Sericulture and Silk Craftsmanship (Tongxiang Silkworm Customs)

Tongxiang lies in the heart of the Hang-Jia-Hu plain, laced with waterways and mulberry groves, where sericulture and silk reeling have been passed down for generations. Its silkworm customs were inscribed in 2009 as part of "Sericulture and Silk Craftsmanship of China" on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a living witness to Chinese agrarian civilisation.

The custom spans the whole chain of planting mulberry, raising silkworms, reeling and weaving silk, together with the silkworm-god worship and temple fairs that grew from it. The largest is the Hanshan Rolling-Silkworm-Flower Fair around Qingming, when farmers climb the hill to pray for a good cocoon harvest, with the high-pole boat acrobatics as the grand finale—a rite that joins worship, festivity and entertainment.

Sericulture and silk weaving are counted among China's great inventions and a marker of national identity; the Tongxiang silkworm customs, as a core part of this heritage, hold real value for studying the agrarian economy, silk trade and folk belief of the Jiangnan.

Within Wuzhen the traditional silk workshop "Yida Sihao" has been restored, where reeling and weaving are demonstrated.