*Photo Credit: http://www.davidsanger.com/editorial/scenes-from-the-silk-road*After reading the first three chapters of Frances Wood's The Silk Road, I have developed some understanding of what important roles the Eastern civilization has played throughout history. Being born in Europe myself, I never thought I would never harness an interest in ancient Eastern civilizations. Nonetheless, I am very glad I took this course, as the material being covered is very interesting and informative.
To be quite honest, I was lost after reading the first few pages of Wood's book. I think my confusion stemmed partly from being physically exhausted and partly due to the vast amount of cities, rivers, and civilizations mentioned in the first few pages that carried names I have never heard of. I found myself flipping between the inside cover and glancing at the photocopied maps provided to get a better understanding of where each area was located. This helped me imagine the content as I was reading it in a better perspective. After the first few pages, I began to be much more engaged and the descriptions included in the book by various missionaries, and explorers made it much easier to imagine what they saw as it was told in a first person account.
The Silk Road which was a term coined by German explorer, and geographer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877 as 'Seidenstrasse' was the setting of ample amounts of trade. Such items that were traded along this route included grapes, raisins, Hami melons, fat-tailed sheep, and horses. It was very interesting to note that very few people actually travelled the full stretch of the Silk Road. Items of trade usually passed through many hands before arriving to the designated location. The only individuals to travel long stretches of the Silk Road, were missionaries of various faiths in the early days. From the 19th century, explorers, geographers and archaeologists bagan to travel the full stretch of the Silk Road. The term "Silk Road" today is used to describe a large geographical area, and also a cultural history stretching thousands and thousands of years.
The account by Chiang Yee, a small boy who lived in the town of Yangtze during the 20th century, was a very interesting read. In his account, he describes the proccess of creating silk in very great detail. He also describes how in Chinese culture, the women were expected to master the art of creating silk and that it wasn't expected for boys to learn. The same analogy could be made for women who were stay at home moms that needed to learn how to cook, clean clothes, take care of children, even though many of them did not choose such a lifestyle. It was more or less imposed, and expected. Men on the other hand were considered the ones who worked and were the main source of income. This of course is not the case anymore, but a worthy analogy in my point of view =).
Another piece of information that I found very interesting was the diverse descriptions and pictures of certain statues / figurines. Throughout the book, there are many wonderful pictures. On page 41 of Wood's book, there are two pictures of Buddhist statues. The statue pictured on page 41 carries a what the book describes as a "Romano-British-Hellenistic influence". On the the opposite spectrum, the picture of a bhuddist statue head on page 40 carries a more oriental look. This illustrates the various influences that encompassed the Silk Road.
Finally, the account by Gan Ying on what Rome looked like was as equally interesting as accounts made by explorers who visited the East. Even though it is believed that Gan Ying never actually reached Rome, it is believed he came the furthest West from all other Chinese. Ying's description of Rome described it as a massive state, which produced marvelous things. Wood's describes this idea that Rome was a large state and produced marvelous things was a reflection of China itself. China was a similar power as Rome which produced many rare and valuable items.
In conclusion, chapters 1-3 from Wood's book was a very interesting, easy to follow and informative read. I am looking forward to the future readings this course entails.
