[Cantonese, corresp. to Pekinese Ch‘i Li ‘seven miles’: named after a locality in the Chekiang province, where it is produced.] A very superior kind of white native-reeled raw silk, produced for the foreign market.
1848. S. W. Williams, Middle Kingd., xv. II. 123. The raw silk is an article of sale; the sorts usually known in the Canton market are tsatle, taysaam, and Canton raw silk.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Tsat-lie, Tseh-li, a species of China silk obtained in Nankin and the Northern parts of the empire, superior to the Canton kinds.
1913. Times, 27 June, 24. The silk of China comprises, white, yellow, and wild silk. Of these raw white silk (the tsatlee of the European market) is the most important.
