Channel: MONGOLS CHINA AND THE SILK ROAD

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The intimate ruins of Sauran, Kazakhstan

May 2, 2015, 12:33 pm

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From: Caravanistan.com

Just off the highway from Turkestan to Kyzyl Orda, in the province of South Kazakhstan, lies an intriguing reminder of times past. Sauran was once the biggest city in Kazakhstan, but history abandoned it for a new lover. Today, a large, romantic ruins remains.

When entering through the large, lime gates of the city, it’s immediately clear that Sauran was at one point a major node on the Silk Road. The expansive grass-covered ruins have been partly dug out, revealing a sophisticated system of underwater canals that kept this oasis thriving. Some restorative work has been carried out, clarifying the lay-out of the ancient city. sauran-drone

It was one of only a few cities that survived the Mongol onslaught. The city administrators must have learned their lesson from nearby Otrar, which taunted the Mongols and was razed to the ground, with all inhabitants killed. As empires waxed and waned, Sauran adapted, becoming the capital of the Mongol White Horde, and later, a military fortress under Tamerlane.

In the end, people just gradually ditched it, for no other reason than that it was better elsewhere. Nearby Turkestan gained in importance, and Central Asia lost its mojo in general, becoming an easy prey for a rising Russia to take control.
sauran

The walls itself are still many meters high in places, crumbling elsewhere, providing an intimate atmosphere where you will be alone with bird song and cute little turtles, free to let your imagination feel up the passage of time. For now, you will be the only visitor. Unconfirmed claims that Tolkien got the name of the evil lord Sauron (from the tribe of Ainur, which is a local Kazakh tribe) from Lord of the Rings from here have not yet led to a boom in hobbit houses. Yet.

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China Starts New Terra Cotta Army Dig

May 2, 2015, 1:29 pm

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CRI English news.com and arts.cultural-china.com 30 April 2014

Chinese archaeologists started a new excavation of the famous terracotta army site on June 13, 2009, hoping to find more clay figures and unravel some of the mysteries left behind by the "First Emperor".
It was the third excavation in the pit - the first and largest of three pits at the site near Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province -- since 1974 when the terracotta army was discovered by peasants digging a well.

FIRST DAY: "BETTER THAN THOUGHT"

The new dig began at 1 p.m. Saturday, which marks the country's fourth Cultural Heritage Day, and it lasted about five hours on the first day.

"The most important discovery today is two four-horse chariots that are standing in tandem very closely," said Cao Wei, deputy curator of the Qinshihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. "It is the first time for us to find such an existence in the excavation history," Cao said.

In addition, another important discovery was that a few newly-unearthed terracotta warriors were richly colored.

Archaeologists soon used plastic sheets to cover them for protection.

Richly colored clay figures were unearthed from the mausoleum of Qinshihuang in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.- 207 B.C.), the first emperor of a united China, in previous excavations, but once they were exposed to the air they began to lose their luster and turn an oxidized grey.

"From what we have excavated today, the preservation of the cultural relics is better than thought," said Xu Weihong, head of the excavation team.

"Take for instance, the discovery of the richly colored terracotta warriors gave us great confidence.

I believe the future excavation will go smoothly," Xu said.

The 230 by 62-meter pit was believed to contain about 6,000 life-sized terracotta figures, more than 1,000 of which were found in previous excavations, said Wu Yongqi, museum curator.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has approved the museum's dig of 200 square meters of the site this year, Wu said.

Also Saturday, deputy curator Cao told reporters that the state ministration has approved a five-year excavation plan submitted by the museum.

"We plan to dig about 2,000 square meters in the coming five years," Cao said.

NEW DISCOVERIES EXPECTED
Archaeologists hoped they might find a clay figure that appeared to be "in command" of the huge underground army, said Liu Zhancheng, head of the archeological team under the terracotta museum.

"We're hoping to find a clay figure that represented a high-ranking army officer, for example," he told Xinhua earlier.
Liu and his colleagues are also hoping to ascertain the success of decades of preservation efforts to keep the undiscovered terracotta figures intact and retain their original colors.
Most experts believe the pit houses a rectangular army of archers, infantrymen and charioteers that the emperor hoped would help him rule in the afterlife.

But Liu Jiusheng, a Chinese historian in Xi'an, claims it was an army of servants and bodyguards rather than warriors.
His argument is still not widely accepted by other terracotta experts.
The army is still known to most Chinese people as the "terracotta warriors and horses."
The army was one of the greatest archeological finds of modern times.
It was discovered in Lintong county, 35 km east of Xi'an, in 1974 by peasants who were digging a well.
The first formal excavation of the site lasted for six years from 1978 to 1984 and produced 1,087 clay figures.
A second excavation, in 1985, lasted a year and was cut short for technical reasons.
The discovery, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO in December 1987, has turned Xi'an into one of China's major tourist attractions.

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Vorgeschichte und Historie von Kasachstan

May 3, 2015, 12:33 am

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Archäologie schreibt Geschichte

Neue Zürcher Zeitung Christoph Baumer 11.4.2015

Ein hölzerner Greif mit einem Tier im Schnabel, 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr., aus Pazyryk. (Bild: Bridgemanart)

Bis zum 10. Jahrhundert existierten in Kasachstan nur schriftlose Kulturen. Das Land beheimatet indes einen wahren Schatz an vielfältigen materiellen Sachkulturen, die von der Archäologie zum Sprechen gebracht werden.

In Ländern ohne eine weit in die Vergangenheit reichende Historiografie kommt der Archäologie eine führende Rolle zu, wenn es um die Rekonstruktion der eigenen Geschichte geht. Dies gilt auch für Kasachstan, wo es bis zur graduellen Islamisierung der südlichen Gebiete ab dem 10. Jahrhundert nur schriftlose Kulturen gab. Ausnahmen sind ein Einzelfund mit ein paar nicht entschlüsselten runenähnlichen Zeichen und ein weiterer Einzelfund frühsogdischer Inschriften. Ältere schriftliche Zeugnisse beschränken sich auf knappe Erwähnungen in Proklamationen fremder Herrscher und in Chroniken ausländischer Historiker. Zerstörungen durch Invasoren wie Dschingis Khan um 1219/20, Timur Lenkh nach 1370 und die buddhistischen Zungaren im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert verwandelten zudem zahllose architektonische Zeugnisse in stumme Schutthalden. Kurz: Ohne Archäologie gäbe es keine Geschichte Kasachstans, bloss Legenden und Überlieferungen.

Drei Klimazonen

Kasachstan, das mit 2,7 Millionen Quadratkilometern Fläche fünfundsechzig Mal grösser als die Schweiz ist, aber nur doppelt so viele Einwohner zählt, beheimatet einen wahren Schatz an vielfältigen materiellen Sachkulturen. Das Land besitzt seit Jahrtausenden drei Klimazonen – ganz im Norden einen schmalen Gürtel Waldsteppe mit anschliessender halbtrockener Steppe, im mittleren Bereich Wüstensteppe, im Südwesten Wüste und im Südosten Wüste und Gebirgszüge. Die unterschiedlichen Klimatypen führten zu verschiedenen Ökonomieformen wie Jagd- und Sammelwirtschaft, sesshafter Landwirtschaft, mobiler Viehzucht sowie urbanem Handel. Infolge von Klimaschwankungen, die sich mittels Bohrkernen von Seesedimenten, Analyse von Wachstumsringen an Bäumen und Pollensequenzen aus Mooren rekonstruieren lassen, verschoben sich die Grenzen der Klimazonen. Daher kann die Archäologie in einer bestimmten Region auf Relikte unterschiedlicher Wirtschafts- und Lebensformen stossen. Die Einwanderung verschiedenster Völker trug zusätzlich zur kulturellen Vielfalt bei.

Die Archäologie Kasachstans ist eng mit der Archäologie Südsibiriens verknüpft. Denn es waren Geografen, Bergbauprospektoren und Botaniker, die von russischen Zaren nach Sibirien und Nordkasachstan ausgesandt wurden und ab dem frühen 18. Jahrhundert «nebenbei» Informationen über vergangene Kulturen sammelten. Entscheidende Impulse gingen von Zar Peter dem Grossen (Regierungszeit 1696–1725) aus, der befahl, in Gräbern entdeckte Goldobjekte nicht einzuschmelzen, sondern zum wissenschaftlichen Studium nach St. Petersburg zu schicken und Skizzen der Fundorte anzufertigen. Damit versuchte Zar Peter, die seit Jahrhunderten grassierende Grabräuberei zu unterbinden. Als Erster führte der deutsche Botaniker und Geograf D. G. Messerschmidt im Jahr 1722 im südsibirischen Minusinsker Becken Ausgrabungen an einigen Kurganen (Hügelgräbern) skythischer Reiterkrieger durch, wobei er feststellen musste, dass hier Grabräuber am Werk gewesen waren. Der schwedische Kriegsgefangene Philipp Johann von Strahlenberg, der ihn begleitete, publizierte im Jahr 1730 einen Teil der Forschungsergebnisse Messerschmidts und berichtete als Erster von runenähnlichen Zeichen auf mannshohen Steinstelen. Er erkannte, dass diese «Runenschrift» nicht mit den germanischen Runen verwandt war, und vermutete eine Entwicklung aus «parthischen Buchstaben», wodurch er ganz richtig einen Zusammenhang mit der sogdischen bzw. aramäischen Schrift herstellte. Damit begründete Strahlenberg die Archäologie der skythischen und alttürkischen Kulturen.

Eiskurgane

Als «Vater der Archäologie» Kasachstans gilt Vasily V. Radlov, der im Jahr 1865 in Berel im Norden Kasachstans sogenannte Eiskurgane des 5. bis 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. erforschte. Eiskurgane entstehen, wenn nach einer Bestattung Wasser in die Grabkammer fliesst und zu einer kompakten Eislinse gefriert, die alle organischen Stoffe umschliesst und sie vor der Vermoderung bewahrt. Da die Steinaufschüttung über der Grabkammer die Wärme der Sonneneinstrahlung schlecht leitet, verhindert sie ein Auftauen der Eislinse bis zum Moment der Graböffnung. Radlov ging wenig zimperlich vor: «Der Boden war festgefroren. Ich liess trockenes Holz herbeischaffen, auf dem Boden der Grabhöhle aufschichten und dasselbe anzünden, darauf die obere, aufgetaute Schicht der Erde entfernen» – heute würde man die gesamte Eislinse aus der Erde sägen und ins nächste Kühlhaus fliegen. Spätere Ausgrabungen in Berel durch den kasachischen Archäologen Zajnolla Samashev in den Jahren 1998–2001 brachten einen reichen Fund der vorchristlichen reiternomadischen Skythen (Saken) ans Licht. Auffallend waren die Bestattungen geopferter Pferde, die Ledermasken mit einem mit Blattgold umwickelten Hirsch- oder Steinbockgeweih trugen. Vereinzelt sass zudem ein Raubvogel oder Greif zwischen den Ohren der Maske. Damit erhielten die Pferde, die den Totenwagen zogen, auf magische Weise zusätzlich die Attribute der anderen Tiere, die im theriomorphen Weltbild der Skythen eine herausragende Rolle spielten. Die Opferung von Pferden, die man mit artfremden Attributen versah, war schon bei den Vorfahren der Saken ein verbreiteter Brauch, wie sich an den bronzezeitlichen Petroglyphen (Steineinritzungen) von Tamgaly im Süden Kasachstans erkennen lässt.

«Gold hütende Greifen»

In Berel und in Pazyryk im benachbarten russischen Altai fand man mehrere einst mit Blattgold überzogene Holzfiguren von Greifen sowie knöcherne Zierstücke vom Pferdezaumzeug in Gestalt zweier einander gegenüberstehender Greifenköpfe; diese Funde erinnern an Herodot, der die im goldreichen Altai Kasachstans und Sibiriens lebenden Skythen als «Gold hütende Greifen» bezeichnete. Das Greifenmotiv findet sich auch prominent im skythischen Schmuck und erinnert an die etwa gleichaltrigen Greifenprotome der achämenidischen Kapitelle von Persepolis – die damaligen Saken standen nachweislich in Kontakt mit den Achämeniden. Zudem zeigten anthropologische Untersuchungen an mumifizierten Toten, dass in den Kurganen früheisenzeitlicher Skythen europide Menschen dominierten, in den späteren Gräbern aber mongolide Elemente überwogen, was auf eine entsprechende Einwanderung von Mongoliden hinweist.

