Silk Road

Introduction et traduction en français de l’Histoire des Mongols de Jean de Plancarpin, accompagnée d’une traduction de documents ayant trait au voyage dans l’empire mongol de Jean de Plancarpin (lettres et privilèges missionnaires rédigés par Innocent IV, Histoire des Tartares du frère C. de Bridia, compte-rendu de Benoît de Pologne, extraits de la chronique de Salimbene de Adam avec la réponse au pape du grand-khan Güyük).

Il volume, ampiamente illustrato, è un viaggio affascinante per "Le antiche Vie della Cina", alla scoperta dei lunghi percorsi che hanno cambiato le sorti del mondo.
Dalla più conosciuta Via della Seta, alle Vie della Giada, del Bronzo, della Lacca, della Porcellana, per concludere con la Via del Tè: un’indagine archeologico-artistica, estesa nello spazio e nel tempo, sull'interazione di popoli e culture differenti, il cui incontro/scontro ha rivoluzionato il divenire storico e reso il dialogo interculturale la vera “merce” di scambio.
“Il commercio – come si scopre leggendo il libro - è solamente un aspetto della storia perché i movimenti delle religioni, il contatto tra i popoli e la trasmissione di idee e tecnologie sono divenute la chiave di volta per la comprensione del progresso delle culture e delle civiltà coinvolte in questa arena.”

There are many unanswered questions about the evolution of the ancient ‘Silk Roads’ across Asia. This is especially the case in their mountainous stretches, where harsh terrain is seen as an impediment to travel. Considering the ecology and mobility of inner Asian mountain pastoralists, we use ‘flow accumulation’ modelling to calculate the annual routes of nomadic societies (from 750 m to 4,000 m elevation). Aggregating 500 iterations of the model reveals a high-resolution flow network that simulates how centuries of seasonal nomadic herding could shape discrete routes of connectivity across the mountains of Asia. We then compare the locations of known high-elevation Silk Road sites with the geography of these optimized herding flows, and find a significant correspondence in mountainous regions. Thus, we argue that highland Silk Road networks (from 750 m to 4,000 m) emerged slowly in relation to long-established mobility patterns of nomadic herders in the mountains of inner Asia.

Nowadays The Maritime Silk Road remains a huge and important trade network. It started around the 2nd century B.C. This route flourished in the middle ages, during the Song dynasty (960-1279). That would be impossible without such a simple device as it occurs to us now – compass.

INCLUSION OF REFUGEES INTO LABOUR MARKET: TOURISM AS A REMEDY FOR
INSTABILITY
Muharrem TUNA
Gazi University, Turkey
Email: muharrem@gazi.edu.tr
Melih AYDIN
Kilis 7 Aralık University, Turkey
Email: maydin@kilis.edu.tr
The Silk Road, in the beginning linked the circulation of goods between the east and the west of the world, and was later gained fame as cultural exchange and played an important role (www.topchinatravel.com). Central Asia is a bridge between East Asia and Europe where the Ancient Silk Road is located. It mainly hosts the Turkish-speaking and nomadic population, including Turkey (Koh & Kwok, 2017). Silk Road has a potential to boost its central position to exploit trade and investment potentials with South Asia, East Asia, West Asia and Europe (UNCTAD, 2009). Having an international expansion, Silk Route needs detailed reviews and discussions to revitalize the tourism and travel market. (Manhas, Kour & Bhagata, 2014). Designing of a global society implies that tourism businesses have the ability to operate globally and many have a competitive strategy of internationalization (Peric, 2005). Tourism as a driving power for safety is reflected in the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics, a number of principles for the development of sustainable and responsible tourism, approved in 1999 by the UNWTO General Assembly and notified by the UN General Assembly in 2001 (www.unwto.org). An important challenge for all local constitutions working with employers to support integration is the issue of discrimination. At this point, tourism should be considered as an equality and economic empowerment tool (OECD, 2006). Sharing costs among nations would make it less expensive to develop a professional framework and collaborative efforts would have these nations manage unemployment and underemployment issues. (Visconti & Gal, 2018). Turkey, alone hosts more than 3 million refugees. The incidence of entrepreneurship and job creation among immigrants is often high, as the local
5
employment opportunities in the periphery tend to be limited, suggesting that they will stimulate new economic development in the surrounding communities (Najib, 2016; Kalantaridis and Bika, 2011). In every sector, immigrants take part in the most risky positions and are usually compensated at lower rates than local workers (Kalavita, 2007). More than 4.8 million registered Syrian refugees lives in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt (Visconti & Gal, 2018). Despite the fact that there are many studies in the literature about silk road tourism, this study can shed light on the further studies, since there is a research gap on integration of refugees, living in silk road routes into the social life, and business life. This study will focus on the integration of the refugees into the social life and business life in the countries on the route of the silk road, by favour of the tourism channel. The role of tourism in preventing instability and hiding the painful face of war in a sense, will also be emphasized.
Keywords: Silk Road, Refugees, Instability, Inclusion, Tourism

Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China retells one of the largely forgotten histories between Britain and China in the 19th Century. 

Drawing on several collections using artefacts to explore the history of the Opium Wars through botanical arts and tools; historical artefacts about silk; missionary work and intercultural shared experiences in China recorded by British Missionaries throughout this period.

The exhibition includes sections looking at:

Story of the Opium Poppy species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae
Hong Kong taken from China as the fruits from the Opium War
'Grand Chop' my ship sailed from China with a cargo of silk
The Mission from London to Canton
Gladys Aylward rejected by the China Inland Mission for her lack of education, she went to China as an independent missionary

#TheMission

'The Mission' at a glance:  Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China

https://vimeo.com/568182247

La pandemia de Covid-19 profundizó las tendencias estructurales de la transición geopolítica en curso. El cambio del centro de gravedad del poder mundial hacia múltiples polos de poder emergentes, sumado al nuevo dinamismo económico del Asia Pacífico, son los procesos más importantes en este sentido. En el presente trabajo, hacemos un repaso del desempeño de la Iniciativa de la Franja y la Ruta (Ruta de la Seda) en el año 2020, un año marcado por la crisis mundial, pero en donde China ha logrado ser el motor de la economía mundial, tendencia que se profundizará en 2021.

Silk, Slaves, and Stupas tells the stories of ten very different objects, considering their interaction with the peoples and cultures of the Silk Road—those who made them, carried them, received them, used them, sold them, worshipped them, and, in more recent times, bought them, conserved them, and curated them. From a delicate pair of earrings from a steppe tomb to a massive stupa deep in Central Asia, a hoard of Kushan coins stored in an Ethiopian monastery to a Hellenistic glass bowl from a southern Chinese tomb, and a fragment of Byzantine silk wrapping the bones of a French saint to a Bactrian ewer depicting episodes from the Trojan War, these objects show us something of the cultural diversity and interaction along these trading routes of Afro-Eurasia.

