Silk Road Museum
The Silk Road is a generic term for the ancient caravan trails that linked China to the shores of the Mediterranean and beyond. Trade and culture moved in both directions from China through India, Central Asia, Persia, Asia Minor, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, the African continent, Greece and Rome, and finally to Britain.
We have always been fascinated by the Silk Road, although the reality of life on the Silk Road was very tough and hardly glamorous as movies have often depicted evocative images and romantic journeys through deserts and mountains. By and large a means of transporting rare and precious silk from China to Europe, the Silk Road finally became so much more. Many types of merchandise were traded along with it.
The rich spices of the east, also, contributed more than the fashion which grew up from the silk industry. Even so, by the time of Emperor Augustus, trade between China and the west was firmly established and silk was the most sought after commodity in Egypt, Greece, and, especially, in Rome.
The greatest value of the Silk Road was the exchange of culture. Art, technology, philosophy, religion, language, science, architecture, and knowledge were exchanged along with commercial goods. The Silk Road Museum in the city of Macclesfield of the United Kingdom is at the far western end of the journey.
Alastair Blackburn
Jian Jun Xi
09/09/2021
MACCLESFIELD AND THE MODERN SILK ROAD
Silk is an internationally famous product invented in China that spread across central Asia and into Europe via the overland ancient silk routes. The history of silk is an early example of the globalisation of industry. Macclesfield is a town whose industry was built upon the ancient Chinese technology of silk spinning and fabric manufacture.
Macclesfield is the most westerly town in Europe that developed a major industry of silk throwing, weaving, cloth production and design. It was the silk capital of the UK in the 19th century and there were over 70 mills in the town at the height of the industry. The story of the development of Macclesfield’s silk industry begins with button manufacture in the early 16th century and grew particularly through the industrialisation of the processes in new mills driven by water-power and then coal.
The silk mills of Macclesfield were some of the earliest industrial buildings of the Industrial Revolution after the first water-powered mill was built in 1744. The establishment of the Macclesfield School of Art and Design in 1835 brought great attention to the town and designs were imported from Asia and elsewhere to influence fabric design. The present silk museum occupies part of the original School of Art and Design.
The story of the silk industry in Macclesfield involves contacts with France, Italy, Persia, Uzbekistan, China and India and the importation of Chinese silk has been a constant thread of that story (although silk was also imported from other countries as well). The removal of import taxes in 1749 gave a great stimulus to the importation of Chinese silk to the UK.
Silk is still being used by two companies in Macclesfield (Adamleys and Smarts) and at least one in Leek (Gaddum) and contacts with China remain. The Silkmen (Macclesfield Town Football Club) maintain the name that links the town to the old industry. The concept of the modern silk road (business and trade connections between China and Europe) offers the opportunity for Macclesfield to establish itself as a centre for Chinese/UK connections for culture and business.
Graham Barrow
Macclesfield
01/09/2017
BOARD OF ADVISORY:
Dr Geoff Raby, Australia Ambassador to China, 2007-11, Economist and Diplomat.
Janet Jackson MBE, Mayor, Councilor of Macclesfield.
David Rutley, Member of Parliament for Macclesfield in the UK.
Murad Gassanly, Councillor at Westminster City Council, with a particular interest in Azerbaijan and energy politics.
Sir Norman Rosenthal, Exhibition Secretary, Royal Academy of Arts 1977-2009
Ma Yuechuan, Cultural scholar, Founder of Shaanxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Industry Association
Younge Chang, Art Director, Silk Road Consulting South Korea
Wong Heng, President of Guangzhou Thirteen Element Museum and Guangzhou DISHIPU Sound Museum.
Bota Tore Hopkinson, Chairwoman of Senior Advisor on Eurasia region in the House of Lords of UK.
Digby Squires, Founder of Delfina Studios Trust, Economist.
Jorge Walsh, Founder of Jorge Welsh Works of Art, the expertise of works of Africa, India, China, and Japan.
Dr Mike Pance MBE, Chairman of Make it Macclesfield.
Zhao Tailai, Collector, Chairman of Guangzhou Baomo Museum.
Deng Zhuting OBE, President of London Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
Zhong Ping, Silk Road Consulting
Graham Barrow, Director of Make it Macclesfield.
HJ Colston & Therese Booth, Founder of Chopsticksclub and Network News
Yin Cao, Curator Chinese Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