Während die bedeutenden kasachischen Nekropolen von Tasmola, Taldy und Cilikty zur früh- und mittelsakischen Gruppe gehören, die Parallelen zum Fürstenkurgan Arzhan 2 in Tuva aufweist, zählen die Nekropolen von Berel, Bessatyr und Issyk östlich von Almaty zur jüngeren sakischen Gruppe. Als der berühmte kasachische Archäologe Kemal Akishev (1924–2003) im Jahr 1969/70 einen der 67 Kurgane von Issyk ausgrub, war zwar die zentrale Grabkammer geplündert, doch eine Nebenkammer barg die unangetastete Bestattung eines jungen Saka-Fürsten in prachtvoller Kleidung. Der «Goldene Mann von Issyk» aus dem 5. Jahrhundert v. Chr. trug eine rote Jacke und rote Stiefel, die mit Tausenden aufgenähten Goldplättchen geschmückt waren. Auffallend war die spitz zulaufende, etwa 60 Zentimeter lange Kopfbedeckung. Zuoberst stand eine goldene Steinbockfigur, darunter folgten goldüberzogene Figürchen (gehörnte oder geflügelte Pferde, auf Bäumen sitzende Vögel, Schneeleoparden vor dem Hintergrund schroffer Bergspitzen und Steinböcke) sowie vier 30 Zentimeter lange goldüberzogene Pfeile. Der junge Fürst trug die wichtigsten Elemente des mythischen Universums der Saken auf seinem Haupt. Der hohe Kopfputz weist nicht nur Ähnlichkeiten auf zu Funden aus dem russischen Altai, sondern er war auch bei weiter westlich lebenden Skythen verbreitet. Die persischen Achämeniden nannten einen östlich des Kaspischen Meers lebenden Stammesverband Saka tigraxauda, die «spitzmützigen Saken», und Herodot schrieb: «Die skythischen Saken trugen auf dem Kopf eine spitz zulaufende Mütze, aufrecht und steif».

Bis heute nicht entziffert

Der Fund einer silbernen Schale mit einer runenartigen Inschrift in zwei Zeilen in Issyk war ebenfalls einzigartig. Es handelt sich um die älteste bekannte sakische Inschrift, und bis heute hat man sie nicht entziffert; die Zeichen weisen eine entfernte Ähnlichkeit mit ein Jahrtausend späteren alttürkischen Inschriften aus der Mongolei und aus Südsibirien auf. Die zweitältesten Schriftdokumente Kasachstans wurden zwischen 1992 und 2006 im Süden bei Kultobe am Fluss Arys, einem Nebenfluss des mittleren Syr Darya, gefunden. Es handelt sich um dreizehn Fragmente und zwei fast vollständige Texte auf Tontafeln, die mit frühsogdischen Schriftzeichen in frühsogdischer Sprache beschrieben sind. Wie der kasachische Archäologe Aleksander Podushkin feststellen musste, waren die ersten Tontafeln schon in den 1940er Jahren aufgetaucht. Doch weil die leseunkundigen Einheimischen diese als Koranverse interpretierten und damals der Besitz eines Korans den Argwohn der kommunistischen Behörden provozieren konnte, wurden die Tonepigramme im unterirdischen Mauerwerk muslimischer Gräber weiterverwendet, was deren archäologische Ausgrabung ausschliesst. Diese Inschriften aus dem späten 2. oder frühen 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. sind nicht nur mindestens hundert Jahre älter als die 1907 im Lop Nor, Xinjiang, entdeckten «alten sogdischen Briefe», die bis anhin als die frühesten sogdischen Schriftdokumente galten, sondern sie berichten auch, dass Kultobe von der sogdischen Tetrapolis Samarkand, Buchara, Kisch (Shahrisabz) und Qarschi gegründet wurde, mit Unterstützung von Schasch (Taschkent).

Millionen wildlebender Pferde

Weniger spektakulär, aber wissenschaftlich mindestens ebenso bedeutend wie die Funde von Issyk war die vom kasachischen Archäologen Victor Zaibert in den 1980er Jahren erforschte Jäger- und frühe Viehzüchterkultur von Botai, die ins Chalkolithikum (Kupfersteinzeit) datiert. Bei Botai im Nordosten Kasachstans entdeckte Zaibert nicht nur eine Siedlung von 150 runden und ovalen Grubenhäusern, deren kuppelförmige Dächer mit Rasensoden bedeckt waren, sondern auch die Knochen von 70 000 Pferden. Im 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. herrschte im Norden Kasachstans ein feuchteres Klima als heute, und die Steppe ernährte Millionen wildlebender Pferde. Die Menschen der Botai-Kultur jagten die Pferde für ihr Fleisch und begannen auch, sie zu züchten. Spuren einfacher Wangenstücke und Abnützungsspuren an Gebissen lassen vermuten, dass ab etwa 3500 v. Chr. primitive Schnur- oder Knochentrensen verwendet wurden, was auf zugerittene Pferde schliessen lässt. Die klimatische Austrocknung Nordkasachstans, die in der zweiten Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr. begann, setzte dieser besonderen Wirtschaftsform ein Ende und leitete in die Zucht von Hornvieh und Pferden sowie eine einfache Landwirtschaft über.

Berichte geologischer Prospektoren begründeten in den 1920er Jahren die Montanarchäologie Kasachstans, die die vielen und reichen Gold-, Kupfer und Zinnminen erforschte. Dank den immensen Zinnvorkommen in Ostkasachstan und den damals beinahe unerschöpflichen Holzreserven zur Erzverarbeitung setzte ab etwa 2000 v. Chr. eine Produktion qualitativ hochstehender Waffen aus Zinnbronze ein, die der Arsenbronze überlegen war. Zinn und Zinnbronze waren begehrte Handelsgüter, so dass zwei Jahrtausende vor der klassischen Seidenstrasse eine Zinnstrasse nach Westen, Süden und nach Nordwestchina entstand.

Die von sogdischen Einwanderern initiierte Urbanisierung im Einzugsgebiet des Flusses Syr Darya wurde durch den Zweig der Seidenstrasse, der China mit Byzanz verband, beschleunigt. Als die turksprachigen Reiternomaden der Oghuzen in den 770er Jahren ihre zwischen Baikalsee und Altai gelegene Heimat verliessen und sich am Unterlauf des Syr Darya niederliessen, förderten sie den Handel; deshalb zerstörten sie die dortigen Städte nicht, sondern erweiterten sie. In den späteren 1940er Jahren erkundete der sowjetische Archäologe Sergei Tolstov einige Städte der Oghuzen. Auf seinen Spuren erforschen kasachische Archäologen wie Karl Baipakov und Dmitri Voyakin die im ehemaligen Flussdelta liegenden «Sumpfstädte» wie beispielsweise Juvara, das heutige Kesken Kyuyuk Kala. Die dortige Ausgrabung wird von der schweizerischen Gesellschaft zur Erforschung EurAsiens mitfinanziert. Um Juvara handelte es sich vermutlich auch bei der Stadt Chauriana, die der römische Historiker Ammianus Marcellinus (etwa 330 – etwa 395/400) erwähnt.

Systematische Erforschung

Die systematische Erforschung der mittelalterlichen Städte Kasachstans begründete der kasachische Archäologe und Ethnograf Alkey Margulan (1904–1985). Seine Arbeit wird heute in der archäologischen Ausgrabung der mittelalterlichen islamischen Städte Otrar (samt ihren Satelliten), Kayalyk, Sauran, Taraz, Aktobe, Kyzyl Kala und Zhaiyk fortgeführt. Dank der Archäologie ist Kasachstan kein geschichtsloses, auf fremde Quellen angewiesenes Land, sondern es entdeckt immer neue Aspekte seiner reichen Vergangenheit.

Dr. Christoph Baumer ist Kulturforscher, Gründer und Präsident der Gesellschaft zur Erforschung EurAsiens sowie Buchautor. Vor kurzem ist der zweite Band seiner vierbändigen, englischsprachigen «History of Central Asia» (Verlag I. B. Tauris, London) erschienen.

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Exhibition in Europe Sets Chinese Villagers in Pursuit of Lost Icon

May 4, 2015, 1:21 am

≫ Next: Comparing China and India in the 9th century

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The New York Times by Ami Qin 3 May 2015

YANGCHUN, China — One day in March, Lin Yongtuan was on his lunch break scrolling through the news on his phone when a story with an interesting photo caught his eye. Researchers in Europe had made a remarkable discovery: the nearly 1,000-year-old mummified body of a monk encased in a statue.

Mr. Lin rushed to this lush mountain village in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, where he had grown up praying to a similar statue that was believed to hold a monk’s remains. He passed around the photo, which showed a gilded Buddhist figure sitting cross-legged, shoulders slightly hunched forward, the corners of his lips turned slightly upward in a faint smile.

The villagers all agreed: It was the same statue. They called it the Zhanggong Patriarch, and it had been stolen from Yangchun 20 years earlier. Now it seemed to have resurfaced halfway around the world in a museum in Budapest.

“Everyone in the village was so excited,” said Mr. Lin, 46, who works at a financial services firm in a nearby city. “The smile, the eyes, his posture — it was unmistakable.”

In the weeks since then, the 1,800 residents of Yangchun have been on a mission to get their mummy back. They have welcomed journalists to the village, appealed for help on social media and lobbied government officials. A native of Yangchun working as a cook in Budapest was recruited to check out the statue in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, where it was on display as part of a mummy exhibit. Then villagers organized simultaneous prayer readings at their temple and at the museum to celebrate the discovery and draw attention to their cause. Hundreds turned out, and fireworks lit up the night sky at the temple.

The village’s demand has been embraced by the Chinese government, which has stepped up efforts to reclaim looted cultural relics that ended up abroad. On April 16, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that it had contacted the mummy’s Dutch owner, whom it did not identify, and begun discussions about returning it.

It will be difficult to determine with certainty whether the mummy, which has been removed from the museum exhibit, is truly the missing Zhanggong Patriarch.

“Unlike the big museums, where everything is very well documented, holdings of temples and local small museums have very poor records, if any at all,” said Stefan Gruber, an associate professor at Kyoto University in Japan who studies cultural heritage law and art crime in Asia. “The world is a big place, and if an object is not included in an international database, for example, how would you even find this object? Where do you even start looking? Usually once these things are gone, they are gone forever.”

The people of Yangchun hope their case will be an exception. On a recent afternoon, residents milled about and chatted with visitors in the village temple, a massive structure with thick wooden columns supporting a gently sloping, gray-tiled roof. Red vertical banners with handwritten poems appealing for good fortune hung inside, and smoke from burning incense filled the air. An electronic billboard flashing the temple’s name signified the hamlet’s relative prosperity, which villagers attribute to the tea farms that have replaced subsistence agriculture in recent years.

On the main altar stood a crude replica of the Zhanggong Patriarch, dark gray instead of gold, overlooking a table where residents had laid out evidence to support their claim to the statue: several photos of it taken in 1989 and the clothes that had adorned the figure and were left behind by whoever made off with it in 1995. A faded gold crown sat among the rags.

Villagers acknowledged that it was difficult to say that the statue in their photos was an exact match with the one exhibited in Hungary because the Zhanggong Patriarch was rarely displayed in their temple without clothes or a crown. Still, they are convinced they have the right mummy.

“To us, Zhanggong Patriarch is not a cultural relic,” said Lin Wenqing, 39, who returned from selling tea in the southern region of Guangxi when he heard the statue had been found. “We see him as family. He is one of us.”

Before its theft, residents prayed to the Zhanggong Patriarch at every important event in the village, including the harvest. Once a year, they took the statue down from the altar and paraded it through the village, visiting each house. And on the fifth day of the 10th lunar month — believed to be the mummified monk’s birthday — the village celebrated with a festival featuring performances and a bountiful vegetarian feast.

These traditions appear to go back centuries, passed down from generation to generation along with tales of the patriarch as a boy with the surname Zhang who moved to the village with his mother, worked as a cowherd and became a monk.

“They always told us that he lived during the Song dynasty,” said Lin Chengfa, 44, “and that inside the statue was his mummified corpse.”

Mr. Lin, who was part of the police unit that responded in December 1995 when the statue disappeared, recalled that several villagers wept outside the temple that morning. Especially upset were older residents, some of whom had gone to great lengths to protect the statue during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, when the Communist Party smashed such relics and sought to stamp out ancient traditions as obstacles to socialist progress.

“We dug holes to hide him, and sometimes we would hide him in people’s houses,” Lin Chuanlong, 73, said of the mummy during an interview at his home in a neighboring village. “We were under a lot of pressure during those years. Sometimes we would even move him twice in one night.”

Villagers in Yangchun, China, last month in front of a gray replica of a missing statue believed to hold an ancient monk’s remains. CreditGilles Sabrie for The New York Times

Village records, which trace the histories of families in Yangchun, most of whom share the surname Lin, include references to the Zhanggong Patriarch from as early as the Song dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1279.

Mummification was a sign of eminence among monks of the Chan school of Buddhism during that era, and Fujian Province was a center of Chan Buddhism, said James Robson, a Harvard professor who has written about the alleged theft of another Chinese mummy by a Japanese traveler in the early 20th century.

Only a few mummies are likely to have survived the vicissitudes of Chinese politics, he said, and some may still be hidden in statues in museum collections around the world.

When contacted on the networking site LinkedIn last month, the Dutch architect Oscar van Overeem publicly acknowledged for the first time that he owned the mummy in dispute. He has said he purchased the statue in 1996 from a collector in Amsterdam who had acquired it in Hong Kong.

