Nevkat – An Ancient Silk Road City

From the Blog " Postcard from Bishkek / Observations from an expat" by Ian Claytor in the Kyrgiz republic, the following article which he wrote on May 15, 2011:


Nevkat – An Ancient Silk Road City

About eight kilometres East of the city of Kant in Northern Kyrgyzstan lies the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, (“Red River”). This is the site of the ancient towns of Suyab and Nevkat (“New City”), a Silk Road city that flourished between the 6th and 12th centuries. The identification is based on manuscripts found at the site.

By all accounts, Nevkat was a major metropolis. Indeed, it was probably the largest of all the medieval cities in what is now Kyrgyzstan – and, according to one author, was the “most north-easterly of the central Asian ‘super cities’” and was, at one time, “one of the world’s most important trading centres”.

Founded by the Sogdians, (an Iranian speaking people), in the fifth century, in the seventh and eighth centuries it boasted a population of 100.000. It had over 18 kilometres of city walls – as long as those of ancient Rome – which enclosed an area of 25 square kilometres. Inside these walls were public buildings, markets, gardens and even farms.

In the North-eastern part of the city was a vast citadel, built on a massive artificial platform – which is all that remains easily visible today. Measuring some 800m across and 20m high – 30m in the extreme South-Eastern corner where it is thought the ruler’s palace was located, the mound comprises some 13 million cubic meters of earth and mud bricks, it is five times the size of the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt and it, apparently, is the largest man-made mound in the world. It has been estimated that a workforce of several thousand must have been employed in its construction – which could have taken a decade, or more.

This citadel was almost certainly an “upper town” for the ruling elite of the city – probably Sogdians, who are also known locally as Saks. However, it was not a mono-cultural city. A necropolis showed signs of a number of different funeral techniques and traditions. Other peoples who are thought to have populated the city include Chinese, Uighurs, Tibetans, Persians as well as the local Saks. Archaeologists have found artefacts showing that Buddhists, Zoroastrians Nestorians, Manicheans and pagans all thrived here.

Particular archaeological finds have included: the remains of a large sculpture of the Buddha, which would have stood 12 meters high when complete, which were discovered in the corridors one of the two Buddhist temples uncovered. Also shards of 1.000 year old pottery litter the site.

Nevkat and the other towns of the Chuy Valley are mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who visited the area in around 620 CE.

All that remains today are irregular mounds and a couple of eroded clay walls of the ancient fortifications, but, as Daniel Prior writes in The Bishkek Handbook:
"For those who are able to sightsee without seeing standing buildings, Krasnaya Rechka – prettier in setting and more conducive to contemplation than the history-factory at Burana – offers a subtle vista on the past. From the summit of the citadel, where the ground underfoot is thickly strewn with pieces of thousand-year-old pottery, on a clear day, you can see almost to Ch’ang An and Byzantium."

Despite it’s place in history, finding Nevkat is not actually easy. A lot of local people are not aware that it is there, and there are no signposts. Indeed, I have attended a couple of meetings where I and other foreigners, (they tend to be Japanese, who seem to have a fascination with the Silk Road and this particular period), have talked about the difficulty of finding the place and even of having to abandon the search.

In fact, the easiest way to see Nevkat, (albeit from a distance), is when travelling from Bishkek to Issyk Kul on the new road that bypasses the villages and the towns of Kant and Tokmak. It is possible to see the mound of the citadel and the embankment that marked the site of the old town rising from the Chui plain.

To get to Nevkat: First, head for the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, about 30 km east of Bishkek. Go just a bit more than 2 km past the gas station at the eastern end of the village, and you’ll see a dirt road off to your left (north). Turn onto the track and go on for about a kilometre. You can’t miss the citadel. It looms 20 meters over the valley floor.

Ruin in Tabriz

Just an old beautiful picture from Sven Hedin

Title: ruin building, Identity:1021.III.0222 1021.III.0222 Location: Iran: Tabriz ,Persons:SvenHedin, Sven Anders, Sven Hedin Foundation

After publishing "Studiolum" wrote the following comment:
"This is the famous Blue Mosque next the bazaar, I mean what has been left of its facade (the entrance iwan) after the earthquake of 1779. Shortly before the Islamic Revolution it has been restored, which has done good to the iwan, but has deleted the details of the walls which can be still seen on this picture".

Secret revealed of gold thread wrapping up Sakymuni

Under the head "60th anniversary of the Tibet's peaceful liberation" CCTV has put on their site a webpage fully dedicated to this subject.
Whoever knows the long history of Tibet ( which is definitely much longer than 60 years) will not be fooled by this cheap way of influencing the public opinion ( you have to be really stupid to fall for these kind of nonsense stories) but anyway, the history bits about Tibet are good, as usual with CCTV.

Play VIDEO
In 1987, Famen Temple was in the world's spotlight when over one thousand relics dating back to one thousand years ago were unearthed there. Over the following decades, experts have been researching the rare findings of the Tang Dynasty. The latest discovery has unveiled the secret of the gold thread silk that was used to wrap the relics of Sakymuni.
The five pieces shown here are the silk that packed Sakymuni's bones and the pearl-like beads found among the cremated ashes of the Buddhist spiritual master. They were among the over one-thousand pieces of findings discovered in the underground palace of Famen Temple. With a history of more than 17-hundred years, Famen temple is also known as the ancestor of the pagoda temple in the Guanzhong area or the lower valley of the Weihe River in northwest China.
Over 700 pieces of silk were found. They were used to wrap valuable jewelry offered by seven emperors of the Tang Dynasty. Most of the silk are decorated with gold threads, used exclusively for the imperial family in ancient China.
Deconstructed under the microscope, experts unveiled that those thin gold threads are composed of two parts: a very thin gold foil around a core of silk which is only one tenth of a millimeter in diameter. An analysis of 200 examples helps us to see that the gold foil is not pure but contains 15% silver.
Source CCTV

Kyrgyz archaeologists unearth Buddha statue

Archaeologists in Kyrgyzstan have unearthed a massive statue of Buddha in the hills outside the capital Bishkek.
A team of archaeologists working in an excavation site at Krasnaya Rechka, 35km outside the capital, discovered a 1.5 metre high Buddha.
Archaeologists from the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, working with colleagues from the Russian Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, were digging in a series of fields which they believe cover the remains of a Buddhist monastery complex.
"This sculpture is as high as two humans. If we could straighten it out and put it vertically, its height would be about four metres. As it is sitting, it's about one and a half to two metres (high)," said Valery Kolchenko, an archaeologist from the Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences.
Archaeologists believe the statue dates back to a time between the 8th to 10th centuries, though further tests are needed to pinpoint its exact age.
"The excavation of this sculpture is a very laborious task, that is why we cannot date this artefact to any particular time. First of all we need to excavate it and then we can say how old it is," said Asan Torgoyev from the Oriental Studies Department of the Hermitage.
Finding Buddhist remains of this kind is rare in the mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan. Pre-Islamic Buddhist culture is well documented further south in Tajikistan, but very unusual in its northern neighbour, Kyrgyzstan.
Locals are accustomed to the excavations, knowing very well that their farm land is in a rich archaeological area.
In earlier excavations at the same site near the village of Krasnaya Rechka, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Buddhist temple, a fortress, a Karakhanid palace complex and Buddhist as well as early Christian cemeteries.


