RAS Summer School: The Silk Roads
summer 2023
Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), London.
Taught by Susan Whitfield and Alison Ohta (Director, RAS).
This 4-day course will introduce the term, its history and the 20th century explorations which brought the role of central Asia to the fore. The course will then look in some detail at aspects of Silk Road art and technologies: silk production, books and printing, glass, ceramics and metalware. There will be a focus on the designs and aesthetics travelling along Silk Road, whether found on silk, books or metalware. The participants will have the chance to see original manuscripts and books at the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society, introduced by their curators.
This is a course intended for a general audience. No prior knowledge is required, although a short bibliography will be supplied for those wishing to do some reading in advance. The group will be limited to 8–12 people and therefore there will be ample opportunity for questions and group discussion.
Podcast: On the Silk Roads
5 June 2022
A discussion with Oliver Moxham on the role of Japan in the development of the ‘Silk Roads’ concept over the 20th century and, more recently, alternative narratives to counter the growing Sinocentrism of the Belt-Road Initative.
The horse in China — its introduction, trade and breeding from the 1st millennium BCE into the 1st millennium CE
11 May 2022, in person and online: registration required.
Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich
Horses were at the heart of the cultures of the steppe but did not, the evidence suggests, play an equivalent role among the peoples ruling in the first millennium BCE in the Yellow and Yangzi river valleys of China. However, they become increasingly important, especially for these peoples’ military encounters with the steppe. This lecture considers what we know of the horses and breeding programmes introduced in the first millennium, and discusses why trade remained essential to meet growing needs, both of the military and the elites of the kingdoms of China.
This is part of a lecture series taking place from March to June. A full list of talks is given below and further information available through the links below.
- March 2, 2022: Appreciation and distribution of Chinese lacquerware across the Eurasian hemisphere – from Korea to Crimea (3rd century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D)
- March 23, 2022: Indo-Iranian terminology for horses and chariots
- March 30, 2022: Transcontinental cultural contacts of China during the Bronze Age
- April 13, 2022: Transcultural Narrative Exchanges of Buddhist Birth Stories in Literary and Visual Cultures between Gandhara and Central Asia: A Case Study of the Pūrvayoga of Sudaṣṇa (Viśvantara Jātaka)
- April 27, 2022: Climatic constraints and cultural filters in the adoption of western grain crops in ancient China
- May 11, 2022: The horse in China — its introduction, trade and breeding from the 1st millennium BCE into the 1st millennium CE
- May 25, 2022: Animals as Diplomatic Gifts along the Maritime Silk Roads
- June 1, 2022: Following the donkey’s trail: A linguistic and archaeological study on the introduction of domestic donkeys to China
Khotan: A Neglected Silk Road Kingdom
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London
This lecture is free and open to both in-person and online attendees.
RAS Silk Road Summer School -— COVID permitting
We hope to run this again in spring 2022. To express interest please email Alison Ohta, Director of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Workshop on the Silk Road
Monday, 25 March 2019
ENS, 29 rue d’Ulm, Paris 75005
salle 235C (2e étage, aile Ulm)
As part of a labex TransferS research visit to Paris to assist with Annick Fenet’s research on correspondence between Aurel Stein and French scholars.
Silk Slaves and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road
Lecture
Friday, 530pm, 7 December 2018
Ancient Indian and Iranian Trust, Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, UK
http://www.indiran.org/whats-on/
Silk Slaves and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road
Lecture
Thursday, 730pm, 31 May 2018
Oxford Silk Road Society, Massey Room, Balliol College, Oxford, UK
https://www.facebook.com/events/162249527804963/
Silk Slaves and Stupas: Material Culture of the Silk Road
Lecture and book signing
Wednesday, 630pm, 24 May 2018
Royal Asiatic Society, London, UK
Podcast
In Conversation with Susan Whitfield and Peter Sellars—Silk, Slaves and Stupas: Culture in Motion on the Silk Road
Sunday, 20 May 2018, 2-3pm, followed by book signing
Rothenberg Hall, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, USA
http://www.huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/calendardetail.aspx?id=25257
In Conversation with Susan Whitfield and Peter Sellars—Silk, Slaves and Stupas: The Many Pasts of China’s Future in Central Asia
Copresented by The Boethius Initiative at UCLA and the UCLA Confucius Institute
Tuesday, 15 May 2018, 7.30pm, followed by book signing
Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Video
Silk Road Digressions 