Delicate, lustrous (光亮的), and soft to touch. The ethereal fabric we now call silk has threaded its way throughout China’s history.

One cannot be certain of its origin, but the ancient Chinese people credited their own wisdom to Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor (the legendary ancestor of all Chinese people), as     1     inventor of sericulture (养蚕).

Like almost all genres of art on the vast land of China, the style and texture of silk     2    (be) also multifarious. Hangluo satin from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is well known     3     its airy and sheer texture, while Yunjin brocade (凸花纹织物) from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, a luxurious fabric often     4    (use) for royal garments, represents China’s silk weaving technique at its prime.

Yunjin brocade     5    (make) by hand on giant looms (织布机), in a complex procedure     6     comprises more than a hundred steps. Even the most skilled artisans can only weave a few centimeters a day. Time, patience and deftness all play necessary roles to its heavenly beauty or as its name suggests, its cloud-like splendor.

In the Western Han Dynasty, with diplomat and explorer Zhang Qian     7    (open) up the routes to the western regions, silk graced many     8    (country) in Central Asia, later extending its reach to other parts of Eurasia and beyond. Fittingly, its name marked China’s major international trade routes, the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.

In the hands of Chinese artists, the     9    (thin) threads can weave pictures of immense possibilities, and the softest material can go through thousands of years. As one of the many marvels of ancient China, silk is not     10     (mere) a type of textile. It is a cultural icon, and a symbol of elegance and grace.

A skywell, or “tian jing”, is a typical feature of a traditional home in China. Different from a northern Chinese courtyard, or “yuan zi”, a skywell is smaller and less exposed to the outdoor environment. They are commonly seen in homes     1     (date) to Ming and Qing dynasties, which were designed to house     2     (generation) of an extended family.

Although a skywell’s size and design vary from region to region, it is always rectangular and located in the core of a house,     3     enclosed by rooms on four sides or three sides plus a wall. Skywells were designed to cool buildings before air-conditioning existed. When wind blows above a skywell house, it can enter the indoor space through the opening. Outdoor air being often cooler than indoor air, the incoming breeze     4     (travel) down the walls to the lower storeys, creating air circulation by replacing     5     (warm) indoor air, which rises and leaves through the opening.

The main purpose of a skywell is to allow in light, improve ventilation (通风)    6     harvest rainwater. In Huizhou, a skywell is small but tall, and the rooms around it can block out sunlight on hot days, enabling the bottom of the skywell to stay cool. Meanwhile, hot air inside the house can rise and escape through the opening above the skywell,     7     works just like a chimney.

Though they have been existing in China for hundreds of years, in recent times they     8     (forget) by people who prefer modern facilities. Over the past two decades, however,     9     consequence of a renewal of traditional Chinese architecture, skywell buildings have been making     10     comeback.