

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Great lengths were taken to hide how silk was produced. Travelers were searched thoroughly at border crossings and anyone caught trying to smuggle eggs, cocoons or silkworms out of the country was summarily executed.

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Chinese breeders carefully perfected the diet on which the larvae should feed and provided an efficient, practical environment to raise the silkworms, as well as an efficient, painless way to harvest them.

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Silk, like the Chinese nation, looks gentle but is strong, as strong as steel of the same thickness. Durable, silk resists breakage; delicate looking, it's much tougher than cotton or wool.

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Through Chinese legend, we learn that Empress Xi Ling-Shi, at the young age of 14, discovered the one of the greatest inventions thanks to a silkworm falling into her cup of tea. Her interest in how the bug expanded into silk after being soaked by her tea led to the success of silk as a fabric that we all know today. Through the proper harvesting of silkworms and the extraordinary contraption of the loom, silk had become an irresistible entity that everyone needed to have some in their position. This led to the creation of the Silk Road, where silk was largely traded throughout many nations. Xi Ling-Shi's invention of silk boosted China's economy enormously, and silk is still one of China's main trade items today.