Source: NTDTV 18 July 2011

China unearthed in Africa: Chinese ceramics from archaeological excavations in Southern Africa

This lecture was held on July 12, 2011 at the Oriental Ceramic Society in London, UK by Alexander Duffey

This lecture traces the earliest contacts of China with Africa and shows how Chinese ceramics found their way into the interior of sub-Saharan Africa from as early as the 8th century onwards. Although much of the trade in Chinese ceramics was done by intermediaries, there were periods in which the Chinese entered into active contact with African communities. Recent archaeological excavations in the sub-Saharan interior, as well as marine archaeology, have brought new facts to light to reveal that Chinese ceramics from as early as the Tang and Song dynasties found their way into the Southern African hinterland. Such early Chinese ceramics have been found at Great Zimbabwe and Dhlo-Dhlo in Zimbabwe, Shashi in Botswana, Mapungubwe and Shroda in South Africa and Chibuene, Inhambane and Sena in Mozambique. In addition, superb examples of early Ming export porcelain have been found at many excavation sites in sub-Saharan Africa and also at various wreck sites of Portuguese and Dutch ships along the Mozambique and South African East coast. Recent finds and conclusions will be highlighted in this lecture.

Alexander Duffey studied History of Art at the University of Pretoria, where he became Associate-Professor in the Department of Art History in 1988 as well as Head of History of Art in the new Department Visual Arts and Art History. He has been the Head Curator of the Heritage Collections of the university since 2004 and from 2005 until 2008 he drafted new policies for the establishment of the University of Pretoria Art and Heritage Committee. He has been a Board Member of the National Cultural History Museum and Council member of the South African Association of Art Historians and Council member of the National Heritage Council. At present he is a Council member of the Pretoria Arts Association, the Heritage Objects Forum of the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and the Art Advisory Committee of the South African Academy for Science and Arts. He is the author of numerous scientific publications and a number of books on South African art and culture. In June 2009 he was awarded the Stals Prize for his contribution to History of Art in South Africa and on 18 November 2009 he received the honorary medal of the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA) for his contribution to Art and History of Art in South Africa.

Studies on the Mongol Empire and Early Muslim India

Studies on the Mongol Empire and Early Muslim India by Peter Jackson

The first section of this volume brings together five studies on the Mongol empire. The accent is on the ideology behind Mongol expansion, on the dissolution of the empire into a number of rival khanates, and on the relations between the Mongol regimes and their Christian subjects within and potential allies outside. Three pieces in the second section relate to the early history of the Delhi Sultanate, with particular reference to the role of its Turkish slave (ghulam) officers and guards, while a fourth examines the collapse in 1206-15 of the Ghurid dynasty, whose conquests in northern India had created the preconditions for the Sultanate's emergence. The final three papers are concerned with Mongol pressure on Muslim India and the capacity of the Delhi Sultanate to withstand it.

Contents:
Preface; The Mongol Empire: The dissolution of the Mongol empire; From ulus to khanate: the making of the Mongol states, c.1220–c.1290; Hülegü Khan and the Christians: the making of a myth; The Mongols and the faith of the conquered; World-conquest and local accommodation: threat and blandishment in Mongol diplomacy. The Formation of Muslim India: The fall of the Ghurid dynasty; Turkish slaves on Islam's Indian frontier; The Mamluk institution in early Muslim India; Sultan Radiyya bint Iltutmish. The Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate: Jalal al-Din, the Mongols and the Khwarazmian conquest of the Panjab and Sind; The Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate in the reign of Muhammad Tughluq (1325–1351); Delhi: the problem of a vast military encampment; Index.

About the Author:
Peter Jackson is Professor of Medieval History in the School of Humanities (History) at Keele University, UK.

Reviews:
‘From his post in Keele, Peter Jackson has been able to produce a steady output of major scholarly works which have shaped the way the Mongol Empire has been viewed over the past three decades. … Variorum's timely publication of some of Peter Jackson's key papers places information spanning many enduring issues conveniently between the same covers. Many of these papers have maintained their relevance and importance over the decades and the reissuing of these reflections and studies from Jackon's valued career is very welcome.’ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

Full contents list

Preface

Index

The Mongols and the Ming

The Mongols & the Ming:
New Approaches to the Fourteenth Century
Workshop at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
10-11 June 2011

Friday 10 June: Ramphal Building (R0.3/4)
Convenor: Dr Anne Gerritsen

Programme (also available in PDF form):

9:00 Welcome

9:15-12:30 The Mongols (chair: Anne Gerritsen)

9:15-10:15 Morris Rossabi, ‘Notes on Mongol Influences on the Ming Dynasty’
10:15-11:15 Peter Jackson, ‘The Mongols and the Islamic World’
11:30-12:30 David Robinson, ‘In the Shadow Empire: The Early Ming Court in Eurasia’

13:45-17:15 Art Historical Approaches (chair: Stephen McDowall)

13:45-14:45 Ankeney Weitz, ‘All Puns Intended! Word-Image Play in the Yuan’
14:45-15:45 Yuka Kadoi, ‘Further Thoughts on Islamic Chinoiserie: Sino-Persian Artistic Interactions in the Late 14th century’
16:15-17:15 Shane McCausland, ‘What Art did Yuan Bequeath to Ming?’
17:30-18:30 ‘Ming China 1400-1450: Courts & Contacts’

Presentation by Craig Clunas & Jessica Harrison-Hall on a forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum (September 2014-January 2015).


Saturday 11 June: IAS Seminar Room

9:15-12:30 Material Culture (chair: Regina Llamas)

9:15-10:15 Dagmar Schäfer, ‘Multimedia Culture: Tao Zongyi writes about Practical Knowledge and Material Culture’
10.15-11.15 Anne Gerritsen, ‘Shufu Ceramics and the Material Culture of the Yuan Court’
11:30-12:30 Shih Ching-fei, ‘The Multiple Markets of Jingdezhen Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Mongol Yuan period’

13:45-17:15 Comparative Perspectives (chair: Regina Llamas)

13:45-14:45 Elif Akcetin, ‘Objects on the Move: A Reinterpretation of Qianlong-era Corruption Cases (1736-1795)’
14:45-15:45 Peter Ditmanson, ‘Gender and Daoxue in the Fourteenth Century’
16:15-17:15 Kaveh Hemmat, ‘Merchants, Material Culture, and the Sino-Islamic Contact Zone’

17:15-18:00 Final Discussion & Future Directions (chair: Anne Gerritsen)

The Mongols and Global History

The Mongols and Global History by Morris Rossabi

An accessible, documents-based introduction to the history of the Mongols.

The volume opens with a brief original essay by Morris Rossabi, one of the world's foremost scholars on the Mongols. Rossabi's essay gives a historical and interpretive overview of the Mongols and charts their invasions and subsequent rule over the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Following is a rich collection of primary sources translated into English from Armenian, Arabic, Chinese, Franco-Italian, Italian, Korean, Latin, Persian, Russian, Syriac, and Tibetan that will give students a clear sense of the extraordinary geographic and linguistic range of the Mongol Empire as well as insight into the empire's rise, how it governed, and how it fell. Each primary source includes a headnote and study questions. The volume ends with a list of further readings.

About the series: The Norton Casebooks in History provide students with everything they need for in-depth study of select topics in major periods studied in American and world history. Each volume consists of an introductory essay by the editor on the topic, primary sources, and recent essays by historians that explore different interpretations. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with contextual and critical materials that bring the topic to life for students.

