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Author Archives: Susan Whitfield
Early Exhibitions of the Collections of Aurel Stein, Part 4: 1918, Royal Geographical Society, London
@RGS_IBG 1918 exhibition of Aurel Stein’s 3rd expedition #SilkRoad #photographs. Continue reading
Countless Moments of Mourning: a personal statement
I no longer visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As an established scholar with long-standing connections to institutions there, I feel that visiting the PRC could be seen as an endorsement of the current regime and their actions. Not … Continue reading
Posted in cultural heritage, Uyghurs
Tagged classical Chinese, language, Liu Zongyuan, mazar, Silk Road, Tarim Basin, Turkic, Uyghurs
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Selenium and Horses in China: A Missing Link
‘In climbing up and down mountains and crossing ravines and mountain torrents, the horses of China cannot compare with those of the Xiongnu.’1 This observation by Chao Cuo 晁錯 (ca. 200–154 BC), a minister in the Han empire ruling China … Continue reading
Posted in horses, military, selenium, Silk Road art and history, trade
Tagged cavalry, horse breeding, horse-trade, horses
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Aurel Stein at Dunhuang
A snippet from the forthcoming paper concerning Stein’s acquisitions from the Library cave at Dunhuang Mogao. Continue reading
UNESCO and the Silk Road: The Role of Japan
‘Silk Roads’ is now a concept embraced by UNESCO, with the first transnational serial site as inscribed in 2014. Japan had played a vital role in the early discussion of Eurasian links which led to the adoption of the ‘Silk … Continue reading
Posted in cultural heritage, Japan, Silk Road archaeology, Silk Road art and history
Tagged BRI, Central Asia, Herrmann, Hirayama, Japan, Korea, Nara to Norwich, UNESCO
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A Trio of Mismatched Camels
A stone relief carving by a leading sculptor in 19th century Britain shows three camels—and the bones of a fourth—laden with goods being led by a man dressed in Bedouin robes. The frieze has been noted in several books and recent blog posts but few have mentioned a striking feature: the central camel is clearly a Bactrian, a two-humped camel from central Asia. How do we explain this anatopistic beast? Continue reading
Routes from the Swat: Buddhism in Khotan
In AD 480 the Chinese pilgrim Faxian reached the central Asian oasis kingdom of Khotan, source of jade and a thriving centre of Buddhism. Even though Buddhism was well established in his homeland, China, he was struck by the evidence … Continue reading
Posted in Aurel Stein, Buddhism, Silk Road archaeology
Tagged archaeology, Buddhism, Khotan, Marc Aurel Stein, Pakistan, Silk Road, stupa, Swat
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Early Exhibitions of the Collections of Aurel Stein, Part 3: 1914, King Edward VII Galleries
On 7 May 1914, the British Museum opened the new north wing of the Museum, the King Edward VII Galleries.1 The opening exhibition in the ground floor galleries showed paintings, manuscripts and other artefacts acquired by Aurel Stein (1862–1943) on … Continue reading
Posted in Aurel Stein, British Museum, Exhibitions
Tagged archaeology, architecture, art, British Museum, Buddhism, Dunhuang, Exhibitions, Laurence Binyon, Silk Road, Stein
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New Book: Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes
CONTENTS EXCERPT FROM INTRODUCTION There was no ‘Silk Road’. It is a modern label in widespread use only since the late 20th century and used since then to refer to trade and interaction across Afro-Eurasia from roughly 200 BE to … Continue reading
Posted in Silk Road art and history
Tagged archaeology, architecture, art, Buddhism, sericulture, Silk Road
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The Rectification of Names: Caves, Grottos or Rock-Cut Temples?
“If the names are not correct, language is without an object.” Confucius, Translated by Simon Leys. The Analects of Confucius: London and New York: W. W. Norton 1997: 13, 3. In her 2013 essay, Phyllis Granoff argued that the term … Continue reading
Posted in Rectification of names, Silk Road art and history
Tagged Ajanta, Buddhist, cave, Dunhuang, grotto, rock-cut temple
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Silk Road Digressions 