The Influences On Culture In Ancient China By The Silk Road

THE INFLUENCES ON CULTURE IN ANCIENT CHINA BY THE SILK ROAD
Student’s Name
Subject
Date
The Influences On Culture In Ancient China By The Silk Road
The Great Silk Road remains fundamental in understanding the history of civilization and cultural diversity in the vast region of Central Asia. Various scholars have sought to understand the history and the interaction of the Chinese people with the Silk Road with Eurasia and the rest of the world from the middle ages to the 20th century and the influence on the Chinese culture. Various goods transported along the Great Silk Road include silk from China, glassware, jewelry among other goods considered to have a considerable aesthetic value from other countries such as Rome. Merchants and traders from all over converged in the Silk Road transporting various sorts of goods greatly influencing the Chinese ranging from foods, religion, clothing among other areas.
For many centuries, the Great Silk Road saw an increase in movement of people, object and ideas. The Silk Road had developed since the ancient times through to the Middle Ages with increase in trade activities between China, the Eurasian Steppe, Central Asia, India, Western Asia, and Europe which also included the Byzantine Empire, Venice and beyond. The Eurasian Steppe is comprised of the modern day Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The road was used for transporting silk from China while other goods such as glassware and jewelry were sold to the Celestial Empire by traders from Rome and other countries. The territory of the Eurasia Steppe consisted of a majority of Silk Road routes since their people were participants and mediators involved in the trade. The interaction of people from different countries with varying cultural backgrounds was the beginning of the cultural influence on the Chinese people.[Kuz'mina, Elena Efimovna, and Victor H Mair. The Prehistory Of The Silk Road (2017)]
The interaction between different ethnic communities influenced the increase in a cultural exchange with the Chinese borrowing a lot along the way. For example, Central Asian musicians and dancers arrived in China on the latter part of the sixth century being carried by horses and camels and afterward popularized the music and dancing of Samarkand in China. The powerful influence of music and dance acquired during the Silk Road exchanges was captured in the Tang Dynasty history book, “The musicians wear black silk scarves and red silk robes with brocade collars. (There are also) Two dancers in red blouses with brocade collars and green sleeves, green damask silk trousers, red boots and a white sash that served as a belt…The instruments in the band include two flutes, one main drum, one secondary drum, and a pair of brass cymbals”. The Chinese artisans, including musicians, were influenced by a large number of incoming Sogdians during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that made them began turning out large numbers of figurines. This influence on art is attributed to the increased activities along the Silk Road.[Liu, Xinru. "A Silk Road Legacy: The Spread Of Buddhism And Islam". (2011)] [Ibid. Pg. 60]
Cities along multiple Silk Road routes were a great resource in the exchange of cultures, art and religion with various ethnic communities interacting among themselves. Dunhuang City in the Ganshu province of Northern China was an crucial city in the Silk Road forming an intersection along the road which comprised of double routes running to the North and the South of Tarim Basin. Dunhuang City was strategically located along the Silk Road enabling interactions and mingling of diverse multicultural communities with varying religious beliefs. Consequently, Buddhism was easily introduced to the Chinese community, finding its way in the arts and culture in general. The Kushans, who were Buddhists, controlled a strategic position in the Silk Road on their empire that crossed Central Asia and South Asia. The increased fortunes of the Buddhists saw them modify “the organizations and their organizations to create a world religion.” During the mid-first century to the mid-third century CE, the Kushans controlled had the largest share of trade along the Silk Road allowing them to also spread the Buddhism doctrine to China as well as other Asian countries.[Liu, Xinru. The Silk Road In World History. (2010)]
To entrench Buddhism and spread of the religion, Buddhist caves began to appear in China in the fourth and fifth century. The Mogao caves in Dunhuang City, for instance, were founded in 366 and contained colorful murals and sculptures of Buddha. Objects of worship included “images of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and well-known disciples of the Buddha.” The Buddhist artwork was uniform sharing similar themes from India to Central Asia. Dunhuang City had become the center for Buddhist pilgrimage and learning with other monks flocking to the city and built other caves for mediation and soon spread to the rest of China. The interactions between different cultures along the Silk Road resulted in an increased cultural exchange between them. For example, the Buddha sculptures and paints differed from their Indian counterparts incorporating a mix of different cultures. The Zoroastrian and the Manichaean from Persia influenced the Buddhist art in the Chinese culture resulting in a blended cultural exchange. Buddhism in China traces its history between the first century and the fifth-century interactions between diverse communities via the Silk Road.[Whitfield, Susan, and Ursula Sims-Williams. The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War And Faith. (2004)] [Liu, Xinru. The Silk Road In World History. (2010) p.66]
Apart from Buddhism, other religions were also introduced in China marking the increased influence of the Silk Road. Such include “Nestorian Christianity, a sect persecuted in the West as heretical; Judaism, brought by Jewish merchants who settled in several cities; Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian faith; Manichaeism, a mix of Christianity and Zoroastrianism; and Islam, which became influential in northwest China.” The increased trading and commercial activities between diverse cultures also led to an increase in the spread of religion. The military success of the Arabs in the 8th century created an onset for the spread of Islam to the Chi...