Workers restoring the statue realized something might be inside, and Mr. van Overeem decided to get a CT scan, which revealed the mummy. But he insists that his statue is not the Zhanggong Patriarch.

“I have convinced the Chinese representatives easily with facts and research that the villagers’ claim is unjustified or unlikely,” he wrote via LinkedIn. “However, meanwhile, my mummy has become a political issue — if I like it or not.”

Mr. van Overeem wrote that he had reached a tentative agreement to donate the mummy to “a major Buddhist temple” near Yangchun, which he referred to as a village that “pretends the mummy belongs to them.” An unidentified foundation will offer him some compensation for what he has invested in the statue and in researching its history, he said.

He added that he was letting go of the mummy because he believed it deserved to return to its homeland “to be incorporated in truly Buddhist surroundings” and worshiped “by those who love and appreciate him.”

The mummy’s well-being may be the only issue on which Mr. van Overeem and the villagers of Yangchun agree.

“We want our Zhanggong Patriarch back so we can pray to him and worship him,” said Lin Wenqing, the tea salesman. “Not so that some collector can keep him in a cold basement or in a museum display case.”

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Comparing China and India in the 9th century

May 4, 2015, 1:55 am

≫ Next: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

≪ Previous: Exhibition in Europe Sets Chinese Villagers in Pursuit of Lost Icon

From: Medievalist.net May 3, 2015

While Europeans knew little about India and China in the Early Middle Ages, the Arab world had more contacts with these Asian countries. As sailors, merchants and travellers headed to the east, they returned with bits of knowledge. In the late ninth-century a writer named Abu Zad al-Sirafi made a compilation of notes and stories from this part of the world, entitled Accounts of China and India.

Late 16th century map showing China and India - Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598)

The text offers a rich description of these lands, as well as other parts of Asia, and includes interesting stories such as one about a man from Basra who upon seeing a ship bound for China was “seized by a sudden desire that caused him, as was fated, to travel to China aboard the ship.” He eventually would have an audience with the Chinese Emperor and be given a lot of money for his return journey.

Much of the text gives details that would have been interesting to merchants, including goods that could be bought and sold, what was necessary to travel around these countries, and even bankruptcy laws. It also offers insights into the daily life in those countries, including one of the first ever references to the use of toilet paper.

Here is one excerpt that explains what people wore and ate in China:

The Chinese, whether young or old, wear silk in both winter and summer. Their ruling classes wear the finest silk; other classes whatever quality they can afford. In winter, the men wear two pairs of trousers, or three, four, five, or even more pairs, according to what they can afford. This they do in order to keep the lower parts of their bodies warm, on account of the prevalence of damp and fear of its ill effects. In summer they wear a single gown of silk, or something of that sort. They do not wear turbans.

Their staple food is rice. They often cook a sauce to go with it, which they pour on the rice before eating it. Their ruling classes, however, eat wheat bread and flesh of all sorts of animals, including pigs and other such creatures. They have various kinds of fruits – apples, peaches, citrons, pomegranates, quinces, pears, bananas, sugarcane, watermelons, figs, grapes, serpent melons, cucumbers, jujubes, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachioes, plums, apricots, serviceberries, and coconuts. Not many date palms are to be found in China, except for the occasional specimen in the garden of a private house. Their drink is a wine made from rice. Grape wine is not to be found in their land, and it is never imported – indeed, they do not know of it and do not drink it. From rice they manufacture vinegar, wine, jellied sweetmeats, and other such products.

The Chinese are unhygienic, and they do not wash their backsides with water after defecating but merely wipe themselves with Chinese paper. They eat carrion and similar things, just as the Magians do; in fact, their religion resembles that of the Magians. Their womenfolk leave their heads uncovered but put combs in their hair, a single woman often wearing twenty combs of ivory and other such materials. Their menfolk, however, cover their heads with something like a cap. In dealing with thieves, their practice is to put them to death if they are caught.

Later on in the text, the Chinese and Indians are compared. Here are a few of the comparisons:

The Chinese are fond of musical entertainments; the Indians, however, regard entertainments as shameful and never indulge in them. They do not drink intoxicating drink, either, nor do they consume vinegar, because it is produced from such drink. This is a case not of religious belief of disapproval. They say, ‘A king who drinks is not a king at all,” the reason being that, in most Indian states, they are surrounded by their neighbouring kings who make war on them, so they say “How can someone run a kingdom properly if he is drunk?”

The Chinese use wood to build their walls, while the Indians build in stone, gypsum plaster, brick, and mud; these materials are however sometimes used in China also. Neither the Chinese nor the Indians are users of carpets.

The Indians let their beards grow long, and I have often seen an Indian with a beard three cubits in length. Also, they do not clip their moustaches. In contrast, most Chinese men are beardless by nature, for the most part. When someone in India suffers a bereavement, he shaves his head and his beard.

Both the Chinese and the Indians assert that their idols speak to them, when, in reality, it is their temple servants who speak to them.

India is greater in extent than China, several times so, and has a greater number of kings. China, though, is more densely inhabited and cultivated.

The Chinese have no native tradition of religious learning, in fact their religion came from India. They maintain that it was the Indians who introduced idols to their land and that they, the Indians, were the original people of religion. In both lands, they believe in the transmigration of souls as a basic tenet, although they differ on the resulting details of dogma.

India is the land of medicine and of philosophers; the Chinese also have medical knowledge. Most of their medicine involves therapeutic burning. In addition, they have a knowledge of astronomy and astrology, although this is more widespread in India. I do not know of a single member of either race who is a Muslim and Arabic is not spoken.

The Indians possess few horses; they are more common in China. The Chinese, however, do not possess elephants and do not let them remain in their land, as they regard them as ill-omened.

China is more salubrious and finer land than India. In most of the land of India there is no urban settlements, but everywhere you go in China they have a great walled city. Also, China is a healthier country, with fewer diseases and better air: the blind, the one-eyed, and the deformed are seldom seen there, although in India there are plenty of them.

The Chinese are better-looking than the Indians and more like Arabs in their dress and in their choice of mounts; in fact, their style of clothing when they ride out in public is quite similar to that of the Arabs, for they wear long tunics and belts. The Indians, however, wear two waist cloths and adorn themselves with bangles of gold and jewels, the men as well as the women.

You can read a full translation of this text in Two Arabic Travel Books, edited and translated by James E. Montgomery, which is part of New York University Press’ Library of Arabic Literature.

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The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

May 5, 2015, 1:23 am

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Yesterday I went to the first lecture from Jessica Rawson "Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia" in Leiden.

What a pleasure this proved to be. Jessica Rawson is such a power lady once she starts talking. Very eloquent and with a clear voice it's impossible to miss a syllable she says.

In this first of 4 lectures she gives in Leiden this week she tells a story about Ancient China and its neighbours among which the nomad people who lived on the steppes with a clear helicopter view which makes everything she says easy to place and to understand and which makes that at the end of her talk you don't remember some long list of details and nice pictures but that you have a clear picture of what she really wanted you to understand and you to have a clear picture of.

Tomorrow, the 6th of May is her second lecture in this serie " The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the Steppe in the First Millennium BC" again in Leiden, now in the Academy Building of the University, Rapenburg 67- 73.

Don't miss it if you live in Holland or in the vicinity of Leiden:

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

As riding on horseback changed the structure of the lives and warfare of the mobile peoples in Eurasia, all settled states, including central China, were forced to adapt to these challenges and change their own methods of warfare, affecting also society as a whole.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

The last two lectures in this serie from Jessica Rawson are on Friday the 8th of May in Leiden, 16.00 hours and on Saturday the 9th of may in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam at 14.30 hours (for more information, read the following announcement below)

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, DBE, DLitt, FBA Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford will deliver a series of lectures in Leiden and Amsterdam between 4-9 May 2015.

Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, DBE, DLitt, FBA is Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford. Her research interests involve the archaeology of China and Inner Asia, early Chinese material culture as evidence for religious concepts and beliefs, the development and function of ornament in all parts of Eurasia. Currently, Professor Rawson works on interactions between central China and Inner Asia in the Zhou (c. 1045- 221 BC), Qin (221-210 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD220) periods; on the structure and contents of Chinese tombs; and on exoticism in the Han to Tang periods (200 BC-AD900).

Selected Publications

Treasures of Ancient China, Bronzes and Jades from Shanghai, London, 2009With Evelyn Rawski (eds), China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, London Royal Academy Publications, 2005

Chinese Jade, from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum Press, London 1995.

Chinese Ornament, the Lotus and the Dragon. London: British Museum Publications, 1984.

Some recent articles “Carnelian Beads, Animal Figures and Exotic Vessels: Traces of Contact between the Chinese States and Inner Asia, c. 1000-650BC.” Archäologie in China, vol. 1, Bridging Eurasia, 2010, pp. 1-42.

“Reviving Ancient Ornament and the presence of the Past: Examples from Shang and Zhou Bronze Vessels” in Wu Hung (ed.), Reinventing the Past: Archaism and Antiquarianism in Chinese Art and Visual Culture, Chicago: 2010 pp. 47-76.

“The Chinese Hill Censer, boshanlu: a note on Origins, Influences and Meanings”. Ars Asiatiques, Volume en homage á Madame Michéle Pirazzoli t’Serstevens, Vol. 61 2006, pp. 75-86.

“Novelties in Antiquarian Revivals: The Case of the Chinese Ritual Bronzes”, National Palace Museum Research Quarterly vol.22, no.1, Autumn, 2004, pp. 1-34

Published Books 2010
Rawson, J. , (2010), Hung, W. (ed.), Reinventing the Past: Archaism and Antiquarianism in Chinese Art and Visual Culture, Chicago, The Centre for the Art of East Asia, University of Chicago, Art Meia, Resources

Rawson, J., & Gorransson, K. (eds.), (2010), China’s Terracotta Army, Stockholm, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities

2009
Rawson, J., (2009), Treasures from Shanghai: ancient Chinese bronzes and jades, British Museum Press

Contributions to Edited Books
2010 Rawson, J., (2010), Carnelian beads, animal figures and exotic vessels: traces of contact between the Chinese states and Inner Asia, c. 1000–650BC. : in “Archaeologie in China, Vol. 1, Bridging Eurasia, pp 1–42, Beijing branch of the German Institute of Archaeology, Berlin.

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

This talk will introduce my overarching ideas and show how I apply them in different periods to illustrate the ways in which central China was forced to interact, especially with the northern neighbours, introducing new technologies, artefacts and ideas, which China then changed and adapted within Chinese frameworks.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the National Museum of Ethnology

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

The early Chinese did not make use of either sculpture and stone, major features of Western Asian city culture. Following the innovations of the First Emperor and the creation of the Terracotta Warriors, which owed their inspiration to both Western Asia and the steppe, the Han emperors adopted both the sculpture and stone, primarily in burial contexts. These innovations then filtered down to lower levels of the elite, but again in the context of tombs.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

The Tang period is renowned for its glittering court and the so-called Silk Road, bringing many merchants and foreign goods to the capital, Chang’an. The talk will illustrate the very fine artefacts of this period, but will also consider a much wider context. The Tang were embattled with several Turkish empires, at that period occupying large areas of the steppe. The Chinese were forced to purchase horses to engage with these mounted warriors, and they paid for the horses, which indeed came from the steppe, in silk. This silk drove the silk trade, mainly in the hands of an Iranian people, the Sogdians. Today we have much evidence from archaeological excavations of the lives of the Sogdians who settled in China in the sixth to eighth century. the talk will present the fascinating scenes of these merchants and officials that are documented in carvings on their coffins buried at the capital cities of the Tang. The Tang period, renowned for its art and poetry, is now much better known and even more colourful for the multiple engagements that we now know the court had with its neighbours.

Time: 14.30-16.00 hrs
Venue: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

16.00-17.00: Drinks at the Rijksmuseum

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

The events are organized by Asian Modernities and Traditions. Everyone welcome!

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Buddhism and the transmission of medical knowledge along the Silk Road

May 5, 2015, 6:40 am

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Official Groovy Historian MAY 3, 2015 BY GRETAMILENOVA

A few centuries before the rise of Buddhism in India, healing was seen and practised in a more religious and even magical way. This was mainly because illness and other misfortunes were generally believed to be caused by magical powers, such as evil spirits. Hence, ancient Indians chanted various incantations and repeated prayers in order to overcome such maladies. The beginning of medical theory and practice can be traced back to the Indian ascetic movements, and namely, Buddhism. We know that Buddhism developed in India 2500 years ago. The revolutionary teaching spread to the rest of the world in waves. The first of those, known as Theravada, spread to Southeast Asia. Mahayana, or “the Big Vehicle” advanced to China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. With the Buddhist doctrine there emerged a new type of medical practice. Healing, after all, is at the very core of Buddhist tradition. The Buddha said: “Both in the past and now, I set forth only this: suffering and the end of suffering.”[1] The goal of eliminating human suffering, as well as compassion and hope, are in the centre of Buddhist beliefs. When we think of the transmission of knowledge it is important to take into account a number of factors. Most importantly, the construction and movement of knowledge should always be studied in the relevant context. When Buddhism moved to the East or to the West, some of its characteristics would inevitably be lost or misunderstood. The experience and influence of Buddhist teachings were bound to be received differently from culture to culture, depending on individual indigenous beliefs and traditions.

