The Silk Road Observed and Imagined

Syllabus last updated 12/08/01

The Wednesday University
Winter 2002

Silk Road Observed and Imagined

Instructor:

Assoc. Prof. Daniel C. Waugh,
Department of History and Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.
Contact information:

dwaugh@u.washington.edu

Prof. Waugh will be keeping regular office hours (yet to be scheduled) during Winter Quarter; he is always happy to arrange meetings by appointment. E-mail is the quickest and most reliable contact medium.

Location of Lectures:

Henry Art Gallery auditorium, University of Washington, 7:30-9 PM.

Course content:

"Silk Road" is shorthand for 1500 years of economic and cultural exchange across Eurasia, a subject best introduced through the eyes of its contemporary observers. Learn from Han China's own historians (ca. 200 BCE-ca. 200 CE) why the Great Wall was built. Find Buddhist enlightenment in Central Asian oases and India with seventh-century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. Discover nomadic life and Christians at the emperor's court in the steppes of Mongolia with Franciscans Carpini and Rubruck. Learn how Marco Polo's description of Khubilai Khan's China brought Columbus to the New World. And visit the Islamic splendors of Tamerlane's Samarkand in the early fifteenth century with the Spanish ambassador Clavijo.

Resources:

Several books have been ordered for the course; other materials will be available via various web pages. The basic entry point for much of the web material will be the Silk Road Seattle web site, where you will also find a long list of Silk Road-related events which are taking place in Seattle in Winter and Spring 2002. Please be aware that the web site is under active development. New material is being created, material on other sites is being revised and re-formatted and will be linked. If you are enjoying your first exposure to the Silk Road, you are urged to attend local concerts, exhibits, etc. and to return to the Silk Road Seattle web site later to learn new material as it becomes available.

References to other specific web-based material with be provided as the course proceeds. Many of the recommended readings below have been chosen because the books are readily available (generally in print in paperback editions). Some supplementary bibliography to that listed below may be found currently on Prof. Waugh's syllabus for his regular UW course on the Silk Road. Silk Road Seattle will be posting annotated resource lists, including reviews of videos. Also, an excellent source of Silk Road information is the web site of the Silkroad Foundation. One of the resources there is an annotated list of travelers on the Silk Road, an ongoing project to which Prof. Waugh is contributing.

Several general sources of information can be recommended:

David Christian, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Vol. 1: Inner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998). A sweeping "world history" overview of Eurasian History, with significant attention to patterns of nomadic-sedentary interaction.
Xinru Liu, The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia (Washington, D. C.: the American Historical Association, 1998). A pamphlet-length overview by a Chinese specialist who has studied carefully the archaeological information.
A rather dry and detailed but accurate overview of Inner Asian history has just appeared in paperback: Svat Soucek, A History of Inner Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000). Chs. 1-9 are of particular relevance for our course.
For those who would wish to become Silk Road experts, there is a great deal to be found in the History of the Civilizations of Central Asia, 5 vols. to date (Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1992-2000). These volumes include the latest archaeological findings. Individual essays vary in their readability, but all are by leading specialists and all have supplementary bibliographies. The books may be ordered through the UNESCO Publishing web site.

* * *

Lecture schedule and readings:

Wed., Jan. 9, 2002

Lecture 1. The Origins of the Silk Road.

After looking at the geography of Inner Asia, in this lecture we will explore patterns of interaction between Han China (ca. 200 BCE-ca. 200 CE) and the inner Asian nomads, especially those known as the Xiongnu. This interaction led to the establishment of Han contacts with Central and Western Asia and marked the beginning of really significant trade in Silk on the Inner Asian trade routes. This is also the period of great expansion of the Great Wall and the arrival of Buddhism in China.

Readings:

David Christian, "Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History," Journal of World History, 11/1 (2000), pp. 1-26. An important argument for the antiquity of the Silk Roads (going back to at least 2000 BCE), the role of "trans-ecological" exchanges, not merely "trans-civilizational" ones, and the crucial role of the pastoral nomads in establishing a unity of Afro-Eurasian history.
Han Chinese histories (in English translation), on the Silk Road Seattle web site. These texts contain a lot of information on Han interaction with the nomads and the reports of the Han emissaries who were sent to the West. Note that the current version of the translations connected to our site is still very rough. It is hoped that by the time the class meets January 9 a revised version of the translations, possibly from a more modern translation, will have been posted.