BOOK DETAILS
Paperback
November 2010
ISBN 978-0-393-92711-5
202 pages

Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTION

Map of Mongol Campaigns and Conquest
Genealogical Charts of the Four Major Khanates

PART II: MONGOL LIFESTYLE

Grigor of Akanc, History of the Nation of the Archers
John of Plano Carpini, Mission to Asia
Marignolli's Recollections of Eastern Travel
Kirakos of Ganjak, On the Mongols

PART III: LIFE AND CONQUESTS OF CHINGGIS KHAN

The Secret History of the Mongols
Rashid al-Din, Compendium of Chronicles
The Secret History of the Mongols
Juvaini, The History of the World Conqueror
The Travels of Ibn Battuta
Rashid al-Din, Compendium of Chronicles
Changchun, The Travels of an Alchemist

PART IV: EXPANSION OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

The Chronicle of Novgorod
Grigor of Akanc, History of the Nation of the Archers
Marco Polo, The Description of the World
Rashid al-Din, Compendium of Chronicles
Baybars I of Egypt
The Letter of the Great Khan Güyüg to Pope Innocent IV

PART V: MONGOL RULE

Rashid al-Din, Compendium of Chronicles
Marco Polo, The Description of the World
Anonymous, Portrait of Khubilai Khan (visual source)
Liu Guandao, Khubilai Khan on a Hunt (visual source)
Yuanshi
Chŏng In-ji, Koryŏ sa
'Phags-pa lama, Prince Jin-gim's Textbook of Tibetan Buddhism
Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, Cathay and the Way Thither
Marco Polo, The Description of the World
Zhou Daguan, A Record of Cambodia
E. A. Wallis Budge, The Monks of Kublai Khan, Emperor of China

PART VI: COLLAPSE OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

Juvaini, The History of the World Conqueror
Rashid al-Din, The Successors of Genghis Khan

FOR FURTHER READING

CREDITS

INDEX

Central Asia: A Maturing Field

On September 20- 22, 2011 will be held the 12th ESCAS Biennal Conference at the University of Cambridge, UK. ESCAS stands for: European Society for Central Asia Studies, University of Cambridge, UK


Accepted papers relating to this conference

- Dilyara Atajanova, "The Diversity between European and Central Asian Handicraft Statutes"
- Dilnoza Duturaeva, "Khitan-Nomadic, Chinese and Central Asian aspects of the Qara Khitai Culture"
- William Fitzhugh, "The Mongolian Deer Stone-Khirigsuur Complex and its Inner Asian Context"
- Ahmet Hojam, "The legends about “Fragrant concubine”: the collective memory of the Uyghur who had been migrated to
Peking after Manchu conquered East Turkistan"
- Richard Kortum, "Mongolian Deer Imagery from the Biluut Rock Art Complex"
- Kenneth Lymer, "Rock Art and Landscape in the later Bronze Age to Iron Age of southeastern Kazakhstan"
- Elena Paskaleva, "The Architecture of the Four- iwan Kosh"
- Zukhra Rakhimova, "Sufi Clothes in the Temurid miniature painting"
- Chienyu Shih, "Kashgar ‘Old City’ Dismantlement: a Project to Restructure Uyghur Social and National Identity"
- Heather Sonntag, "Re-Photography & Imperial Rule: A Contest for “Turkestan” in Album Images of the Shrine Complex of
Ahmad Yasavi"
- Sylvia Zhekova, "The miroir of the self or the beginning of photography in Turkestan"

For more information, go to the site of MIASU, the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit.

25th Anniversary issue Sino- Platonic Papers no 208 is out !

Reviews XIII, edited by
Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania

The first issue of Sino-Platonic Papers (SPP), entitled “The Need for an Alphabetically Arranged General Usage Dictionary of Mandarin Chinese: A Review Article of Some Recent Dictionaries and Current Lexicographical Projects,” appeared in February of 1986. Three things are noteworthy about that first issue of SPP:
1. It served as a manifesto that culminated in the ABC series of user-friendly, single sort, alphabetically ordered dictionaries for the study of Chinese that is published by the University of Hawaii Press.
2. It was in essence and in fact a review issue. 3. It came out a quarter of a century ago this month.
In the years that followed, twelve more issues of SPP appeared that were devoted entirely to reviews. This shows the great importance that we at SPP have placed upon reviews for the advancement of scholarship and the spread of knowledge. It should, incidentally, be noted that all twelve review issues of SPP are available for free download at the SPP website (www.sino- platonic.org/).
From the beginning up to the twelfth review collection in 2005, the overwhelming majority of the reviews were written by the editor himself, although others have also contributed from time to time.
Given the close association between SPP and the mission of writing responsibly critical reviews on matters of language, script, and culture, plus the desire to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our series, we have decided to make this, the 208th issue of SPP (February 2011), the 13th review issue. We earnestly hope that the reviews gathered herein will serve the useful
purpose of introducing readers to the best new or under-recognized works in our various fields and cautioning them against publications that may be less worthy of their attention.
Finally, we will undoubtedly be assembling additional review issues in the future, and hereby warmly welcome all readers of SPP to submit reviews of publications which they wish to call to the attention of our colleagues and students who constitute the broad readership of this journal.

Read Sino- Platonic Papers and click HERE

Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History by Nicola Di Cosmo. Review written by John Didier













The Prehistory of the Silk Road by E. E. Kuzmina, ed. Victor H. Mair. Review written by Irene Good


















Mozi: A Complete Translation by Ian Johnston. Review by Zhao Lu















Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era by Yuri Pines. Review written by Kenneth W. Holloway












The Politics of Mourning in Early China by Miranda Brown. Review by Thomas Radice










The Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem by Brent Landau. Review by Annette Yoshiko Reed









A Story Waiting to Pierce You: Mongolia, Tibet and the Destiny of the Western World by Peter Kingsley


















Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires, Walter Scheidel, editor Oxford Studies in Early Empires, ed. Nicola Di Cosmo, Mark Edward Lewis, and Walter Scheidel











The Camel’s Load in Life and Death: Iconography and 64 Ideology of Chinese Pottery Figurines from Han to Tang and Their Relevance to Trade along the Silk Routes by Elfriede Regina Knauer. Review by Victor H. Mair






Ethnic Identity in Tang China by Marc Abramson. Review by Sanping Chen




















Imperial China, 900–1800 by F. W. Mote. Review by Erling Hoh

Burana Tower

This is the view from atop Burana Tower, a 10th or 11th century tower used to guard the silk road which passed through present day Kyrgyzstan.

The Burana Tower is a large minaret in the Chuy Valley in northern Kyrgyzstan. It is located about 80 km east of the country's capital Bishkek, near the town of Tokmok. The tower, along with grave markers, some earthworks and the remnants of a castle and three mausoleums, is all that remains of the ancient city of Balasagun, which was established by the Karakhanids at the end of the 9th century. An external staircase and steep, winding stairway inside the tower enables visitors to climb to the top.
The tower was originally 45 m (148 ft) high. However, over the centuries a number of earthquakes caused significant damage to the structure. The last major earthquake in the 15th century destroyed the top half of the tower, reducing it to its current height of 25m (82 ft). A renovation project was carried out in the 1970s to restore its foundation and repair the west-facing side of the tower, which was in danger of collapse.

