What has happened to the Silk Roads?

We learned much about the Silk Roads this past week, with lecture in class as well as from the Ch. 8 from the Strayer text. Yet, I noticed that much was not discussed with whats happening now to this ancient cross-cultural contact.

When colonies were growing in interest, the silk roads were once again becoming interesting in the late 19th century to early 20th. Many imperialist countries such as Great Britain, Russia and Japan joined to compete for this area. This was known as the Great Game. A variety of people came to participate. Such as diplomats, soldiers, scientists, achaeologists, adventureres and others came to play the game. All of these kinds of people wanted to know what treasures lied in this thousands years-old network of trading and communication.

Albert Von Le Coq was one of these adventurers. This archaeologist found and carved out precious cave paintings in Bezeklik and Kharakhojo and was able to find ancient manuscripts. Von Le Coq claimed he was "saving" these articfacts from vandalism, although it appeared he was robbing the caves. It did not matter. The bombings in World War II destroyed much of his collection.

Another achaeologist from Xinjiang, a Uyghur nationalist, participated in number of excavations in this area. Finding out that the Chinese government however, held top positions in the government and economy, joined an underground movement which was after more autonomy from the Chinese government as well as nationalism. He became a part of a number of demonstrations, including the Tiananmen protest movement in 1989. He has hope however, due to the continuing reliance on oil found in this area including many of the "stan" countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan) as well as Mongolia, that these factors could provide the Uyghur with the upper hand in the economy and will increase trade.

It's important to know what the Silk Roads offered between 500-1500, yet is it even more important to know the affects these connections have now? The culture of the Silk Roads offer so much to the present: Political history, ancient art, geography, economic institutions, religion and so much more. Learning from this ancient past will benefit us plenty. The fact that the Silk Roads are still in existence today and still provide to humankind is a wonderful and interesting concept.

Thanks for reading! :)

http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/silkroad.htm

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