Hist 263: The Silk Road Syllabus
Instructor: K. Stevens (and guest lecturers)
(Note about this syllabus/course: A key and formative element of this syllbus was the
NEH Summer Institute at the East-West Institute and the University of Hawaii, June
2010. The lectures, individual faculty speakers, spirited discussions among participants
and with lecturers provided much guidance and key orientations to the following
syllabus. D. Waugh of University of Washington (a fellow medieval Russianist) has
graciously given his permission to use elements of his own course on the Silk Roads, as
well as a CD with a number of lectures, associated powerpoints, and ways of using his
“Silk Road Seattle” website (http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad).
Course Overview
This course offers an overview of the cultural and economic relationships that developed
across Eurasia from the 1st to 17th centuries C.E. The course will focus on the fabled “Silk
Road,” an overlapping series of overland trade routes through Central Asia that
connected China and Japan with western Europe. The impact of the ‘silk road’ was as
often regional and local, as it was intercontinental; most travellers did not cover the
whole route but remained in areas that were indigenous to them. The course will examine
a number of very broad themes, such as: the interaction of nomadic and sedentary
peoples, the spread of religions, cultural confrontation and syncretism. The course is a
challenging one for both instructor and students in that it covers an enormous geographic,
cultural and chronological span.
Requirements of the course
1. A map quiz will be given early in the term to ensure that you have made yourself
familiar with a part of the world not usually well known to Americans. It will count for
5% of your final grade. You can test your knowledge of this geography before the quiz
at: http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/maps/maps.html
2. There will be 4 short essays of 4-5 pages each on assigned topics (see below). Each
essay will count for 15 of your grade, or 60% for all four.
3. A final exam , worth 20% of your grade, will be given at the time scheduled by the
University.
4. Class participation (including attendence) is an important part of this class. It will
count for 15% of your grade.
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Required Books
Sally Hovey Wriggins, The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang (Westview, 2004; ISBN 08133-6599-6;
Roderick Whitfield et al., Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road
(Getty Conservation Institute PB, 2000; ISBN 0-89236-585-4). Optional purchase
Richard C. Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange
from Antiquity to the 15th Century (St. Martin’s Grffin: 1999)
Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, tr. Ronald Latham (Penguin PB, 1958; ISBN
No. 0-14-044057-7).
Allsen, Thomas T., Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia (Cambridge UP: 2003)
ppbk (ISBN-13:9780521602709 | ISBN-10:052160270X) ORDERED
Richard C. Foltz, tr. Conversations With Emperor Jahangir By "Mutribi" al-Asamm of
Samarqand (Mazda, 1998; ISBN No. 1-568-59069-5).
Please also purchase two copies of each of two outline maps (1) RG433: Middle East and
India; and (2) RG440: China and Japan (two copies each).
Course materials on-line: links are provided under the weekly assignments below; a
significant number of them are linked to the website "Silk Road Seattle."
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Class Schedule
Introduction nomads
Aug 31. Introduction to course. [Dan’s first public silk road lecture as source]
Sept 2. Nomads and their culture; the importance of inner asia [Andre Gunder Frank,
“The Centrality of Central Asia,” Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 24/2
(1992): 50-74]
Denis Sinor "Horse and Pasture in Inner Asian history" Oriens Extremus, 19/1-2
(1972), pp. 171-183; http://www.upf.edu/materials/huma/central/abast/sinor.htm
Read through “Traditional Culture” on the Silk Road Seattle website.
Nomadic cultures and their role
Sept. 7 Nomads and their culture [use Barfield; first 2 chapters of Beckwith; DiCosmo in
J World Hist (1999; Project Muse);]
David Christian, "Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History"
(Project Muse).
Sept 8: Mongolian Dinner in the Colgate yurt (confirm scheduling)…..
Sept 9. The steppe route to Parthia: Yuezhi, the Xiongnu and the Silk Trade. [Brief
intro on politics of Silk Road, 3rd c BCE]
Compare the development of nomadic and sedentary empires on the Metropolitan
Museum Timeline of Art History, with particular focus on the Xiongnu (Hsiungnu), Yuezhi (Kushans), Sakas, Turks, Uighurs, Tanguts (Xi-Xia), and Mongols.
Follow the timeline to art materials from these cultures.
The Han Dynasty and Central Asia
Sept 14. Video: "Glories of Ancient Chang-an" (CCTV/NTK, in series "The Silk Road").
Please read Jack Dull, “China: History: The Han Dynasty,” and the
Encyclopedia’s other “Han Dynasty” entry Encyclopaedia Britannica (online
from Colgate Library)
Look at: http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/china/xian/xian.html
Sept 16. Patterns of Chinese Interaction with Their Neighbors. (clip: "In Search of the
Kingdom of Lou-Lan") [talk about the Xiongnu esp; see DiCosmo in J World Hist
(1999; Project Muse); Ebray, 63-85; David D. Leslie and K. H. L. Gardiner,
“Chinese Knowledge of Western Asia during the Han,” T’oung Pao 68 (1982):
254-308] Zhang Qian’s embassy, 138 BC; horses
Read selections I, II, IV, V, VI from Han histories about Xiongnu at
http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hantxt1.html; explore Han art, maps,
artifacts on http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/han/han.html; and ditto
of Xiongnu http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/xiongnu/xiongnu.html
Essay No. 1(due Sept 21): The early Chinese sources provide a particular perspective on
nomads and their interactions with sedentary peoples. Given readings and class
discussions, discuss the accuracy of the picture in the Chinese sources? What might need
to be added or changed and why? Offer specific examples.
