Along the silk road, ancient central asia, west asia and south asia served as fertile soil and cradle for the birth of different human religion christianitys, buddhism, islam, judaism, zoroastrianism, hinduism, which manichaeism. Buddhism, christianity and the silk road ubc blogs. Buddhism and islam on the silk roaddemonstrates that the history of buddhistmuslim interaction is much richer and more complex than many assume. Introduction of the silk road and transcontinental trade routes. Buddhism in china ancient history to beliefs today. A historical overview on buddhism and islam indian society before the birth of buddhism and arab society before the birth of islam share several characteristics, such as polytheism, the worshipping of idols and the existence of great social inequalities. Belief systems along the silk road religious beliefs of the peoples of the silk road changed radically over time and was largely due to the effects of travel and trade on the silk road itself. Given the silk road s symbolic meaning of sharing and exchange, it is somewhat paradoxical that the desire to control its namesake commodity, silk, was so strong. This groundbreaking book covers inner asia from the eighth century through the mongol empire and to the end. The spread of buddhism along the silk road chinese buddhist. In addition to showing the significance of buddhism in the daily life of tang china, these treasures also reveal the importance of religion to the sogdian traders who dominated the northern silk road and underline the cosmopolitan nature of tang china. The silk road transmission between eastern and indian buddhism thus came to an end in the 8th century, on one hand because islam in central asia repressed buddhism along the silk road itself, but also because buddhism in both india and china were in decline by that time.
The study of silk and the silk road is thus a model of globalization. Hinduism, buddhism, judaism, christianity, and islam. Silk ii was indeed the most prevalent currency and an important form of property in central asia. Buddhism quickly became the dominant religion of the silk road, and its decline there only came as mongolian and turkic influence in china increased towards the end of the first millennium ad, and islam overtook it as the dominant faith. This paper seeks to initiate dialogue between islam and buddhism through the islamic concept of ummatan wasaan middle nation and the buddhist concept of majjhimapatipada middle way as a. Buddhism and islam on the silk road by johan elverskog. Five college center for east asian studies buddhism along. Decline of buddhism the decline of buddhism along the silk road was due to the collapse of the tang dynasty in the east and the invasion of arabs in the west. The impact of the silk road and islam on world history. Therefore, the silk road is also called the religious road and the faith road. There is a myth that has the end of buddhism in india a result of the destruction of the buddhist monastery of nalanda by muslim raiders in 1202.
Which religion spread by missionaries and pilgrims who. Religions of the silk road looks behind the romantic notions of the colonial era and tells the story of how cultural traditions, especially in the form of religious ideas, accompanied merchants and their goods along the overland asian trade routes in premodern times. While the silk road was a twoway route, most of its movement was eastward, carrying buddhism, zoroastrianism, judaism, and later, islam. Essay on buddhism artwork along silk road 1942 words. Islam and buddhism still encounter and analyze each other in these regions. Johan elverskogs book, buddhism and islam on the silk road, challenges this perception by giving us a new perspective on buddhist and islamic interaction along this extensive trade route. Dec 04, 2011 religion constitutes a longlasting and inspiring field in world history, let alone interactions among world religions. Dec 19, 2019 for much of this time, most silk road traders coming from western eurasia were muslim, and they brought their beliefs and rich culture to millions of people. The movement seems largely to have been that of westerners towards the east.
It symbolized global economic and cultural networking based on mutual interaction and cooperation. Religions of the silk road is a charmingly compact overview of central asian religions during the millennia when the region was a melting pot of traditions. The civilizations which flourished along the silk road in the first millennium ce were open to cultural and religious influences from both east and west. While the silk road was obviously a twoway route, we often define the silk road as a movement eastward with buddhism, zoroastrianism, judaism, and later, islam, spreading east. In her book the silk road journey with xuanzang, sally hovey wriggins writes, it was from monasteries that the teachings of buddhism radiated from india as far as china, a country that was enlightened by the new religion in much. While largely commercial, the silk road provided the vehicle for all sorts of creative exchange between tremendously diverse peoples and cultures.
The transmission of buddhism to central asia and china corresponded with the development of the silk routes as channels for intercultural exchanges. The spread of islam along the silk route uw departments web. As early as three thousand years ago hebraic and iranian religious ideas and practices traveled eastwards in this way, to be. Buddhism and islam on the silk road demonstrates that the history of buddhistmuslim interaction is much richer and more complex than many assume. The spread of islam east was accomplished by a combination of conquest, missionary effort led by sufis, and the gradual muslim commercial takeover of the silk road.
The spread of buddhism and islam, journal of world history on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Sep 28, 2010 religions of the silk road looks behind the romantic notions of the colonial era and tells the story of how cultural traditions, especially in the form of religious ideas, accompanied merchants and their goods along the overland asian trade routes in premodern times. It is widely believed that buddhism entered china via the silk road under the han dynasty. Its main competitors, zoroastrianism and buddhism, slowly receded, first in western central asia, then in the tarim basin, long an outpost of indic culture and religion. Abdallah of mecca in westcentral arabia, was himself a businessman by profession. Moreover, it is an instance of sustainable development where a commodity like silk has transformed itself from status symbol controlled by the government to a free commodity. The conversion to islam started in the 8th century in central asia. Further, we think that the image of the saviour might have. The economics, politics and spirituality of the religions along the greatest highways on earth. With the spreadof islam into the regions around the silk road, many of thestupas and temples were destroyed or left abandoned in thedesert.
