The Silk Road: Road Trips Through Central Asia – Map showing the trade routes that formed the Silk Road (map by Evan Freeman, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, adapted from Françoise Demange,
The name “Silk Road” is familiar to many people, depicting camel caravans traversing the desert laden with exotic goods such as tea, spices, medicines, and most importantly, silk, but in reality the Silk Road was more complex and more complex. normal. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting cities and peoples throughout Asia that developed around 200–900 AD but has existed since around 100 BC. until the mid-1400s AD. The establishment of the “Silk Road” was carried out by the Han Dynasty envoy, Zhang Qian, whose mission to Central Asia was in 114 BC. bringing the Chinese court into direct contact with the kingdoms of Central Asia.
The Silk Road: Road Trips Through Central Asia
Roman glassware and other objects have been found in China, Korea, and Japan. Pitcher, Roman (Syrian made), late 4th century, glass, 25 cm high, excavated from the southern mound of the 5th century Hwangnamdaechong Tomb (Silla) in Gyeongju, South Korea (Gyeongju National Museum, Korea, National Treasure 193)
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The phrase “Silk Road” refers to pre-modern transcontinental highways, but the idea of a winding road across Asia is still relatively new. The name “Silk Road” was given to the network of ancient trade routes that crossed Asia by the German explorer and geographer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877. Goods (including art objects, textiles, medicines, and food) and ideas (including religious thought and philosophical concept) certainly covered great distances along these trade routes, but most of the journey was relatively local.
Many of the same routes continued to be used by later traders and travelers, but the combination of short- and long-distance trade that characterized these overland routes shifted starting in the 10th century. This happened for several reasons, including the fall of the Tang Dynasty in China; the emergence of maritime trade routes through Southeast Asia that allowed goods and people to travel long distances more quickly; and the absorption of the Sogdian community, traders responsible for much of the long-distance Silk Road trade, by the Islamic empire. Pan-Asian exchange flourished again in the Mongol period of the 13th and 14th centuries which saw Mongol rule over much of Asia, sometimes following the old Silk Road overland, sometimes following maritime trade routes that had been established amidst the decline of the overland Silk Road . The path and rise of the Mongols.
Detail of a wall mosaic depicting the empress Theodora’s maids wearing rich silk garments of various designs, 540s, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Asia was the main focus of Silk Road trade, but it could be argued that the Silk Road extended as far west as Rome, as evidenced by the presence of Roman glass bowls and other objects found in tombs in China and the Korean peninsula. Chinese silk was also highly sought after by the Roman elite from the second century BC. Beginning in the fourth century AD, the link between Central Asia and the Eastern Roman Empire, which brought Asian goods to the Mediterranean, can also be understood as part of the Silk Road.
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This chapter will focus on the heart of the Silk Road, between Central and East Asia, but it is important to remember that the “Silk Road” extended much further west and south than we can cover here.
Many philosophical ideas and concepts were carried along the Silk Road. Buddhism can be said to be the most widespread religion. Buddhism originated in India in the 5th or 4th century BC, and soon spread from India to the east and west via the Silk Road, until it arrived in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). Some of the earliest objects of Buddhist art to arrive in China were portable Buddha statues brought from Central Asia to China by Buddhist monks, which may have served as objects of personal devotion.
West Niche, c. 6th–7th century CE, stone, stucco, paint, Bamiyan, Afghanistan, Buddha destroyed 2001 (photo: Françoise Foliot, CC BY-SA 4.0)
More striking are the cave-temple complexes created by Buddhist monks and often located in locations near major stops along the Silk Road such as Bamiyan (in present-day Afghanistan) and the Mogao caves near Dunhuang (now China’s Gansu province). Sometimes consisting of hundreds of temples carved into cliff faces, these sites include intricately carved and painted scenes of the Buddha’s historical and previous lives (called jataka stories), devotional statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as images of monks and donors. who might fund the art.
