Several Problems On The Westerly Transmission Of Silk In Early Ancient Times

The thesis will mainly focus on the topic of the westerly transmission of silk in early ancient times. Two parts are divided by the event that Zhang Qian opened a Silk Road in 2nd century BC. Accordingly, with case studies of such disputed cases as "Median dress" and "Coean silk",the first part will be used mostly for discussing the right time when the silk in early ancient times was transmitted westerly before Zhang Qian's opening of Silk Road. The other part mainly deals with interpreting the style of recounting of "Seres" written by western classical writers, and the materials are based on the accounts referred to "Seres" which appeared in the western classical literature around the late years in 1st century BC.The first chapter mainly discusses the "Median dress". As the "Median dress" was identified as silk by the famous historian Procopius, it was quoted by many later writers who take it as the proof of the westerly transmission of the silk in the 6th century BC. However, the author tend not to think it as a kind of silk through sorting and analyzing the classical materials, and the principal reason why it was widely used by Persians is that it adapted to the military function in fighting.The second chapter introduces the "undomesticated silk worms" and their silk in the Mediterranean region. As early as in the 4th Century BC., the silk weaving of the "undomesticated silk worms" had appeared in this region. The "bombyx" recorded both by Aristotle and Pliny in their classical writings belonged to this kind of worm, and "Coean silk" together with "bombycina" were the silk fabric of the worm in this region. It was Pliny who confused "Coean silk" and "serica textilibus" in his records, so the following scholars believed that "Coean silk" was made of Chinese silk.The third chapter will emphasize the interpretation of the texts bout "Seres". The word appeared in western classical literature around the late years in 1st century BC. Behind these texts, there must be some easily neglected information concealed. As different authors with their separate background may focus on different things, when they acquired their various style of recording, some imaginary factors may exist. Otherwise, the Cognitive system they had must have decisive influence on their writings.In the summary part, except for the summarization of previous content, the author analyze some widely quoted cases in the current academic society and give some assertion by exploring the issues of "Median dress" and "Coean silk".