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丝绸之路：十二种唐朝人生
公元8 世纪到10 世纪，唐朝盛极转衰，西域局势动荡不安。在盛唐漫长的身影中，我们可以看到最终葬身海洋的中东船长塔泽纳、败走铁刃城的吐蕃士兵赛格拉顿、远赴漠北的太和公主，一生飘零的妓女莱瑞诗卡……无论是贵族还是民众，都在试图抓住命运的节奏，努力活下去。正是这样一个个生命轨迹照亮了两千多年的丝绸之路，随着历史涌至现在。
420 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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1432 people want to read
About the author
Susan Whitfield
33 books18 followersSusan Whitfield is an English historian and librarian who works at the British Library in London, England. She obtained a PhD in historiography from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and now specialises in the social and intellectual history of the Tang Dynasty, and the history of the Silk Road.
She is currently director of the International Dunhuang Project, and in this capacity is involved in research and cataloguing of Central Asian manuscripts at the British Library. She has a particular interest in identifying forged manuscripts from Dunhuang.
She is currently director of the International Dunhuang Project, and in this capacity is involved in research and cataloguing of Central Asian manuscripts at the British Library. She has a particular interest in identifying forged manuscripts from Dunhuang.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
November 15, 2018
10 câu chuyện (tưởng tượng nhưng dựa trên những tư liệu còn lại, chủ yếu từ di tích Đôn Hoàng) về 10 con người từng sống trên Silk Road, và hầu hết là ở khu vực Tân Cương ngày nay, sống trong khoảng 2 thế kỷ từ thế kỷ 8 tới 10. Họ là những người bình thường: một thương nhân Sogdian (Samarkan, Uzbekistan ngày nay), một chiến binh Hồi Hột (Uygur), một binh sĩ Thổ Phồn (Tây Tạng), một công chúa nhà Đường, một kỹ nữ Quý Sương (Kucha), một nhà sư Kashmir, một học giả Ba Tư, và bốn người ở Đôn Hoàng gồm một quan chức, một nghệ sĩ, một ni cô và một bà goá.
Cách tiếp cận lịch sử như vậy rất thú vị, có một điều gì ở giữa fiction và non-fiction, và khiến người đọc như được sống lại ở một xứ sở vừa xa lạ vừa quyến rũ, nơi bao quốc gia, bao đế quốc, bộ lạc từng va chạm vào nhau, chiến đấu, loại bỏ nhau, hoà vào nhau. Cho tới trước khi Hồi giáo thống trị Trung Á thì Silk Road vẫn là một xứ sở lạ kỳ, nơi các tôn giáo, các nền văn hoá, các tộc người khác nhau thi nhau gây ảnh hưởng, nhưng vẫn có một sự khoan dung với những thứ thuộc tôn giáo hay văn hoá khác. Nơi đây, người ta có thể tìm thấy các tín đồ Phật giáo, Hindu giáo, Bái hoả giáo, Mani giáo, Thiên chúa giáo Nestorian...và những ảnh hưởng về văn hoá rất đa dạng của Trung Quốc, Ấn Độ, Ba Tư, và thậm chí là Hy Lạp. Vùng đất nơi những nhà du hành vĩ đại nhất trong lịch sử từng đi qua, theo tiếng gọi của tâm linh hay túi tiền, hay có lẽ bởi một khát khao khám phá những miền đất lạ: Huyền Trang đại sư đời Đường, Marco Polo người đến từ thành Venise.
Cho tới giờ những tượng Phật mà mình thấy đẹp nhất có lẽ là những tượng Phật ở Gandhara (Pakistan và Afghanistan ngày nay, đạt tới đỉnh cao dưới thời đế quốc Quý Sương), nơi hội tụ của nghệ thuật điêu khắc Hy Lạp và tinh thần Phật giáo Ấn Độ.
Và rồi tất cả mọi thứ rồi cũng sẽ qua đi, như cát trên sa mạc trong cơn gió cát. 2000 năm nữa, ký ức về chúng ta có lẽ cũng biến mất và khi đó các biorobot, nếu như chúng là những người thừa kế Trái Đất, sẽ tò mò học về một chủng homosapiens đã từng tồn tại và lây lan khắp Trái Đất một thuở nào.
Cách tiếp cận lịch sử như vậy rất thú vị, có một điều gì ở giữa fiction và non-fiction, và khiến người đọc như được sống lại ở một xứ sở vừa xa lạ vừa quyến rũ, nơi bao quốc gia, bao đế quốc, bộ lạc từng va chạm vào nhau, chiến đấu, loại bỏ nhau, hoà vào nhau. Cho tới trước khi Hồi giáo thống trị Trung Á thì Silk Road vẫn là một xứ sở lạ kỳ, nơi các tôn giáo, các nền văn hoá, các tộc người khác nhau thi nhau gây ảnh hưởng, nhưng vẫn có một sự khoan dung với những thứ thuộc tôn giáo hay văn hoá khác. Nơi đây, người ta có thể tìm thấy các tín đồ Phật giáo, Hindu giáo, Bái hoả giáo, Mani giáo, Thiên chúa giáo Nestorian...và những ảnh hưởng về văn hoá rất đa dạng của Trung Quốc, Ấn Độ, Ba Tư, và thậm chí là Hy Lạp. Vùng đất nơi những nhà du hành vĩ đại nhất trong lịch sử từng đi qua, theo tiếng gọi của tâm linh hay túi tiền, hay có lẽ bởi một khát khao khám phá những miền đất lạ: Huyền Trang đại sư đời Đường, Marco Polo người đến từ thành Venise.
