The Silk Road- Group topic

Source: http://islaminchina.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/gaozong_of_tang.jpg

Basically, the Tang era, I discovered was significant because it was a time when foreign traders started up their own businesses and spread their products to the citizens of the country looking to purchase new and intriguing luxuries. Furthermore, I was fascinated at the fact that camels were not uncommon to see in China. This was because they were used for food and textile supplies, as well as a method of travelling. I noticed that animals were an enormous benefactor during the Tang dynasty. For instance, some dogs were useful for hunting, whereas others were regarded as “Roman dogs”.

I was unaware of who the ‘fat concubine’ was and how much she impacted Chinese culture. Women in the 8^th century were seen as beautiful only if they were tall and slender. Yet the “fat lady” was an exception and was thought to be a “historical beauty”.

Early Indian Buddhism: Buddhism in Practice

Source: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42874000/jpg/_42874841_buddhist_220_afp.jpg

The way in which the Buddhism teachings were preserved I found to be very impressive. To preserve Buddha’s teachings, a variety of monks had to listen carefully to be able to memorize the preaching in their head. It wasn’t until four hundred years after Buddha dies that the teachings were written down in Sri Lanka. Even though the monks tried to memorize the teachings as best as they could, it was still not one hundred percent sure that all the words had come from Buddha.It is interesting to highlight the importance of the Mahayana because it was a social movement that created literature which challenged authority of the “institution”. In addition, many of the sutras were being used as scholastic reference. And it was significant to note that as the government in china was at its weakest; Buddhist institutions were at their strongest.

Zoroastrianism

Source: http://religion-cults.com/Eastern/Zoroastrianism/Parsis-Zarathusthra11g.jpg

I found it very interesting that the language known as Avestan only exists through the Holy text, Avesta. Also, it is unfortunate that most of the Avesta’s were destroyed and that it is difficult to regard the text as “authorative” because there new research is constantly being discovered.

I was unaware of the fact that the known Zoroastrian beliefs and practices had come from Persian monuments, inscriptions and from Greek writings. It was intriguing to read about the fact that Parsis helped the Iranis to be freed from prosecution and then given the opportunity to develop their own community in Tehran. I had to not the fact that the Zoroastrians, being a minority, were not regarded and unknown to most western scholars. It wasn’t until travellers were able to voyage over and bring back knowledge of the Zoroastrian culture that other societies were beginning to recognize this religion. One of the scholars was Thomas Hyde who, I think, made a few important claims in believing that the Greek evidence about dualism was misleading.