All materials included in our workshop, “Traveling the Silk Road: Culture & Commerce in Medieval Asia,” are linked here! Also check out the workshop’s Google Slides presentation. Additional resources such as lesson plans and a collection of online resources on Modern China can also be found below.
Mapping the Silk Road: Geography and Commerce
ArcGIS Interactive Silk Roads Map
ArcGIS is a web-based mapping tool developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) that allows users to create maps based on Geographic Information System data. This map, created by Dr. Tom Mueller of California University of Pennsylvania, displays both water and land routes of the Silk Roads.
- E.1.6.4 Analyze ways human, natural, and capital resources were organized to produce and deliver goods and services in early civilizations (e.g., caravans, public works projects, Silk Road, trade routes).
- G.2.5.4 Research how environmental characteristics have impacted the culture of states, places, and regions over time. This may include seafaring/trading in coastal communities, farming cultures in river valleys, and nomadic cultures in arid climates.
- WSP.1.G.1 Investigate political, cultural, and economic relationships between places and regions using geographic representations and geospatial technologies.
Travels of Xuanzang (629-645 CE) – Google Arts & Culture
“Travels of Xuanzang” is an interactive depiction of the pilgrimage of Xuanzang, a Chinese monk who traveled 10,000 miles along the Silk Road and the Indian subcontinent in search of Buddhist texts.
- E.1.6.4 Analyze ways human, natural, and capital resources were organized to produce and deliver goods and services in early civilizations (e.g., caravans, public works projects, Silk Road, trade routes).
- G.8.6.1 Analyze locations of various societies and their cultural and environmental characteristics to 1500 C.E. using a variety of geographic representations.
- PR.3.G.3 Analyze the impact of cultural and social factors on individuals’ varying perceptions of places and regions created by physical characteristics and human influences
The Great Vehicle: Mahayana Buddhism & The Silk Roads
Primary Sources with DBQs | Asia for Educators
An initiative of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia, AFE aggregates materials to serve K-12 teachers across disciplines. The links below are AFE primary source texts related to the spread of Buddhism as a result of the Silk Road.
Six Texts on Buddhism in East Asia
From “Buddhism in China”:
- “The Lotus Sutra: The Buddha Preaches the One Great Vehicle” [3rd Century CE]
- A section of key Mahayana text The Lotus Sutra addressing the question of multiple Buddhist schools.
- Mouzi’s Disposing of Error [3rd Century CE]
- Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist scholar, Mouzi, addresses criticism of Buddhism encountered in China.
- Han Yu’s “Memorial on the Bone of the Buddha” [819 CE]
- Tang official, Han Yu, submits a memorial to the Xianzong emperor decrying Buddhism.
From “Buddhism in Japan”:
- Prince Shōtoku’s Constitution [604 CE]
- 6th century Japanese directive adopting Confucian and Buddhist norms in government.
- Selected Writings by Saichō [767 – 822 CE]
- Saicho (founder of the Tendai school of Japan)’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra.
- Selected Writings by Kūkai [774 – 835 CE]
- Commentaries from the Founder of the Shingon School of Buddhism, who traveled extensively to China.
The Silk Roads at Home: Culture and Difference in Chang’an
The MET Museum: Tang Dynasty
The Metropolitan Museum of Art includes a variety of collections and essays on Tang Dynasty Silk Road Artifacts, including the following:
- Tang Dynasty (618-907)
- The Vibrant Role of Mingqi in Early Chinese Burials
- Buddhism Along the Silk Road
- Internationalism in the Tang Dynasty
National Museum of Asian Art
The National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian) has a large collection of Tang artifacts, accompanied by sample lesson plans.
- Exploring Art Made for the Afterlife
- Cultural Exchange in the Tang Dynasty
- See the full collection by browsing for the following terms: Chinese Art -> Period: Tang Dynasty -> Classification: Sculpture
smarthistory: An Introduction to Tomb Figurines
The smarthistory Center for Public Art History contains a wealth of guides/lessons on both Tomb Figures and the Mogao caves at Dunhuang.
The Silk Roads Today: China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Yale Silk Road Database | Yale University Library
This collection includes 11,000+ images of major sites along the Silk Road taken between 2006-2010. These photographs take the viewer on a trip through multiple Chinese provinces and the regions of Inner Mongolia and Tibet to map out the modern-day Silk Road that was shaped by the interconnected web of trade routes linking medieval Asia.
- E.1.6.4 Analyze ways human, natural, and capital resources were organized to produce and deliver goods and services in early civilizations (e.g., caravans, public works projects, Silk Road, trade routes).
- G.8.6.1 Analyze locations of various societies and their cultural and environmental characteristics to 1500 C.E. using a variety of geographic representations.
Belt and Road Tracker | Council on Foreign Relations
This tracker shows how China’s 2013 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a plan to promote infrastructure development across Africa, Asia, and Europe with Chinese financing—changed countries’ bilateral economic relationships with the nation over time.
- H.6.WH.3 Analyze the development of social, economic, political, and geographic transformations of regional connections into global trade networks.
- WSP.1.G.1 Investigate political, cultural, and economic relationships between places and regions using geographic representations and geospatial technologies.
Activity Guides for The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
As this workshop is providing participants with a copy of Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, we also have linked below activity guides for both the illustrated and non-illustrated versions of the book.
The Silk Roads:
Teacher’s Notes: Cities on the Silk Roads Activity
Teacher’s Notes: Silk Roads Timeline Activity
Teacher’s Notes: Silk Roads Vocabulary Activity
Teacher’s Notes: What Are the Silk Roads? Activity
Teacher’s Notes: What Flowed Across the Silk Roads Activity
The Silk Roads Illustrated Edition:
Teacher’s Notes: Reflection Questions
Teacher’s Notes: Suggested Activities and Discussion Guide
Silk Roads Activity Pack including word search and maze
Additional Resources
This Google Doc is a collection of numerous online resources on the Silk Road.