According to Confucius around 2640 B.C, the beautiful Chinese Empress Xi Ling Shi sat in the gardens of the palace drinking jasmine tea under a mulberry tree. Whilst feeling the ease of taking the weight off her tightly bound feet, she noticed what looked like the bud of a small cream-coloured flower fall into her cup. As she pulled the flower out, the bud fell but a strand of shimmering thread was left in her fingers. Unaware at the time, she was in fact the first person to reel a cocoon of silk. From then on, the Chinese kept the secret of silk to themselves for more than two thousand years. It was the most zealously guarded secret in history.