Straw Brooms

Straw brooms original: "草帚", caozhou are placed atop the "mountain scaffolds" terraced racks designed to provide climbing space for silkworms to provide a place for the silkworms to gather and spin their cocoons. It is best to use rice straw from Hangzhou; the stalks of common Indica original: "秈", xian or Japonica original: "稉", geng rice are too weak and cannot support the weight of the silkworms.

There are two methods for tying these brooms:

1. The Mound-head Broom: Take a handful of straw approximately two feet long. Tie it tightly around the middle and spread the ends out in a spiral shape. This is known as a mound-head broom original: "墩頭帚", duntou zhou.
2. The Folded-head Broom: Take a small bundle of straw three feet long. Twist it tightly at the center and fold it over to create two lengths. Within these two lengths, grasp several stalks and wrap them around the main twist several times, causing the ends to fan out like an umbrella. This is known as a folded-head broom original: "折頭帚", zhetou zhou.

Although the methods of tying them differ, their practical use is identical.

The Silk Reeling Frame

The silk reeling machine should be constructed from solid, sturdy wood. The body of the machine is called the bed original: "牀", chuang. It consists of four pillars in total. The two rear pillars are both two feet, four inches high. A notch is carved into the head of each pillar to support the axle. The notch is two inches wide.

The front-left pillar is two feet, seven inches high. A hole is bored into the top of this pillar to accommodate the "balance" original: "稱", cheng; likely a pivoting component of the reeling mechanism. The hole is one inch wide. The front-right pillar is two feet, three inches high, and its top is carved into a rounded shape.