The Silk Road: A New HistoryThe Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history. In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. For centuries, key records remained hidden--sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping. But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs. The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China. |
Contents
3 | |
The Kingdom of Kroraina | 25 |
Kucha and the Caves of Kizil | 56 |
Turfan | 83 |
Samarkand and Sogdiana | 113 |
Historic Changan Modernday Xian | 141 |
Color plates | 144 |
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Ancient archeologists armies Aurel Stein Beijing bolts of silk Buddha Buddhist Buddhist texts camel capital caravan cave 17 Central Asia Chang'an China Chinese Chubanshe cloth Dandan Uiliq Daoist Wang desert Dunhuang emperor Empire envoys excavated Faxian Frantz Grenet Gansu Ganzhou Gaochang gold Hedin India inscriptions Iranian Islam Jiang Kashgar Kharoshthi Kharoshthi documents Khotan Khotanese king Kingdom Kizil Kroraina Kucha Kuchean Kumarajiva language letter library cave living Loulan Lushan manuscripts merchants miles missing missing monasteries monks Mount Mugh Muslim Nicholas Sims-Williams Niya northern oasis officials paintings Panjikent paper Pelliot plate record residents Rong Xinjiang route rulers Samarkand Sanskrit Sasanian scholars script Shanshan Silk Road Silk Road trade silver coins Sogdian stupa surviving Taklamakan Tang dynasty textiles Tibetan Tocharian tomb translation Trombert Turfan Uighur Uighur Kaghanate Vaissière wall Wenwu Xinjiang Xiongnu Xiyu Xuanquan Xuanzang yanjiu Yarkand Yuezhi Zhang Zoroastrian