National treasures become the focus of Silk Road exhibition

A visitor captures an image of an ancient costume in the exhibition. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Silk Road got its name from the expensive commodity shipped to the West; the road itself became the of transmission of civilization. The exhibition explores the origin of raising silkworms and silk worm farming in China.

Archaeological finds have proved that Zhejiang province is where silk originated. Several excavations in the province proved that the silk industry emerged in the Yangtze River area in the Neolithic Age. In 1977, an ivory carving in the shape of a silkworm dating back 7, 000 years was found in Hemudu Village in Ningbo of Zhejiang province. The piece is considered the world's earliest carving in the shape of a silkworm.