Hm. I found this on wiki... The part that I have bolded seems too close to the truth. I love weaving! I have many looms, flower looms, scarf loom, potholder loom, rigid heddle loom... And have made many woven scarves for my family.

Mermaid[edit]

Jiaoren 蛟人 "dragon person" or 鮫人 "shark person" (cf. Japanese samebito 鮫人) "mermaid" is a later meaning of jiao. This mythical southern mermaid or merman is first recorded in the (early 6th century CE) Shuyiji 遹異記 "Records of Strange Things".
In the midst of the South Sea are the houses of the kău people who dwell in the water like fish, but have not given up weaving at the loom. Their eyes have the power to weep, but what they bring forth is pearls. (tr. Schafer 1967:220, cf. Eberhard 1968:378)
These aquatic people supposedly spun a type of raw silk called jiaoxiao 蛟綃 "mermaid silk" or jiaonujuan 蛟女絹 "mermaid woman's silk". Schafer (1967:221) equates "jiao silk" with sea silk, the rare fabric woven from byssus filaments produced by Pinna "pen shell" mollusks. Chinese myths also recorded this "silk" coming from shuiyang 水羊 "water sheep" or shuican 蠶水 "water silkworm".