Cho tới giờ những tượng Phật mà mình thấy đẹp nhất có lẽ là những tượng Phật ở Gandhara (Pakistan và Afghanistan ngày nay, đạt tới đỉnh cao dưới thời đế quốc Quý Sương), nơi hội tụ của nghệ thuật điêu khắc Hy Lạp và tinh thần Phật giáo Ấn Độ.
Và rồi tất cả mọi thứ rồi cũng sẽ qua đi, như cát trên sa mạc trong cơn gió cát. 2000 năm nữa, ký ức về chúng ta có lẽ cũng biến mất và khi đó các biorobot, nếu như chúng là những người thừa kế Trái Đất, sẽ tò mò học về một chủng homosapiens đã từng tồn tại và lây lan khắp Trái Đất một thuở nào.
October 5, 2019
İngiliz Kütüphanesi Uluslararası Dunhuang projesini yöneten yazar, İpek Yolu üzerindeki zorlu coğrafyayı ve seyahati, yaşamı, inançları, etnik, kültürel ve ticari yapıyı, belgelere, gerçeklere dayanan hikayelere dönüştürmüş. Bir bilimsel kitap zenginliğindeki öyküler, dönemin ve anlatılanların gözümüzün önünde tüm canlılığı ile oluşmasını sağlayacak güzellikte.
Çok özel bir düşünce ile şekillenmiş bu kitabı okumanızı öneririm.
April 7, 2016
Life Along The Silk Road by Susan Whitfield presents a highly original version of history. In some ways it is historical fiction, but she doesn’t make anything up. But then neither does she merely describe events. It’s not really fiction, but then it’s not a completely factual account of a turbulent period in the history of Central Asia.
In 1999 when the book was published Susan Whitfield ran the International Dunhuang project in the British Library. This gave her access to tens of thousands of documents, scrolls and books that were discovered in sealed caves at the turn of the twentieth century. The texts present an admixture of material, some of it religious, some administrative. Some of it is trivial, thus material of invaluable contextual importance for the historian, while some is poetic, and that helps the creation of fiction.
Using the contents of this written material, Susan Whitfield has assembled a set of stories. She creates individuals who illustrate contemporary life as they live through, if they are lucky enough to survive, the great events of their times. We meet merchants, soldiers, courtesans, artists, monks, nuns and officials. Their lives intertwine as they span the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, a period when overland trade via the Silk Road flourished and then began to decline. It was also a period when in China the Tang gave way to the Song and when numerous religions competed for adherents.
Skilfully Susan Whitfield uses each of her characters, almost all of them at least partly real, the rest created by amalgam, to illustrate how lives are transformed by the great events of their times. They witness the attempted Arab conquest. They trade along the Silk Road. They visit Chinese emperors in their capital Chang’an, the modern-day Xian. They deal with Sogdian rulers, speak Chinese, Turkic, Mongolian and Tibetan, and deal daily with Manicheans, Nestorian Christians, Buddhists, Confucians, Hindus and Muslims. Their history thus comes alive.
Dunhuang, with its stunning complex of Mogao caves, is central to these stories. At the end of the Tang dynasty in the tenth century, some of its artwork and statuary was already old enough to be in need of restoration. I have had the privilege of visiting the site and I rate the experience among the most impressive of all I have seen on all my travels. Susan Whitfield’s book took me back there and brought the experience to life. It’s an easy read, but then it needs to be because the subject matter is quite challenging for someone who is unfamiliar with the era and its events. The book is undoubtedly entertaining and at the same time informative. Through it, the reader can join these characters in their own time and experience a culture and way of life that will be immediately foreign, but ultimately understood.
In 1999 when the book was published Susan Whitfield ran the International Dunhuang project in the British Library. This gave her access to tens of thousands of documents, scrolls and books that were discovered in sealed caves at the turn of the twentieth century. The texts present an admixture of material, some of it religious, some administrative. Some of it is trivial, thus material of invaluable contextual importance for the historian, while some is poetic, and that helps the creation of fiction.
Using the contents of this written material, Susan Whitfield has assembled a set of stories. She creates individuals who illustrate contemporary life as they live through, if they are lucky enough to survive, the great events of their times. We meet merchants, soldiers, courtesans, artists, monks, nuns and officials. Their lives intertwine as they span the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, a period when overland trade via the Silk Road flourished and then began to decline. It was also a period when in China the Tang gave way to the Song and when numerous religions competed for adherents.
Skilfully Susan Whitfield uses each of her characters, almost all of them at least partly real, the rest created by amalgam, to illustrate how lives are transformed by the great events of their times. They witness the attempted Arab conquest. They trade along the Silk Road. They visit Chinese emperors in their capital Chang’an, the modern-day Xian. They deal with Sogdian rulers, speak Chinese, Turkic, Mongolian and Tibetan, and deal daily with Manicheans, Nestorian Christians, Buddhists, Confucians, Hindus and Muslims. Their history thus comes alive.
Dunhuang, with its stunning complex of Mogao caves, is central to these stories. At the end of the Tang dynasty in the tenth century, some of its artwork and statuary was already old enough to be in need of restoration. I have had the privilege of visiting the site and I rate the experience among the most impressive of all I have seen on all my travels. Susan Whitfield’s book took me back there and brought the experience to life. It’s an easy read, but then it needs to be because the subject matter is quite challenging for someone who is unfamiliar with the era and its events. The book is undoubtedly entertaining and at the same time informative. Through it, the reader can join these characters in their own time and experience a culture and way of life that will be immediately foreign, but ultimately understood.
