A celebration of the cultural heritage of the countries along the Silk Road, this book is a detailed, lavishly illustrated exploration of the the ancient trade route between Europe and Asia, more specifically between Rome and the old Chinese capital of Xian. The author provides a comprehensive history of the Silk Road and examines many of the most celebrated works of art discovered in each country, and sets them in their historical and geographical context. Drawing freely on anecdotes, and literary and historical sources, he examines the lives of the merchants and other travellers who used this route and the way in which their activities related to the works of art that were created. Vignettes and poems from the heyday of the great trading route punctuate a lively and colourful book, which also benefits from Antonia Tozer’s exceptionally evocative photographs of landscapes and people.
Chapters range from Precursors and The Manufacture of Silk, through China and Central Asia to Rediscovery in the Twentieth Century and Lost Art of the Silk Road. There is a glossary of foreign and technical terms, as well as chronologies for each period of history for the main sections of the Silk Road, and a bibliography and index.
Author(s): Jonathan Tucker
Publisher: Art Media Resources Ltd
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 391
Tags: Silk Road
Cover
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Map
I. Beginnings
1. Precursors of the Silk Road
2. Nomads
3. The Kushans
II. China
4. The introduction of Buddhism to China
5. Luoyang
6. Changan (Xian)
III. The Silk Road between Xian and Dunhuang
7. The route west from Xian
IV. The Silk Road through China beyond Dunhuang
8. The Northern Silk Road
9. The Southern Silk Road
V. The Silk Road between China and India
VI. The Silk Road through Central Asia
10. Silk Road sites in Southern Central Asia
11. The coming of Islam to Central Asia
12. The Mongols
13. Tamerlane (Timur) and the Timurids
14. Silk Road sites between Balkh and Nisa
15. The route north from Merv to Khorezm
16. The routes north from the Iron Gate Pass
17. The routes to the northwest from Bukhara and Samarkand to Khorezm
18. Silk Road sites around Samarkand
19. Silk Road sites between Samarkand and China
VII. Persia and beyond
20. Parthians and Sasanians
21. The main East-West Silk Road across Iran
22. The Ray-Tabriz road
23. The Ray-Hamadan road
24. The Silk Road through Iraq
25. Silk Road sites of Syria and Lebanon
26. The Silk Road through Turkey
27. All roads lead to Rome
28. The end of the road: the Silk Road in decline
Conclusion
Appendix
Chronologies
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