Buddhism is considered to be essential for the transmission of knowledge and ideas along the Silk Road. Religious and philosophical ideas, as well as economy, material culture etc. were among the aspects of Buddhist influence. Buddhism was transmitted along the Silk Road through trade and commerce, but also emigration and religious missions, as well as brides who brought with them various texts to their new homes. The first Indian refugees who moved to China brought their script and technologies, but also their faith and all it represented.[2] Meyer writes that missionaries spread not only the teachings of the “Enlightened One”, but also the various sciences related to Buddhism.[3] Along with Buddhist texts and practices, Indian medical knowledge also travelled along the Silk Road. Buddhism is one of earliest examples of intercultural exchange and spread widely during the first millennium AD. This movement was very well documented, with thousands of manuscripts surviving till today. Healing always had a central place in Buddhist doctrine. Hagiographies filled with Buddhist monks who had the knowledge of healing represented the Boddhisatva ideal of healing the sick and other acts of compassion. Meyer suggests that the healing played an important part in the diffusion of Buddhism throughout Asia, bringing Indian medical practices all to way to the Far East and being an important part behind the diffusion of Buddhist knowledge and the wide spread and conversion from existing doctrines.[4] There is evidence that the early Buddhist monasteries had what was called a “sick room”, which later might have expanded to more formal medical establishments. At first, Buddhist monks were predominantly concerned with the healing of their fellow monks, but later on they started helping the laity.[5] It is certain that medicine’s close ties with Buddhism cannot be overlooked. It could be argued that before Buddhism there was not an official theoretical medical doctrine in India: healing was performed through ritual and ancient Indians had very basic understanding of anatomy and the use of a number of herbs. The wandering ascetics began collecting medical knowledge that, in turn, became the traditional Indian medical doctrine Ayurveda. This suggests that medicine is indeed very strongly connected with Buddhism and medical knowledge spread along with the Buddhist philosophy. Primary sources such as the Sutra of the Master of Medicines Buddha indicate how important healing was for the early Buddhists. Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, was a key figure in Buddhist belief. In the Sutra of the Master of Medicine it is indicated that the devotee should have faith in Bhaisajyaguru, but also trust in their own “will power”. The sutra provides promise of protection against disease and other personal misfortunes. In Japan, people began worshipping the Medicine Master Buddha as soon as Buddhism reached the country. Medicine plays a major part in Japan’s accumulation of the new doctrine. Belief in the deity is still strong today with practices including praying and touching a statue of the Medicine Buddha where they feel an ailment believing that it has healing properties. Salguero argues that a number of such Buddhist medical texts reached Japan and Korea from China, thus forming the foundations of Buddhist medical practice across the whole of East Asia.[6]

Medicine is considered to be one of the five Buddhist fields of knowledge, along with logic, grammar, and the arts. It could be argued that the visual arts are extremely important for the circulation of Buddhist ideas. After all, art is universal, and we have numerous evidence of how important visual art was in the transmission of Buddhism and its ideas. Examples include medical paintings, found in abundance in various sites on the Silk Road, as well as thousands of medical manuscripts translated in different Silk Road languages. Some examples include Niya, Kucha, and Dunhuang, which are all important stops on the Silk Road. The Library cave in Dunhuang was a monastic storehouse filled with documents in various Eurasian languages, including texts on medicine. Dunhuang was also an important pilgrimage centre. The Buddhist scrolls and wall murals found there date from 5th century to early 11th century. This would indicate that the Buddhist librarians were collecting Buddhist texts during the whole second half of the first millennium and translating them into Chinese from Sanskrit and Tibetan, as well as Khotanese, Uighur, and Sogdian. This suggests the magnificent scope of the popularity of Buddhism along Eurasia.[7] The 5th century Buddhist monk Sengyou wrote, “with translation there is transmission; without translation there is but obscurity.”[8] This belief must have been held by the rest of the Buddhist monks living along the Silk Road, because the work and attention put into the translation of thousand of documents, is wholly monumental. Salguero introduces the term Buddhist medicine to mean a “collection of ideas and practices that originated in the Indo-European context but was modified and expanded as a result of cross-cultural interactions during the vigorous geographical expansion of Buddhism”.[9] Of course, similarly to the transmission of religious beliefs and material culture, the interpretation and local reception of Buddhist, as well as medical, practices differed widely in the different places they reached. China had an already established local medical tradition, as opposed to, for example, Tibet, where the influence from India was seen as much greater. Similarly, the way Buddhism was assimilated in Japan in Korea was a different experience altogether, as the Japanese and Koreans were influenced by the Chinese adaptation of the new philosophy. The traditions of Buddhist medical knowledge were transmitted along the Eurasian trade routes via sea and land, fusing with the existing medical traditions and forming new doctrines of medicine. The same could be said about diffusion of philosophical doctrine. For example, in China, Buddhism was gaining more and more followers for various reasons, including the fact that the new doctrine dealt with matters such as death and the afterlife, which were left unanswered by the local Confucianism. The 9th century philosopher Li Ao wrote a medical text, in which he proposed to reform the Confucianism doctrine. This was because more and more Chinese were beginning to follow Buddhism. Li Ao believed that there were significant questions that Confucianism failed to answer, and even ask: it gave priority to morality and neglected nature or metaphysics. Buddhism was offering forgiveness and mercy; and those were among the ideas that attracted Chinese followers.[10] There were many different ideas that Buddhism revolutionised, especially on ethical questions, such as Karma, or the belief that not everything is predestined, and humans have influence over their fate.

Chinese pilgrims played a significant part in the cultural exchange between India and China. An interesting primary source for the study of transmission of Buddhist medicine to China and beyond is the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Yijing’s eyewitness account on monastic medicine and hygiene in an Indian monastery. Disappointed with the way Chinese monks were conducting themselves, Yijing wrote a commentary explaining the practices of medicine as they were performed in India, the very land where Buddhism originated, and hence the ultimate authority concerning all Buddhist practices. Yijing emphasises the importance of learning Sanskrit, “the original language of the scriptures”[11], in order to avoid misinterpretation when studying Chinese translations. Yijing signifies the importance of prevention of illness, instead of simply focusing on treatment once one falls ill. He talks about the significance of fasting in India and explains what is the correct way of ingesting medicines according to the laws there. A number of Buddhist medical ideas that stayed the same during the transmission from India, and many that changed, or disappeared altogether. The idea of the three poisons: desire, hatred, and ignorance (or delusion) is significant for medicine, because it was believed that they were the cause of any imbalances in the body and the source of all illness. Buddhists believe that everything is linked and interdependent. This idea of the three poisons is connected to the Indian notion of dosas, or wind, bile, and phlegm. The word dosa is sometimes incorrectly translated as humour, but literally means fault. The belief that the dosas exist in everybody’s body, but when they are out of balance, illnesses are caused, came from India and is held in both China and Tibet. Before Buddhism spread to China, there was no mention of such notions, judging by the lack of it in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine. However, by 5th century AD Chinese medical sources explain disease as the imbalance of heat, coolness, wetness, or dryness and suggest which foods to ingest in order to restore the balance in the body. [12]

Tibet was another place, which was highly influenced by the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road. Unlike China, Tibetans adopted the new doctrine much later. The Tibetan medical practice was significantly, but not exclusively, influenced by Buddhist theories. It is interesting to note that many documents, one being a commentary on the Noose of Methods Mantra, were written on paper, but in the style of Indian manuscripts written on palm leaf. This is an example of Buddhist knowledge traveling, influencing, but being adapted to local practices. Other significant sources of influence on Tibetan medical theory are the Chinese and Greco-Arab traditions. Mystical diagrams, symbolism, and magic formulas hold an important place in Tibetan medical practice, which is richly filled with incantations, magical spells, divinatory rituals, etc.[13] To use the documents found in Dunhuang as an example again, it is clear that the period of Tibetan occupation saw the buildings of many new caves, imperial patronage and even greater effort to copy and circulate Buddhist materials. Of course, it is highly important, as with every primary source, to first look at the historical context in which these texts were written, and then translated. One example comes from Sangye Gyatso’s 17th century Mirror of Beryl. Gyatso compiled an extensive history of the origins and practices of Tibetan medicine. One of the stories, which is thought to date from 7c AD states that three doctors were invited to Tibet- one from India, one from China, and one from the West (Galenos). This was supposed to represent the foreign influences on Tibetan medicine, with a considerable attention given to Western impact, as Galenos was presented to have stayed in Lhasa in the story. However, while there is no doubt that Tibetan medicine was heavily influenced by both Indian and Chinese practices, it would be sensible to consider Galen’s presence as a later addition, due to the fascination with ancient Greek culture and medicine during the 16-17th centuries.

Recent years have seen Buddhism gain a wider recognition in the West due to its peaceful and accessible philosophy. In addition, we see an ever-increasing popularity of practices such as meditation and yoga. Meditation has a principle place in the practice of Buddhism and is exercised in order to discipline the mind. Meditation is beginning to be taken seriously by the elite biomedicine practitioners. One example is mindfulness-based stress reduction, which is used to help in anxiety disorders, depression, chronic pain, etc. This is a new science but results can already confirm what Buddhism has taught for centuries: that our thoughts are responsible for our mental, as well as physical, wellbeing.

The spread of Buddhist teachings and practices from India to China during the first centuries of the first millennium marked the beginning of global cross-cultural exchange. With Buddhism travelled knowledge and technologies that would change the course of Asian and World history. It cannot be denied that medicine was one of the most significant fields of information that was shared during the course of this exchange. Medical knowledge traveling from India to the East Asia was received differently from different cultures and different regions, depending on the indigenous beliefs and practices, thus creating unique variations of Buddhist medicine, or simply morphing into altogether different systems and traditions. Despite the fact that cultures such as China already had established complex ideas of knowledge and medicine, they were forever changed with the spread of Buddhist philosophy. Along with practical medical theory, Buddhism provided unfamiliar concepts such as afterlife, karma, rebirth, all important to a person’s understanding of life and the idea of preventing illness, rather than simply treating it. Compassion and the struggle of ending suffering became central in Eastern thought and medicine and revolutionised the way that one looked after their body, as well as mind.

[1] Keown, Damien, Buddhism, A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2013), 65

[2] Hansen, Valerie, The Silk Road, A New History (Oxford University Press 2012), p. 239

[3] Meyer, ‘Theory and Practice of Tibetan Medicine’ in van Alphen, Jan and Anthony Aris, eds, Oriental Medicine: An Illustrated Guide to the Asian Arts of Healing (London: Serindia, 1995), p.110

[4] Meyer, p.110

[5] Van Alphen, Jan, Aris, Anthony, Oriental Medicine, An Illustrated Guide to the Asian Arts of Healing (London 1995), p.20

[6] Salguero, C. Pierce, ‘Buddhism and Medicine in East Asian History’, Religious Compass 8:8 (2014), p. 241

[7] Hansen, Valerie, The Silk Road, A New History (Oxford University Press 2012), p. 167

[8] Salguero, C. Pierce, Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China (University of Pennsylvania Press 2014), p. 2

[9] Salguero, Translating Buddhist Medicine, p.2

[10] Unschuld, Paul, What is Medicine? Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing (University of California Press 2009), p.111

[11] Yijing, Sramana, A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas, Li Rongxi (trans) (Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2000), p.3

[12] Millward, James, The Silk Road, A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2013), p.78

[13] Keown, Damien, Buddhism, A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press 2013), p. 94

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The conservation, digitisation and cataloguing of Tangut manuscripts

April 17, 2015, 1:36 pm

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THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015

Collaborative Project for the Conservation, Digitisation, Research and Publication of Tangut Material in the British Library

The project which started in January 2015 is a collaboration between the British Library and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Archive(NXA) to enable the conservation, digitisation and cataloguing of the Tangut manuscripts and printed documents held in the British Library.

Tangut fragment. Or.12380/19

Using existing archival material relating to the collection including concordance lists and notes from early researchers and conservators the aim is to conserve, number, digitise and make available the estimated 6–8,000 documents on the IDP Interactive Web Databaseby June 2017, thereby contributing to the preservation and international dissemination of this important material and stimulating scholarly research.
The Tangut manuscript and printed material in the British Library was excavated from the city of Karakhoto (10th–14th c.) by Aurel Stein on his 3rd expedition (1913–16) following Russian excavations at the site (material now in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, an IDP partner and also working with NXA). Part of the Stein material was sent to India (National Museum of India). The remainder became part of the collection of the British Museum and then the British Library.

K.K.VI at Kharakhoto, May 1914 and October 2008. Photo 392/29(114)and Photo 1187/1(4)

Despite spite early research by scholars such as Professor Tatsuo Nishida, much of the material has never had full curatorial attention. Many items remain in the paper packets in which they were placed by Stein during his excavations and therefore remain unknown and inaccessible to scholars.