February 27, 2017
This was a lovely read! Each chapter tells the life story of various types of people who were impacted by the Silk Road (nuns, government officials, princesses, merchants, and more). Whitfield relates the facts and historical context in a style that is enjoyable and easy to read. Historical figures seemed relatable without skimping on the history. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in the history of the Silk Road!
August 28, 2015
Finally done with this book. I can finally start reading the books that I want. Heir Of Fire, I'm coming for you!!!!!
March 10, 2019
This is a beautifully evocative book, and one somewhat of a novelty in terms of its originality. It is an astoundingly accomplished and erudite work, firmly grounded in results of present day scholarship, informed by the most in-depth of academic studies, but it translates this often dry and rather fusty scientific data into the living, breathing recreation of a fully realised world. A world which once existed, but one which is so remote and removed from our own that it repays an imaginative retelling – which is exactly what Susan Whitfield has expertly done in the pages of this excellent book.
Through a series of twelve ‘tales’ she reanimates for the reader the world, or worlds, of the communities of the Central Asian Silk Road network – enabling us to inhabit and comprehend this long period from the point of view of certain particular individuals. A shipmaster, a merchant, a soldier, a princess, a pilgrim, an official, a widow, and an artist, are just some of the personas brought to life in these pages. Each tale illuminates different facets of this complex, sophisticated, and deeply interrelated world – its politics, its economics, its religion, its wars, its administration, its hardships, and its joys. Yet Susan Whitfield does so in a manner which is both skilful and deft. The fictional element is lightly nuanced, such that in never over-shadows the historical facts it sets out to illuminate; grounded as it is in a deeply museological understanding of the past, the book adds life to the inanimate remnants from which this jigsaw puzzle of a world has been recovered and pieced back together. As such, it is well worth reading this book in tandem with Valerie Hansen’s The Silk Road: A New History.
Whitfield’s own line drawings are used to illustrate the text which adds a wonderfully personal touch to her tales – one can’t help imagining her immersed in copying these motifs over many years of in-depth study, mulling over the lives of those long gone characters who created such artworks and in turn helping to inform her own imaginative interpretations; it is this personal element, something so rarely shared, which undoubtedly belies all academic enquiries into, and speculations about, the lives of those individuals who once peopled the past.
Susan Whitfield’s expertise derives from a career immersed in the study of this region and its material culture. Until quite recently she was in charge of the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) at the British Library. The IDP is a fascinating and dynamic network of academics drawn from institutions across the globe, all collaborating together to present, interpret, and make publicly available access to hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, paintings, and artefacts from the eastern regions of the Silk Road. The IDP’s website and regular newsletters are essential reading for anyone with a genuine curiosity and interest in the ancient history of Central Asia, its academic rediscovery in the early twentieth century, and its continuing exploration in our present day.
Through a series of twelve ‘tales’ she reanimates for the reader the world, or worlds, of the communities of the Central Asian Silk Road network – enabling us to inhabit and comprehend this long period from the point of view of certain particular individuals. A shipmaster, a merchant, a soldier, a princess, a pilgrim, an official, a widow, and an artist, are just some of the personas brought to life in these pages. Each tale illuminates different facets of this complex, sophisticated, and deeply interrelated world – its politics, its economics, its religion, its wars, its administration, its hardships, and its joys. Yet Susan Whitfield does so in a manner which is both skilful and deft. The fictional element is lightly nuanced, such that in never over-shadows the historical facts it sets out to illuminate; grounded as it is in a deeply museological understanding of the past, the book adds life to the inanimate remnants from which this jigsaw puzzle of a world has been recovered and pieced back together. As such, it is well worth reading this book in tandem with Valerie Hansen’s The Silk Road: A New History.
Whitfield’s own line drawings are used to illustrate the text which adds a wonderfully personal touch to her tales – one can’t help imagining her immersed in copying these motifs over many years of in-depth study, mulling over the lives of those long gone characters who created such artworks and in turn helping to inform her own imaginative interpretations; it is this personal element, something so rarely shared, which undoubtedly belies all academic enquiries into, and speculations about, the lives of those individuals who once peopled the past.
Susan Whitfield’s expertise derives from a career immersed in the study of this region and its material culture. Until quite recently she was in charge of the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) at the British Library. The IDP is a fascinating and dynamic network of academics drawn from institutions across the globe, all collaborating together to present, interpret, and make publicly available access to hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, paintings, and artefacts from the eastern regions of the Silk Road. The IDP’s website and regular newsletters are essential reading for anyone with a genuine curiosity and interest in the ancient history of Central Asia, its academic rediscovery in the early twentieth century, and its continuing exploration in our present day.
March 1, 2021
The Silk Road in the latter centuries of the first millennium was the sprawling region -itself an incredibly varied landscape of deserts, mountains, valleys, and grasslands, dotted with villages, cities, and fortresses- where myriad cultures and religions intermingled, traded, stood aloof from, and of course fought, one-another.
Susan Whitfield here chooses what is almost historical re-enactment to -rather successfully- bring all this to life, endowing it with more immediacy and involvement than a more straightforward retelling of facts might do. She embellishes and amalgamates known people, or simply makes them up, to exhibit her -obviously extensive- research into and knowledge of the -for me, surprisingly civilised and fair-minded- era.
If you have any interest in the times and the lands, I recommend Life Along the Silk Road. In fact I recommend it if you've any interest in history full stop.
Susan Whitfield here chooses what is almost historical re-enactment to -rather successfully- bring all this to life, endowing it with more immediacy and involvement than a more straightforward retelling of facts might do. She embellishes and amalgamates known people, or simply makes them up, to exhibit her -obviously extensive- research into and knowledge of the -for me, surprisingly civilised and fair-minded- era.