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Lives Along the Silk Road
Sept 21. Inner Asia after Alexander: the Kushan Empire 1st c CE. (Essay No. 1 due);
King Kanishka and Mahayana Buddhism. [Xinru Liu, "Migration and Settlement
of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and
Sedentary Societies" (Project Muse)]
“The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith”
http://idp.bl.uk/pages/education_teachers.a4d#6 (note to self: change assignment)
Sept. 23 Kushan links to the Mediterranean traders on the Indian coast: maritime
routes [http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha034.htm]
Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road chapter 3 for an overivew;
“Buddhism and Trade,”
onhttp://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/religion/buddhism/buddhism.html
Cultural and political interactions East and West
Sept 28.The Oases Flourish: Trade and religious networks in inner Asia, 3rdc=>.
[Sogdians and Khotanese traders] Video: "Across the Taklamakan Desert"
Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, ch. 4;
William Rust and Amy Cushing,“The Buried Silk Road Cities of Khotan,” Athena
Review vol 3 no. 1 at http://www.athenapub.com/9khotan1.htm
Reference: Text of Nestorian tablet (781 CE) and art objects “Nestorians”
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/781nestorian.html and
http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/religion/nestorians/nestorians.html
(Map quiz)
Albert Dien, “The Glories of Sogdiana,” www.silk-road.com/artl/sogdian.shtml
(not so much) but following is better:
Étienne de la Vassière, “Sogdians in China” online at
http://www.silk-road.com/newsletter/december/new_discoveries.htm
Translations of ancient Sogdian letters on
http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/sogdlet.html
Sept 30: Buddhism in China [Roger T. Ames, “The Confucian Worldview,” in
Encountering Asian Philosophies and Religions, 31-46]
Peter Hershock, “Early Developments in Chinese Buddhism,” Chan Buddhism,
46-65. Faxian, “A Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms”
http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/faxian.html
PLEASE NOTE that you should begin reading S. H. Wriggens, Silk Road Journey
Buddhism in China
Oct 5 Buddhist Cultural Impact: the Danhuang caves [ref KL’s slides lecture;
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/06/arts/0706-COTT_index.html;
Whitfield et al, The Cave Temples of Mogao
Reference: “Dunhuang” on http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/china/dh/dh.html
Oct 7: Xuanzang’s Journey: Finish S. H. Wriggens, Silk Road Journey.
Essay No. 2 (due Oct 14): Please discuss the indigenization of Buddhism in China.
Keeping in mind the chronological framework of the evidence, you should consider: To
what degree and in what manner did particular Buddhist beliefs coincide with indigenous
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Chinese beliefs? What aspects of Buddhist doctrine seem to have been particularly
appealing and to whom? Who was responsible for the spread of Buddhism? What
restraints were imposed? In addition to class discussion, please use readings, the travels
of Faxian and Xuanzang and evidence from sites such as the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang.
Journey to the West
Oct 12. BREAK
Oct 14 Video“Journey to the West” (Essay No. 2 due).
Western Asia and the Tang Golden Age.
Oct 19. Tang China and "The West"
[background Beckwith, Chapters 5-6, Frye, Golden Age, ch. 1-3]
Please read “Tang dynasty,” view slideshow, and read essays “Internationalism in
the Tang” & “Scholar-officials,” which appear under “Thematic Essays” on
sidebar: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tang/hd_tang.htm
Oct 21. The rise of Islam. Video clip: The Arabs make Their Entrance: Islam and Empire
In “The Islamic World to 1600,” please read “Islamic Beginnings,” “The
Caliphate and the First Islamic Dynasty,” & about Abbasids in “The Fractured
Caliphate.” http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/index2.html
Essay No. 3 (due Nov. 9): Islam had a positive impact on cultural exchange and
development across Eurasia. This can be seen in the syncretism involving preIslamic cultural traditions, in the promotion of trade and urban development, and
in the active cultural and artistic exchange with both East and West. Would you
agree or disagree? Illustrate your response with specific examples.
Islam and the Early Turkic empires.
Oct 26. The Islamic caliphates and trade (Frye chptrs)
Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road ch. 5;
On Baghdad’s glory days: Yakut's description of Baghdad under the Abbasids;
OR intellectual life.
Reference: Chronology for the rise of Islam and its spread to Central Asia
http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/hist225/225chron/islchr.html
Oct. 28: Turkic Inner Asia
Chronology of early Turkic Empires; Turkic History; Chronology of Tibetans,
Uighurs and T'ang; Uighurs;Manichaeism; History of the Uighurs," tr. Colin
Mackerras.
