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Informationen zum Autor Jonathan Clements has written books on several figures associated with the Silk Road! including Kublai Khan! Marco Polo! and Empress Wu. Klappentext The Silk Road is not a place! but a journey - a route from the edges of the Mediterranean to the central plains of China! through high mountains and inhospitable deserts. This book offers the reader a chronological outline of the region's development! but also provides an introduction to its languages! literature and arts. Zusammenfassung The Silk Road is not a place! but a journey! a route from the edges of the Mediterranean to the central plains of China! through high mountains and inhospitable deserts. For thousands of years its history has been a traveler'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 19th-century empires. Today! its central section encompasses several former Soviet republics! and the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. The ancient trade route controversially crosses the sites of several forgotten kingdoms! buried in sand and only now revealing their secrets. A History of the Silk Road not only offers the reader a chronological outline of the region's development! but also provides an invaluable introduction to its languages! literature! and arts. It takes a comprehensive and illuminating look at the rich history of this dynamic and little known region! and provides an easy-to-use reference source. Jonathan Clements pays particular attention to the fascinating historical sites which feature on any visitor's itinerary and also gives special emphasis to the writings and reactions of travelers through the centuries. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. The Invention of the Silk Road Beginnings and Endings Geography and Topography Names and Naming Barbarians! Minorities and the Historical Record 2. From the Tarim Mummies to the Early Han Dynasty (Prehistory to AD 6) The Discovery of Silk Moths and Worms Horse-riders and Horse-traders 3. The Western Regions: From Han to Tang (AD 6-618) Armies Reach Kashgar Silk Reaches Khotan Buddhism Reaches China 4. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) Tripitaka The Christians The Jewelled Surnames The Tragedy of Yang Guifei 5. The Uyghurs and the Mongols (907-1408) Barchuq Switches Sides Marco Polo The Muslims 6. The New Frontier (1408-1912) Kazakhs! Kyrgyz and Kalmuks Yaqub Beg and Kashgaria The Tomb Raiders 7. Autonomy and Hegemny (1912-2012) The Republic of China The 'Republics' of Xinjiang The People's Republic of China Whose Song is it Anyway? 8. The Silk Road Today Ecology and Erosion Religion and Races Tourism and Tradition History and Heritage Further Reading and References Chronology of Major Events Index ...