Pre-conservation Tangut fragments in Stein’s paper packets.

The project will make the entire British Library Tangut collection available for the first time for IDP’s international community of scholars and researchers, paving the way for future work including cataloguing and linking with related material in other collections. Potential work may also include the input and digitisation of related archival material such as historical catalogues and expedition reports.
Funds are secured for the first two stages of the project, enabling a conservator to work full-time on the unconserved material for one year. Funds are now being sought for stage three, for the remaining conservation and digitisation. Any offers of support are welcome.
To follow the progress of the project and digitisation output follow #Tangut @idp_uk.

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Excavations reveal new terracotta army at ancient emperor’s tomb

May 5, 2015, 12:44 pm

≫ Next: La Horde d'Or par Marie Favereau et Jacques Raymond

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News.com.au May 4, 2015

Chinese archaeologists are working on uncovering more than 1400 well-preserved clay soldiers dating from about 200BC. Source: China News Service Source: Supplied

CHINA’s famous terracotta army is about to be reinforced: Fresh excavations on a burial pit in the ancient capital, Xi’an are expected to uncover 1500 more of the live-sized clay figurines.

The excavation, which began last Thursday, is centred upon a 200sq/m patch of the 56sq/km underground mausoleum of China’s first emperor, Emperor Qinshihuang, who reigned in 221BC.

Source: China News Service Source: Supplied

Archaeologist Yuan Zhongyi told media that he anticipated the burial pit would contain 1400 more terracotta warriors and archers, along with about 90 horse-drawn chariots.

Progress has so far been promising, he said.: “Their colourful paint is also relatively well preserved.”

Source: China News Service Source: Supplied

The excavation site, known as “Pit No. 2”, has previously produced several particularly fine specimines — including one with a distinctive green-coloured face.

The number of clay figurines expected to be uncovered is based on the positioning and density of previous discoveries in the area.

Source: China News Service Source: Supplied

Previous excavations at the Shaaxi Province site uncovered more than 7000 warriors and horses since 1974.

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La Horde d'Or par Marie Favereau et Jacques Raymond

May 7, 2015, 12:13 pm

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Editions de La Flandonnière

Au XIIIe siècle, les descendants du fils aîné de Gengis Khan s’imposèrent dans l’aile occidentale de l’empire mongol. Du lac Balkhach à la vallée du Danube, des steppes de Sibérie au nord de l’Iran, un monde se constitua autour de la Horde d’Or, la cour des khans nomades. Bien avant la formation de l’empire russe, ceux qui se nomment aujourd’hui Tatars, Ouzbeks, Kazakhs, Russes, Ukrainiens, Mongols… vécurent côte à côte dans un espace où le mode de gouvernance passait non par les armes mais par les contrats et les allégeances commerciales. Cette période a longtemps été considérée comme celle du « joug tatar », source de tous les maux pour les nationalistes russes. Le présent ouvrage en prend le contre-pied. Il retrace l’histoire de la Horde d’Or et montre la complexité de cet héritage dans les discours et les pratiques culturelles des peuples d’aujourd’hui à travers des lieux photographiés sur l’ensemble des terres autrefois dominées par les khans.

Marie Favereau est docteur en Histoire de l’université de La Sorbonne-Paris IV et de l’università degli Studi di San Marino. Après avoir été membre de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire, elle a travaillé comme chercheur à l’Institut des études avancées de Princeton et à l’université de Leyde. Elle est actuellement assistante de recherche à l’université d’Oxford où elle poursuit ses travaux sur la Horde d’Or et l’histoire comparée des empires nomades.

Les photos de Jacques Raymond – auteur d’une quinzaine de livres de photos – ont toutes été prises en période hivernale de fin novembre à fin mars.

La horde d'or : Les héritiers de Gengis Khan (French)
by Marie Favereau (Author), Jacques Raymond (Photographer)
Publisher: Editions de La Flandonnière (26 Sept. 2014)
Language: French
ISBN-10: 2918098167

From: Islamfund.ru

22.10.2014 Marie Favereau (Oxford): Europe and Russia - Besides, we always learn from others!

Marie Favereau (Oxford): Europe and Russia - Besides, we always learn from others!

700 - years Jubilee of Khan Uzbek mosque in Solkhat (Old Crimea) – the oldest one in Eastern Europe – was celebrated at 14-18 October in Crimea (Russia) by Government of Crimea, scientists from different countries and muslim leaders from different regions of Russia and Belorussia. There were specialists in Middle Ages from Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and also the unique specialist in Golden Horde history from Western Europe - Marie Favereau, Researcher at Oxford University – Nomadic Empires ERC Project. She was invited by Uncommercial charitable fund "FUND FOR SUPPORT OF ISLAMIC CULTURE, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION" (Moscow).

Let us ask her what was her interest to participate the International Scientific Conference in Simferopol, to visit Solkhat (Old Crimea) and Bakhchysarai, which in the past was a capital of the Crimean Khanate?

- There are so few specialists in Golden Horde in Western Europe, is not? Why are you interested in it and what is the main Idea of your Book in French about this subject in history of Humankind?

- It is true indeed that there are very few specialists of the Golden Horde in Western Europe. It is not traditional to teach and write about this topic and it is also quite difficult. You need to read Turkish and Russian and you must come to Russia to study the archaeological material, the coins and the archives.

At La Sorbonne in Paris, I had the chance to meet a professor in medieval History who was from Eastern Europe; he supported my choice to study the History of the Tatars and the Golden Horde. I recently published a book about my research in which I cover the History of the Jochid khans from the 13th to the 16th century. My objective is to make these pages of History better known in Western Europe and to show that Tatar Islamic culture is very rich.

- What is your Impression about Crimea today? About 700 - years Jubilee of Khan Uzbek masjeed?

- I was very impressed by the organization of the conference, the high level of the papers and the fruitful discussions. The fact that Muslim dignitaries and academics join forces to build such important social projects deserves all respect. This is very positive and I hope that it will go on.

- What do you plan for developing your Studies in history of Crimea and Golden Horde in the whole?

- I plan to develop the collaboration with my Russian and Tatar colleagues. I am organizing an international conference in May 2015 at Leiden University called “The Golden Horde in a Global Perspective: Imperial strategies”. My wish is to see more constructive debates among academics from Europe and from the Russian Federation. I will also invite students as I hope that the new generations of scholars would continue the dialogue we are trying to engage and the projects we want to set up.

- Are Europe and Russia with its Golden Horde roots - the one world or different Civilisations in constant Contradictions?

- I don’t see Europe and Russia as two monolithic blocks; both are complex structures full of internal contrasts. I have as much interest for the history of my country as for the history of Russia because this is Humankind history and I am a citizen of the world. Besides, we always learn from others.

Marie Favereau (Researcher at Oxford University – Nomadic Empires ERC Project)

Text and photos by Jannaty Sergey Markus (Moscow), October 2014

↧

Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220) by Jessica Rawson

May 7, 2015, 10:04 pm

≫ Next: The Terminology for Carpets in Ancient Central Asia

≪ Previous: La Horde d'Or par Marie Favereau et Jacques Raymond

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

The early Chinese did not make use of either sculpture and stone, major features of Western Asian city culture. Following the innovations of the First Emperor and the creation of the Terracotta Warriors, which owed their inspiration to both Western Asia and the steppe, the Han emperors adopted both the sculpture and stone, primarily in burial contexts. These innovations then filtered down to lower levels of the elite, but again in the context of tombs.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, DBE, DLitt, FBA Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford will deliver a series of lectures in Leiden and Amsterdam between 4-9 May 2015.

Selected Publications

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

The events are organized by Asian Modernities and Traditions. Everyone welcome!

↧

The Terminology for Carpets in Ancient Central Asia

May 8, 2015, 9:03 am

≫ Next: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

≪ Previous: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220) by Jessica Rawson

From: Sino-Platonic Papers
No 257 May 2105

The Terminology for Carpets in Ancient Central Asia

byZHANG He

William Paterson University

This study seeks to gather and clarify the terminology for carpets used by peoples of Central Asia from about 300 BCE to 1000 CE time, including terms in Kharoṣṭhi, Khotanese, Sanskrit and its relatives, plus Persian, Sogdian, Chinese, and Turkic.

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Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

May 9, 2015, 12:25 am

≫ Next: The Dog(s) of Aurel Stein

≪ Previous: The Terminology for Carpets in Ancient Central Asia

Last chance to meet Jessica Rawson is this afternoon in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam at 14.30 hours

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

The Tang period is renowned for its glittering court and the so-called Silk Road, bringing many merchants and foreign goods to the capital, Chang’an. The talk will illustrate the very fine artefacts of this period, but will also consider a much wider context. The Tang were embattled with several Turkish empires, at that period occupying large areas of the steppe. The Chinese were forced to purchase horses to engage with these mounted warriors, and they paid for the horses, which indeed came from the steppe, in silk. This silk drove the silk trade, mainly in the hands of an Iranian people, the Sogdians. Today we have much evidence from archaeological excavations of the lives of the Sogdians who settled in China in the sixth to eighth century. the talk will present the fascinating scenes of these merchants and officials that are documented in carvings on their coffins buried at the capital cities of the Tang. The Tang period, renowned for its art and poetry, is now much better known and even more colourful for the multiple engagements that we now know the court had with its neighbours.

Time: 14.30-16.00 hrs
Venue: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

16.00-17.00: Drinks at the Rijksmuseum

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, DBE, DLitt, FBA Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford will deliver a series of lectures in Leiden and Amsterdam between 4-9 May 2015.

Selected Publications

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Time: 16.00-17.30 hrs
Venue: Small Auditorium, Academy Building, Leiden University

17.30-18.30: Drinks at the Faculty Club

For this event, please register by 30 April at: amt@leiden.edu

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

The events are organized by Asian Modernities and Traditions. Everyone welcome!

↧

The Dog(s) of Aurel Stein

May 9, 2015, 11:33 pm

≫ Next: Stone bracelet from the Altai region in Siberia some 40.000 years old

≪ Previous: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

This time I would like to draw your attention to one of my favourite blogs at the one hand and one of my favourite actors on the Silk Road at the other hand.
Read this article by Llewelyn Morgan in "Lugubelinus" on Sir Aurel Stein and in particular on his dog(s) Dash!

A full-scale dog-blog was always on the cards. I came quite close in this one, when a figure in a photo I’d been shown turned out to be a pioneer of Afghan Hound breeding. But this blog is devoted to a single dog, a fox terrier called Dash who belonged to the archaeologist and explorer Aurel Stein.

Actually Stein owned seven dogs in succession, and every one of them was called Dash. The name was more common at one time than it seems to be now: Queen Victoria’s Dash was a King Charles spaniel. It still seems slightly odd to give every one of a sequence of dogs the very same name, and Stein, whose claim to fame is above all as an investigator of the Buddhist cultures of Central Asia, sometimes toyed with the idea that the latest Dash was a reincarnation of one of its predecessors.

Anyhow, the subject of this blog is Dash II, or “Dash the Great” as Stein liked to refer to his very favourite of them all; he also called him Kardash Beg, “The Honourable Snow Companion”, when he discovered with delight that his new dog had a relish for snow. Pets belonging to Aurel Stein could expect to encounter some pretty gruelling climatic conditions.

Stein acquired Dash the Great in 1904, and the dog accompanied him on his Second Expedition into Central Asia from 1906 to 1908, Stein’s most audacious, most successful, and ultimately most controversial venture into Chinese Turkestan. It was during this expedition that Stein was able to investigate a trove of Buddhist material in the Mogao caves at Dunhuang, removing a large quantity of texts, textiles and paintings. But earlier in the expedition he and his team had made the high-altitude crossing from the very northeastern tip of Afghanistan into Chinese Central Asia, and later he undertook a perilous, and very nearly disastrous, crossing of the Taklamakan desert.

Dash is a regular presence in Stein’s accounts of his expedition, especially the popular Ruins of Desert Cathay (1912), often most visible in moments of particular intensity. As things become very desperate during Stein’s crossing of the Taklamakan desert, his men threatening to mutiny, he is grateful that Dash makes do on “a saucerful [of water] spared from my cup of tea”. As they scale the 16,000-foot Wakhjir pass between Afghanistan and China, the generally irrepressible terrier whimpers with the cold and insists on sheltering beneath Stein’s fur coat. On another occasion he’s roused from sleep in Stein’s tent by the excitement of Stein and Chiang-Ssu-yeh, Stein’s “Chinese secretary and helpmate”, when they find proof that the frontier fortifications they’re investigating date from as early as the first century AD.

Dash chases marmots in the high country, “distinctly provoking for so indefatigable a hunter”, develops a knack of mounting a horse, “jumping up to the stirrup, and thence to the pommel of whoever was offering him a lift”, and gets badly mauled by a pack of semi-feral sheepdogs. When the party finds itself having to cross the Kash river over a ridiculously makeshift bridge, the poor thing is trussed up in a bag and passed along a wire rope along with the rest of the baggage.