Kitabın amacı müzikal uyarıların Koi balıklarında (Cyprinus carpio) büyüme performansı, yem kullanımı, davranış ve stres üzerine etkilerini araştırmaktır. Çalışma kontrollü koşullarda gerçekleşen iki ayrı denemeden oluşmaktadır. Birinci denemede, alfa, beta, teta ve gama ses dalgaları ile klasik, country, metal, elektro, kentsel gürültü, silkroad, sufi ney, Kuran dinletisi olmak üzere, 12 farklı ses uyarısının balık davranışlarına etkisi incelenmiştir. Farklı davranışlar sergilediği düşünülen kentsel gürültü, silk-road (enstrümental), sufi ney (enstrümental), Kuran dinletisi sesleri, balıkların büyümesi, yemden yararlanma ve stres üzerine etkisini incelemek amacıyla seçilmiştir. Seçilen sesler, ikinci denemede balıklara 90 gün süresince, 08:00 - 08:30, 12:30 - 13:00 ve 17:00 - 17:30 saatleri arasında dinletilmiştir. Tüm çalışmalar 3 tekrarlı olarak yürütülmüştür. İkinci deneme sonunda, Kuran dinletisi, sufi ney, silk-road uyarılarına (67 dB re 1 μPa SPL) maruz kalan deneme grupları, kontrol grubuna (57 dB re 1 μPa SPL) göre daha iyi, yem kullanım ve büyüme performansı sergilemiştir. Kentsel gürültü (67 dB re 1 μPa SPL), balıkların büyümesini ve yem verimliliğini olumsuz etkilemiştir. Farklı müzik uyarılarının hematolojik, immünolojik ve serum biyokimyasal parametrelerde önemli değişimlere neden olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, yoğun kültür balıkçılığı yapılan tesislerde, Kuran dinletisi, sufi ney, silk-road uyarılarının, “büyüme teşvik faktörü” olarak değerlendirilebileceği, balık refahının üzerinde olumlu etkiler gösterebileceği, kentsel gürültünün ise balık refahı, büyüme performansı ve yem kullanımı üzerinde olumsuz etkiler yapabileceği düşünülmektedir. Ayrıca, farklı ses uyarılarının farklı balık türleri ve vii büyüme dönemlerinde araştırılması ve özellikle balıklarda stresi azaltıcı etkisinin araştırılması önerilebilir.

ვინ არიან ხევსურები, იყო თუ არა ტამპლიერების ბოლო თავშესაფარი საქართველო, არსებობდა თუ არა წმინდა ნინო, რატომ აშენდა სვანური კოშკები, რა კავშირი აქვს საქართველოს ისტორიასთან სავაჭრო გზებს და როგორ იცვლებოდა საქართველოს ისტორია კლიმატის ცვლილებასთან ერთად, რა ადგილი უჭირავს შავ ზღვას საქართველოს ისტორიაში - მართლაც გაუცხოებულია ქართველი ზღვას თუ ეს საბჭოთა კავშირის დროს შექნილი მითი/განხილვის წესია, რა შეიძლება ყოფილიყო  "ვეფხვისტყაოსანის" დაწერის მიზეზი და რას ფარავს, ეს, ყველა ქართველისთვის თითქოსდა კარგად ცნობილი ტექსტი, საიდან წარმოიშვა ქართული სუფრის გაძღოლის დღევანდელი წესი, რას ნიშნავს სიტყვა "გინება", რა უდევს საფუძვლად ქართული ხელოვნებათმცოდნეობის ტრადიციას, როგორ მოხდა ქართულ საზოგადოებრივ ცნობიერებაში ნანგრევის და ისტორიული ძეგლის  ურთიერთდამთხვევა - ამ კითხვებზე საყოველთაოდ მიღებულ/დადგენილიდან განსხვავებულ პასუხებს ნახავთ ამ წიგნში.

Arctic security is a main security challenge – a global one, not only a regional one – not only for the Arctic countries, but for the whole international community, first of all the European. With Russia and China expanding their role in the area, and the difficulty of finding an undisputed governance on maritime routes and economic exploitation of resources, there is the risk of militarization of the Arctic. After briefly summarizing current and future challenges in the Arctic, this paper analyzes the limits due to a deficit of suitable instruments to maintain security in the region, especially in relation to the role of international intergovernmental organizations, and suggests some remedies to overcome these deficiencies.

В докладе  содержится развернутый анализ китайского интеграционного проекта - Экономического пояса Шелкового пути (ЭПШП)  и места России в нем.  Авторы  анализируют концептуальные подходы к ЭПШП в Китае, России и государствах Центральной Азии/
Коллектив авторов: А.В. Лукин, С.Г. Лузянин,  Ли Синь, И.Е. Денисов, 
К.Л. Сыроежкин, А.С. Пятачкова
Руководитель авторского коллектива: А.В.Лукин
Научный редактор: В.И.Якунин

