Chapter 10 Section 2 Primary Processing Technology of Wool Fiber

Due to the living habits of different breeds of sheep and the differences in climatic conditions and feeding conditions in various regions, the wool collected from sheep is often twisted together due to various impurities and cannot be directly used for spinning.The purpose of primary processing is to remove these impurities, open the wool, and make it suitable for spinning or processing into other products.In ancient my country, the initial processing of wool included three parts: wool picking, wool cleaning, and wool fleece. Wool picking refers to the collection of wool fibres.Clean wool refers to the removal of grease and impurities attached to raw wool.Elastic wool is to use the bowstring to loosen the washed and dried wool into single fibers in a separated and loose state for spinning.After the wool has been processed through these three stages, it can be used for weaving.

There is no record in ancient documents about the method used to pick wool at first, and it may be collected directly from slaughtered sheepskin.It was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties "Qi Min Yao Shu" that there was no record of the shearing method, which shows that the wool-shearing technology had already existed before that. "Qi Min Yao Shu" says: Sheep can be sheared three times a year. In spring, when the sheep will shed their winter hair, the first time will be sheared. In May, when the sheep will shed their hair again, the second time will be sheared. Xi Migration] When the child is not yet formed, cut it for the third time.Wash the sheep in the river after each time, and emphasize that the third time must be before the beginning of August, otherwise, "the white dew has fallen, and the cold air invades people, so washing (sheep) will not be beneficial. If the beetles are ripe, Straight hair is difficult to control, and the age is later, compared with the coldest time, the hair growth is not enough, which makes the sheep thin and damaged.In the cold Mobei region, shearing can only be done twice a year, that is, the shearing in August is not allowed, otherwise it will be bad for the sheep to survive the winter.This method is basically the same as the modern method, which shows that the ancients had a good understanding of the living habits of sheep, and mastered the rule of when shearing had the least impact on the growth of sheep.

There are two ways to collect cashmere: one is (扌chu) [CHOU pumping] cashmere, and the other is plucking.The so-called (扌) velvet is to use a fine bamboo comb to comb the thicker velvet that has been shed or will be shed off from the goat.The so-called plucking is to pull out the finer cashmere from the sheep with fingernails.According to "Tiangong Kaiwu", both of these methods originated in the northwest region and were not introduced to the Central Plains until the Tang Dynasty.The production efficiency of plucking is extremely low, and each person spends a day working hard to pluck the wool. The resulting thread only weighs one penny, and it takes half a year to pluck it before it is enough to weave a piece of silk.If the cashmere is threaded, the daily income will be several times more than the cashmere plucking.

Clean wool refers to the removal of grease and impurities attached to raw wool.The quality of net wool directly affects the wool and spinning process.There are almost no literature records on what method was used to clean wool in ancient times. According to the analysis of weak acid salts and limes often appearing in the raw materials used for weaving wool fabrics recorded in "Dayuan Felt and Fugongwuji", it may be washed with acidic or alkaline solutions. . The flocking wool is to loosen the washed and sun-dried wool into single fibers in a separated and loose state with a bowstring, and remove some impurities.The shape of the ancient traditional slingshot is similar to that of the slingshot, but because the wool fiber is longer than the cotton fiber, and the strength and elasticity of the single fiber are also greater than the cotton fiber, the size of the slingshot may be correspondingly larger than the slingshot.