If you have any interest in the times and the lands, I recommend Life Along the Silk Road. In fact I recommend it if you've any interest in history full stop.
July 14, 2024
This is incredibly readable and I’ve rarely read about this period of time (700s-900s) with such vibrant colors and clarity. Through the device of characters who are based on real people, different kinds of history are told—women who marry and grow old and widowed, nuns, princesses, entertainers, soldiers, traders, etc. The stories cleverly build on each other and lightly connect as they also progress through time. What a hard and violent time to live in—just the constant litany of towns being sacked and mass destruction and rape, super sad. But I have a better idea of how Tibetans, Uighers, Turks, Chinese and other ethnic groups and kingdoms interacted. I’ll be assigning a few chapters from the book in some of my classes. Central Asia is too little known.
July 31, 2018
A curious work of history that uses short stories about imagined people to explore the cultures and events of the 700s-900s in Central Asia. Doesn't quite land as well as it's intending - reads a lot more like a history text than as fiction - but it's really rich with detail, and looks at the lived reality of real people rather than kings or generals. It's very richly researched and gives a sense of life in an area that doesn't get much historical attention. It's an unusual structure but I got a lot out of it. Recommended for big history nerds; it's not quite engaging enough if you're not the sort of person who reads all the placards in museums.
February 14, 2011
Whitfield presents in ten brief chapters, ten lives that show the range of variety of Life along the Silk Road. This is not a history of the Silk Road or a study of the economics or ethnic "activities" but some gleanings from the stories may explain how the various gene pools have mixed while the cultural traditions of each tribe and clan remained strong. A lively and fascinating read.
November 7, 2020
Of all the books I've read on this topic, this is the only one that makes this period come alive. Highly recommended.
May 10, 2023
‘Central Asia is usually defined negatively’ writes Susan Whitfield, ‘as a place that lies outside the boundaries of its neighbouring civilisations’. Whitfield sets out to positively bring that place to life through her telling ten fictional biographies of figures who lived along the eastern sections of the 'Silk Road' - the name given by mainly Western scholars to a network of roads ‘along which merchants, mercenaries, monks and others travelled. 'This network, for the sake of simplicity, is referred to collectively as 'the Silk Road', though in fact there was no single route and the merchant’s cargo also included salt, wool, jade and many other items’. She quotes the archaeologist Sir Auriel Stein describing its geography as comprising
'… practically the whole of that vast drainage less belt between the Pamirs in the west and the Pacific watershed in the east, which for close on a thousand years formed the special meeting ground of Chinese civilisation, introduced by trade and political penetration, and of Indian culture, propagated by Buddhism.’
Susan Whitfield specializes in Chinese history and runs the International Dunhang Project - studying a collection of 40,000 documents, along with Buddhist texts and painting, that were discovered in a cave complex outside the Chinese town of Dunhuang. It is from these materials that Whitfield draws her Tales, the titles of which ('The Princess’s Tale’, ‘The Merchant’s Tale’) evoke Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This is a device through which she tries to describe life, history, and cultures along the lands of ‘the Road’. E.g. the story of Princess Taihe, the imperial bride of a Uighur Khagan (emperor) from the 9th century AD. Whitfield shows the importance of the trade and exchange of princesses in order to cement alliances. She is also able to show, despite Taihe’s predicament, the independent lives of many women in this era. Taihe was able to establish an independent life at Court, and was powerful enough to refuse to commit suicide (as was tradition) after the death of her husband. She was eventually able to return to her Chinese homeland.
Whitfield’s approach of telling tales certainly makes her subject matter accessible, however I don’t think this book works as an introduction to the subject of the Silk Road - as there was still a lot of background knowledge needed by the reader to fully appreciate the Tales. It is probably best read as a complimentary text to a more formal history of the Silk Road, giving you more reference points for the Tales themselves.
'… practically the whole of that vast drainage less belt between the Pamirs in the west and the Pacific watershed in the east, which for close on a thousand years formed the special meeting ground of Chinese civilisation, introduced by trade and political penetration, and of Indian culture, propagated by Buddhism.’
Susan Whitfield specializes in Chinese history and runs the International Dunhang Project - studying a collection of 40,000 documents, along with Buddhist texts and painting, that were discovered in a cave complex outside the Chinese town of Dunhuang. It is from these materials that Whitfield draws her Tales, the titles of which ('The Princess’s Tale’, ‘The Merchant’s Tale’) evoke Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This is a device through which she tries to describe life, history, and cultures along the lands of ‘the Road’. E.g. the story of Princess Taihe, the imperial bride of a Uighur Khagan (emperor) from the 9th century AD. Whitfield shows the importance of the trade and exchange of princesses in order to cement alliances. She is also able to show, despite Taihe’s predicament, the independent lives of many women in this era. Taihe was able to establish an independent life at Court, and was powerful enough to refuse to commit suicide (as was tradition) after the death of her husband. She was eventually able to return to her Chinese homeland.
Whitfield’s approach of telling tales certainly makes her subject matter accessible, however I don’t think this book works as an introduction to the subject of the Silk Road - as there was still a lot of background knowledge needed by the reader to fully appreciate the Tales. It is probably best read as a complimentary text to a more formal history of the Silk Road, giving you more reference points for the Tales themselves.
February 11, 2022
While I generally enjoyed the subject matter, I don't think Whitfield's approach worked for me.
