Xiaolin Duan is associate professor of Chinese history at North Carolina State University.

By looking closely at silk in China and Mexico in the early modern period, this study contributes to our understanding of the development of the global economy. At the center of the book is silk itself: its colors, its textures, and its power to seduce. Duan uses a wide variety of sources—including casta paintings and Chinese biji essays—to show the ways in which silk was produced and consumed. This book is a must-read for scholars interested in the development of the global economy, as well as those interested in textiles and the histories of consumption and the circulation of goods.

• Chapter One: Production: The Development of Sericulture and Interacting with the Natural Environment Chapter Two: Trade: Negotiations Between Central Governments and Local Societies Chapter Three: Fashion: The Desire for Luxury Silk, the Color Red, and ForeignnessChapter Four: Regulation: Sumptuary Laws and the Decline of the Traditional Authorities

Xiaolin Duan is associate professor of Chinese history at North Carolina State University.

By looking closely at silk in China and Mexico in the early modern period, this study contributes to our understanding of the development of the global economy. At the center of the book is silk itself: its colors, its textures, and its power to seduce. Duan uses a wide variety of sources—including casta paintings and Chinese biji essays—to show the ways in which silk was produced and consumed. This book is a must-read for scholars interested in the development of the global economy, as well as those interested in textiles and the histories of consumption and the circulation of goods.

• Chapter One: Production: The Development of Sericulture and Interacting with the Natural Environment Chapter Two: Trade: Negotiations Between Central Governments and Local Societies Chapter Three: Fashion: The Desire for Luxury Silk, the Color Red, and ForeignnessChapter Four: Regulation: Sumptuary Laws and the Decline of the Traditional Authorities

Xiaolin Duan is associate professor of Chinese history at North Carolina State University.

By looking closely at silk in China and Mexico in the early modern period, this study contributes to our understanding of the development of the global economy. At the center of the book is silk itself: its colors, its textures, and its power to seduce. Duan uses a wide variety of sources—including casta paintings and Chinese biji essays—to show the ways in which silk was produced and consumed. This book is a must-read for scholars interested in the development of the global economy, as well as those interested in textiles and the histories of consumption and the circulation of goods.

• Chapter One: Production: The Development of Sericulture and Interacting with the Natural Environment Chapter Two: Trade: Negotiations Between Central Governments and Local Societies Chapter Three: Fashion: The Desire for Luxury Silk, the Color Red, and ForeignnessChapter Four: Regulation: Sumptuary Laws and the Decline of the Traditional Authorities