The winding stairway inside the Burana Tower

The entire site, including the mausoleums, castle foundations and grave markers, now functions as museum and there is a small building on the site containing historical information as well as artifacts found at the site and in the surrounding region.

Legend
A legend connected with the tower says that a witch warned a local king that his newly-born daughter would die once she reached the age of eighteen. To protect her, he built a tall tower where he sequestered his daughter. No one entered the tower, except the daughter's servant who brought her food. The daughter grew up alone and became a beautiful young lady. One day, however, a poisonous spider was hiding in the food brought by the servant. The spider bit the girl, and she died in the tower, at the age of eighteen.

Site of Yuan Dynasty capital to open on July 15

Site of the Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital (Shangdu), also known as Xanadu, has been prepared for the application to be considered a World Heritage in 2012. It will be open to the public on July 15, said Liu Xinle, deputy governor of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in a government work report.
With a 740-year history, the site is located in Xilin Gol League of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 275 kilometers north of Beijing. In 1260 AD, Kublai Khan found the capital of the Yuan Dynasty here and four years later, he found another capital called Dadu (Middle Capital), geographically corresponding to today's Beijing.
Shangdu is among the few cities established by nomadic nations in history. And the site is also regarded as the best-preserved nomadic cultural heritage.

Editor:Wang Chuhan |Source: People's Daily

Ancient tombs along "south silk road" on Qinghai-Tibet plateau link cultures, attract thieves

The tombs of the Tuyuhun Empire (417-688) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are believed to witness a solid history that show the amalgamation of Tibetan and Han peoples.

Dulan County, Qinghai Province, July 11 (Xinhua) -- In the silent mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, an old Tibetan man herds his sheep near the 1,500-year-old tombs to protect them from grave robbers.H "The robbers used to be quite rampant here, and who knows how much treasure they stole, but it really hurts when I think about it," said Shihorgya, the 55-year-old grave keeper of the 2,000 tombs in Reshui Village in Dulan County in Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Growing up in the remote village, Shihorgya used to be a herd boy, sitting on the hills, staring at the tombs and wondering what secrets were buried there.
In the 1980s, the ancient tombs were identified as being built during the Tuyuhun Kingdom (417A.D.-688A.D.). They were listed as one of the top six national archeology discoveries of the year in 1983, and listed as one of the national key units of cultural relics protection in 1996.
As the connection between ancient central China and ancient Tibet, the Tuyuhung Kingdom was on the South Silk Road, which was unimpeded after the 7th century as the empire had been protecting the trade passage with their castles and daks, while the Silk Road in northern China was blocked by wars and riots, said Xu Xingguo, an archeologist at the Archaeology Institute of Qinghai Province, who is in charge of the excavation of the graves.
"The empire played an important role to protect the communication and trade between the two places, and the countless cultural relics are of great value," Xu said.
In front of Shihorgya's home, a nine-floored tomb was identified to be the most magnificent large imperial tomb belonging to Empire of Tuyuhun, which was built in the eagle-shaped mountains. It had been robbed before the archaeologists arrived.
The archaeological work was launched in 1983, but thieves remained rampant at the end of 2000, said Han Musheng, director of cultural bureau of Dulan County. Just in the year 2000, robbers raided 130 graves, he added.
"Robbers took everything they could get their hands on--they let nothing pass," Han said.
The tombs are praised to be "Tibetan-Han Civilization Pyramid," as hundreds of thousands of cultural relics from ancient central China and the Tibet have been unearthed here, Xu said.
"The graves are solid history that show the amalgamation of Tibetan people and Han people," Xu said.
Thousands of pieces of silk were discovered here, which still have clear patterns and bright colors.
The architect style of the tombs as well as the silk patterns are all in Tang Dynasty style, which means they were widely used in Yuyuhun and Tibetan areas, Xu said.
Special patterns that include birds and other animals were adopted in the silk patterns, and Chinese characters can be seen on the unearthed relics, he said.
As robbers continued to threaten site, the county's government has launched a series of measures to stop them, Han said.
More than 30 administers have been recruited among the locals by the county's government to patrol in the mountains and report suspects, Han said.
"The measures have been effective," he said. "They caught five robbers last year."
In addition, more than 2 million yuan (308,000 U.S. dollars) has been provided to build a protection station for the graves, and video supervision systems and earth-wave detectors will be installed, Han said.
Barrel-drains and fences will be built for the large graves and trees will be planted in the treeless mountains.
Some of the cultural relics were kept in the cultural relics administration within the police station.
"It might be the only police station that guards cultural relics,said Mao Lansheng, director of the administration.
A protection center with a new museum opened in May in the county and exhibited more than 200 precious relics, Mao said.
"We want to open a window to the Han, Tibet and Tuyuhun cultures, to let the world know more about the history of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau," he said.

Editor:Zou Xian |Source: Xinhua

Chinas Erben - Handelskrieg auf hoher See

Watch Chinas Erben - Handelskrieg auf hoher See in Educational & How-To  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Chinas Erben
Handelskrieg auf hoher See
Eine Dokumentation von Robert Wortmann

Prächtige Blau-Weisse Porzellan Teller neben einer Flasche aus Porzellan. Die Teller stehen noch immer, wie sie ursprünglich zum Transport gepackt waren; nur der Sand ist entfernt worden. (Quelle: PHOENIX/ ZDF/ Franck Goddio)


Fast 100 Jahre vor Kolumbus und Magellan entsandte der chinesische Kaiser Zhou-Di eine Armada über die Meere, die größer und mächtiger war als alle Flotten Europas zusammen. Die Dokumentation rekonstruiert die letzten Fahrten dreier asiatischer Handelsschiffe.

Mit bis zu 130 Meter langen Dschunken segelten chinesische Seefahrer bis an die Küsten Afrikas. An Bord führten sie Kostbarkeiten wie Porzellan, Seide und Tee mit sich. Durch die Handelsbeziehungen zu China entstanden neue Siedlungen entlang der Küsten wie etwa Manila auf den Philippinen und Jakarta in Indonesien. Doch mit dem Tod Zhou-Dis fand die erfolgreiche Seemacht China ein jähes Ende.

Jäger verlorener Schaetze - Teufel auf der Seidenstrasse

Jäger verlorener Schaetze - Teufel auf der Seidenstrasse from jestkill on Vimeo.

Jäger verlorener Schätze
Teufel auf der Seidenstraße
Kaum hat der Schwede Sven Hedin 1900 die ersten Berichte von seinen sensationellen Entdeckungen im Herzen Asiens veröffentlicht, beginnt der Run auf die sagenhaften Kunstschätze entlang der Seidenstraße. Mit höchst fragwürdigen Methoden eignen sich Abenteurer einmalige Zeugnisse einer faszinierenden Geschichtsepoche an. Für die Chinesen ein schamloser Diebstahl. - Der Film beleuchtet den Kampf um die Schätze der Seidenstraße.
Unter dramatischen Umständen und mit höchst fragwürdigen Methoden gelingen gelehrten Abenteurern die sensationellen Coups am Treffpunkt vieler Kulturen und miteinander konkurrierender Religionen.

Schamloser Diebstahl "fremder Teufel"
Was die Europäer Finderglück nennen, verurteilen die Chinesen als schamlosen Diebstahl "fremder Teufel". So gruben die Archäologen Albert von Le Coq und Albert Grünwedel in Ruinen von Jahrtausende alten Tempelstädten, sägten kostbare Bilder von den Lehmwänden, hackten lebensgroße Buddhastatuen aus der Verankerung und verschleppten die Beute in Hunderten Containern nach Berlin. Die Hälfte des Schatzes fiel im Zweiten Weltkrieg Bomben zum Opfer, der Rest des einmaligen Kulturguts ist heute im Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin zu sehen.