Life Along the Silk Road is well-done. It is meticulously researched, focused, thoughtful, and straightforward, but I found Whitfield's construction of her stories to be somewhat forced. For instance, when reading about a given historical character there would long asides about things that character might see and hear, but those things weren't particularly grounded in sensory detail or personal feeling I found myself wondering why I was experience the world from a character's perspective at all.
I think at least a part of my frustration came from trying to contextualize the minutiae of everyday life within a larger political & historical landscape. Because this information was being provided at roughly the same time I found it hard to synthesize; I think I would've appreciated a broader overview, preferably in the introduction, before getting quite so granular. That said, I think Whitfield's approach is probably appealing to & effective for a lot of people; I don't fault the book for not conforming to my preferences.
I do fault the book for its craft in terms of storytelling (since Whitfield has chosen to tell stories) and I occasionally found the inclusion of a primary source to be jarring (the chapter that first discusses Rokshan at length quotes a poem that sounds like it is about Lady Yang, but the backmatter specifies it is a poem from a completely different era altogether). For a narrative so heavily reliant on geography, the map in the front of the book is not particularly clear or easy to read (this could be a problem with my printing).
That said, Whitfield's treatment of women, everyday life, and art are vivid and interesting. The illustrations throughout the book which are very helpful when visualizing unfamiliar clothing, art, &c. I don't think Life Along the Silk Road is probably the best text for people just starting to become familiar with medieval Asia (which would be me) but I think it's expansive, interesting, and valuable, especially if you're approaching with even a vague overview of history or if you're someone more interested in the specifics and particulars of medieval life.
Life Along the Silk Road is well-done. It is meticulously researched, focused, thoughtful, and straightforward, but I found Whitfield's construction of her stories to be somewhat forced. For instance, when reading about a given historical character there would long asides about things that character might see and hear, but those things weren't particularly grounded in sensory detail or personal feeling I found myself wondering why I was experience the world from a character's perspective at all.
I think at least a part of my frustration came from trying to contextualize the minutiae of everyday life within a larger political & historical landscape. Because this information was being provided at roughly the same time I found it hard to synthesize; I think I would've appreciated a broader overview, preferably in the introduction, before getting quite so granular. That said, I think Whitfield's approach is probably appealing to & effective for a lot of people; I don't fault the book for not conforming to my preferences.
I do fault the book for its craft in terms of storytelling (since Whitfield has chosen to tell stories) and I occasionally found the inclusion of a primary source to be jarring (the chapter that first discusses Rokshan at length quotes a poem that sounds like it is about Lady Yang, but the backmatter specifies it is a poem from a completely different era altogether). For a narrative so heavily reliant on geography, the map in the front of the book is not particularly clear or easy to read (this could be a problem with my printing).
That said, Whitfield's treatment of women, everyday life, and art are vivid and interesting. The illustrations throughout the book which are very helpful when visualizing unfamiliar clothing, art, &c. I don't think Life Along the Silk Road is probably the best text for people just starting to become familiar with medieval Asia (which would be me) but I think it's expansive, interesting, and valuable, especially if you're approaching with even a vague overview of history or if you're someone more interested in the specifics and particulars of medieval life.
October 24, 2024
I wasn't expecting to read or enjoy this book; I picked it up during a slow time at work, from a bookshelf intended for children but scattered with a myriad of donated texts for adults as well.
The book begins with a short historical overview of the Silk Road which serves as the basis for all that comes after, which is an unusual but surprisingly engaging variety of stories, historical fiction in definition but feeling more like a serious of short biographies set with the backdrop of various locations and cultures along the silk road.
I found myself drawn in by the stories of the various characters Whitfield chose to delineate; though mostly statements of fact based on historical data on the trade, history, and customs of the time, the author is successful at crafting a narrative for each story that feels it could be true.
Strongly based in history, with this book I felt a much greater sense of the incredible myriad of cultures, religions, philosophies, and regimes which took part in the trade, regulation, and travels of the silk road, whether in small part or in total domination. Multiple dynasties rising and falling, and the cultures they headed doing the same, various classes of society affected and unaffected all at once and not at all.
It felt a bit like reading a series of articles in National Geographic, focusing on a certain region, its history over time, and its people. I found myself more interested than I expected, and more eager to turn the page and discover what sort of boon or misfortune might strike the chapter's character next.
As someone who mostly reads fiction, I was sufficiently entertained, and feel I came away with a greater understanding than I had before.
Semi-related, but just last week I read Kim by Rudyard Kipling, and it was interesting to see during my reading of Whitfield's book that some aspects of Buddhism had been represented quite accurately by Kipling. A much simpler book but one that also shows a great mixing of cultures and travels on the road.
The book begins with a short historical overview of the Silk Road which serves as the basis for all that comes after, which is an unusual but surprisingly engaging variety of stories, historical fiction in definition but feeling more like a serious of short biographies set with the backdrop of various locations and cultures along the silk road.
I found myself drawn in by the stories of the various characters Whitfield chose to delineate; though mostly statements of fact based on historical data on the trade, history, and customs of the time, the author is successful at crafting a narrative for each story that feels it could be true.
Strongly based in history, with this book I felt a much greater sense of the incredible myriad of cultures, religions, philosophies, and regimes which took part in the trade, regulation, and travels of the silk road, whether in small part or in total domination. Multiple dynasties rising and falling, and the cultures they headed doing the same, various classes of society affected and unaffected all at once and not at all.
It felt a bit like reading a series of articles in National Geographic, focusing on a certain region, its history over time, and its people. I found myself more interested than I expected, and more eager to turn the page and discover what sort of boon or misfortune might strike the chapter's character next.
