The Silk Road: An Exchange of Cultures

 Introduction

In this post, I will be looking at two forms of media covering the Silk Road, and analyzing the differences in information between the two. Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought that focus on both the history and practices of Buddhism. This textbook, written by Patrick S. Bresnan, is meant to engage students with the deeply rich history, practices, religions, and cultures of multiple countries in the East. The text mainly focuses on India, China, and Japan, while simultaneously attempting to examine the relationship between Eastern and Western traditions. The Silk Road: Where East Met West: Episode 1 is a video discussing the history of the Silk Road and how it connected the East and West. 

Text vs Video

One thing that was in the video that was not in the text was the origins of the creation of China. “Xian is home to the terracotta army, the construction of which was ordered by the man responsible, in the 3rd century BC, for creating China. China was named after him. He is the Chin Emperor” (Silk, 14:18 - 14:35). The video goes into detail about the Chin Emperor and his influence in the unification of China into a Kingdom. The textbook does not offer the same piece of history, instead beginning with the origins of Buddhism in China. This comes as no surprise as the chapter is named after Buddhism in China. “The earliest Chinese Buddhist document that is widely accepted as being historically verifiable comes to us from the middle of the second century CE”(Bresnan 380). 

Horse Figure
Author Unknown
Sui Dynasty (581-618)
The Museum of East Asian Art

Something treated differently between the video and the textbook was the fact that the Silk Road was a dangerous journey to make and is not something to be taken lightly. “Silk would go West, just like Jiang Chen. His journey was arduous, risky, slow, mine will be more comfortable. I want to get to one of the places he’ll have passed through…” (Silk, 25:28 - 25:51). The textbook references the importance and intricacies of the Silk Road but fails to mention the fact that the journey taken by travelers on the Silk Road was so dangerous to them. “Much more than silk was traded; everything imaginable made its way back and forth between east and west, and thanks to a subsidiary route, south into India as well” (Bresnan 377). 

Reflection

            Something about the content that I found especially interesting was the art and literature that was inspired by the treacherous nature of some routes found along the Silk Road. “This was China’s western edge. It became a place that inspired poetry about loss and the painful separation of friends…on the long road from the Yang pass, not one person returns, only the geese on the river, fly south for the winter” (Silk, 37:29 - 37:46). Despite not making much reference to the dangers travelers may have faced along the Silk Road, the textbook does make reference to the immense length of the route. “The Silk Road was an extremely long caravan route that connected China with other parts of the Eurasian continent” (Bresnan 377). 

Below is a video by TedEd giving a brief overview of the Silk Road.

"The Silk Road: Connecting the ancient world through trade"

TedEd, Shannon Harris Castelo

June 3rd, 2014

Work Cited

Bresnan, Patrick S. AWAKENING : An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. 

S.L., Routledge, 2021.

“The Silk Road: Where East Met West.” Films Media Group, 

www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=127877. Accessed 11 Nov. 2021.

“OAM Berlin: Chinese Ceramics.” Depts.washington.edu, 

depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/oam/ceramics.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 

2021.

TED-Ed. “The Silk Road: Connecting the Ancient World through Trade - Shannon 

Harris Castelo.” YouTube, 3 June 2014, 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn3e37VWc0k.