No religious tradition in history favored trade to the extent islam did. Many religions, including christianity, buddhism, hinduism, islam, zoroastrianism and manichaeism, gained new followers. Johan elverskog buddhism and islam on the silk road. Buddhism and the silk road chinese buddhist encyclopedia. After trade and travel was established with the yuezhi, who by that time were forced southward toward india, yuezhi monks began to travel with the merchant caravans. If they indeed did read the book, they would of known that buddhism did not cease to exist on the silk road. A cursory glance at world news today may suggest that the faultline where buddhism and islam meet in asia is increasingly. Buddhism and islam on the silk road by johan elverskog, 2010. Cultural hegemony along the silk road in the year 1985, there was a marvelous exhibition to be visited at the david and alfred smart museum, chicago. Sep 09, 2015 the ohio state universitys east asian studies center easc and columbus state community college cscc collaborated to develop modules on chinese history to be incorporated into the world. From the seventh century ad, arab muslims traveled to china by the silk road or the sea route to spread islam. It touches on many topics lightly, but mixes some engaging detail into its broad sweep. Maitreya images in asian buddhist fine arts dinh, hong hai.
The spread of buddhism and islam xinru liu the college of new jersey since andre gunder frank published the centrality of central asia1 in 1992, world historians have paid more attention to the dynamic forces radiating from central asia during the last few thousand years. This groundbreaking book covers inner asia from the eighth century through the mongol empire and to the end of the qing dynasty in the late nineteenth century. Buddhism still has a presence in northwest china, mongolia, the peripheries of xinjiang, the tibetan sphere, and more. Buddhism on the silk routes university of washington. Given the silk roads symbolic meaning of sharing and exchange, it is somewhat paradoxical that the desire to control. In the tang dynasty, guangdong province and quanzhou were the strongholds of most islamic believers. The impact of the silk road and islam on world history overview. Although today a thriving world religion, buddhism was on the decline around the time of the birth of the silk road. The silk road provided a network for the spread of the teachings of the buddha, enabling buddhism to become a world religion and to develop into a sophisticated and diverse system of belief and practice. The widespread adoption of islam beyond the arab peninsula is recorded in some older histories as starting as early as the midseventh century, but in fact, this probably did not occur until at least a century later. But it was buddhism, travelling the trade routes of the silk road, which became the common factor uniting the different. The persian church became the church of the east in 424 and adopted nestorianism. Of the 18 buddhist schools of interpretation, five existed along the silk road. After spreading to china, the chan school of buddhism developed and this later became the zen school of japan.
Buddhism and islam have existed longer, reaching more regions, and exerting more impact than other religions. Buddhism excellently exemplifies the modern implications of the silk road. With the spread of islam into the regions around the silk road, many of the stupas and temples were destroyed or left abandoned in the desert. By the 8th century, muslims stopped thinking of religion geographically and began seeking converts along the silk road.
Buddhism and islam on the silk road encounters with asia. Buddhism and islam on the silk road is a scholarly work, but one that provides enough background to be accessible to those without specialist knowledge, of the region or of either religion. Five college center for east asian studies buddhism along the. The transmission of buddhism to central asia and china corresponded with the development of the silk routes as. Which religion spread by missionaries and pilgrims who traveled the silk road. Buddhism spread across asia through networks of overland and maritime routes between india, southeast asia, central asia, and china.
Buddhism and islam on the silk road johan elverskog. The relationship between silk road currency and religious. Religion constitutes a longlasting and inspiring field in world history, let alone interactions among world religions. Chinese buddhism or han buddhism has shaped chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine and material culture the translation of a large body of indian buddhist scriptures into chinese and the inclusion of these translations together with works composed in china into a printed canon had farreaching implications for the dissemination of. Environmental education resources to commemorate earth days 50th anniversary. Buddhism the spread of buddhism along the silk road. A buddhism b christianity c hinduism d islam 5564327. Ebscohost serves thousands of libraries with premium essays, articles and other content including a silk road legacy. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company.
Religious tensions, conflicts, and tolerance such as those between christianity and islam or between christianity and confucianism have been well studied, but few scholars have paid attention to the interactions between buddhism and islam along the silk road. For over two thousand years the silk road was a network of roads for the travel and dissemination of religious beliefs across eurasia. Since islam condemned the iconography, most of the buddhist statues and wallpaintings were damaged or destroyed. Brahman of hinduism, al mahdi of islam but also maitreya of buddhism. As such, people have come to accept as true that buddhists and muslims never enjoyed good relations after coming into contact with each other. Distribute the picture analysis handout to students. The name silkroad comes from a historical network of trades routes, which started in the han dynasty 206 bc 220 ad between europe, india, china and many other countries. For much of this time, most silk road traders coming from western eurasia were muslim, and they brought their beliefs and rich culture to millions of people. The ohio state universitys east asian studies center easc and columbus state community college cscc collaborated to develop modules on chinese history to.
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