Dimitri Silk Road Lecture 2 PDF

[Lecture 2: Origins of the journey to the West; Luoyang, Chang 'an, and Dunhuang] **[List of historical artefacts:]** 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. **[Myths along the Silk Road:]** - - - - - - I. A. - - - - - - B. In Chinese tradition, the perfec...

[Lecture 2: Origins of the journey to the West; Luoyang, Chang 'an, and Dunhuang] **[List of historical artefacts:]** 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. **[Myths along the Silk Road:]** - - - - - - I. A. - - - - - - B. In Chinese tradition, the perfect possible shape for a city is a square, as to provide some equilibrium. The best number of gates towards the exterior was also thought to be nine. However, Luoyang did not really follow that pattern. Indeed, the city resembled more a rectangle (though far away from a perfect one), had fourteen gates leading to the surrounding plains, and the Imperial Palace was located in the Northern part of the city, what was considered an ill-fating presage, as North was a symbol for bad luck to come. C. Nevertheless, the city was extremely prosperous, as shown by the following timeline: - - - - II. During the era of the Silk Roads, the Valley was extremely attractive. This appealing power though had more to do with politics than trades. - - - - - III. A. *"Even before the opening of the Silk Roads by Zhang Qian in the late 2nd century BC, there was an informal system of contact and exchange across the expanse of Eurasia."* *Victor Mair (American Sinologist).* During the Upper Paleolithic period (45 000-12 000), one could find the Steppe Route. The latter was an overland route that was in use long before the "opening" of the Silk Road. The Steppe Route reached all the way across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia, from Eastern Europe to China. Most of the trades took place in the steppe regions of Northern Central Eurasia. Lot of artifacts and tombs were found there, as witnesses of all the trades. Silk, fabrics and horses (a lot of skeletons were dug out, as Persian would buried them) were traded, along with other valuable commodities such as furs, weapons, musical instruments (pipes made out of bones), and jewels (turquoise, lapis lazuli, agate, nephrite). B. What we have to keep in mind is that the purpose of the efforts of the Han dynasty to establish alliances with the nomadic tribes of Central Asia during the second half of the 2^nd^ century BCE was not to maintain trades possible. The Han did not plan to create state revenues or to acquire exotic luxuries from the Western regions nor to promote exports. **The main point was security, trade came after.** By the way, merchants could be wealthy, but they weren't highly considered. They were banned from official positions and owning land, and trade was heavily taxed. Shopkeepers weren't well perceived in China, nor in Korea and in Japan. Indeed, they did not rule or learn, nor fight and feed the country, did not provide tools or close, they simply sold goods they did not produce. That is why Chinese first focused on sending tributes and gifts to other sovereigns. They would send ambassador and monk, bringing with them dowries or presents including numerous silk rolls. Hence, a Central and Western Asia market developed with demand for Chinese goods. Production followed to supply the demand with high quality and valuable goods. Sogdians were also in contact with all these regions. They were interested into getting this very valuable route and passing it further. Trade came as a consequence of security. A goodwill cooperation ensured with gifts, a win-win situation, lies at the beginning of the Silk Roads. IV. A. - - - B. - - - C. - - - - - - - - - D. - - - - - - - - - - - - E. - - - - - - F. - - - V. The city of Dunhuang (a today UNESCO World Heritage site), in North-West China, is situated at a **point of strategic and logistical importance**, on a crossroads of two major trade routes within the Silk Road network. Lying in an oasis at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, Dunhuang was one of the first trading cities encountered by merchants arriving in China from the west. The route started from Chang'an, followed the loop of the Huang He, through the Ordos hills, to the west through the Gansu corridor. It then separated in two branches, one going around the Taklamakan desert. The city of Dunhuang soon became a place for caravans and merchants. **[Establishment and Mogao Caves:]** - - - - - - - **[The library Cave:]** In 1900, the Daoist priest Wang Yuan lu, who self-appointed himself guardian of the cave-temples in Dunhuang, accidentally discovered a sealed-up cave (present-day Cave 17, known as the Library Cave) containing a treasure of more than 50,000 manuscripts. Most of these manuscripts, dated between the 4th and the 11th centuries, are Buddhist, as well as Daoist, Manichean and Nestorian Christians. The manuscripts, on paper, silk, wood and other materials, are paintings, printings, and writings in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Tangut, Uyghur, Khotanese, Kuchean, Sogdian, Mongolian and even Hebrew in addition to Chinese. The contents cover religion, history, literature, astronomy, astrology, and private or official correspondence. 11 idées de Carlo tentacule \| carlo tentacule, bob l\'eponge, visages de mème