The expedition took its toll on Stein. As he crossed back into India in 1908 he suffered frostbite while surveying at high altitude, losing several toes of his right foot after being carried down in agony to Ladakh. When he was eventually fit enough to travel, he describes his departure for Britain at the end of 1908 and enforced separation from Dash, “the last of my faithful travel companions, but, perhaps, the nearest to my heart”: dogs were not allowed on the P. & O. Mail boat. Dash made his own way to Britain on a separate steamer, spent four months in quarantine, and “was joyfully restored to his master under Mr P. S. Allen’s hospitable roof at Oxford.”

P. S. Allen was a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and he and his wife Helen were scholars of Erasmus and two of Stein’s oldest and closest friends; their “hospitable roof” was 23 Merton St., where Stein always stayed on his visits to Britain, and where Dash would actually spend the rest of his life. Stein seems to have decided that his “inseparable little companion” had had enough adventure. At any rate, when he returned to India he left Dash behind with the Allens. The comfortable new home of this canine veteran of the sand and snow deserts of the Taklamakan and Pamir Knot is now part of the Eastgate Hotel.

Dash lived with the Allens for another nine years, and while Merton St. was his home, he was clearly left to wander wherever he liked across Oxford. But as the First World War drew to a close, a new and deadly threat to an increasingly decrepit old dog was being introduced to Oxford’s streets, the motorised Omnibus. Percy Allen wrote to Stein to explain what happened:

He took himself out for a walk one aft. Friday, 27 Sept. [1918], & was run over by a motor bus in Park End St—the street which goes down to the station as the continuation of the High & Queen St. The police brought around his collar next morning, & reported that he had been killed instantaneously, & that they had buried him in their usual place. Helen went to the police station to enquire, as soon as we returned home—10 days later—but by that time it was too late to unearth him & bring him to sleep in the garden where he has so often slept before.

It’s a terribly banal end for a dog who’d seen so much, run over by a bus on Park End St. Soon the regular letters between Stein and the Allens turned back to the urgent issues of the day, the Armistice just a month or so after Dash’s death, and the Spanish Flu. But for as long as Dash is the focus of these letters between old friends, he provokes a touching outpouring of affection between them. Helen Allen reminisced to Stein about Dash’s life in Oxford:

He has been as outstanding amongst dogs, as his master amongst men; such sagacity & such devotion. I can see him in so many different poses: returning on a Cotswold walk after a chase after a hare, to look which way we were gone meanwhile, locating us & then heading straight for our slow plodding figures; looking up full of enquiry when he heard: “Go and meet him, Dash,” & then bounding forward joyously as he caught sight of Percy…
Such faithfulness as he has shown must surely meet a fit reward.
And we send you many thanks for the added happiness you brought into our lives through Dash.

“Surely a Ulysses among dogs,” wrote Percy Allen to Stein:

full of wise counsel & dignity, & greatly attached to his friends. You brought great pleasure into our lives thro’ him: for wh. we thank you, amice noster, as for so much else. Blessings on Dash the Great.

Stein, in response, thanked his friends for their comforting words:

Never before, I feel sure, had a faithful canine companion’s departure been recorded in words more true and deserved. How grateful I feel to [Helen] for having thus softened the pang which this sad news caused me the enclosed letter for her cannot express adequately. I do not command the inexhaustible goodness of soul which is life’s greatest boon in you both, nor that grace of expressive brief words which mature and constant communion with Erasmus have bestowed upon you both. I never cease to give thanks for all the brightness which you two have brought into my existence for the last twenty years—but my gratitude must be equally great for all you have done to help me in facing sad losses and trials.

Well, we all know dogs can be surrogate objects of affection for people who find it difficult to express emotion. Why else are English people so fond of them? In happier times, too, “Dash” had been a vehicle for the Allens’ affectionate pride in their friend’s success, writing a letter to congratulate Stein on the knighthood he received in 1912:

23 Merton St
Bara din 1912
Many congratulations, dear Master. Am wearing my collar of achievement.
If I had known this was coming, I should not have cried on the Wakhjir.
Whip the young one, and keep him in order.
Bow wow
(Have assumed this title) SIR DASH, K.C.I.E.

Still, just a dog.

The following article is from the IDP (International Dunhuang Project) newsletter No. 18 and gives a.o. some more pictures of his dogs:

A Dash Across Asia

In keeping with the animal theme of this newsletter, we have decided to dedicate a page to the history of Sir Aurel Stein's various canine companions — all called Dash and all intrepid travellers with Stein on his Asian expeditions.

Left:Dash I at Niya on Stein's 1st Central Asian Expedition, January 1901. Published in Ancient Khotan fig.38, opp.p. 328

Right:Dash II The British Library: Photo. 392/23(12) detail

Dash I (1896-1902)
Dash I, Stein's first dog, was acquired in 1896 and accompanied Stein on his early travels, culminating in the 1st Central Asian Expedition. Known also by the Turki name Yolchi Beg — 'Sir Traveller'— given to him by Stein's servant Mirza, he is seen here at Niya in January 1901, wearing the Kashmiri coat specially made to protect him against the desert winter. He died in India in 1902 while Stein was in England.

Dash II (1904-18)
'Dash the Great', the dog against which all his successors were to be measured, was acquired by Stein in 1904 and travelled with him on the 2nd Central Asian Expedition. He returned to England with Stein in 1909 and lived in retirement in Oxford until 1918, when he was run over by a bus. He is shown here beneath Stein's desk in his camp at Mohand Marg near Srinagar in 1905.

Left:Dash III The British Library: Photo. 392/29(10) detail

Right:Dash IV The British Library. Photo. 392/47(227) detail

Dash III (1912-19)
Acquired by Stein in 1912, Dash II's successor accompanied Stein on the 3rd Central Asian Expedition and is seen here at Jaglot in August 1913. He survived until 1919, when he was killed by a pack of dogs in Srinagar.

Dash IV (1921-25)
Acquired as a puppy in 1921, he was brought back to England by Stein in 1924, but died the following year. He is shown here with Stein in an Oxford garden in September 1925.

Left:Dash V The British Library. Photo. 392/33(4) detail

Right:Dash VI The British Library. Photo. 392/37(209) detail

Dash V (1927-30)
Acquired in 1927, Dash V was the only Dash who was not a fox terrier and is seen here at Srinagar in November 1928. He accompanied Stein on the 4th Central Asian Expedition, but died at Kashgar in 1930. Stein considered that he was perhaps overbred for the rigours of travelling.

Dash VI (1931-41)
Acquired in 1931 and considered by Stein 'a very promising reincarnation of Dash the Great', he travelled with Stein on his archaeological investigations in Iran and Iraq, and is here seen at Kerman, Iran in May 1932. He survived until 1941, when he was killed by a leopard near Mohand Marg.

Dash VII (1943-?)
Acquired 1943. Fate unknown.

Text by John Falconer and images, courtesy of Stein, prepared by Rachel Roberts.

↧

Stone bracelet from the Altai region in Siberia some 40.000 years old

May 10, 2015, 8:39 am

≫ Next: Rayy: from its Origins to the Mongol Invasion

≪ Previous: The Dog(s) of Aurel Stein

Dating back 40,000 years to the Denisovan species of early humans, new pictures show beauty and craftsmanship of prehistoric jewellery.

While bracelets have been found pre-dating this discovery, Russian experts say this is the oldest known jewellery of its kind made of stone. Picture: Vera Salnitskaya

Stone bracelet is oldest ever found in the world

The Siberian Times by Anna Liesowska

07 May 2015

It is intricately made with polished green stone and is thought to have adorned a very important woman or child on only special occasions. Yet this is no modern-day fashion accessory and is instead believed to be the oldest stone bracelet in the world, dating to as long ago as 40,000 years.

Unearthed in the Altai region of Siberia in 2008, after detailed analysis Russian experts now accept its remarkable age as correct.

New pictures show this ancient piece of jewellery in its full glory with scientists concluding it was made by our prehistoric human ancestors, the Denisovans, and shows them to have been far more advanced than ever realised.

'The bracelet is stunning - in bright sunlight it reflects the sun rays, at night by the fire it casts a deep shade of green,' said Anatoly Derevyanko, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Made of chlorite, the bracelet was found in the same layer as the remains of some of the prehistoric people and is thought to belong to them. Pictures: Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov

'It is unlikely it was used as an everyday jewellery piece. I believe this beautiful and very fragile bracelet was worn only for some exceptional moments.'

The bracelet was found inside the famous Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains, which is renowned for its palaeontological finds dating back to the Denisovans, who were known as homo altaiensis, an extinct species of humans genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.

Made of chlorite, the bracelet was found in the same layer as the remains of some of the prehistoric people and is thought to belong to them.

What made the discovery especially striking was that the manufacturing technology is more common to a much later period, such as the Neolithic era. Indeed, it is not clear yet how the Denisovans could have made the bracelet with such skill.

New pictures show this ancient piece of jewellery in its full glory with scientists concluding it was made by our prehistoric human ancestors. Pictures: Vera Salnitskaya

Writing in the Novosibirsk magazine, Science First Hand, Dr Derevyanko said: 'There were found two fragments of the bracelet of a width of 2.7cm and a thickness of 0.9 cm. The estimated diameter of the find was 7cm. Near one of the cracks was a drilled hole with a diameter of about 0.8 cm. Studying them, scientists found out that the speed of rotation of the drill was rather high, fluctuations minimal, and that was there was applied drilling with an implement - technology that is common for more recent times.

Traces of the use of drilling with an implement on the bracelet from Denisova Cave. Polished stone bracelet of Neolithic era. Pictures: Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Vera Salnitskaya

'The ancient master was skilled in techniques previously considered not characteristic for the Palaeolithic era, such as drilling with an implement, boring tool type rasp, grinding and polishing with a leather and skins of varying degrees of tanning.'

Chlorite was not found in the vicinity of the cave and is thought to have come from a distance of at least 200km, showing how valued the material was at the time.

Dr Derevyanko said the bracelet had suffered damage, including visible scratches and bumps although it looked as if some of the scratches had been sanded down. Experts also believe that the piece of jewellery had other adornments to make it more beautiful.

'Next to the hole on the outer surface of the bracelet can be seen clearly a limited polished zone of intensive contact with some soft organic material,' said Dr Derevyanko. 'Scientists have suggested that it was a leather strap with some charm, and this charm was rather heavy. The location of the polished section made it possible to identify the 'top' and 'bottom' of the bracelet and to establish that it was worn on the right hand.'

Polished zone of intensive contact with some soft organic material. General reconstruction of the view of the bracelet and compraison with the moders bracelet. Pictures: Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Anastasia Abdulmanova

Located next to the Anuy River, about 150 km south of Barnaul, the Denisova Cave is a popular tourist attraction, such is its paleontological importance. Over the years a number of remains have been found there, including some of extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth. In total evidence of 66 different types of mammals have been discovered inside, and 50 bird species.

The most exciting discovery was the remains of the Denisovans, a species of early humans that dated back as early as 600,000 years ago and were different to both Neanderthals and modern man.

In 2000 a tooth from a young adult was found in the cave and in 2008, when the bracelet was found, archaeologists discovered the finger bone of a juvenile Denisovan hominin, whom they dubbed the 'X woman'. Further examination of the site found other artifacts dating as far back as 125,000 years.

The institute's deputy director Mikhail Shunkov suggested that the find indicates the Denisovans - though now extinct - were more advanced than Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

The traces of reparation on the cracks. Bracelet had suffered damage, including visible scratches and bumps. Pictures: Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov

'In the same layer, where we found a Denisovan bone, were found interesting things; until then it was believed these the hallmark of the emergence of Homo sapiens,' he said. 'First of all, there were symbolic items, such as jewellery - including the stone bracelet as well as a ring, carved out of marble.'

The full details of the ring are yet to be revealed.

'These finds were made using technological methods - boring stone, drilling with an implement, grinding - that are traditionally considered typical for a later time, and nowhere in the world they were used so early, in the Paleolithic era. At first, we connected the finds with a progressive form of modern human, and now it turned out that this was fundamentally wrong. Obviously it was Denisovans, who left these things.'

This indicated that 'the most progressive of the triad' (Homo sapiens, Homo Neanderthals and Denisovans) were Denisovans, who according to their genetic and morphological characters were much more archaic than Neanderthals and modern human.'

The entrance to the Denisova cave and the archaeological excavations inside. Pictures: The Siberian Times

But could this modern-looking bracelet have been buried with older remains?

The experts considered this possibility but rejected it, saying they believe the layers were uncontaminated by human interference from a later period. The soil around the bracelet was also dated using oxygen isotopic analysis.

The unique bracelet is now held in the Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East in Novosibirsk. Irina Salnikova, head the museum, said of the bracelet: 'I love this find. The skills of its creator were perfect. Initially we thought that it was made by Neanderthals or modern humans, but it turned out that the master was Denisovan, at least in our opinion.

