湖州丝绸：鲜为人知的故事

湖商蔡声白开丝绸模特表演之先河,影片《中华之丝绸》走出国门 时间定格在1927年12月的一天。上海,湖商蔡声白所在的美亚丝绸厂时装表演队,借座上海先施公司时装厅举行了专场表演,表演还约请了当时的著名演员黎莉莉（钱壮飞之女）、陈燕燕等加盟,这是中国首次丝绸模特时装表演,新颖华丽的时装展示,吸引了人们的眼光,表演大获成功,这场表演同时拍成了电影。此前,蔡声白邀请电影摄影师陈惟中到美亚任职,专事电影拍摄,专门深入乡间桑林、村户蚕房和市镇的丝绸企业,把种桑、养蚕、缫丝、织绸等中国传统的丝绸文化精心拍摄下来,又和时装表演的场景合成一部纪录片,名为《中华之丝绸》。

Silk Glory Almost inOblivion

Cai Shengbai （1894-1977） and Mayar Silk was a big story in the first half of the 20th- century China, though the story itself is almost thrust into oblivion. That is why it is time to have the tycoon and the silk glory of Huzhou back into the spotlight. Cai Shengbai was a na- tive of Shuanglin, Huzhou in northern Zhejiang. In 1914 hewas sent from Tsinghua University to study in Lehigh University in the United States. He majored in mining for four years before he came back to Huzhou. In 1921, he was engaged to run Mayar Silk, a private busi- ness owned by Mo Shangqing, a celebrated tycoon of silk of the day.