Editing Weaving (section)

===East Asia===
[[File:Yōshū Chikanobu Filial Piety.jpg|right|thumb|A woman weaving. [[Ukiyo-e]] woodblock print by [[Toyohara Chikanobu|Yōshū Chikanobu]], 1890]]
The weaving of [[silk]] from silkworm cocoons has been known in [[China]] since about 3500 BCE. Silk that was intricately woven and dyed, showing a well developed craft, has been found in a Chinese tomb dating back to 2700 BCE.

Silk weaving in China was an intricate process that was very involved. Men and women, usually from the same family, had their own roles in the weaving process. The actual work of weaving was done by both men and women.{{sfn|Feng|2001|p=461}} Women were often weavers since it was a way they could contribute to the household income while staying at home.<ref name="Rothschild2015 p27">{{Cite book |title=Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers |last=Rothschild |first=Harry |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2015 |page=72}}</ref> Women would usually weave simpler designs within the household while men would be in charge of the weaving of more intricate and complex pieces of clothing.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |date=2013 |title=Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, eds., Medieval Clothing and Textiles 8. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, 2012. Pp. 197. $60 |isbn=978-1-84383-736-7 |journal=Speculum |volume=88 |issue=2 |page=608 |doi=10.1017/s0038713413001814 |issn=0038-7134 |last1=Netherton |first1=Robin |last2=Owen-Crocker |first2=Gale R.}}</ref> The process of [[sericulture]] and weaving emphasized the idea that men and women should work together instead of women being subordinate to men. Weaving became an integral part of Chinese women's social identity. Several rituals and myths were associated with the promotion of silk weaving, especially as a symbol of female power.  Weaving contributed to the balance between men and women's economic contributions and had many economic benefits.<ref name="Rothschild2015 p27" />{{sfn|Li|1981|p=135}}

There were many paths into the occupation of weaver. Women usually married into the occupation, belonged to a family of weavers and or lived in a location that had ample weather conditions that allowed for the process of silk weaving. Weavers usually belonged to the peasant class.{{sfn|Feng|2001|pp=407–409}} Silk weaving became a specialized job requiring specific technology and equipment that was completed domestically within households.{{sfn|Li|1981|p=131}} Although most of the silk weaving was done within the confines of the home and family, there were some [[Guild|specialized workshops]] that hired skilled silk weavers as well. These workshops took care of the weaving process, although the raising of the silkworms and reeling of the silk remained work for peasant families. The silk that was woven in workshops rather than homes were of higher quality, since the workshop could afford to hire the best weavers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bell |first=Lynda Schaefer |date=2000 |title=Of Silk, Women, and Capital: Peasant Women's Labor in Chinese and Other Third World Capitalisms |journal=Journal of Women's History |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |page=83 |doi=10.1353/jowh.2000.0002 |s2cid=143870818 |issn=1527-2036}}</ref> These weavers were usually men who operated more complicated looms, such as the wooden draw-loom.{{sfn|Li|1981|p=27}} This created a competitive market of silk weavers.

The quality and ease of the weaving process depended on the silk that was produced by the silk worms. The easiest silk to work with came from breeds of silk worms that spun their [[Cocoon (silk)|cocoons]] so that it could be unwound in one long strand.<ref name=":3" /> The reeling, or unwinding of silk worm cocoons is started by placing the cocoons in boiling water in order to break apart the silk filaments as well as kill the silk worm [[pupa]]e. Women would then find the end of the strands of silk by sticking their hand into the boiling water. Usually this task was done by girls aged eight to twelve, while the more complex jobs were given to older women.{{sfn|Li|1981|p=29}} They would then create a silk thread, which could vary in thickness and strength from the unwound cocoons.<ref name=":3" />

After the reeling of the silk, the silk would be dyed before the weaving process began. There were many different looms and tools for weaving. For high quality and intricate designs, a wooden [[Loom|draw-loom]] or pattern loom was used.{{sfn|Li|1981|p=27}} This loom would require two or three weavers and was usually operated by men. There were also other smaller looms, such as the waist loom, that could be operated by a single woman and were usually used domestically.{{sfn|Li|1981|p=27}}

[[Sericulture]] and silk weaving spread to Korea by 200 BCE, to [[Khotan]] by 50 CE, and to Japan by about 300 CE.

The pit-treadle loom may have originated in India though most authorities establish the invention in China.<ref name="Broudy1979">{{cite book |author=Broudy, Eric |title=The Book of Looms: A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=shN5_-W1RzcC |year=1979 |publisher=University Press of New England |isbn=978-0-87451-649-4 |pages=111–112}}</ref> [[Lever|Pedals]] were added to operate [[Heddle#Single and double heddle looms|heddles]]. By the Middle Ages such devices also appeared in [[Persia]], Sudan, Egypt and possibly the Arabian Peninsula, where "the operator sat with his feet in a pit below a fairly low-slung loom". In 700 CE, horizontal looms and vertical looms could be found in many parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.  In Africa, the rich dressed in cotton while the poorer wore wool.<ref name=Pacey>{{cite book |title=Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history |first=Arnold |last=Pacey |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=0-262-66072-5 |pages=40–1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&pg=PA41}}</ref>
By the 12th century it had come to Europe either from the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] or [[Al-Andalus|Moorish Spain]] where the mechanism was raised higher above the ground on a more substantial frame.<ref name=Pacey/><ref name="Jenkins2003">{{cite book |editor=Jenkins, D.T. |title=The Cambridge History of Western Textiles, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZljldSpV28UC |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-34107-3 |page=194}}</ref>
<gallery>
Equipment for unravelling silk cocoons. Khotan.jpg|Equipment for unraveling silk cocoons. [[Khotan]]
Women weaving silk. Kashgar.jpg|Women weaving silk. [[Kashgar]]
Viet Nam – The Colors of Traditional Brocade and Silk 3.jpg|A traditional Vietnamese brocade and silk products weaver using a handloom
</gallery>