Kostbarkeiten in den Höhlentempeln von Dunhuang
Den größten Preis, den die Seidenstraße zu vergeben hat, erschleicht sich ein ungarischer Forscher in englischen Diensten. Für Aurel Stein wurden die Höhlen von Dunhuang, die "Tempel der tausend Buddhas", zum Sesam-öffne-dich: 469 Räume waren dort am westlichen Ausgangstor in den Fels geschlagen und mit kostbaren Fresken und Skulpturen geschmückt.

Aurel Stein entdeckt die Diamanten-Sutra
Am Ende der Großen Mauer entstand zu Beginn des ersten Jahrtausends ein unvergleichliches buddhistisches Zentrum, die Schatzkammer einer untergegangenen Hochkultur. Stein gelingt es in skrupelloser Verschwörermanier, das älteste Papierarchiv der Welt zu entführen, darunter das älteste gedruckte Buch, die Diamanten-Sutra. Das in alle Himmelsrichtungen verstreute Weltkulturerbe wird zurzeit elektronisch gespeichert und ist danach von jedermann im Internet abrufbar.

Mithilfe von Archivaufnahmen und szenischen Rekonstruktionen dokumentieren Bernd Liebner und Cheng Wei den spannenden Wettlauf nach den begehrtesten Schätzen der Seidenstraße.

Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China

Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China

by Linda Cooke Johnson

Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (June 30, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0824834046

China’s historical women warriors hailed from the northeast (Manchuria) during the Liao (907–1125) and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties. Celebrated in the Liao History, they were “unprecedented.” They rode horseback astride, were good at hunting and shooting, and took part in military battles. Several empresses—and one famous bandit chief—led armies against the enemy Song state. Women of the Conquest Dynasties represents a groundbreaking effort to survey the customs and lives of these women from the Kitan and Jurchen tribes who maintained their native traditions of horsemanship, militancy, and sexual independence while excelling in writing poetry and prose and earning praise for their Buddhist piety and Confucian ethics. Although much work has been devoted in the last few years to Chinese women of various periods, this is the first volume to incorporate recent archaeological discoveries and information drawn from Liao and Jin paintings as well as literary sources and standard historical accounts.

Mongolia | Chingis Rides West | Silk Road City of Otrār

From Don Croner's blog"Don Croner's World Wide Wanderers" from June 16, 2011

Mongolia | Chingis Rides West | Silk Road City of Otrār

Before you read Don's blog, have a look at the Unesco video "Project for the preservation and restoration of the ancient city of Otrar".

Today there is no city known as Otrār, and very few people have even heard of the Otrār which flourished back at the beginning of the thirteen century. The scattered ruins of this once-sizable metropolis which still do exist turn up on the itineraries of only the most determined tourists who venture into what is now southern Kazakhstan. Yet when the Mongol-Sponsored Caravan of 450 Muslim Traders turned up at its gates in 1218 it was one of the most famous trade centers in Inner Asia and renowned for its arts and crafts and the intellectual accomplishments of its citizens. The caravan men were no doubt looking forward to resting in the city’s well-appointed caravanserais and refreshing themselves in its famous bathhouses. Little did they know that the events which soon overwhelmed them would, in the words of nineteenth-century Orientalist E. G. Browne, trigger:
. . . a catastrophe which, though probably quite unforeseen, even on the very eve of its incidence, changed the face of the world, set in motion forces which are still effective, and inflicted more suffering on the human race than any other event in the world’s history which records are preserved to us; I mean the Mongol Invasion.
Browne, who translated into English many of the thirteen-century documents which recorded the Mongol irruption, may from the vantage point of the twenty-first century sound overwrought here, but his appraisal did contain a kernel of truth. The events which followed in the wake of the calamity at Otrār did rock all of Inner Asia, led to the fall of at least two empires, and inflicted on the entire Islamic geosphere a blow from which some might argue it has never fully recovered.

Otrār was located on the north bank of the middle stretches of the Syr Darya River (the Jaxartes of Classical Antiquity) near its confluence with the Arys River, about 105 miles northwest of the current-day city of Shymkent in Kazakhstan. It was situated just west of the so-called Zhetysu, or Seven Rivers, Region, an area which included the watersheds of the Talas, Ili, Chu, and other rivers in eastern current-day Kazakhstan and western China (Xinjiang Province) which flowed into either Lake Alakol or Lake Balkash or petered out into the barren desert-steppes to the west. Much later this area would become known as Semireche, Russian for “Seven Rivers”. As one geographer points out, “Semireche is an area where sedentaries and nomads have met at various points in history—coexisting, overlapping, or competing—because it lends itself to both ways of life . . .”

Otrār’s location on the boundaries of vast Kazakh Steppe to the north and the fertile valleys of Transoxiana to the south made it natural entrepôt for trade between these two divergent cultures. It was also at the nexus of several east-west trending Silk Road trading. One branch of the Silk Road went east along the Arys to Taraz and Balasagun (current-day Tolmak in Kyrgystan). From here a southern branch went on over the Tian Shan Mountains to Aksu (in current-day Xinjiang Province, China), on the Silk Road route that ran along the northern side of the vast Tarim Basin and on through the Gansu Corridor into northern China. From Balasagun a northern branch proceeded up the valley of the Ili River and over the spurs of the Borohogo Shan Range to the Zungarian Basin on the north side of the Tian Shan. From here routes went to both Mongolia and China. Another route followed the Syr Darya to Shash (modern-day Tashkent) and then versed southwest to Merv (Mary) in current-day Turkmenistan and Nishapur in what was in the thirteen century known as Khorasan, now western Iran. From here various routes continued on the Mediterranean. The road west from Otrār followed the Syr Darya to the Aral Sea before continuing on to the Caspian Steppe Straddling The Volga River. From the old city of Xacitarxan on the Volga, just upstream from Modern-Day Astrakhan, branches led north up the Volga into Kievan Russia and east to the Black Sea, where land and water routes continued on to Istanbul, the main western terminus of the Silk Road. On this vast network of trade routes moved a wealth of various fabrics and textiles, leather, furs, porcelain, pottery, salt, spices, honey, jade and precious stones, musk, herbal medicines, weapons, slaves, and much else. By attempting to open trade with Otrār Chingis Khan hoped to gain access to the rest of the world.

The Silk Road trade had made Otrār a rich and influential city. It had its own mint, the coins of which now grace museums, was famous for its locally produced pottery, including beautifully decorated bowls, and boasted of one of the biggest libraries of Inner Asia, with a collection of over 33,000 items, including such exotica as Babylonian clay tablets and Egyptian papyrus scrolls which had somehow found their way hither. The library also contained the works of the city’s most famous intellectual, Abu Naṣr Moḥammad Fārābi (died c. 950), a polymathic Philosopher, mathematician, linguist, poet, and composer who was called “the Second Teacher” by his students, meaning that he played second fiddle only to Aristotle. He is also credited with heavily influencing Abū Alī Sīnā, a.k.a. Avicenna (c. 980–1037) perhaps the greatest Medieval Islamic philosopher, who was born near Bukhara, also in the Khwarezmshah’s domains.

