Chujianpu 樗繭譜

Chujianpu 樗繭譜 is a book on tussar silk or wild silk written during the late Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Zheng Zhen 鄭珍 (1805-1864), courtesy name Ziyin 子尹, style Chaiweng 柴翁, from Zunyi 遵義, Guizhou. Zheng obtained his juren degree in 1837 and was assistant instructor (xundao 訓導) of Libo 荔波, Guizhou. He was inspired by the local magistrate's attempts to spread the use of breeding wild silkworms (shancan 山蠶), the larvae of Antheraea pernyi This was possible because the region was blessed with the oak tree Quercus dentata (jie 檞, chu 樗, zuo 柞). Wild silkworms had been introduced during the Qianlong reign-period 乾隆 (1736-1795).

The brief book is the result of the expertise Zheng acquired during the introduction of wild silk production. It describes in detail how to raise the silkworms, produce cocoons and gain yarns from them.

The Chujianpu was first printed in 1837, with comments by Mo Youzhi 莫友芝 (1811-1871). Master Hua 華氏 had produced a second print in the city of Luzhou 瀘州, Sichuan. The book is included in the series Nongxue congke 農學叢刻, Chaojingchao quanshu 巢經巢全集 (the collected writings of Zheng Zhen) and Nongxue congshu 農學叢書.