Recommended:

Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian. Han Dynasty II, tr. by Burton Watson, rev. ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), esp. pp. 129-162, 231-252. The official Chinese chronicle by Sima Qian (ca. 145-90 BCE). The texts on our web site are from a later version of the Chinese chronicles.
Jeannette Mirsky, ed., The Great Chinese Travelers: An Anthology (Chicago and London: UChicago Pr., 1974). An accessible collection to some extent told in Mirsky's words, rather than that of the original texts. Includes Zhang Qian (in Han times), Xuanzang (see below); also Nestorian Christian envoys in Mongol times.
Thomas J. Barfield, The Nomadic Alternative (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1993). The best introduction to the varieties of nomadism. Ch. 5 is especially relevant here.
Thomas J. Barfield, The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757 (Cambridge, Ma.: Blackwell, 1992), esp. Chs. 1-3. Barfield stresses the symbiotic relationship between the nomads and China--each side needed the other.
Sechin Jagchid and Van Jay Symons, Peace, War, and Trade Along the Great Wall: Nomadic-Chinese Interaction through Two Millennia (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP, 1989), esp. Ch. 1-2. The emphasis here is on trade.
Richard Bulliet, The Camel and the Wheel (Cambridge, Mass., 1975). A fascinating examination of the most important "vehicle" for transportation along the Silk Road, the camel.
Aurel Stein, On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks: Brief Narrative of Three Expeditions in Innermost Asia and Northwestern China, intr. Jeanette Mirsky (Chicago and London: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1974). Stein is the most famous archaeologist to have worked on early Silk Road sites. This is an accessible summary of some of his important discoveries.
M. Aurel Stein, Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal Narrative of Explorations in Central Asia and Western Most China, 2 v. (London: Macmillan, 1912; various reprints), esp. chs. L, LIV-LXIII, LXXI. The sections here describe his discoveries a century ago along the Han defensive lines in Central Asia.

Wed., Jan. 23, 2002

Lecture 2. Xuanzang: a Buddhist pilgrim travels to India.

Xuanzang (pronounced Shwan-dzang) was a bold traveler and an important intermediary between China and India. His journey in search of Buddhist enlightenment from 629-645 CE took him over 10,000 miles of some of the most challenging terrain in the world--skirting the deserts of Western China, crossing the mighty mountain ranges of inner Asia, passing through what is today Afghanistan, and then visiting many of the most holy Buddhist sites in India. We will use his journey as a way to explore the history of the spread of Buddhism into Central Asia and China and will view some of the stunning Buddhist art along the way.

Readings:

Sally Hovey Wriggins, Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road (Boulder: Westview, 1996). A beautifully-written and well illustrated account about Xuanzang's journey.
Roderick Whitfield et al., Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road (Los Angeles: Getty, 2000). Quite general but beautifully illustrated introduction to the wonderful Buddhist art at the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, China.
Susan Whitfield, Life along the Silk Road (Berkeley and LA: UCalif. Pr., 2000). Lightly fictionalized accounts of various social types in the inner Asian regions of the Silk Road between 750 and 1000 CE. Very solidly based on historical research and real documentation.

Recommended:

Richard C. Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century (NY: St Martin's, 1999). A too brief survey but at least a starting point.
Arthur F. Wright, Buddhism in Chinese History (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1959). A brief but interesting overview.
Edward H. Shafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics (Berkeley etc.: UCalif. Pr., 1985). Fascinating guide to "exotic" products that traveled along the Silk Road to China and how the Chinese reacted to them during the 7th-10th centuries.

Wed., Feb. 6, 2002

Lecture 3. The Mongols through the Eyes of Carpini and Rubruck.