As someone who mostly reads fiction, I was sufficiently entertained, and feel I came away with a greater understanding than I had before.
Semi-related, but just last week I read Kim by Rudyard Kipling, and it was interesting to see during my reading of Whitfield's book that some aspects of Buddhism had been represented quite accurately by Kipling. A much simpler book but one that also shows a great mixing of cultures and travels on the road.
December 17, 2021
This is a curious book, being not exactly "history," nor fully developed "fiction." History requires more sustained focus, where Life Along the Silk Road offers impressions of historical ebbs and flows; Fiction requires more sustained focus of its own type, where this book instead offers slice-of-life vignettes among very distinct individuals.
Some reviews have compared Life Along the Silk Road to The Canterbury Tales. This is true in the limited sense that Life offers a wide cross-section of society represented among 13 characters, but these characters are not traveling together, swapping fictions for amusement, as they do in Canterbury; rather, most of the characters are scattered through time and space.
My focus on these categories is meant to aid prospective readers as to what the book actually is, and I believe Life Along the Silk Road defies easy pidgeonholing. I enjoy the book a great deal, but I fear that dwelling upon any points might be to give spoilers.
Some reviews have compared Life Along the Silk Road to The Canterbury Tales. This is true in the limited sense that Life offers a wide cross-section of society represented among 13 characters, but these characters are not traveling together, swapping fictions for amusement, as they do in Canterbury; rather, most of the characters are scattered through time and space.
My focus on these categories is meant to aid prospective readers as to what the book actually is, and I believe Life Along the Silk Road defies easy pidgeonholing. I enjoy the book a great deal, but I fear that dwelling upon any points might be to give spoilers.
December 10, 2012
_Life along the Silk Road_ by Susan Whitfield was an interesting introduction to the rich and varied history of the Silk Road, the fabled path (or really paths) that trade took between China and lands to the west. Not aiming to be a comprehensive history, the author took the unusual step of portraying the cultures and events of the eastern Silk Road between AD 750 and 1000 by showing how things looked to (and affected) ten different individuals. Though each chapter tended to focus on how key political events and foreign cultures appeared to each of the ten individuals the author did provide glimpses into the lives of these people.
Some are historic characters who actually existed, others are "composite," comprised of the details of several people. Owing to "relative richness of primary sources in Chinese" and partly because the author is a China historian, the individuals picked do tend to reflect a Chinese bias. It is also significant that China was the only empire that existed at both the beginning and the end of the first millennium AD and before the spread of Islam to the eastern Silk Road.
However, Chinese bias aside, the story is clearly about Central Asia, albeit as seen through the eyes of not only the Chinese but the other empires that competed for control of the eastern Silk Road; Arab, Turkic (primarily Uighur), and Tibetan.
The introduction chapter was the most informative and wide-ranging. In it the reader learns that there was not one Silk Road but multiple paths and that also it was not only silk that was traded along it; horses, salt, wool, and jade were also major trade items. The distances covered (altogether over 3,000 miles) was not the only daunting challenge to merchants; massive mountain ranges with peaks as high as 20,000 feet, deadly deserts, and bandits had to be dealt with as well. Though the Silk Road was of major importance for centuries, by the end of the tenth century trade became increasingly maritime in nature.
The region covered in the book corresponds to modern day eastern Uzbekistan, western China, Mongolia, south to the Himalayas and including Tibet. Today that region is largely occupied by Turkic peoples, mainly the Uighur, as well as Chinese colonists and is more Islamic than not. In the time period covered by the book it was more Indo-European in character, mainly Buddhist, and a great deal more cosmopolitan, with many towns and cities home to Turks, Indians, Chinese, Tibetans, and Mongolians as well as followers of Manicheism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and shamanism as well. Many Silk Road towns, once some of the most populous cities in the world, now have largely been reclaimed by the desert sands due to a decline in population and a drop in the water table, a land now rich in archaeology but vulnerable to thieves looking for artifacts to sell on the black market.
The major source of information for this book and indeed much of the scholarship done on this region and era comes from the over forty thousand documents uncovered in a Buddhist cave complex outside Dunhuang, now in Gansu province, China. Sealed up in the eleventh century, it was uncovered by accident in 1900. Though many of these precious scrolls, paintings, and sculptures have been lost since then for various reasons (and others tainted by the existence of forgeries), more than enough remained; the "importance of the Dunhuang documents cannot be overstated." A whole field of study, Dunhuangology, grew up around the study of the documents. Not only were there many Buddhist texts, but as paper was rare and often recycled (and once Buddhist scripture was written on paper it was considered nearly blasphemous to destroy at that point), many non-Buddhist writings were preserved, unique in providing glimpses into the lives of everyday people.
If there is one over-arching point that can be grasped from the book (and the introduction), it is this; "the history of Central Asia over this period is characterized by a complex succession of power struggles." The lives of the ten people in this book were vastly affected by the fortunes, rise, and often precipitous falls of the Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, Arab, and the other powers (such as autonomous city-states like Samarkand) that continually fought for control of the eastern Silk Road, sometimes in three-way struggles in which an "ally" could switch sides in the middle of a battle. Even when an empire was not defeated on the battlefield it could collapse or fall into chaos due to serious internal disturbances, such as a 755 rebellion led by a general of the Chinese army against the Tang dynasty and when earlier that same year the Tibetan emperor was murdered during a revolt by his ministers.
