The story of the continuation of the New Silk Road and the ancient Silk Road

"The Silk Road in Foreign Cultural Relics" Shen Weixing, editor-in-chief, Guangming Daily Publishing House

【Guangming Shushu】

The Silk Road in Foreign Cultural Relics was compiled at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May 2017, when the capital was where thousands of shows flourished and everything flourished. The 29 foreign heads of state and government, as well as about 1,500 distinguished guests from more than 130 countries, have come for openness, cooperation and mutual benefit, although they are far away from mountains and rivers. At that time, I was reading the new work of peter Frank Pan, a historian at oxford university in the United Kingdom, "The Silk Road - a new world history", which is a representative work of contemporary foreign scholars on the history of the "ancient Silk Road", who based on the understanding that "the Silk Road is reviving", consciously got rid of the arrogance of Western centrism, found that the "Silk Road" played a key role in connecting Eastern and Western civilizations, and particularly emphasized that China's "Belt and Road" is contributing to the rejuvenation of countries along the Silk Road. Many historical materials and viewpoints in the book provide new perspectives and more open ideas for readers in the East and the West to objectively understand the "Silk Road" and the "Belt and Road" concept. This triggered me to pay attention to the latest research trends in this area in countries around the world.

One

To observe history, there can be different angles; to depict history, you also need different brushes. For the ancient Silk Road, there should also be voices from all fields, only in this way will history be more complete and faithful. After all, Frank Pan's point of view is a person, if representative foreign professionals can be invited to write about the ancient Silk Road, such a collection of essays will not present more angles, more arguments, more appearances. This thought lingered, and like a seed began to take root and sprout. So what kind of field to choose? I thought about it again and again, and finally decided to start with the archaeological discoveries in the cultural and museum circles and the interpretation of the collections of museums in various countries. After all, cultural relics carry splendid civilizations, and museums are treasure houses of history, culture, and art, so I had the inspiration to take the title of the book "The Silk Road in Foreign Cultural Relics".

Of course, there are several other factors that contributed to this decision, and I might as well make my heart clear here.

First of all, the "Belt and Road" originally came from the depths of history, and the cultural and cultural circles can best integrate the ancient and modern, undertake Chinese and foreign countries, and have a common language in the world. Starting from cultural relics and archaeology, in those original objects and precious clues hidden by history, Chinese and foreign readers can truly see what kind of blood continuation and spiritual connection between China's "Belt and Road" and the ancient Silk Road, so as to open a new window for examination, appreciation and thinking.

Secondly, although there are many studies on the cultural relics and archaeology and museum collections of the "Silk Road", there are not many horizontal voices from many countries by multiple authors, and if a more concentrated and comprehensive scan is done, it is a novelty. In addition, considering that archaeological discoveries and museum collections are also one of the most concerned points of interest for the public, it is easy to approach readers.

Third, the more diverse the subjects participate, the more diverse voices are needed to resonate. To tell the story of the Silk Road well is to introduce more foreign experts, scholars, and practitioners to speak out. In the case that China has said a lot about the ancient Silk Road, how to introduce more foreign experts and scholars to speak out and tell the world about the contributions made by China and other countries on the ancient Silk Road is an important topic for the external dissemination of the Silk Road and even the "Belt and Road". If a foreign language edition is published and the international dissemination of books is carried out in the way of "going out", it will help to show the international community the long history of Chinese culture and friendly exchanges with all countries in the world, highlight the Chinese nation's open attitude of forging ahead and embracing the world as early as the Silk Road period, enhance the world's attention to the Silk Road and the "Belt and Road", and provide intellectual support for the concept of "peace, development, cooperation and win-win". I think this is a job intended to actively seek to enhance dialogue, understanding and mutual trust, and it is also an important factor that made me determined to compile.

Two

In July 2019, I was on an official business trip to the southern Xinjiang region of Xinjiang, and when I drove through the Pamir Plateau, whether it was the noise of the traffic of people and goods in China and Pakistan at the Hongqiraf Port, or the silence of the Tashkurgan Wakhan Corridor, it seemed to tell the story of the continuation of the New Silk Road and the Ancient Silk Road, which also injected new impetus into the compilation of essays.

Archaeology is the microscope of history, and cultural relics are witnesses of history. The ancient Silk Road contains extremely rich natural information, historical puzzles and humanistic connotations, and contains rich material, social and cultural characteristics, and is an inexhaustible rich mine in the cultural and cultural circles.

Compared with the domestic research on the ancient Silk Road, what is the situation of the foreign cultural and museum circles? In particular, what kind of cultural relics and archaeological excavations are being carried out in the countries along the ancient Silk Road? What kind of research is being carried out? What new results have been achieved? Are the collections in the museum new to discover and display? Which experts and scholars are representative in their field of study? How do you express to them the positioning and writing requirements of the book? ...... Once in the actual working state, many problems will come to the table.

