Short History of the Silk Road

Häftad, Engelska, 2017

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The Silk Road is a route from the edges of the European world to the central plains of China. For thousands of years, its history has been a traveller’s history, of brief encounters in desert towns, snowbound passes and nameless forts. It was the conduit that first brought Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China, and the site of much of the ‘Great Game’ between the empires of Britain and Russia.The ‘Silk Road’ is a modern term, dating from 1877. Only a handful of men and women ever travelled the entire length. For many, the ‘road’ led only to the next town or oasis. Artefacts and articles meandered along the route from China to the Mediterranean, but only in stops and starts, traded back and forth, buffeted by changing conditions and markets.Jonathan Clements takes the reader through the trackless wastes of the Taklamakan Desert, its black whirlwinds and dead lakes, its shimmering mirages, lost cities and mysterious mummies. He explains the truth behind odd tales of horses that sweat blood, defeaced statues, missing frescoes, and Marco Polo’s tales of black gold that seeps from the earth.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2017-03-31
Mått124 x 198 x 23 mm
Vikt272 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieHaus Publishing
Antal sidor228
FörlagHaus Publishing
ISBN9781909961371

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JONATHAN CLEMENTS is an author and TV presenter specialising in the history and cultures of the Far East. He speaks both Chinese and Japanese, and has been a consultant and talking head on numerous TV programmes, including New Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors (Channel 4), Koxinga: Sailing into History (National Geographic), China’s Jade Empire (Channel 4), and TheChinese Chariot Revealed (PBS). Since 2016, he has fronted the award-winning series Route Awakening (National Geographic Asia). His most recent documentary as presenter is Shandong: Land of Confucius, also for National Geographic.

1. The Invention of the Silk Road // 1Beginnings and Endings // 4Geography and Topography // 7Names and Naming // 16Barbarians, Minorities and the Historical Record // 192. From the Tarim Mummies to the Early Han Dynasty (Prehistory to AD 6) // 30The Discovery of Silk // 35Moths and Worms // 39Horse-riders and Horse-traders // 423. The Western Regions: From Han to Tang (AD 6-618) // 53Armies Reach Kashgar // 57Silk Reaches Khotan // 66Buddhism Reaches China // 684. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) // 76Tripitaka // 80The Christians // 84The Jewelled Surnames // 87The Tragedy of Yang Guifei // 935. The Uyghurs and the Mongols (907-1408) // 103Barchuq Switches Sides // 107Marco Polo // 116The Muslims // 1226. The New Frontier (1408-1912) // 128Kazakhs, Kyrgyz aand Kalmuks // 131Yaqub Beg and Kashgaria // 140The Tomb Raiders // 1447. Autonomy and Hegemony (1912-2012) // 155The Republic of China // 158The 'Republics' of Xinjiang // 167The People's Republic of China // 171Whose Song is it Anyway? // 1768. The Silk Road Today // 181Ecology and Erosion // 184Religion and Races // 188Tourism and Tradition // 190History and Heritage // 193Further Reading and References // 203Chronology of Major Events // 216Index // 221