Before the popularity of comfortable cotton cloth, humans first used the fur of wild animals to make clothing to protect themselves from the cold. With the progress of civilization, humans began to use plant fibers, namely linen, to weave linen cloth about 30,000 years ago. As various ethnic groups entered the age of civilization, ancient Indians first discovered and began to use cotton as a textile material.
Nowadays, American upland cotton is widely grown around the world, not the most primitive cotton crop. The earliest cotton crops were only four varieties, namely upland cotton from Central America, sea island cotton from South America, grass cotton from Africa, and tree cotton from Asia. Among them, the tree cotton produced in India was envied by the Europeans at that time as “wool that grows on the tree”. The ancient Greek scholar Herodotus exclaimed that cotton is the hair that grows from the fruit of the tree, but it is far more delicate than wool!
Not only India, but also the cotton industry in the Americas is also developing rapidly. In the Middle Ages, it was a gift to the European royal family along with gold, until both places were occupied by Western colonists. But no matter what, the center of the cotton industry before and after the Industrial Revolution has always been in India. China is no exception. The Chinese character “cotton” evolved from Sanskrit and other Indian languages. With the opening of the Silk Road around 200 BC, Indian cotton was also circulated as a commodity in the Western and Southwest regions. The large-scale spread and cultivation of cotton in China had to wait until the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties swept across Eurasia.
The cotton industry officially took root in China. It was around the Yuan Dynasty that the famous Huang Daopo was a native of Songjiang Prefecture (now Xuhui District, Shanghai) in the late Song and early Yuan Dynasties. Unable to bear the abuse, he accidentally drifted to Yazhou (now Hainan Island) on his way to escape. Only then did he learn relevant textile skills from the hands of the local Li ancestors and bring them back to Songjiang Prefecture together with her improved textile machine. Due to the Mongols’ emphasis on skilled craftsmen and their yearning for advanced material life in the Central Plains, cotton textile technology also developed quickly, laying the groundwork for the prosperity of the cotton textile industry in the Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that the cotton production in the late Ming Dynasty reached 20 million bales, so much so that the simple Songjiang government has the reputation of “clothes and quilts all over the world”. Not surprisingly, even though the Europeans had seized cotton production in India and America by the 18th century, China’s cotton production in 1750 still reached about 1.50 billion pounds, almost equivalent to the total cotton production in the 10 years before the American Civil War!
What gift should I give to Indians?
Gifts for Indians, 1. Gifts for boys are actually very good to choose, because you don’t have much love for him, so your usual clothes are very good without playing ball. I think he is very happy with the gifts you give him. Give him a very cost-effective watch and he will definitely like it.
2. Handmade soft pottery dolls The real doll is a very creative gift. As long as you provide photos, you can make various looks. The effect is also very fun and a very good gift. It only belongs to the feelings of the two of you.
Third, anti-fatigue bracelets now have magnets that are not good, which can effectively eliminate fatigue in the body, and this bracelet is a bit simple in shape. It is polished, customized, etc., and can be engraved inside.
