How The Secret to Silk Was Smuggled Out of China

Jun 5, 2023

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INSIGHT

Silk's Global Luxury Status

Silk was the ultimate luxury fabric in the ancient world, surpassing wool and linen in quality.
Its high value made it a coveted commodity across diverse ancient cultures worldwide.

INSIGHT

Silk Road's Transport Challenges

Overland transport was costly, slow, and perilous, with many middlemen inflating prices.
This made silk extraordinarily expensive by the time it reached Mediterranean markets.

INSIGHT

China's Silk Monopoly

China had a strict monopoly on silk production and export, punishing silkworm smuggling by death.
The monopoly was so tightly guarded that knowledge and material escaped only slowly.

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There was no product more important to the economy of the ancient world than silk.

Silk was transported thousands of miles to be purchased by people so far away from its source that they had no clue where it came from.

The source of silk, however, was China, and for centuries, they had a monopoly, which brought them tremendous wealth.

That was until they didn’t.

Learn more about how the secret to silk was smuggled out of China, and the silk monopoly was broken on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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