Ok, the tales. There are ten of them and they are arranged in chronological order, though several overlap and a few even briefly mention some of the stars of the other tales. They vary in how much they focus on the actual life of the person whom the tale is about but most give a decent glimpse of what it was like to be such a person in a particular occupation. Some of the tales seem to be more about the political events of the time and the tale was just a convenient way for the author to discuss them while others read like fiction almost, one even with flashbacks. The ten tales, in order, are the merchant's tale (about a Sogdian merchant from Samarkand who has braved the Silk Road many times), the soldier's tale (about a Tibetan soldier), followed by tales about a Uighur Turk horseman, a Chinese princess being married off to the Uighur kaghan to cement a political alliance, a Kashmiri Buddhist monk, a Kuchean courtesan, and the last four set in Dunhuang, about a Buddhist nun, a widow, a government official, and an artist, one who painted some of the very caves the Dunhuang scrolls were found in.
Some are historic characters who actually existed, others are "composite," comprised of the details of several people. Owing to "relative richness of primary sources in Chinese" and partly because the author is a China historian, the individuals picked do tend to reflect a Chinese bias. It is also significant that China was the only empire that existed at both the beginning and the end of the first millennium AD and before the spread of Islam to the eastern Silk Road.
However, Chinese bias aside, the story is clearly about Central Asia, albeit as seen through the eyes of not only the Chinese but the other empires that competed for control of the eastern Silk Road; Arab, Turkic (primarily Uighur), and Tibetan.
The introduction chapter was the most informative and wide-ranging. In it the reader learns that there was not one Silk Road but multiple paths and that also it was not only silk that was traded along it; horses, salt, wool, and jade were also major trade items. The distances covered (altogether over 3,000 miles) was not the only daunting challenge to merchants; massive mountain ranges with peaks as high as 20,000 feet, deadly deserts, and bandits had to be dealt with as well. Though the Silk Road was of major importance for centuries, by the end of the tenth century trade became increasingly maritime in nature.
The region covered in the book corresponds to modern day eastern Uzbekistan, western China, Mongolia, south to the Himalayas and including Tibet. Today that region is largely occupied by Turkic peoples, mainly the Uighur, as well as Chinese colonists and is more Islamic than not. In the time period covered by the book it was more Indo-European in character, mainly Buddhist, and a great deal more cosmopolitan, with many towns and cities home to Turks, Indians, Chinese, Tibetans, and Mongolians as well as followers of Manicheism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and shamanism as well. Many Silk Road towns, once some of the most populous cities in the world, now have largely been reclaimed by the desert sands due to a decline in population and a drop in the water table, a land now rich in archaeology but vulnerable to thieves looking for artifacts to sell on the black market.
The major source of information for this book and indeed much of the scholarship done on this region and era comes from the over forty thousand documents uncovered in a Buddhist cave complex outside Dunhuang, now in Gansu province, China. Sealed up in the eleventh century, it was uncovered by accident in 1900. Though many of these precious scrolls, paintings, and sculptures have been lost since then for various reasons (and others tainted by the existence of forgeries), more than enough remained; the "importance of the Dunhuang documents cannot be overstated." A whole field of study, Dunhuangology, grew up around the study of the documents. Not only were there many Buddhist texts, but as paper was rare and often recycled (and once Buddhist scripture was written on paper it was considered nearly blasphemous to destroy at that point), many non-Buddhist writings were preserved, unique in providing glimpses into the lives of everyday people.
If there is one over-arching point that can be grasped from the book (and the introduction), it is this; "the history of Central Asia over this period is characterized by a complex succession of power struggles." The lives of the ten people in this book were vastly affected by the fortunes, rise, and often precipitous falls of the Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, Arab, and the other powers (such as autonomous city-states like Samarkand) that continually fought for control of the eastern Silk Road, sometimes in three-way struggles in which an "ally" could switch sides in the middle of a battle. Even when an empire was not defeated on the battlefield it could collapse or fall into chaos due to serious internal disturbances, such as a 755 rebellion led by a general of the Chinese army against the Tang dynasty and when earlier that same year the Tibetan emperor was murdered during a revolt by his ministers.
Ok, the tales. There are ten of them and they are arranged in chronological order, though several overlap and a few even briefly mention some of the stars of the other tales. They vary in how much they focus on the actual life of the person whom the tale is about but most give a decent glimpse of what it was like to be such a person in a particular occupation. Some of the tales seem to be more about the political events of the time and the tale was just a convenient way for the author to discuss them while others read like fiction almost, one even with flashbacks. The ten tales, in order, are the merchant's tale (about a Sogdian merchant from Samarkand who has braved the Silk Road many times), the soldier's tale (about a Tibetan soldier), followed by tales about a Uighur Turk horseman, a Chinese princess being married off to the Uighur kaghan to cement a political alliance, a Kashmiri Buddhist monk, a Kuchean courtesan, and the last four set in Dunhuang, about a Buddhist nun, a widow, a government official, and an artist, one who painted some of the very caves the Dunhuang scrolls were found in.
December 1, 2017
I liked the set-up in this book, how each chapter focuses on one person to give details about that area and time for a person of that station.
It would have been very useful if the author included close-view maps throughout, instead of the one continent-wide map at the front. The given map had cities and features labeled, but these labels did not reflect the areas discussed in the text. This map was also very difficult to read-- small, gray scale, with text over features (mountains, rivers) making it not really at all useful. The author also used historical names for places, when known, which seems like it would only add difficulty and be mostly accessible to scholars or extremely well-read amateurs, not general readers.