By the early thirteen-century the city consisted of the triangular-shaped Ark, or citadel, located within the tightly packed Shahristan (walled inner city). The Shahristan itself was in the shape of a pentagon and covered about 200,000 square meters, or about fifty acres The city was famous for its baths and most homes were served by a city-wide sewage system. The big Friday mosque was also probably within the Shahristan. Surrounding the Shahristan was the Rabad, or trade quarter, which was also walled. Covering some 420 acres, it contained the extensive markets and caravanserais connected with Silk Road trade, local bazaars, craft shops, and low-class residential areas. The medieval Arabic historian Moqaddasi claimed the city had 70,000 inhabitants, but at least one modern historican has opined that this was a misprint and that he must have meant 7,000. In any case, numerous small towns and villages in the immediate environs of the city contributed to a sizable urban conurbation.

Sea hunt for ancient Chinese ship off African coast

Workers clean a model of a Chinese ship sailed by Chinese explorer Zheng He. He led seven seven voyages in which he sailed from China to more than 30 countries and regions throughout the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf from 1405 to 1433.


LAMU, Kenya — Did the Chinese come to East Africa before the Europeans?
Globalpost.com Erin Conway-Smith June 8, 2011

Sea hunt for ancient Chinese ship off African coast
Chinese and Kenyan archeologists probe waters near Lamu Island for sunken ships from the 1400s.

China says yes, as do a growing number of Western historians. To prove the theory, Chinese and Kenyan archeologists are now searching the African coast for the fabled wreck of a Ming dynasty junk — an ancient Chinese sailing vessel — from the fleet of legendary 15th-century explorer Zheng He.
A new report, obtained by GlobalPost, reveals that the researchers have identified several shipwrecks of interest off the Kenyan coast near the World Heritage site of Lamu.
Despite years of excitable hype by China’s state media, the underwater archaeologists involved in the search are warning that the newly discovered wrecks could be from any era or country — and even if a sunken Chinese ship is found, it may no longer be intact or even identifiable.
Some reports in the Chinese and Kenyan media have implied that the wreck of a ship from Zheng He’s fleet has already been found — and by extension, irrefutable historical proof that Chinese explorers visited Kenya before the Europeans. Evidence that China had friendly trading relations with Africa before the colonialists arrived would add luster to the Asian giant’s rapidly expanding presence on the continent.
According to this historical perspective, 600 years ago, Chinese sailors swam ashore after their vessel was shipwrecked off the coast of Pate Island, near Lamu. The Chinese sailors married the local people, and their descendants can still be identified by their almond-shaped eyes and light skin.
But the problem is that so far, there is no concrete proof that this tale is true. While archeologists have found Chinese coins and ceramics in Kenya, these could be explained by ancient trade routes that took Chinese goods through the Malacca Strait, and into India and the Arab world.
China state media claims that DNA tests have proven Chinese ancestry for some of the residents of Pate Island, but results have not been released. The light skin of these residents could just as well be explained by longstanding trade between the area and India, and migration from the Arab peninsula to the Swahili coast.
The first phase of a $3 million, three-year project to try to find conclusive evidence of Zheng He's journey occurred between late December and January.
A draft of the archaeology team’s first progress report, obtained by GlobalPost, lowers expectations that this missing ship will be found, warning that “we are not searching for the Zheng He or the Chinese shipwrecks alone,” but rather looking for “underwater archaeological heritage” from any era.
The report does tout the success of researchers in locating several potential shipwreck sites, found through interviews with local fishermen, seabed imaging, literature reviews and probe diving.
In the Lamu archipelago, three underwater sites were identified to have features likely to be shipwrecks: the area just off Mwamba Hassan — a large rock off Pate Island that the Chinese ship is said to have hit — as well as areas off Manda Toto island and Shela village on the island of Lamu. Five other shipwrecks were discovered, one believed to be from the 14th century, near the coastal city of Malindi.
“The discovery of these sites in Lamu, where Zheng He’s ship is believed to have sunk, was a major success and step towards discovery of this shipwreck,” says the report.
The second phase of the project, scheduled to begin in November, will further study the shipwreck sites by using diver surveys and analysis of artifacts.
“Since we know how Chinese junks were built and their likely cargo of that time, they are easy to identify,” the report says. “However this depends on whether the ship is well preserved under the sea."

When GlobalPost visited one of the project’s research sites in January, a team of Kenyan and Chinese scientists were working together just a hundred yards off Shela beach, a posh holiday area on Lamu Island frequented by Hollywood celebrities and European royals.
“Zheng He visited Malindi two or three times. During one of his visits, one of the boats in his fleet capsized, but we do not have physical evidence,” said Philip Wanyama, a Mombasa-based assistant site scientist for coastal archaeological research, and one of the divers searching off Lamu Island.
“What we are seeking is material clues to confirm that written information,” he said.
But as in the report, the team of Kenyan and Chinese archaeologists in Lamu also tried to play down the focus on finding Zheng He’s storied lost ship.
“We are not looking for the ship alone, but doing a comprehensive survey,” Wanyama said.
“Because this is the first time that we have come to Kenya, there are bumps to work out," said Li Jianan, team leader in Lamu and director of the archeology institute at the provincial museum in Fujian, China
The progress report notes that the Kenyan coast has been visited by waves of foreigners for centuries, including Arabs, the Portuguese and the British.
“There is therefore likely to be more underwater cultural heritage in our waters than we can imagine,” it said. “For this reason we are looking for all shipwrecks, no matter their nationality.”
If a ship is found intact, it can be identified by the researchers, and in that case “we will with certainty say, 'yes, this is a Chinese junk,'” the report said. “But if it has succumbed to the elements of nature including bacteria, it is only the available artifacts such as the cargo and any wood remains which will give us clues about this Zheng He shipwreck.”

Google Earth ™ und die archäologische Erforschung Afghanistans (ASAGE-Projekt)

Abb. 2: Das Google Earth-Bild und der ASAGE-Plan von Qual'a-i Hauz

From 2008 museo-on.com
For an English PDF version, click HERE

Zahlreiche bemerkenswerte afghanische Fundorte, wie z.B. die hellenistische Stadt Aï Khanum (Bernard 1982) und eine grosse Vielzahl wertvoller Funde sind uns bereits durch archäologische Forschungen früherer Jahrzehnte in Afghanistan bekannt. Eine Kostprobe dieser Kunstgegenstände war Anfang des Jahres in europäischen Museen ausgestellt und kann momentan in der Wanderaustellung `Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul’ in den USA besichtigt werden (James 2007; Zorich 2008). Trotzdem ist unser Wissen über Afghanistans archäologische Hinterlassenschaften fragmentarisch – die bisherige Forschung hat nur kleine Teile des Landes im Detail erfasst (etwa durch französische und deutsche Feldforschung in Sistan im Südwesten Afghanistans, siehe z.B. Fischer 1983; Fischer et al. 1974-76; Hackin 1959), während große Gebiete des Landes praktisch unerforscht blieben (Ball 1982: 21). Die andauernden gewalttätigen Konflikte und die Gefahr, die die nicht-detonierte Munition dreier Jahrzehnte darstellt machten die weitere archäologische Erforschung vieler Teile Afghanistans unmöglich. Als Resultat wird diese uneinheitliche wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung jetzt und auch in absehbarer Zukunft die räumliche Analyse von Afghanistans archäologischen Überresten behindern. Dies bedeutet für Archäologen, dass sie alternative Datenquellen finden müssen, um die Beschaffenheit und die Verteilung archäologischer Fundorte in Afghanistan zu erforschen.