Meetings and transformations
Nov 2. Tibet and Talas
Nov. 4: Arabic science and Chinese art; (portions of new DVD “The Silk Roads from
Istanbul to Samarkand”? (preview))
Read about at least one of the great medieval Islamic authors or scientists: (1) Ibn
Sina (Avicenna) came from the region of Bukhara: Introduction; Overview;
Mathematical contributions. (2) Al-Biruni was one of the great encyclopedic
intellectuals of his day. (3) Robert Dankoff, "Qarakhanid Literature and the
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Beginnings of Turco-Islamic Culture," on Yusuf Hass Hajib and Mahmud
Kashgari
The arts of the Islamic world are striking and important. In addition to the Silk Road
Seattle Art of the Silk Road pages sample to following for the main architectural
forms are, the role of calligraphy and geometric decoration, the place of
anthropomorphic representation from collections of Los Angeles Country
Museum of Art; the Metropolitan Museum, which can be accessed through their
timeline for the period 500-1000, Islamic Arts and Architecture Organization,
Islamic art of Persia on this Iranian heritage site Jonathan Bloom, “paper and
papermaking,” and "paper roads."
On the eve of the Mongol conquests
Nov 9. Seljuk, Tangut, Khitan; on the Eve of Mongol conquest
Includes part of video: "The Dark Castle" (CCTV/NTK).
Chronology of the Tanguts;Tanguts; Khitans and the Liao.
Nov. 11 The Creation of the Mongol Empire (China/Great Khan, the Il Khanate,
Chagatai, Golden Horde)
Begin Allsen, Culture and Conquest
The Mongol Empire
Nov16. The Pax Mongolica—From Europe to the Khan (John of Plano Carpini; Marco
Polo) [Daniel Waugh: The Pax Mongolica; Robert Sabatino Lopez, "China Silk in
Europe in the Yuan Period"(JSTOR).]} Marco Polo, Chs. 1-3, 6, and then
selectively in Chs. 4-5
Nov 18. Arab science and history (Rashid Al-Din), Muslim travellers, and Chinese art.
excerpts from Ibn-Battuta (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1354ibnbattuta.html) Continue Allsen, Culture and Conquest
Reference:
Calgary web pages on "The Mongol Invasions," up to section on Timurids; Other short
web-available sources include Chronology; Selections from Juvayni; on
Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol empire; Russian chronicles on the sack of
Riazan;The Black Death and the role of trade in spreading the plague.
A conversion account: how the Khan of the Golden Horde adopted Islam.
Reuven Amitai-Preiss, "Sufis and Shamans: Some Remarks on the Islamization of the
Mongols in the Ilkhanate."
Gregory Guzman, "Christian Europe and Mongol Asia: First Medieval Intercultural
Contact Between East and West.
Recommended: letters by the pioneering Catholic bishop in China, John of
Montecorvino. Also recommended on Art under the Mongols: evidence from the
Mongols' Inner Asian territories; Metropolitan Museum's: Islamic lands of
Western Eurasia: Images of the Mongolian Horse
Essay 4. (due Dec 2): Choose at least two travellers along the Silk Roads (among Marco
Polo, William of Rubruk, John of Montecorvino, Afanasii Nikitin, Fa-hsien, Xuanzang).
Place them in historical context and compare their purposes, attitudes and stylistic
approaches to the unfamiliar.
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Travellers on the Silk Road.
Nov 23. Trip to the Metropolitan Museum NYC to see Kublai Khan exhibit; with
advance notice, students may leave the bus in NYC to travel home for holidays
Zheng He and the Maritime Routes
Nov 30. The Yuan and the Maritime trade routes: Zheng He.
Dec 2. (4th essay due) The Timurids
Chronology: The Timurids; Calgary web page on the Timurids.
Selections from Clavijo (Spanish ambassador) describing Timur's empire and esp the
capital, Samarkand in the early 14th century. This account is worth a lot of your
time this week.
The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353,”
An overview of Timurid art. Metropolitan Museum Exhibition "Sultan 'Ali of
Mashhad , Master of Nastacliq";
Crossroads of Asia
Dec. 7 Mughals
Foltz, tr., Conversations with Jahangir, entire.
References:
A short overview of Mughal history by Prof. Vinay Lai,
Mughal India's Timurid Heritage--web page on art.
Dec 9. Asian Merchants and the Continuation of the Silk Road Trade
Morris Rossabi on the end of the overland Eurasian trade
Readings beyond the chronological framework of the course:
Excerpts from Adam Olearius' account of Safavid Persia. Olearius was the secretary of
a German embassy that traveled to Persia through Muscovite Russia.
Excerpts from Jean Chardin's account of Safavid Persia. Chardin was a French jeweler
and commercial agent.
Nils Steensgaard on the Armenian merchant Hohvannes.
The Journey by Richard Steel from the Mughal Empire through Persia in 1615-1616.
Steel worked for the British East India Company.
The Journey of Benedict Goës Jesuit priest overland from India to China, 1603-1607.
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