The Silk Road tied the globe together for the first time by producing an early globalization phenomenon. Some consider that the ancient Silk Road disintegrated around the 18th century CE due to the fall of the Muslim empires and the kingdoms between Asia and Europe. However, the maritime trade among East Asia and the Spanish dominion on the American continent reactivated the ancient Silk Road on some levels, and maintained trade dynamics until the 19th century. This was possible because of Mexican silver and trade spots. Notwithstanding its historical background, Mexico seems so far away from the new Silk Road, or the Belt and Road Initiative in the 21st century. Thus, this paper analyzes Mexico’s historic and current role concerning the Silk Road. First, I conceptualize and compare the ancient Silk Road and Belt and Road Initiative through the lens of complex interdependence theory. I propose that, unlike the ancient Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative is a case of an induced complex interdependence. Second, I study the Manila Galleon’ dynamics in order to trace the ancient ties with the Silk Road. I emphasize Mexican silver’s contribution to East Asian economies and the importance of Mexico’s role in the East Asia-Spanish trade. Consequently, I analyze Mexico’s position in the Belt and Road Initiative. Finally, I present some concluding remarks about Mexico’s role in the Silk Road.

Comment parler simplement de ce projet qui en fait nous dépasse tous ? La Route de la Soie transcende le passé, le présent et le futur. Elle replace les mythes du passé, dénoue l'avenir et propose de nouveaux enjeux. Déjà posons les bases, en nous demandant "de quoi parlons-nous ?" 
La nouvelle route de la soie ou la Ceinture et la Route, 一带一路,  (appelée aussi OBOR - One Belt, One Road) est une liaison ferroviaire entre la Chine et l'Europe passant par le Kazakhstan, la Russie, la Biélorussie, la Pologne, l'Allemagne, la France et le Royaume-Uni. Est-ce seulement cela qui est enjeu ?

Que Christophe Colomb soit parti chercher le grand-khan en Amérique est un thème bien connu, presque une évidence. Le sujet semble facile: le marin génois avait trouvé l’idée dans la lecture du Devisement du monde de Marco Polo, qui raconte comment le petit-fils de Gengis Khan, Qubilai, devenu le grand khan mongol régnant sur la Chine, montrait ses faveurs au christianisme porté par le voyageur vénitien. Idée erronée, mais transmise à presque deux siècles de distance d’un voyageur à un autre, et qui eut pour effet inattendu la découverte du continent américain. Certes, en 1492, cela faisait tout de même plus d’un siècle que les Mongols avaient été chassés de Chine, laissant la place en 1368 à une dynastie, les Ming, bien moins ouverte aux contacts avec l’étranger. De plus, si l’on n’y regarde de plus près, il n’est même pas vraiment sûr que Christophe Colomb ait bien lu le Devisement du monde avant de s’embarquer. La question de la transmission de la figure historique et littéraire d’un grand-khan du Cathay favorable au christianisme reste donc plus compliquée qu’elle n’en a l’air. Elle relève d’une représentation générale du monde, diffusée à travers l’ensemble des élites occidentales de l’époque, capable de mobiliser au service de la découverte et de l’expansion. Et c’est en ce sens que l’histoire de la transmission de cette figure de Marco Polo à Christophe Colomb mérite que l’on s’y arrête: la réécriture permanente à travers la littérature latine de ce thème, deux siècles encore après la mort de Qubilai qui l’avait inspiré, est un révélateur des ressorts profonds de la conception du monde de l’Occident médiéval finissant.

The Silk Road has become one of the key geocultural and geostrategic concepts of the twenty-first century. Identified by two routes-maritime and overland, the Silk Road stretches across the Indian Ocean and Eurasian landmass; regions that will be of paramount importance in an increasingly multi-polar world. Through Belt and Road, China proclaims to be 'reviving' the Silk Road for the twenty-first century; ambitions that are creating forms of diplomacy across multiple sectors and countries. To contextualise such developments, this paper examines the Silk Road's historical formation as an arena of diplomacy and international cooperation. It argues that this stylised, romanticised depiction of pre-modern globalisation came to be associated with peace and harmony, cosmopolitanism and inter-cultural dialogue after World War II. Within this, however, Silk Road diplomacy has served as a vehicle for nationalist and geopolitical ambitions. The paper argues such entanglements underpin China's Belt and Road Initiative today. ARTICLE HISTORY

The current state of research on glass along the Silk Road was the subject of an international conference within the scope of the »Sino-German Project on Cultural Heritage Preservation« of the RGZM and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, hosted in December 2008 in Mainz.
Since Antiquity the routes of the so-called Silk Road formed an important network for commercial, cultural and technological exchange. Far-reaching and criss-crossing the Asian continent they connected eastern and south-eastern parts of Asia to the Mediterranean world via both maritime and overland routes. Named after the lucrative silk trade, which developed during Han Dynasty, one tends to think of the Silk Road as a one-way road starting in China and ending at the Mediterranean. However, goods, technologies and ideas were travelling in both directions, and glass is an excellent example for a trade-good that arrived in the East from the West. The key developments of glass, which had its origins in the Middle and Near East, mainly took place in the Mediterranean and in the Arab World during Antiquity and Islamic times. Although known in the Far East since at least the Han Dynasty and treated as equivalent to precious stones, glass never played a significant role in Far Eastern cultures. Therefore glass finds from Far Eastern sites provide evidence for far-reaching trade relationships and imply cross-fertilization with other cultures.
Thus the contributions to this conference dealt with a geographical area between Western Europe, the Balkans, the Near East, Central Asia, as well as Eastern and Southeastern Asia and covered a chronological range from 200 BC to AD 1000. The conference focused on the one hand on recent results of scientific analyses of glass and on the other hand on archaeological questions. The possibility of interdisciplinary research was one of the focal points of the conference and hence this volume, as well as questions on workshops, raw material, technology and trade.
The international conference was considered to provide the participants with an insight beyond their own immediate concerns. By means of presenting studies of regionally specific glass forms and techniques as well as current methods and discoveries, even when not directly connected to the Silk Road, a broader perspective is offered.

Samghāta Sūtra represents a Buddhist composition that was partcularly popular in Central Asia. It is preserved in more copies that any other Buddhist Sogdian text and may have been translated into Sogdian earlier that any other Buddhist Sutras known to us in this language. This paper represents the philological edition of the fragments of the Samghāta Sūtra in the Berlin collection.

Türk tarihinde her zaman önemli yerleri olan ribat, han, kervansaraylar işlevlerine uygun olarak sefer ve kervan yolları üzerine yapılmışlardır. Kazıklı Hacı Hamza Bin İvaz Kervansarayı da Osmanlı Döneminde bu yollar üzerinde yapılmış olup günümüzde Kocaeli İli, Gölcük İlçesinde yer alan bir eserdir.
Söz konusu 16. yüzyıl yapısının Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun menzil ve kervan yolları üzerindeki konumunu ortaya koymayı, dönemine ve benzer özellik gösteren yapılara yönelik bir kaynak oluşturmayı amaç edindiğimiz çalışmada Kazıklı Hacı Hamza Bin İvaz Kervansarayı’nın “tek salonlu, ahşap taşıyıcıya sahip, kapalı avlulu ve çatı örtülü plan tipinin -var olan benzerleri içerisindeki- en büyük ölçeklilerinden birisine sahip örneği olma” özelliği odak noktası olarak ele alınmaktadır.
Hakkında çok az sayıda kaynak bulunan ve literatürde fazla bilinmeyen yapılardan olması dolayısıyla Kazıklı Hacı Hamza Bin İvaz Kervansarayı’nın yüzyılında ne gibi öneme sahip olduğu, dönem içerisindeki mimari durumu, tarihsel süreci, tarihteki yeri, Bölgemiz ve ilimiz açısından önemi, hangi yol güzergahları üzerinde ne gibi işlevlerde kullanıldığı, yakın çevresinde yer alan benzeri yapılar ve kervan yolları üzerinde yer alan yerleşim alanları, mesken yerleri, yol, köprü vb yapılarla olan ilişkisi irdelenerek ortaya konulmaya çalışılacaktır.

In the international project GEAB an attempt has been made to generalize the main steps of a very complex and multifaceted movement aimed at restoring the Great Silk Road in the new geopolitical and economic format of the third millennium. Sequential and purposeful actions of the main participants of the strategic concept of modern GSR have been shown.
On basis of historical and geological studies, the authors of the project were the first to substantiate the existence of the land bridge through the Caspian Sea, connecting the Absheron Peninsula with the coast of Western Turkmenistan in the II-VII centuries of our era. On this isthmus passed one of the most active routes of the Great Silk Road. The authors, drawing on the studies, developed a concept for the construction across the Caspian Sea of a large bridge connecting the Turkmen coast with the Absheron peninsula.
The concept of forming the infrastructure of the proposed bridge provides a three-level structure. At the first level, it is proposed to place main trans-Caspian oil pipelines, gas pipelines, optical communication lines and other main communications. At the second level it is proposed to place the railways: for freight and passenger high-speed trains. The third, the uppermost level is proposed to be used to accommodate highways: for the trucks, the passenger motor vehicles and high-speed roads for motor cars.  The bridge will have the ability of further integration of transport systems of the Caspian states.
Thus, the "Great Eurasian Bridge" is not just a large transport infrastructure, it is a transnational economic -megastructure with a new philosophy of economic and geopolitical integration.

The concept of the Silk Road first attained prominence in the latter half of the 19th centu­ry as part of European attempts to impose economic and political claims upon the lands and peoples of Xinjiang (also known as East Turkestan, Chinese Central Asia, or Chinese Turkestan). These claims were given cultural substance at the turn of the century by a se­ries of expeditions undertaken by Western explorers and archaeologists, who ventured in­to the deserts of northwestern China in search of Greco-Indian art and antiquities. The study and display of such artifacts were motivated primarily by a desire to highlight the eastward migrations of Indo-European speakers into Central Asia. When these same ex­peditions began to reveal the presence of ancient Chinese ruins and antiquities as well, Chinese scholars and officials joined their Western counterparts in the field, using the material proceeds of their excavations to construct competing narratives of the westward influence of Chinese civilization. In the decades since the end of World War II, the con­cept of the Silk Road has come to dominate popular and scholarly associations with the region, monopolizing everything from the advertising of Central Asian and Middle East­ern cuisine to the names of academic monographs and international string ensembles.
The elusive and malleable idea of “the Silk Road” has provided an attractive ideological platform over the past 200 years for major political, economic, and cultural actors throughout Eurasia to assert their imagined historical importance across both time and space, often with a highly romanticized gloss. In that sense, it is a purely modern intellec­tual construct, one that would have been utterly unfamiliar and likely incomprehensible to those historical agents it purports to describe.

كان لسكان الصين القدامى نظرتهم الخاصة لبلدهم وموقعه في العالم، وأهمية الفضاء المحيط به بشكل عام. وقد اعتقدوا أنه إذا كان للعالم مركز، فإن الصين تمثل ذلك المركز. ولكونها كذلك، فهي إمبراطورية الوسط "l’empire du Milieu". وهو ما تدل عليه كلمة الصين باللغة الصينية zhong guo، وتعني أمة الوسط.
سأناقش من خلال هذا المقال تأثير مبادئ المدرسة الجيوسياسية الصينية القديمة في الدور الصيني الجديد على الساحة الدولية. وذلك لمعرفة إلى أي حد استطاعت القيادات الصينية تبني هذا الموروث القيمي العريق وتقاليده الضاربة في التاريخ كذخيرة فكرية وجيوسياسية سمحت لها بتجاوز الصعوبات المفروضة أمامها، وبلوغها المكانة الدولية التي تحتلها اليوم.

The ancient Chinese had their own vision of their country and its location in the world. Traditional Chinese thought has always considered that China would be the center of the world. As such, she has always defended her image of Middle Kingdom .The purpose of this article is to shed more light on the influence of the old Chinese geopolitical school on China's new role on the contemporary international scene. By examining the extent to which Chinese leaders have succeeded since the advent of the People's Republic of China to adopt this legacy of ancient geopolitical values and traditions.