The history of the use of hemp fiber in China
In China konoplevodstvo and culture of cannabis has been so widespread that in the texts of ancient Chinese documents and monuskriptah other nations bordering the ancient China, ancient Chinese called "dwell in the land of hemp and silk."
Recent archaeological findings indicate that the hemp fiber is used for more than 90 centuries. One of the founders of modern hemp fiber processing industry, which has a thousand-year history of growing and processing it into a fabric of old clothes or shoes is a master in mainland China.
Hemp fiber is found during archaeological excavations
Archaeological expeditions over the past - the beginning of this century, found dozens of artifacts that demonstrate the widespread use of hemp fibers in the territory of the tree of China, namely:
- found in the valley of the Yellow River in Henan Province pottery Yangshao with prints of rope made of hemp (5000 BC to 3000 BC). In some cases, hemp literally left its mark on the surface of the pottery and various other ancient articles such as made of different metals. The ancient art of pottery used hemp fabrics to make a decorative pattern on the surface of the clay jugs, mugs, cups, plates or packaging "netkankoy" utensils to avoid damage.
- hemp fabrics period of the Shang Dynasty found in the ruins near the village Taiksi Hebei Province (1700 BC to 1100 BC);
- hemp textiles with a unique silver-white fabric design found in a tomb near the town of Guiksi in Jiangxi Province (770 BC to 476 BC);
- hemp cloth in which to wrap the remains were representative of the Western Han Dynasty found in the tomb, located in Gansu Province (206 BC to 24 AD);
- hemp fabrics discovered during the excavation of the ruins of an ancient settlement near the city of Changsha, Hunan Province (206 BC to 24 AD);
- two pairs of shoes and a piece of hemp fabric hemp were found in a tomb near the urban district of Turfan in Xinjiang Province (721 AD).
It is the number and quality of archaeological finds hemp fiber and traces of them left leads to the conclusion that cannabis is one of the most common fibers used in ancient times in China.
Hemp fiber in ancient Chinese treatises
In addition to the archaeological evidence of millennial history of the use of hemp fibers in ancient China, there are many old documents, testifying about it. For example, in books dating back to 2300 BC. e. describes the land Shandong Province, widely used for cannabis cultivation and breeding silkworms. In one of the most ancient Chinese treatise Book of Documents mentioned that "... in Shandong land is rich in crops of hemp and that people in the valley of Henan pay tribute to their rulers hemp." In all likelihood meant to collect taxes from the custom of Chinese peasants hemp seed and fiber.
A feature description of the use of hemp fibers in the ancient times is the fact that the vast majority of them are described in ancient Chinese treatises. For example, in Chinese poetry more than once described the process of weaving hemp clothes young girls.
In China konoplevodstvo and culture of cannabis has been so widespread that in the texts of ancient Chinese documents and monuskriptah other nations bordering the ancient China, ancient Chinese called "dwell in the land of hemp and silk."
Using hemp fiber in warfare in ancient China
According to the description in the Book of Documents "Warriors of ancient Chinese troops were dressed in the armor of hemp fiber and hemp string was considered integral part of this most ancient of small arms - the bow." Archaeological findings indicate that the ancient military dressings healers also commonly made from hemp fiber. Sails, rigging navy ancient China also commonly used hemp fiber.
According to the text placed in a treatise Book of Documents, "any decent ruler was interested in the cultivation of cannabis maximum area on its territory."
The long history of Chinese production of hemp textiles and knitwear should always be borne in mind in connection with the fact that modern China is the world's largest manufacturer of products from hemp fiber.