One of the most significant events in the history of Eurasia was the creation of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, since that was the only time when almost the whole of Central Eurasia came under the control of a single state. Two brave Franciscan monks, John of Plano Carpini and William of Rubruck traveled all the way from Europe to Mongolia in the 1240s and 1250s, half a generation after the death of Chingis Khan. Their meticulous observations provide an excellent introduction to a reassessment of what the Mongol conquests really meant and a basis for debating whether we should talk about a "Pax Mongolica."

Readings:

Christopher Dawson, ed., Mission to Asia (Toronto etc.: UToronto Pr., 1980). Readable translations of Carpini, Rubruck and other Christian churchmen's accounts. Possibly web versions of same texts will be available on Silk Road Seattle.

Daniel Waugh, "The Pax Mongolica," on Silkroad Foundation website. An introduction to the controversial question of Mongol impact.
Pegolotti's merchant handbook; linked to Silkroad Seattle on the web. This is an important merchant's guide to the Silk Road trade in the fourteenth century as seen from its western end.

Recommended:

Ata-Malik Juvaini, Genghis Khan: The History of the World-Conqueror, tr. J.A. Boyle; introd. David O. Morgan (Seattle and London: Univ. of Wash. Pr., 1997). A florid but very interesting contemporary account of the Mongol empire written by one of its Persian administrators in the late thirteenth century.
David Morgan, The Mongols (Cambridge, Ma.; Oxford: Blackwell, 1990). A well-informed survey although perhaps underappreciative of the positive side of Mongol rule.
J.R.S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe (Oxford etc.: Oxford UP, 1988). Provides a broad context for the travels of Carpini, Rubruck and Marco Polo.

Wed., Feb. 20, 2002

Lecture 4. Marco Polo and his impact on perceptions of the East.

The name Marco Polo is synonymous with travel on the Silk Road. Recent controversies notwithstanding, this Venetian really did go to China and spend years in the service of Quibilai Khan in the late thirteenth century. We will see how Marco Polo broadened European's knowledge of the world both soon after his death and in later centuries, and also will draw some comparisons between him and the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta.

Readings:

Marco Polo, The Travels, ed. Ronald Latham (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1958). The most readily available edition.
John Larner, Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World (New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2001). An up-to-date analysis of how best to understand Marco Polo's book and its contribution to European knowledge.

Recommended:

Morris Rossabi, Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (Berkeley etc.: UCalif. Pr., 1988). A well-informed account about the ruler of the Mongol Empire at its height, which was also when Marco Polo was in China. Rossabi has written extensively on trade and other aspects of the Silk Road in the Yüan (Mongol) and Ming periods of Chinese history.
Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century (Berkeley etc.: UCalif. Pr., 1989). Ibn Battuta came a generation after Marco Polo and, if anything, exceeded Polo in the scope and importance of his travels and the account he dictated about them. He was definitely in the western part of the Mongol Empire and in India; he seems at least to have reached southeast China.
Boies Penrose, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance 1420-1620 (NY: Atheneum, 1971). A compact overview of European "discoveries" by the Marco Polo's somewhat distant successors.

Wed., Mar. 6, 2002

Lecture 5. Tamerlane's Samarkand through the eyes of Clavijo.

While Timur (Tamerlane) has an evil reputation as a destructive conqueror, the cities he cared about such as his capital Samarkand flourished. Samarkand was already important in the time of Alexander the Great; we will briefly explore its earlier history before turning to some of the fascinating evidence about East-West trade and cultural exchange from the Timurid period of the late 14th-15th centuries. The account by the Spanish ambassador Clavijo opens the door to this important period of East-West interaction. The Timurids interacted with the early Ming rulers of China, who built the Forbidden City and for a time had the greatest merchant fleet in the world coursing the Indian Ocean.

Readings:

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane; excerpts to be available on web site (URL to be provided later).
web-based materials on Timurid Samarkand.

Recommended:

Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433 (NY; Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994). The exciting saga of the huge Chinese treasure fleets, which brought tons of Chinese porcelain to the Middle East.
Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 (New Haven; London: Yale UP, 1994) (The Pelican History of Art). A beautifully illustrated and widely praised survey; of particular relevance here are chs. 2-5.