Although the Chinese guarded the state secret of silk making carefully, a Tang-era (7th century) woman smuggled the secret and some silkworms to Central Asia. From that point on, the Silk Road became a factory as well, with production facilities in the Fergana Valley.

Most silk factories are now mechanized, but we were able to visit one in Margilon that is dedicated to keeping alive the traditional methods. The process is done without electricity, much as it has been done for 1300 years.

Women first boil the cocoons, each of which are wound with a kilometer of fine thread. Once soft, the threads are gathered and spun.

The next step is to dye the threads. Men gather bundles of thread and mark the pattern. They then tie strings and ribbons around the places where the dye should not reach. They then dip the bundles are in large vats of natural pigments including sakura blossoms imported from Japan. Once dry, the bundles can be separated into the fine threads that make the pattern on each loom.

The looms are high-speed machines powered by women’s hands and feet. Several times per second, the operator pulls a cord that shoots the shuttle across the loom. Between each stroke, they switch pedals to reverse the threads. Repetitive-stress injuries are no doubt common.

Other workers manually weave and cut the threads of the velvet-like carpets and fabrics that cannot be automated. It can take a day to produce one centimeter, 18 months to make a full rug.