The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road (Brill's Inner Asian Library)

This book covers new ground on the diffusion and transmission of geographical knowledge that occurred at critical junctures in the long history of the Silk Road. Much of twentieth-century scholarship on the Silk Road examined the ancient archaeological objects and medieval historical records found within each cultural area, while the consequences of long-distance interaction across Eurasia remained poorly studied. Here ample attention is given to the journeys that notions and objects undertook to transmit spatial values to other civilizations. In retracing the steps of four major circuits right across the many civilizations that shared the Silk Road, «The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road» traces the ways in which maps and images surmounted spatial, historical and cultural divisions. Cover......Page 1 The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road......Page 2 INTRODUCTION......Page 34 PART I - THE BUDDHIST ROAD......Page 40 CHAPTER ONE: TRACES OF THE SILK ROAD IN HAN -DYNASTYICONOGRAPHY: QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES......Page 42 CHAPTER TWO: VISUALIZING PILGRIMAGE AND MAPPING EXPERIENCE: MOUNT WUTAI ON THE SILK ROAD......Page 62 CHAPTER THREE: THE MAPPING OF SACRED SPACE: IMAGES OF BUDDHIST COSMOGRAPHIES IN MEDIEVAL CHINA......Page 84 PART II - THE MONGOL ROAD......Page 114 CHAPTER FOUR: LOST IN TRANSLATION: GRIDDED PLANS AND MAPSALONG THE SILK ROAD......Page 116 CHAPTER FIVE: SQUARE HOROSCOPE DIAGRAMS IN MIDDLE EASTERN ASTROLOGY AND CHINESE COSMOLOGICAL DIAGRAMS : WERE THESE DESIGNS TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE SILK ROAD?......Page 130 CHAPTER SIX: THE INTRUSION OF EAST ASIAN IMAGERY IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY ARMENIA : POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE ALONG THE SILK ROAD......Page 152 PART III - WITHIN THE ISLAMIC WORLD......Page 168 CHAPTER SEVEN: COMPARING AL-KASHGHARI’S MAP TO HIS TEXT:ON THE VISUAL LANGUAGE, PURPOSE, ANDTRANSMISSION OF ARABIC-ISLAMIC MAPS......Page 170 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE BOOK OF CURIOSITIES : A MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC VIEW OF THE EAST......Page 188 PART IV - THE MEDITERRANEAN ROAD......Page 206 CHAPTER NINE: CELESTIAL MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONSIN ARABIC-ISLAMIC ASTRONOMY......Page 208 CHAPTER TEN: REVISITING CATALAN PORTOLAN CHARTS : DO THEY CONTAIN ELEMENTS OF ASIAN PROVENANCE?......Page 214 CONCLUSION......Page 236 APPENDIX: LIST OF GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE IN AL-KASHGHARI’S TEXT AND MAP......Page 242 GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 260 INDEX......Page 264 Covers the diffusion and transmission of geographical knowledge that occurred at critical junctures in the long history of the Silk Road. In retracing the steps of four major circuits across the many civilizations that shared the Silk Road, this work traces the ways in which maps and images surmounted spatial, historical and cultural divisions Drawing on evidence from the many civilizations that shared the Silk Road, this book examines specific cases of the mobility of maps and images through the centuries.