Irina Salnikova, head the Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East in Novosibirsk. Picture: Vera Salnitskaya

'All jewellery had a magical meaning for ancient people and even for us, though we do not always notice this. Bracelets and neck adornments were to protect people from evil spirits, for instance. This item, given the complicated technology and 'imported' material, obviously belonged to some high ranked person of that society.'

While bracelets have been found pre-dating this discovery, Russian experts say this is the oldest known jewellery of its kind made of stone.

↧

Rayy: from its Origins to the Mongol Invasion

May 10, 2015, 11:37 pm

≫ Next: Reminder: Tuesday 12 May 2015 | Buddhism & Social Justice | lecture in Leiden by Bryan Lowe

≪ Previous: Stone bracelet from the Altai region in Siberia some 40.000 years old

Rayy: from its Origins to the Mongol Invasion

An Archaeological and Historiographical Study

Rocco Rante, Aix Marseille Université and Musée du Louvre.
In Collaboration with Ghadir Afround

This book offers a new history of the ancient city of Rayy. Based on the results of the latest excavations on the Citadel and the Shahrestan (the political and administrative nucleus of the city in all periods), the study of historical and geographical texts and on surveys carried out between 2005 and 2007 by the author and the Iranian archaeologist, Ghadir Afround, the complete occupation sequence of the city, from its foundation in the Iron Age and the Parthian reconstructions (2nd to 1st centuries BC), up to the Mongol invasions and rapid depopulation in the 13th century CE, comes to light.

Biographical note

Rocco Rante, Ph. D. (Aix en Provence, 2009), Aix Marseille Université, is an archaeologist at the Musée du Louvre and the director of the Archaeological Mission of the Bukhara Oasis in Central Asia. A specialist on the Khorasan region, he has published Nishapur Revisited with Annabelle Collinet, (Oxford 2013).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE BY RENATA HOLOD

TRANSLITERATION SYSTEM

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

1. GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING

2. HISTORICAL SETTING

Pre-Islamic era
Islamic era
The first conquest of Rayy and the first caliphs
The Umayyad period
The ʿAbbāsid period
The Sāmānīd period
The Būyid period
The Ġaznawid period
The Salğūq period
The Mongol invasion

3. PREVIOUS WORKS AT RAYY

Plans of Rayy in the 19th century
Pascal Coste’s Plan of Rayy
Pascal Coste’s Views of Rayy (1840)
Eastern elevation (folio 62bis)
Western elevation (folio 63)
Previous Archaeological Works at Rayy

4. TOPOGRAPHY OF RAYY

Topography of Rayy
The Citadel
The Šahrestān
Rayy Today: Between Modern Urbanisation and Preservation of the Site

5. EXCAVATIONS AT RAYY

The šahrestān Rampart
Test T1
Tests T3 and T4
Test T2: šahrestān
The Mosque
Citadel Excavation (in Collaboration with Ghadir Afround)
The West Fortress
The East Fortress

6. THE CERAMICS OF THE EXCAVATION (2006-2007)

Analysis of the Ceramics
Description of the fabrics
Chronological Study of the Ceramics: Synthesis and Interpretation

7. URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The Urban Framework at the Origins of Rayy
Urban Development during the Parthian Period
Urban Development during the Sasanian Period
Urban Development in the Islamic Period
A glimpse of the urban development of some major Iranian cities

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ISBN13:

9789004279292

E-ISBN:

9789004280700

Publication Date:

December 2014

2015

Format:

Hardback

Publication Type:

Book

Pages, Illustr.:

xiv, 166 pp.,107 illus., 1 table

Imprint:

BRILL

Language:

English

↧

Reminder: Tuesday 12 May 2015 | Buddhism & Social Justice | lecture in Leiden by Bryan Lowe

May 11, 2015, 3:54 am

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Ghastly Hauntings and Divine Justice: A New Approach to Ritual, Ethics and Kingship in Ancient Japanese Buddhism

Lecture by Bryan Lowe (Vanderbilt University)

Buddhism & Social Justice Event

12 May 2015
15:00 - 17:00 hrs

Location:

P.N. van Eyckhof 2

Leiden The Netherlands (see map) Room 5

In the middle of 748, Queen Consort Kōmyō commissioned one hundred copies—many on fine colored paper—of a relatively obscure work, entitled the Scripture on Saving and Protecting Body and Life.

This text promises protection from attacks by demons and sorcerers, as well as from other threats that plague humans living in an era of decline.

She also sponsored one hundred copies of the Golden Light Sutra and three copies of the Scripture on Brahma’s Spirit Tablets, a divination sutra, at the same time.

This talk will place these three projects within the broader historical and cosmological climate of eighth-century Japan.

While recent scholarship on ritual and politics has focused on the way Buddhist patronage functioned to theatrically demonstrate political legitimacy, Bryan Lowe uses these projects to depict a world in which kings and queens were haunted by ghastly attacks and answered to celestial kings who threatened to punish the impious.

In this environment, ritual was not merely an expressive tool used to justify political authority; Buddhist ideas were themselves an authoritative force that structured ethical codes of conduct in early Japan.

Kings reigned through earthly laws, but they were governed by divine justice.

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The 1.000 year-old Manuscript and the stories it tells

May 11, 2015, 7:33 am

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From the site of the University of Cambridge:

Folio 13 verso, a representation of the goddess Prajñāpāramitā

One of the greatest treasures of Cambridge University Library is a Buddhist manuscript that was produced in Kathmandu exactly 1,000 years ago. The exquisitely-illustrated Perfection of Wisdom is still revealing fresh secrets.

When Sujātabhadra picked up his reed pen and put his name to the manuscript, he was part of a rich network of scholarship, culture, belief and trade
Camillo Formigatti

One thousand years ago, a scribe called Sujātabhadra put his name to a manuscript known as the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight-Thousand Stanzas (Skt. Aṣṭasahāsrikā Prajñāparamitā). Sujātabhadra was a skilled craftsman working in or around Kathmandu – a city that has been one of the hubs of the Buddhist world from around 500 CE right up until the present day.

The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight-Thousand Stanzas is written in Sanskrit, one the of the world’s most ancient languages, using both sides of 222 oblong sheets made from palm leaf (the first missing sheet has been replaced with a paper sheet). Each leaf is punctured by a pair of neat holes, a reminder that the palm leaf pages were originally bound together with cords passing through these holes. The entire palm leaf manuscript is held between richly ornate wooden covers.

Today the fabulous manuscript that would have taken Sujātabhadra and fellow craftsman many months — perhaps even a year — to complete is held by the Manuscripts Room at Cambridge University Library. Over the past 140 years, it has been studied by some of the foremost specialists of the medieval Buddhist world.

A digitisation project has now made the manuscript accessible online to scholars worldwide and has revealed fresh evidence about the origins of some of the earliest Buddhist texts.

The presence of the Perfection of Wisdom, safe in the temperature-controlled environment of one of the world’s greatest libraries, many thousands of miles from its birthplace, is especially poignant at a time when the people of Nepal are struggling to survive in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

Buddhist texts are more than scriptures: they are sacred objects in themselves. Many manuscripts were used as protective amulets and installed in shrines and altars in the home of Buddhist followers. Examples include numerous manuscripts of the Five Protections (Skt. Pañcarakṣā), a corpus of scriptures that includes spells, enumerations of benefits and ritual instructions for use, particularly sacred in Nepal.

Manuscripts produced in Nepal, Tibet and Central Asia during the period from the 5th until the 19th century are evidence of the thriving ‘cult of the book’ that was the subject of a recent exhibition at Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The Perfection of Wisdom is also an important historical document that provides valuable information about the dynastic history of medieval Nepal. Its textual content and illustrations, and the skills and materials that went into its production, reveal the ways in which Nepal was one of the most important hubs within a Buddhist world that spanned from Sri Lanka to China.

The text is lavishly illustrated by a total of 85 miniature paintings: each one is an exquisite representation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (beings who resolve to achieve Buddhahood in order to help other sentient beings) – including the historical Buddha Śākyamuni and Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. The figures represented in the miniatures include also the embodied Perfection of Wisdom goddess (Prajñāparamitā) herself on the Vulture Peak Mountain near Rājagṛha, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Māgadha, in today’s Bihar state.

The settings in which these deities are depicted are drawn in meticulous detail. The Bodhisattva Lokanātha, surrounded by White and Green Tārās, is shown in front of the Svayambhu stupa in Kathmandu – a shrine sacred for Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhists, damaged in the recent earthquake. The places depicted in the miniatures represent a kind of map of Buddhist lands and sacred sites, from Sri Lanka to Indonesia and from South India to China.

The Perfection of Wisdom is one of the world’s oldest illuminated Buddhist manuscripts and the second oldest illuminated manuscript in Cambridge University Library. Its survival – and its passage through time and space – is little short of miraculous.

Without the efforts of a certain Karunavajra, quite probably a Buddhist lay believer, it would have been destroyed in 1138 — in that period the governors challenged the king in a struggle for power over the Kathmandu Valley.

“We know that Karunavajra saved the manuscript because he added a note in verse form,” said Dr Camillo Formigatti of the Sanskrit Manuscripts Project. “He states that he rescued the ‘Perfection of Wisdom, incomparable Mother of the Omniscient’ from falling into the hands of unbelievers who were most probably people of Brahmanical affiliation.”

Cambridge University Library acquired the manuscript in 1876. It was purchased for the Library by Dr Daniel Wright, a civil servant working for the British government in Kathmandu.

“From the second half of the 19th century, western institutions were hugely interested in the orient - and museums and libraries were busy building collections of everything eastern,” said Dr Hildegard Diemberger of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit. “Colonial administrators were almost literally given ‘shopping lists’ of manuscripts to acquire in the course of their travels.”

Scholars are able to pinpoint with remarkable precision the date that Sujātabhadra recorded his name as scribe in the ‘colophon’ (details about the publication of a book).

“Using tables that convert the dates used by Nepalese scribes into the calendar we use today, we can see that Sujātabhadra added his name and the place where he completed the manuscript on 31 March, 1015. The study of mathematics, astrology and astronomy were central aspects of ancient and medieval South Asian culture, and time reckoning was very accurate — both the lunar and the solar calendar were employed,” said Formigatti.

A thousand years on from its production, the manuscript is still yielding secrets. In the course of digitising the manuscript in 2014, Formigatti identified 12 of the final verses to be the only surviving witness of the Sanskrit original of the Ripening of the Victory Banner (Skt. Vajradhvajapariṇāmanā), a short hymn hitherto considered to have survived only in its Tibetan translation. The popularity of this hymn is borne out by the fact that the Tibetan version of the text is also found in manuscript fragments found in Dunhuang, a city-state along the Silk Route in China.

The production of this precious manuscript is evidence not only of the thriving communication channels that existed across the 11th century Buddhist world but also of a well-established network of trade routes. The leaves used to make the writing surface came from palm trees. Palms do not flourish in the dry climate of Nepal: it’s thought that palm leaves would have come from North East India.

“The University Library’s manuscript of Perfection of Wisdom shows us that ten centuries ago Nepal, which westerners often perceive as ‘remote’ and ‘isolated’, had flourishing connections stretching many thousands of miles,” said Formigatti.

“When Sujātabhadra picked up his reed pen and put his name to the manuscript, he was part of a rich network of scholarship, culture, belief and trade. Buddhist manuscripts and texts travelled huge distances. From the fertile plains of Northern India, they crossed the Himalayan range through Nepal and Tibet, reaching the barren landscapes of Central Asia and the city-states along the Silk Route in China, finally arriving in Japan.

“The Perfection of Wisdom is perhaps the most representative textual witness of the Buddhist cult of the book, and this manuscript written, decorated and worshipped in 11th century Nepal, is one of the finest specimens of Buddhist book culture still extant.”

Inset image top – Folio 123 verso, a representation of a famous caitya (Buddhist reliquary), called Sri Kanaka-caitya, in the city of Peshawar in today's Pakistan. Credit: Cambridge University Library Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Inset image bottom – Folio 14 recto, a representation of the Bodhisattva Lokanātha in front of Svayambhunath in Kathmandu. Credit: Cambridge University Library Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

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The Empire of Trebizond

May 11, 2015, 11:53 pm

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The Empire of Trebizond extended far beyond the borders of modern day northern Turkey all the way to Crimea.

Dean Kalymniou * 11 May 2015

Beyond Pontus

The principality of Theodoro

Of the Empire of Trebizond or Trapezous, much has been written. As a multi-ethnic state situated in the Pontic region of the southern Black Sea, it was the terminus of the famed Silk Road and it was also the last Greek-speaking state to succumb to the Ottoman Empire. As a bridge between Europe and Asia, it formed an orientalist's paradise, inspiring writers as early as Cervantes to describe his hero Don Quixote as "imagining himself for the valour of his arm already crowned at least Emperor of Trebizond." French writer Rabelais, on the other hand, had his character Picrochole, the ruler of Piedmont, declare: "I want also to be Emperor of Trebizond," while Rose Macaulay begins her classic the Towers of Trebizond with the immortal line: "Take my camel, dear."

