An Investigation of the Present Living Condition of the Sericulturist Group in the Sericultural Area along the Jialing River Basin

Abstract

The Jialing River Basin sericultural area is an ancient mulberry growing and silkworm rearing area in China. In the period of Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, a lot of famous silk products were produced in this sericultural area. Until now, cocoon and silk are still the major source of revenue for local people, with sericulturists being the major group of people who grow mulberry and rear silkworms. This paper has adopted the method of field research and questionnaire survey to investigate the modern sericulturists in terms of ages, education level, acquisition of silkworm rearing skills, and the support of national policies etc., aiming to explore the reason why sericulture, as part of Chinese culture, can continue.