LEPIDOPTERA. 877 



eggs of the worms and washed them in the river above alluded to ; 

 after which they picked the mulberry-leaves in the public garden, an<J. 

 aired and dried bhem, in order to feed the worms. 



" When the season was over, the royal concubines, having com- 

 pleted the business of rearing the silkworms, brought the cocoons to 

 show them to the prince, when he presented the cocoons again to his 

 consort; whereupon his consort said, ? This is the material of which 

 your highness' s robes are to be formed.' Having said which, she 

 covered herself with her robe, and received the cocoons. On this 

 occasion, the ladies of the court were honoured with the present of a 

 sheep. This was the mode in which the presentation of the cocoons 

 was anciently conducted." 



Hawae-nan-tsze, in the silkworm Classic, says, that " Se-ling-she, 

 the principal queen of Hwang-te (B.C. 2640), was the first to rear 

 silkworms ; and the Hwang-te was induced to invent robes and gar- 

 ments from this circumstance. Afterwards, when Tu regulated the 

 waters (B.C. 2200), mention is made, in his work on the tribute, of 

 the land adapted for the mulberry-tree having been supplied with 

 1 silkworms,' from which time the advantage thereof gradually in- 

 creased. In the Tue-ling section of the Le-ke, it is said, that in the 

 last month of spring the trays and frames, with the square and round 

 baskets, were to be got in readiness for the rearing of the worms, &c. 

 It appears, on examination, that the queens and wives of the nobles, 

 through successive generations, personally attended to the rearing of 

 the silkworms ; how much more, then, ought the wives of the common 

 people to busy themselves in the same. All this alludes to what was 

 done in the Chow dynasty, B.C. 1000. It is recorded of Wan-te, of 

 the former Han dynasty (B.C. 150), that he commanded his empress 

 personally to attend to the picking of the mulberry-leaves, in order 

 to prepare the sacrificial garments. King-te (B.C. 130) enjoined the 

 same thing on his queen, that she might be an example to the empire. 

 In the time of Tuen-te (B.C. 20), the empress-dowager "Wang visited 

 the silkworm establishment, leading on the empress and the different 

 ladies of the court, to gather mulberry-leaves. In the time of Ming- 

 te (A.D. 70), the empress, with the ladies of the princes, attended to 

 the rearing of the silkworms. During the "Wei dynasty, in the reign 

 of "Wan-te (A.D. 250), the empress attended to the silkworms at the 

 northern border, according to the regulations of the Chow dynasty. 

 During the Tsin dynasty, in the reign of Woo-te (A.D. 280), the 

 silkworm palace was built, and the empress personally attended to 

 the business of rearing the silkworms^ as had been the practice 