What is lesser known however, is that the Empire of Trebizond extended far beyond the borders of modern day northern Turkey all the way to Crimea, where the "Lordship of the city of Theodoro and the Maritime Region" (Αὐθεντία πόλεως Θεοδωροῦς καὶ παραθαλασσίας) formed an integral part of the Empire of Trebizond.

This should not surprise us. Since times ancient, Greeks founded colonies in the Crimean region. In Roman times, a hybrid Greco-Scythian culture emerged under the Bosporan Kingdom, an ally of Rome. During Byzantium, Crimea played an important role in the dissemination of Greek culture and Orthodoxy to the Slavs, as well as providing a place of exile and escape for sundry Greek emperors, such as the vicious Justinian II who, having his nose cut off after he was deposed, used Crimea to regroup and re-take the throne, under the sobriquet of "Rhinotmetus" (the slit-nosed).

By 1204, when the crusaders took over Constantinople in a most brutal fashion, causing the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire into rival kingdoms, the principality of Theodoro, also known in Greek as Gothia (Γοτθία), owing to the sojourn of Germanic tribes in the region centuries earlier, came under the control of the Komnenus dynasty in Trebizond. It had its capital at Doros, also called Theodoro and now known by its Turkic name of Mangup, a city that formed a separate ecclesiastical Metropolis as early as the seventh century.

In keeping with Crimea's multi-ethnic past, the population of the principality was comprised of a mixture of Greeks, Crimean Goths, Alans, Bulgars, Cumans and Kipchaks, all of whom confessed Orthodox Christianity. Despite the plethora of languages spoken in the region by its inhabitants, the principality's official language was Greek.
The earliest mention of the Crimean section of the Empire of Trebizond is made after the fall of Constantinople, by the historian Theodore Spanoudes who makes mention of the existence of a "Prince of Gothia" in the reign of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328 - 1341).
Other references make mention of events taking place in the fourteenth century. For example, some chroniclers identifying "Dmitry", one of the three Tartar princes who resisted the incursion of the Lithuanians into Ukraine at the epic Battle of Blue Waters, with a Prince of Gothia, who was tributary to the Emperor in Trebizond. On the other hand, the name "Theodoro" (in the corrupted form Θεοδωραω) appears for the first time in a Greek inscription also dated to 1361 and then again as "Theodoro Mangop" in a Genoese document of 1374. Scholars have suggested that the name of the city was actually "Theodoroi", referring to the saints Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tiro, but others posit that this is a mere corruption of "To Dory", the city's ancient name. By the 1420s though, the city was colloquially known as "Theodoritsi" (Θεοδωρίτσι) by its inhabitants.

The principality of Theodoro basically aligned its foreign policy to that of its suzerain, Trebizond. By necessity, it cultivated peaceful relations with the Mongolian Golden Horde to its north, paying them an annual tribute, but was in constant conflict with Genoese colonies to the south over access to the coasts and the trade that went through the Crimean harbours, culminating in a strip of the coastal land from Balaklava to Alushta, known to the Greeks as Parathalassia, falling under Genoese control, whereupon it was renamed as Captainship of Gothia.

After the principality of Theodoro had lost harbours on the southern coast, it constructed a new port called Avlita at the mouth of the Chernaya River and fortified it with the fortress of Kalamita which is now known as Inkerman.

Apart from the aforementioned Prince Demetrios, we know of the rulers of Theodoro, mainly through Russian chroniclers. The prince Stephen, known as "Stepan Vasilyevich Khovra", emigrated to Moscow in 1391 along with his son, Gregory. They became monks, with Gregory going on to found the Simonov Monastery in Moscow. In modern times, the Russian noble families of Khovrin and Golovin claimed descent from them.

In Theodoro, Stephen was succeeded by another son, Alexios I, who ruled until his death in 1447. Alexios' heir was his eldest son Ioannis, who was married to Maria Asanina, a lady connected to the Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Palaiologoi and the royal family of Bulgaria, showing just how international in scope the principality was. The couple had a son, also named Alexios, who died young in Trebizond, indicating that as was the Byzantine practice, the princes of Theodoro would send their children to Trebizond to be educated. His epitaph, titled "To the Prince's son" (τῷ Αὐθεντοπούλῳ) was composed by John Eugenikos, the brother of Saint Mark Eugenikos who was resident for a time in the Empire of Trebizond. Such was the prestige of Theodoro, that Alexios was also able to marry off his daughter, Maria, to the last Trebizondian emperor, David. Alexios was then succeeded, by his son, who was given the Mongolian/Turkish name of Olubei.

No mention of Olubei exists in any records after 1458, with Genoese documents only mentioning "the lord of Theodoro and his brothers" (dominus Tedori et fratres ejus). Yet the Principality outlasted its suzerain, the Empire of Trebizond falling to the Ottomans in 1461. In 1465, a prince Isaac is mentioned, who in the face of the mounting Ottoman danger, engaged in a rapprochement with the Genoese at the nearby colony of Caffa and wed his sister Maria to Stephen the Great, ruler of Moldavia. However, his increasingly pro-Ottoman stance in the later years of his reign caused his brother Alexander to overthrow him. Despite this, Theodoro was powerless to arrest the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. In December 1475, after conquering the other Christian strongholds along the Crimean coast, the Ottomans captured the city after a three-month siege. Alexander and his family were taken captive to Constantinople, where the prince was beheaded, his son was forcibly converted to Islam, and his wife and daughters became part of the Sultan's harem.
The rulers of Theodoro appear to have been members of the Gabras family, an important Byzantine family with Aramaic roots, which became especially prominent in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as the semi-independent and quasi-hereditary rulers of Chaldia, a region in the Pontian hinterland. The last notable members of the family are mentioned in Constantinople during the early centuries of the Ottoman Empire, where Cyril Gabras acted as the megas skeuophylax of the Patriarchate in 1604. Other family members are attested in Crete and the Aegean islands. An unnamed Gabras held lands in Santorini in the early 17th century and numerous Gabrades are to be found at Chios and in Crete, especially around Siteia, until the early 19th century.

Any assessment of Pontian history would be lacking if it did not take into account the internationalist in outlook and broadly inclusive social fabric of the Empire of Trebizond, as is evidenced by the Principality of Theodoro. Its brief yet fascinating existence attests to a continuous presence of the Greek language in the region for millennia, a presence that was sorely tried and diminished during the twentieth and twenty-first century.

*Dean Kalymniou is a Melbourne solicitor and freelance journalist

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Tomb of Yuan Dynasty Confucian Doctor discovered

May 12, 2015, 12:57 pm

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≪ Previous: The Empire of Trebizond

Featured image: Newly-discovered tombstone of Confucian doctor in China with inscription. Credit: Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

From: Ancient Origins 9 MAY, 2015 - 13:32 MARK MILLER

700-Year-Old Tomb of Confucian Doctor Unearthed in China

The tomb of an important Confucian doctor who legend says fed his sick mother with his own flesh to show filial piety has been unearthed in China. The doctor lived more than 700 years ago.

The doctor, Wu Jing of the Ru Yi (Confucian doctor) family lived during the Yuan dynasty, from 1271 to 1368 AD, in Zhouzhi Village in the northwest Shaanxi Provice.

The tomb has an inscription of 665 words saying who he was and giving the story about feeding his sick mother. Wu Jing was buried with 76 objects, including jade and pottery. The tomb has a passage to a burial chamber with a door. Bone residue from an unknown source, iron nails and wood ashes were found in the burial chamber.

Ancient Chinese doctor Huangfu Mi, 16th century AD woodcut (Wikimedia Commons)

"The tomb is an important discovery that will shed light on unknown aspects of medical history and social culture in the Yuan dynasty," archaeologist Duan Yi said.

The tomb is in Xi’an City, capital of Shaanxi Province, Duan, who is with the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, told Xinhua.

Confucian doctors were a special group proficient in both Confucianism and medicine, which allowed them a high status during that period. Wu was appointed to a post in charge of local medical services and education, similar to today's head of a medical school, the inscription on the gravestone said. A story was recorded in the gravestone that he once cut flesh from his own arm to feed his ailing mother to show filial piety.—Xinhua.

According to the Shanghai Daily, “there were two kinds of doctors in old times—Ru Yi (Confucian doctor) and Shi Yi (generational doctor). A lot of … doctors in the past were Confucian doctors. They were well-educated, good at music, chess, calligraphy and painting. They learned everything fast and the most important thing was that they were kind, responsible men due to the deep influence of Confucianism.”

Stories inspired by the ancient sage Confucius tell of the great lengths people went to to show devotion and love to their associates, especially parents and family members.

A painting of Confucius from c 1770 AD (Wikimedia Commons)

The story of Wu Jing feeding his mother from his own flesh is an extreme example of filial piety, though there are many other such legends.

In another legend, told in the book Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety, a man’s father has died and he is left to care for his mother. He cut wood in the mountains daily, and she wove cloth such that they were barely able to make ends meet. One day she had a visitor who had come from far away. She was agitated because she had nothing to offer the guest. Finally, in exasperation she accidentally bit her finger. Her son suddenly has a pain in his heart and thinks something is wrong with his mother and returns home.

“Arriving before his mother, he knelt in the doorway and asked her what was the matter. Relieved and happy, she said, ‘A guest has come and I was so upset that I bit my finger. You must be a truly respectful child that you can know your mother's thoughts from a distance!’”

These stories inspired by Confucius’ exhortations to honor and love one’s parents may be read at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~asia/24ParagonsFilialPiety.html.

China has an ancient tradition of medicine. The ancient ways are now considered traditional as opposed to modern, but many people around the world continue to practice ancient Chinese medicine.

According to Chinese mythology, the origins of traditional Chinese medicine can be traced back to three legendary emperors: Fu Xi, Shen Nong and Huang Di. One of the mythical rulers, Shen Nong, who lived 5000 years ago, is hailed as the "Divine Cultivator" by the Chinese people because he is attributed as the founder of herbal medicine and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various kinds of plants, ingesting them himself to test their individual effects. According to the ancient texts, Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs including 70 toxic substances in a single day, in order to get rid of people's pain from illness. As there were no written records, it is said that the discoveries of Shen Nong was passed down verbally from generation to generation.

In December 2013, archaeologists found more than 900 bamboo strips at a construction site in the south-western city of Chengdu in China, which reveal recipes for treating ailments that date back around 2000 years. The discovery provides new insight into the methods used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Xie Tao of Chengdu's archaeology institute said that some of them are lost medical classics written by the successors of Bian Que, reputed to be China's earliest known physician. According to legend recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, Bian Que was gifted with remarkable abilities from a deity. The story states that he was given a packet of medicine that gave him the ability to see through the human body. He thereby became an excellent diagnostician with his s-ray like ability. It is said that he pioneered pulse-taking, used anesthesia and even performed an organ transplant.

By Mark Miller

↧

Bis zum 10. Jahrhundert existierten in Kasachstan nur schriftlose Kulturen. Das Land beheimatet indes einen wahren Schatz an vielfältigen materiellen Sachkulturen, die von der Archäologie zum Sprechen gebracht werden.

Drei Klimazonen

Eiskurgane

«Gold hütende Greifen»

Bis heute nicht entziffert

Millionen wildlebender Pferde

Systematische Erforschung

Yesterday I went to the first lecture from Jessica Rawson "Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia" in Leiden.

The last two lectures in this serie from Jessica Rawson are on Friday the 8th of May in Leiden, 16.00 hours and on Saturday the 9th of may in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam at 14.30 hours (for more information, read the following announcement below)

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015

La horde d'or : Les héritiers de Gengis Khan (French)

22.10.2014 Marie Favereau (Oxford): Europe and Russia - Besides, we always learn from others!

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

Last chance to meet Jessica Rawson is this afternoon in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam at 14.30 hours

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

Steppe and the Silk Roads, China’s Interactions with its neighbours- lectures by Jessica Rawson

Monday 4 May, Leiden: Warfare, Beauty and Belief, Bridging Eurasia

Wednesday 6 May, Leiden: The Lure of Iron and Gold, Interactions with the steppe in the First Millennium BC.

Friday 8 May, Leiden: Sculpture and Stone in the Han dynasty, (206 BC-AD 220)

Saturday 9 May, Amsterdam: Tents, Tombs and Horse Trade, The Tang (AD 618-906 ) and the Turks

A Dash Across Asia

While bracelets have been found pre-dating this discovery, Russian experts say this is the oldest known jewellery of its kind made of stone. Picture: Vera Salnitskaya

Rayy: from its Origins to the Mongol Invasion

Biographical note

Table of contents

Ghastly Hauntings and Divine Justice: A New Approach to Ritual, Ethics and Kingship in Ancient Japanese Buddhism

Lecture by Bryan Lowe (Vanderbilt University)

One of the greatest treasures of Cambridge University Library is a Buddhist manuscript that was produced in Kathmandu exactly 1,000 years ago. The exquisitely-illustrated Perfection of Wisdom is still revealing fresh secrets.

Beyond Pontus

700-Year-Old Tomb of Confucian Doctor Unearthed in China