Eine Option bieten Luftbilder und in zunehmendem Maße auch Satellitenbilder, welche alternative Sichtweisen auf archäologische Fundstätten und Landschaften eröffnen. Obwohl solche Daten, besonders in guter Qualität, oft schwer oder nur teuer zu erstehen sind, gibt es Datensätze wie z.B. die Spionagesatellitenbilder der vor kurzem freigegebenen CORONA-Serien aus den 1960er und 1970er Jahren, welche ein billiges wissenschaftlich auswertbares Archiv darstellen. Zudem haben solche Archive den Vorteil, dass sie ‘Schnappschüsse’ von Landschaften liefern, die mittlerweile erheblich durch neue städtische und landwirtschaftliche Expansion verändert worden sind (Beck et al. 2007; Goossens et al. 2006; Philip et al. 2002; Ur z.B. 2003).

Die Einführung des ‘virtuellen Globus’’ Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/) 2005 hat die Art und Weise verändert, wie wir die Welt durch Satellitenbilder betrachten (McCamish 2008). Google Earth stellt jedem der Zugang zu einem entsprechend leistungsfähigen Internetanschluss hat Bilder mit hoher Auflösung von ausgewählten Teilen der Welt kostenlos zur Verfügung - und hat somit das Interesse tausender `Arm-chair'-Archäologen erregt (Handwerk 2006). Obgleich einige Berufsarchäologen das Potenzial dieser neuen Datenquelle schnell erkannten (Beck 2006; Ullmann und Gorokhvich 2006; Ur 2006), werden Google Earth-Bilder von den meisten Altertumsforschern nur verwendet, um Vorträge anschaulicher zu gestalten und um in den Vorstufen zur Feldarbeit einen geographischen Überblick zu bekommen (Fleming 2008). Nur wenige Wissenschaftler haben Studien veröffentlicht, in denen Google Earth-Bilder verwendet worden sind (mit Ausnahme von Petrie 2008).

Das ‘Archaeological Sites of Afghanistan in Google Earth’-Projekt (ASAGE) ist ein innovativer Versuch Google Earth-Bilder als archäologische Datenquelle zu verwerten. In Afghanistan decken Google Earth-Bilder mit hoher Auflösung ca. 46.000 km2 (7%) des Landes ab. In dieses Gebiet fallen 250 (19%) der 1286 bekannten archäologischen Fundstätten Afghanistans (Ball 1982), wobei von 217 (87%) davon noch nicht einmal rudimentäre Pläne existieren. Das ASAGE-Projekt konzentriert sich folglich auf drei methodische Ansätze.

Durchsicht und Prüfung der vorhandenen Pläne und Beschreibungen der bekannten archäologischen Fundplätze und gegebenenfalls deren Ergänzung durch Details
Anfertigung ausführlicher Skizzenpläne der unkartierten bekannten archäologischen Fundplätze
Analyse der Bilder mit hoher Auflösung in den bisher unerforschten Regionen, um mögliche unbekannte Fundorte zu lokalisieren.

[1] David Thomas (e-mail: dcthomas@students.latrobe.edu.au ) befindet sich im letzten Jahr seines PhD-Studiums der Mittelalterarchäologie Zentralasiens an der La Trobe University, Australien (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/archaeology/ ). Claudia Zipfel ist ebenfalls eine Doktorantin des Archaeology Program an der La Trobe University, übersetzte diesen Artikel und ist am Projekt als Kartographin beteiligt. Suzanna Nikolovski ist eine Studentin des gleichen Instituts. Dr. Fiona Kidd ist eine ARC Habilitationsstipendiantin der University of Sydney. Das ASAGE-Projekt wird durch eine Förderung (an Dr. Alison Gascoigne, University of Southampton, Großbritannien) des Cary Robertson Fund, Trinity College, Cambridge finanziert.

Mongol Rule in Seljuk Anatolia

Mongol Rule in Seljuk Anatolia
The Politics of Conquest and History-Writing 1243-1282
By Sara Nur Yıldız

Hardcover: 300 pages
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers (30 May 2011)
Language English
ISBN-10: 9004174338

Informed by the question of how Mongol rule transformed thirteenth-century Seljuk political culture, the volume explores the constantly evolving structures of both the Mongol Ilkhanate based in Iran and its client state, the Seljuk sultanate of Anatolia. Writing outside the nationalist paradigms of the mainstream scholarly literature, the author not only takes issue with the assumption of the marginality of Mongol rule in Anatolia; she also offers an alternative political narrative constructed according to a critical reading of the sources, especially of the underutilized unabridged sole manuscript of the main source for the period, Ibn Bibi’s Persian history. Her reconstruction of an alternative narrative employs, as an explanatory device, the dynamics of factional court politics.

About Sara Nur Yıldız
Dr. Yıldız taught at the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Manchester University, UK (2000-2001), and at the History Department of Istanbul Bilgi University (Sept. 2003-Feb. 2008). She received her doctorate from University of Chicago in 2006, with the thesis entitled, "Mongol Rule in Thirteenth-century Seljuk Anatolia: the Politics of Conquest and History Writing, 1243-1282," under the supervision of John E. Woods, Cornell Fleischer and Robert Dankoff.

Silken threads from the past

Silken Threads from the Past
By Aphra Pia

Photographs of Uyghur people and their culture living in Ea. Turkestan (Uyghuristan). A land of lush green mountains, huge sandy deserts, towering snow capped mountains and an expansive uninterrupted sky. Their culture includes bustling bazaars, the smell of fresh kabobs and nan in the streets, girls in Atless dresses, old men with doppas, and the jovial voices of haggling vendors.









About Aphra Pia
Aphra Pia has been a photographer for over forty years and has a BA in Art and Interior Design. Her photographic skill and vision were formed by working and teaching in both disciplines. Over the years, she has studied photography under such artists as Brigitte Carnochan, Olivia Parker, and Debora Blumefield and is continuously seeking new photographic challenges. A California born artist, she always enjoys photographing nature. In addition, she is an avid traveler, whose images incorporate new themes: unfamiliar animals, fantastic land and ice forms, old cultures, and ethnic people. Aphra’s photographs have won many awards. They have been exhibited in galleries, published in magazines and are held in numerous personal collections. She is represented by Appel Gallery in Sacramento and AGEphotostock.com

Exploring art in Ulan Bator

The Monastery-Museum of Choijin Lama is a storehouse of jaw-dropping papier, mache masks and elegant bronze sculptures. (Sources: China Daily/Chitralekha Basu )

BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhuanet) -- At the heart of Ulan Bator is an art-lover's paradise waiting to be discovered. Chitralekha Basu looks beyond the usual tourist draws and finds a trove of art and culture around the city's central square.

If you stood in front of Sukhbaatar Batbold's now cellophane-wrapped statue in Ulan Bator's central square and drew a circle with a 1-kilometer radius, you would be at the hub of a never-ending exhibition.

Granted, most of Ulan Bator's potential tourist lures - from the Roman-style colonnaded buildings often colored an unlikely shade of dark peach to the multi-tiered pagoda-roofed monasteries - are located right here, but the volume and variety of art on display is truly extraordinary.

