ABSTRACT
Students o f the silk trade are blessed wich the rare fortune to study
an international trade that is almost as ancient and as continuous
as the records o f human civilization. Silk, w ith ics appeal o f
luscrousness, elasticity and durability, has long been considered
a sym bol o f luxury, elegance and sacredness, and was rightfully
dubbed the queen o f fabrics, the thread o f gold. Even in the days
o f an tiqu ity w hen transportation was prim itive and treacherous,
silk, w ith its high value and low volum e and the ease w ith which
it can be carried, stored and packed, could overcome w hat Braudel
called the “ tyranny o f distance,” w hich precluded long-distance
trade o f most com m odities. Silk trade on a global scale has gone
on for a recorded period o f about 3,000 years.