It would have been very useful if the author included close-view maps throughout, instead of the one continent-wide map at the front. The given map had cities and features labeled, but these labels did not reflect the areas discussed in the text. This map was also very difficult to read-- small, gray scale, with text over features (mountains, rivers) making it not really at all useful. The author also used historical names for places, when known, which seems like it would only add difficulty and be mostly accessible to scholars or extremely well-read amateurs, not general readers.
April 18, 2021
Whitfield's book 'Life Along the Silk Road' is filled with short stories based in the 700-900s in Central Asia. It is rich with detail and truly helped to give a sense of life during this period through the fascinating stories, delving into the cultural/economic histories of Asia. It covers a vast variety of religions, cultures and governments, and I gained a grasp of the day-to-day life of people from all walks of the earth. References to people such as the Sogdians and the Uyghurs, religions like Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism, this book is filled with riveting information. Whilst it was certainly well-researched, I did not find it very engaging. The ancient geography and historical names that were frequently used throughout can be puzzling, adding difficulty to reading this book. I would say it is more accessible to scholars or well-versed individuals within this historical period. For me, the technicalities held me back from enjoying this read. Certainly not one for those interested in reading for leisure, but a strong academic read that helps to grasp a sense of life in this historical era nonetheless.
January 10, 2018
This was a fabulous book taking place in ancient times, sometime during the Han Dynasty. It includes the time of Pompeii Volcano, and many other historic facts woven into this fictitious story of a traveling salesman who follows the silk road which was a trade route connecting East to West. This route was very significant at that time. But, the story is woven around the salesman and his many relationships he has with all of the people he meets each time he makes the trek on this route. Very high level people, and his visit at each stop along the way. It gives us a view of possible life at that time. I personally found it fascinating.
June 23, 2017
Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the history of Central Asia and/or the Silk Road. The stories are told imaginatively and gives color and voice to lives long since dead and buried. I was a little disappointed at the fact that the stories told here are about fictional lives, not, as I first thought, lives of real historical figures--although I suppose it would be very difficult to actually uncover much about any one particular character in the vast, shifting history of such a complex region.
December 21, 2025
Susan Whitfield describes life on the Silk Road in northwest China in the years between 600-900 CE through a selection of portraits of individuals such as a Tibetan soldier, a merchant, an artist. Most of the portraits are composites of people found in documents found in caves, tombs and official documents from that time period--every fact is documented in the notes. It's not an easy read, but a fascinating picture of the complexity of life at the time.
April 26, 2020
The author stuffed the stories with reference to real places, artifacts, scrolls and written materials. I've never been more excited to read the Reference section of a book. Dang-near every sentence is referenced to historical fact. I'm currently adding books from her reference section to my reading list. The author has me excited to learn more!
June 6, 2025
台版已經絕版多時，只好看簡體版
本書主要聚焦在安史之亂前後，塔里盆地一帶的各種不同人物
用十二種不同職業或地位的人來呈現絲路上的文化交流史
這種呈現方式第一次看，覺得還滿新奇的
雖然人物未必是真實存在，但事件經歷都是有所本的
只是為了堆各種設定，十二位傳主的人生顯得有點不真實
以前很著迷唐代傳入中土的三種波斯宗教
順便看了不少敦煌學的書
於是在閱讀本書時看到很多以前讀過的相關史料
但同時也有很多以前不知道的事情
最大收穫應該是看到當時不同階層的生活方式吧
但做為史普書，感覺還是要有很多先備知識
白紙一張的話讀起來還是會有點吃力
簡體版翻譯挺用心的，中文史料都有找出原文
譯註也把原文典籍寫出來，方便中文讀者找書
不過也因此發現我文言文能力似乎退化了
好些史書內容都看不懂在寫什麼Orzzz
本書主要聚焦在安史之亂前後，塔里盆地一帶的各種不同人物
用十二種不同職業或地位的人來呈現絲路上的文化交流史
這種呈現方式第一次看，覺得還滿新奇的
雖然人物未必是真實存在，但事件經歷都是有所本的
只是為了堆各種設定，十二位傳主的人生顯得有點不真實
以前很著迷唐代傳入中土的三種波斯宗教
順便看了不少敦煌學的書
於是在閱讀本書時看到很多以前讀過的相關史料
但同時也有很多以前不知道的事情
最大收穫應該是看到當時不同階層的生活方式吧
但做為史普書，感覺還是要有很多先備知識
白紙一張的話讀起來還是會有點吃力
簡體版翻譯挺用心的，中文史料都有找出原文
譯註也把原文典籍寫出來，方便中文讀者找書
不過也因此發現我文言文能力似乎退化了
好些史書內容都看不懂在寫什麼Orzzz
August 8, 2025
An interesting approach, wasn't expecting that. After a very short introduction, the book goes on to explain the lives of a number of different characters / professions in one part of the Silk Road journey during a short period of history. I wasn't sure sometimes whether the character of the author were speaking, but it wasn't a great problem. Quite enjoyed the different view of things.
December 16, 2025
Interesting, though not spectacular. The fictionalised accounts of the potential inhabitants of Central Asia do centre the history well, and render it very accessible. Whitfield explains the geography and cultures of the inhabitants very well and I did emerge with a better overview of the region than before I read.
I did notice some very egregious typos.
I did notice some very egregious typos.
November 24, 2018
Read for class
January 1, 2020
A lot of historical information. I got the book to research the old silk road.
May 11, 2020
review pending
May 9, 2021
Really enjoyable book. I loved the format following representative lives. A great slice into a piece of history I wasn't so familiar with.
April 14, 2022
Interesting look at a time and place in history I knew little about. I enjoyed the personal stories but meandering at times with a lot of places, peoples and details thrown at you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews