Silk Road 2009-2010

           I must admit that prior to selecting this course; I had the romanticized misconception that the Silk Road was solely a luxurious transport network of adventure and trade. I was intrigued by the interaction of different people and the share of not only goods but knowledge of various languages and methods of communication. However, what I lacked to take into consideration were the misfortunes and hardships that pilgrims, merchants, travelers and explorers endured. It was not until chapters 1-3 of ‘The Silk Road’ by Frances Wood that I came to the understanding that many factors contributed bearing either success of failure of one’s journey along the Silk Road; specifically the variance of the extremity of climates, lack of vegetation, scarcity of animals as well as efficient/inefficient water systems. According to Wood, oases were located on the outer rims of the deserts and thus few travelers ventured out into the desolated wilderness of these areas (including the Lop and the Gobi Deserts). Thus, pertaining to desert areas, other hardships that travelers endured were bandits who would randomly attack travelers’ caravans, desert sprits which would call to men at night as well as the fact that men had to carry an abundance of their own provisions as areas were extremely isolated and lack of preparation could be the equivilant of death. Hence, oases were viewed as welcoming sites.

        Prior to reading Wood’s readings, another misconception that I had believed regarding the Silk Road was that individuals who embarked on journeying the Silk Road would travel the entire extent of it from the Far East to Europe and vice versa. Yet this as Wood illustrates, was not the case as the number of agents who travelled the full distance of the routes was in reality quite small.

        I was intrigued to read that Romans referred to the Chinese as  ‘Serens’ as China produced silk as early as 1,000 BC. The process of taking care of silk worms was a great and tidious one. Silk was in fact a controversial commodity in Rome (due to the transparency it brought to a woman’s figure) as well as a problematic factor to the Roman economy (as it was in such high demand and ever-so popular). Furthermore, the profusion of diversity and the concept of unity during  Alexander the Great’s reign from ‘Gilbraltar to Punjab’ was incredible as there existed a single coinage system throughout the lands as well as the use of Greek as the lingua-franca which  enhanced communication.

        Overall, the comparison and contrast between the Rome and China was helpful as it aided me in comprehending how complex and productive both entities were in regard to power, trade and innovation.

After reading the Ancient Sogdian Letters, I realized how often we take communication technology for granted. I cannot imagine writing a letter filled with all of my hopes and fears just to wait anxiously for its arrival to its recipient.
Although it was enlightening to read Ancient Letter Two in regards to the destruction of Yeh and Luoyang; I found that I was further struck by letters One and Three, as it dealt with the direct emotions of the women who commissioned the letters.
Upon reading the letters, I was not surprised at its formality of routinely wishing the receiver health and good tidings; yet I was shocked to read the brutal sincerity of their emotions portrayed in the later parts of their letters. They felt so isolated that among their emotions they considered themselves “dead” and would rather be an animal’s wife than their husbands. Wow!
In our present day and society, technology has greatly aided narrowing the gap of distance and of time when it comes to communicating with others. I cannot fathom what it must of been like to not only have to battle the harshness of mother nature, but to have a barely existent support network where distance among other elements was not on one’s side.