Leizu

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Leizu (Chinese: 嫘祖; pinyin: Léi Zǔ) was a legendary Chinese empress—wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to tradition, she discovered silk and invented the silk loom in the 28th century BC.

Leizu discovered silkworms while on a walk investigating damage to the emperor's mulberry trees. However there are different accounts of exactly how she discovered that silkworms made silk.

One account says that she used her finger to touch a piece of the silk worm causing a strand of silk come out. As the silk continued to come out she wrapped it around her finger. When the silk ran out she saw a small cocoon and realized that this cocoon was the source of the silk. Another says that she found silkworms eating the mulberry leaves and spinning cocoons. She collected some cocoons, and then sat down to have some tea. While she was sipping a cup of tea, she dropped a cocoon into the steaming water. A fine thread started to separate itself from the cocoon. Leizu found that she could unwind this soft and lovely thread around her finger.

She persuaded her husband to give her a grove of mulberry trees, where she could domesticate the worms that made these cocoons. She is attributed with inventing the silk reel, which joins fine filaments into a thread strong enough for weaving. She is also credited with inventing the first silk loom. It is not known how much, if any, of this story is true, but historians do know that China was the first civilization to use silk. Leizu shared her discoveries with others and the knowledge became widespread.