This chapter provides a historical overview of sericulture, tracing its origins to ancient China during the Yangshao period (5000–3000 bc). Archaeological and phylogenetic evidence confirms that the domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori) evolved from the wild silk moth (Bombyx mandarina) in mainland China. The narrative highlights the profound economic and cultural impact of the Silk Road, a vast trade network that eventually broke the Chinese monopoly and facilitated the global spread of silk textiles and sericulture technology across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Furthermore, the chapter details the evolution of the silk industry in Japan. Introduced around the third century, Japanese sericulture underwent rapid modernization during the Meiji era with the establishment of mechanized, state-run facilities like the Tomioka Silk Mill. This industrialization propelled Japan to become the world’s leading raw silk producer by the early twentieth century. By chronicling these pivotal historical developments, the chapter illustrates how millennia of technological innovation and global trade in traditional silk production established the foundational infrastructure and biological expertise that support modern silkworm biotechnology.