Historian in China to weave silk links
AN historian who has written extensively about Macclesfield’s silk trade has visited China to fly the flag for the town.
Dorothy Bentley-Smith, known to many for her books on Macclesfield history, hosted a lecture about the Macclesfield silk trade at Hangzhou University, a city to the west of Shanghai in China.
Her visit follows the success of her book about the life and times of the Georgian Macclesfield silk merchant Charles Roe, and the invitation came after a meeting at a workshop with a professor from the university.
She spoke about how silk connects Macclesfield to China, with the two places at either end of the ‘Silk Road’, a historic trade route from China to Europe in the days of the Roman Empire along which products were traded, including silk.
A copy of Dorothy’s book on Charles Roe is now in the library of Hangzhou University.
Dorothy said: “I’m celebrating 50 years in Macclesfield and it’s been an amazing year, with publishing my latest book and being invited to China.
“During my nine day trip with Laurence Payot, who is a Liverpool artist, I was taken to an archeological site where the earliest piece of woven silk from 4,000 years ago was discovered.
“It has been declared the birthplace of silk by the Chinese government, and a Cultural Exchange Site called QinShanYang was opened close by.
“The general manager Madam Yuxi Zhu entertained and accommodated us for two days and we exchanged important details.
“The highlight was being reacquainted with the director of the National China Silk Museum Professor Zhao, who I met two years ago in London.”
Dorothy’s trip comes when there are efforts in many Macclesfield to forge stronger links with China and capitalise on its investment in a huge infrastructure project to revive the Silk Road. She is working with Macclesfield Town Council to make the most of the links she has made with Hangzhou.
MP David Rutley said: “Dorothy has carried the torch for Macclesfield to China and back, helping to forge closer links between both ends of the Silk Road and promoting Macclesfield abroad.”
Dorothy will host a book signing for her latest book, ‘ No Ordinary Surgeon: The Life and Times of William Binley Dickinson’, in Waterstones on Sunday, December 17 between 1pm and 3pm.