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Mogao Caves 16–17 (Library Cave), Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China, 862; sealed around 1000 (photo courtesy of Dunhuang Academy)
These donors were often prominent members of local society, or in some cases, members of the royal family. In the library cave at Mogao, multilingual texts, Buddhist sutras, printed drawings and books, and paintings on silk and paper are also preserved, indicating the number of portable objects that moved to and from the various sites.
Paintings and sculptures at these sites tell the story of various artistic traditions that came together along the Silk Road, including inspiration from Greek art through Gandhara (now in northern India and Pakistan). Most impressive are the monumental Buddha statues found in some of the most prominent cave temple complexes, most notably Bamiyan (tragically, two such monumental Buddha statues were destroyed in 2001), Longmen, and Yungang in China.
The introduction of Buddhism to China, and then to Korea and Japan was not a smooth, linear process, but occurred over hundreds of years, and Buddhism grew increasingly unpopular over the centuries. However, during the peak of the Silk Road, Buddhism gained support among the Chinese elite. In particular, the cave temples at Luoyang and Yungang were important sites of imperial Chinese protection of Buddhism during the Northern to Tang dynasty period (618–906).
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Bamiyan Buddhas: These colossal figures ruled the Bamiyan Valley for over 1000 years; The Taliban destroyed it in 2001.
Mogao Caves in Dunhuang: The ‘Cave of a Thousand Buddhas’ (Qianfodong), also known as Mogao, is an extraordinary treasure trove of Buddhist art.
Cave 17 in Mogao: Hidden within a cave and undisturbed for centuries, this important collection of paintings was rediscovered in 1900.
Yungang Caves in China: Imagine peering into a cave and seeing a monumental carved Buddha statue staring back at you.
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Longmen Caves, Luoyang: This cave complex reveals how Northern Wei and early Tang rulers used Buddhist imagery to assert authority.
Buddhist monks were among the most famous travelers along the Silk Road, bringing Buddhist art, scriptures and thought with them during their travels between India, Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan. However, perhaps more important were the Sogdians, an Iranian tribe that originated in today’s Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Musicians from Central Asia, often Sogdians, were very popular in ancient China. Here, they are shown sitting on a camel, Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), glazed pottery, China, 58.4 cm high, excavated in 1957 from the tomb of Xianyu Tinghui, general of Yunhui, buried in the western suburbs of Chang’ an (Xi’an), dated AD 723. (National Museum of China, Beijing)
Sogdian traders formed communities along the Silk Road and acted as cultural intermediaries in many of the places they lived thanks to their ability to speak many languages and connections to Sogdian communities throughout Asia. Much of what we know about the 4th-century Sogdian community in their homeland and in northwestern China is thanks to ancient Sogdian letters, discovered by Sir Aurel Stein in 1907 near Dunhuang. Most of the letters were written by merchants and discuss trade, but two were written by a woman, Miwnay, who was apparently abandoned by her husband in Dunhuang. Miwnay’s letters are a unique window into the experiences of a woman on the 4th century Silk Road.
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[Recto] [From her daughter, free woman Mi[wnay], to her beloved [mother] Chatis, blessings and honors. It will be a good day for him who may [see] you healthy and at peace; and [for me] that day will be the best day when we ourselves can see you in good health. I really wanted to meet you, but had no luck. I petitioned the councilor Sagharak, but the councilor said: Here there is no other relative closer to Nanai-dhat than Artivan. And I petitioned Artivan, but he said: Farnkhund. . . , and I refuse to rush, I refuse to do it. . . And Farnkhund said: If your husband’s relatives do not approve of your returning to your mother, how should I take you? Wait until . . . come; maybe Nanai-dhat will come. I lived in poverty, without clothes, without money; I asked for a loan, but no one would give me one, so I depended on donations from the priest. He said to me: If you go, I will give you a camel, and a man must go with you, and on the way I will look after you well. Hope he does it for me until you send me a letter!
Translation courtesy of Dr. Nicholas Sims-Williams, discovered in 1907
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