Fortunately, after observation and investigation, it was found that since China proposed the "Belt and Road" major initiative, the cultural and cultural circles of various countries in the world have made new discoveries in archaeology, new research has been expanded, collections are newly excavated, and many aspects have been continuously promoted. Therefore, when I really came into contact with foreign professionals, I found that the ancient Silk Road had become a rich mine for the international community in the field of cultural relics and archaeology.

Unconsciously, the invited manuscripts have gradually stacked and thickened from a few pieces on the desk, and it always feels that the content of articles from various countries is becoming more and more full, and the information is becoming clearer and more diverse. I found from the writings of foreign experts that although there are thousands of barriers between China and the countries along the Silk Road, such as deserts and rivers, grasslands and Gobi, mountains and towns, and Zeguo, the Silk Road of land, sea and grass has long connected the roof of the plateau with the deep ocean, and between the majestic city-states and the xingbu villages. In the meantime, the glory and decline are constantly changing, the old and the new are constantly alternating, the center of gravity is constantly shifting, the isolated place is gradually becoming an open city, the moving story is transmitted in the exquisite porcelain plate, and the wonderful exchange is hidden in the splendid pattern of silk weaving.

In the end, I selected 17 manuscripts by foreign authors, which came from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, India and other countries, including professional researchers from various universities and cultural institutions, as well as industry leaders in the cultural and cultural circles, who all uphold authoritative expert status, open academic posture, and gladly present the latest discoveries and achievements from their respective fields of archaeology, culture and literature, and expound novel views. The research perspective is unique, the discussion process is rigorous, and the words "possible" and "perhaps" are used as much as possible when judging, rather than jumping to conclusions, showing the objective, truth-seeking and pragmatic exploration style that should be made.

Three

In the selected articles in this book, field archaeology with the ocean, cities, mausoleums, ports, etc. as the core is a boring and hard work and risky work, but there are also surprising harvests behind it, such as Gutierrez and Gerald, two professors in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University in the United Kingdom, who pointed out after studying archaeological discoveries in Spanish waters: "' The end of the Maritime Silk Road may have extended to Western Europe as early as the Tang Dynasty, rather than as late as the Ming Dynasty, a major discovery that pushed forward the beginning of the Sino-European ceramic trade by 500 years. "There are also experts like Ashraf and Arif of Jinnah University in Pakistan, Donnehip, former head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Tehran in Iran, and Chelian, director of the Institute for the Development of Interdisciplinary Archaeological Sciences in Kerala, India, whose joy at the breakthroughs in their respective fields of study also makes me feel empathy."

Nigel Wude, honorary researcher of the School of Archaeology of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Kushamba, professor of the Department of Anthropology of the American University of the United States, and Professor Senda of the Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts in Japan, are exemplary in the application of advanced technology and instruments, which not only greatly improve the ability to obtain information, but also put forward a scientific and creative understanding, and their research results fully demonstrate the role of contemporary high technology in archaeological excavations.

Being good at taking the newly excavated cultural relics as the research object and supporting basis, and combining historical documents to make unique interpretations of the clues and regularity of the ancient Silk Road in the process of evolution, is another important aspect of this manuscript. Representative experts include Professor Porter of the University of Marseille in France, Goldschmidt, Dean of the Confucius Institute at Tel Aviv University in Israel, Hammit, Director of the Archaeological Center of the Central National Museum of Kazakhstan, and Dowoody, Head of the Department of Archaeology and Numismatics at the National Museum of Tajikistan.

There are also Sidorf from the Director of the Moscow State Museum of Oriental Art in Russia, Ledi, Director of the Asian Art Department of the Yale University Museum in the United States, Lakmatova, Chief Expert of the National Museum Reserve of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Gillay Fidan, Professor of the Faculty of Letters of Ankara HajBajram Weli University in Turkey, and Art Historian Arpay of the State Palace Administration of the Presidential Palace of Turkey, Kenzav, Head of the Department of Tourism and Mass of the National Museum of Tajikistan. Experts such as RinsuChat, senior adviser of the Arts Bureau of the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, are quite proud of the Silk Road collection in their national museums, taking the handicraft relics represented by silk, ceramics, gold and silverware as the starting point, and telling people the profound historical background and infinite charm of the ancient Silk Road in a simple and simple way.

These once again show that in recent years, major archaeological discoveries about the ancient Silk Road abroad have been continuous, and the relevant collections of museums in various countries have also been excavated in depth and more thematic exhibitions, which not only greatly triggered people's perception of this prosperous trade channel that occurred thousands of years ago, but also deepened people's understanding of the society, economy, agriculture, handicrafts, urban construction, etc. of different historical stages of the ancient Silk Road, and many of the original events and details have become more vivid, intuitive and clear. More importantly, they make up for the lack of historical records, refresh the height of academic research, provide a new starting point and new possibilities for further exploring and revealing the historical mysteries of the ancient Silk Road, and find a new carrier for people to truly perceive its charming charm, and open up the material and spiritual bloodline for today's "Belt and Road" construction.

(Author: Shen Weixing, Dean, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of Guangming School of Journalism and Communication, China University of Political Science and Law)