The Silk Road. A Living History

The Silk Road

The Silk Road was a vast historical network of trade routes that stretched for thousands of kilometres connecting East Asia with Europe. These routes, which date back to the 2nd century BC, were formed by the Chinese general and explorer Zhang Qian, who lived during the reign of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), and undertook two expeditions to regions in eastern China: the first in 138 BC and the second in 119 BC. Although his main objective was to establish contact between Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty and the Rouzhi tribe in order to join forces and weaken the Xiongnu, who formed the world’s first nomadic empire [1], his main contribution was to establish diplomatic ties between the Han dynasty and the empires and governments of western regions [2]. In doing so, he set in motion the creation of a transcontinental trade route that would shape the world as we know it today.

The German geographer Manfred von Richthofen, in the 19th century, gave his name to the so-called ‘Silk Roads’. These are made up of a group of different circuits, namely the Desert Route, the Steppe Route and the Nomadic Route [3]. These routes not only carried goods, but also knowledge, religions and people. Gunpowder, the magnetic compass, the printing press and advanced mathematics came to Europe from China and the Islamic world. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam found new adherents in the lands that opened up to the East and West.

These exchanges had a profound impact on the empires and civilisations through which they passed, shaping them politically, religiously and culturally. By the end of the 16th century, the Silk Road had lost its prominence to new maritime trade routes, but the legacy of interconnectivity and exchange endured.

Today, through China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Eurasia is the focus of the largest and most expensive infrastructure project in history. If realised, a massive network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports could connect up to 65% of the world’s population and radically alter the flow of global trade. It is already beginning to reshape Eurasia, focusing the world’s attention once again on the East-West exchange of goods and ideas.

The Silk Road: a living history

In September 2024 Hemeria Publishing published a book entitled The Silk Road: A Living History, a book of 160 photographs taken by travel writer and photographer Christopher Wilton-Steer illustrating the journey he made in 2019 from London to Beijing across 16 countries (40,000 km) by car, bus, train, ferry, horse and camel in order to travel along the historic Silk Road and gain a deeper understanding of the similarities between different cultures and learn more about what connects us [4]. In his photographs he captures the beauty of the architecture, nature, history and, above all, the people he met along the journey [5].

The Silk Road: A Living History is an adaptation of a series of photographs first exhibited at London’s Kings Cross in 2021. This was followed by another exhibition the following year in Toronto.

Like the exhibition, the book aims to celebrate the diversity of cultural expressions found along the Silk Road; to highlight examples of how historical practices, rituals and customs are still alive today; and also to reveal some of the connections between what at first glance appear to be very different cultures. It also seeks to generate interest and understanding between distant cultures and to challenge perceptions of lesser known and understood parts of the world.

‘Unlike the rockier Pamirs to the west that burst out of the earth’s surface in dark browns and deep ochres, the mountains here are softer and glow purple, pink and blue’.

Included are photographs from Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, China and elsewhere, which will be accompanied by some of Wilton-Steer’s travel writings, as well as a foreword written by Peter Frankopan, a well-known Silk Road historian [6].

The book is supported by the Aga Khan Foundation. Established in 1967, the Foundation works with poor and marginalised communities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to improve the quality of life, promote pluralism, and enhance self-reliance.

The exhibition can be visited virtually by clicking here. For more information about the book, click here.

Referencias

[1] Ventura, D. (20 de agosto de 2023). Xiongnu, los míticos guerreros nómadas que llevaron a China a construir la Gran Muralla. BBC News Mundo. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cjj178q0x54o

[2] Zhang, A. (2023). The Role of Zhang Qian in the Opening of the Silk Road. Transactions on Economics, Business and Management Research, 2, 193-197.

[3] Diène, D. (1996). Rutas de la seda, identidades plurales. En Comisión española de la ruta de la seda (Ed.), España y Portugal en las rutas de la seda (pp. 17-19). Universidad de Barcelona.

[4] Wilton-Steer, Christopher. (23 April 2024). The Silk Road: A Living History comes to life in photographic book. Aga Khan Foundation UK. https://www.akf.org.uk/the-silk-road-a-living-history-comes-to-life-in-photographic-book/

[5] Aga Khan Museum. (2021, 9 de noviembre). The Silk Road: A Living History takes viewers on a West-East expedition they won’t soon forget [Comunicado de prensa]. https://aga-khan-museum-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/05/Aga-Khan-Museum-aE-The-Silk-Road-A-Living-History-aE-Press-Release-aE-Nov.-9-2021-aE-Final.pdf

[6] The Silk Road: A Living History. (2023). https://silkroad-livinghistory.org/