The best part of visiting UB's arts hub is that the intense concentration of thangka paintings, appliqu panels showing menacing mythological gods, bejeweled bronze sculptures, quaint hunting tools and masks and costumes worn traditionally by tsam dancers seems inversely proportional to the number of eager connoisseurs.

Miles and miles of art objects stand solemnly in unpeopled galleries. Even the staff, supposed to be looking out for the chance visitor, is hardly ever seen. But don't let that give you ideas. A warren of closed circuit cameras is tracking your moves, just in case you thought of clicking a shot or two on the sly and not paying the fee (see box).

First up on the list is Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, by far the most representative collection of Mongolian art, from prehistoric granite sculptures to early 20th-century landscapes by the legendary Mongolian painter B Sharav (1869-1939).

Top: A relief on the National Museum of Mongolian History, a place to sample the whole story of Mongolia's evolution. Bottom: Applique images of the Buddha are a staple of the Zanabazar Museum.

Sharav's One Day in Mongolia, an almost cinematic documentation of Mongolian social life in the 19th-century, is astounding in terms of the sheer range of landscapes it manages to collapse into one frame. From forests to walled cities to agricultural patches to the dunes in the Gobi; from wedding processions to childbirth to shamanistic dances - this painting presents nomadic Mongolia in a nutshell.

Among other top draws is a collection of bronze sculptures of various incarnations of the Buddha crafted by the legendary Zanabazar (1635-1723) himself. The first spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, and also one of its finest artists, is credited with initiating a renaissance by integrating creative excellence, scholarly pursuits and spirituality.

In his hands, the various figures of the Buddha, wearing elaborate ornaments and a diaphanous cloth around the loins as he sits in meditation, assume an almost effeminate charm - serene, composed and compassionate.

A stone's throw away, to the northwest corner of Sukhbaatar Square, is the National Museum of Mongolian History.

One would probably need at least two days to sample the whole story of Mongolia's evolution, from the Stone Age to its liberation from Soviet Russia in 1990, given the painstakingly detailed nature of the show.

For example, the entire second floor is dedicated to gorgeous traditional Mongolian costumes, in dramatically different styles for its more than 20 ethnic groups, replete with heavy layering, appliqu and turquoise and coral embroidered sleeves and yokes.

The Mongolian craftsmen's penchant for intricate detailing in objects of everyday use is evident in the saddles, boots with upturned toes and horse-headed violins. The funkiest among these is the traditional wrestling gear - a blue embroidered brief paired with a three-quarter sleeved cropped bolero jacket in magenta.

The Winter Palace of Bogd Khan is 2.5 km south of the epicenter of this arts hub, but there's no way you can ignore this repository of ceremonial weaponry, lacquer furniture, bronze sculptures, silk appliqus and sutras, if you're into Tibetan-Buddhist art.

Bogd Khan (1869-1924), one of the most influential religious and political leaders in Mongolian history, ostentatiously lined his ger or yurt (cylindrical felt-lined tent) with the coat of 150 snow leopards, and would conduct his business sitting on a mantle layered with 80 fox skins. These excesses aside, he was also a connoisseur and collector of Mongolian art from the 17th to early 20th century, including some of the finest gilt-bronze works by Zanabazar.

The collection in the Monastery-Museum of Choijin Lama to the southeast of Sukhbaatar Square is tilted somewhat towards the quirky and the bizarre. If intimidating papier-mache masks embellished with an intense weaving of corals, miniature skulls and horsehair and elegant bronze sculptures of gods locked in intimate embraces with their consorts appeal to you, this is probably your scene.

The grandiose throne of Choijin Lama, who was the state oracle and Bogd Khan's brother, is an obvious attraction. However, it's the mysterious bronze figures, like the one in the Yadam temple who appears with a pulley in one hand and a bleeding human skull in the other, that always to baffle.

A slice of the vibrant contemporary art scene in Ulan Bator could be sampled at the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery in the Culture Palace and the Union of Mongolian Artists' Art Center across the road from National Academic Drama theatre.

A slew of art galleries in and around Baruun Selbe Street exhibit and sell images done in oil, watercolor and felt. As the Ulan Bator skyline morphs and mutates, with snazzy malls and futuristic chrome-and-glass structures towering over European architecture, pagoda roofs and the ger districts, the city's artists are eager to record the transition.

And for the traveler stopping by, it is a rare chance to witness exhibitions and works in progress.

(Source: China Daily)

Rare Look into Famous Chinese Caves

Fan Jin Shi, director Dunhuang Academy (center) and Harlan Wallach (right) meet in a Mogao cave to review the new design of camera scaffolding.

From the website of NorthWestern University of December 20, 2010


Rare Look into Famous Chinese Caves
Chinese and Northwestern technologists preserve ancient Mogao Cave relics


EVANSTON, Ill. --- The treasures of China’s world-renowned Mogao Grottoes, or Dunhuang Caves―arguably home to the most important collection of ancient cave murals and other Buddhist art―soon will become more widely accessible and better preserved with help from Northwestern University.

For the first time during the multi-year e-heritage preservation project with Northwestern, a team of digital technology specialists from China’s Dunhuang Academy visited the University for a ten-day exchange of advanced digital imaging techniques with their counterparts at Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT)―a partnership that began in 1999.

The Dunhuang Academy has embarked on a large-scale national initiative in China to build a new museum and visitor center near the site to give the public an interactive cave experience with the proper balance between tourism and conservation.

Applying new skills and techniques they learned at Northwestern, the Mogao Grottoes Photography and Data Management team are creating and building a three dimensional and digital imagery archive of over 300 unique cave murals to display within the center.

“This trip provided the rare opportunity for us to share technology to enhance existing photography and enable the acquisition and conservation of these artifacts through digital media,” said Robert Taylor, director, NUIT Academic & Research Technologies. “We are honored to be a part of this collaborative relationship in support of China’s historic endeavor.”

For more than a decade, NUIT Northwestern University Advanced Media Production Studio (NUAMPS) and the Dunhuang Academy have worked together on projects designed to preserve China’s cultural heritage through the application of advanced computing technologies.

“There is no site in the world comparable to the Mogao Grottoes,” said Harlan Wallach, media architect, NUIT Academic & Research Technologies. “We are digitally preserving forever the relics of the grottoes from natural deterioration, such as atmospheric environmental damage and cave-ins, which will inevitably occur over time.”

Preserving History through Digitization

Buddhist worshippers between the 5th and 14th centuries carved as many as 1,000 cave shrines out of Dunhuang’s sandstone cliff facades at the edge of the Gobi Desert. Today 492 of these elaborately painted temples remain, representing nearly a millennium of unparalleled Buddhist art.

Using high definition cameras and custom-designed and custom-built camera support, the Dunhuang Academy team photographs small sections of the caves’ painted murals and then, adopting advanced computing techniques they learned at Northwestern, “stitches” them together, much like a quilt, to create a single, never-before-seen, comprehensive image.

To protect the delicate murals from damage due to human contact, only a select few of the Dunhuang caves are open for public viewing at any given time, and many of the murals within them are hidden behind support pillars, making it impossible to get an overall view of the artwork.

These newly created digital images will allow visitors to see the murals as they could not experience them even inside the caves.

To view a rich collection of Dunhuang Cave artifacts imaged by Northwestern for the Mellon International Dunhuang Archive, visit ArtStor, a nonprofit digital library for education and scholarship.