Buddhist Art

Art, whatever you  may personally define it as, is always a beautiful thing to reflect on, I've found.  It's a medium by which people from virtually all cultures and societies can relate to.  It is a medium by which ideas, stories, feelings and emotions can be expressed and interpreted, in a variety of ways.

Religious art, in particular, is a fascinating 'grouping', if you may, of art that I've particularly enjoyed examining.  I've just always found myself quite intrigued by the manner and style by which many of these are produced - in particular, Buddhist statues...vast ones, built upon mountain sides through primitive means many years ago.  From this week's readings, I was quite surprised to see that the Buddha is actually portrayed in a number of different 'styles' from the one that I am used to.  In my house, when I was growing up, my parents had a miniature jade Buddhist statue, that looked much like this:

It was my impression that this was the 'only' representation of Buddha - a large, jolly, laughing bald man.  How utterly wrong I was!  Not only from the fact that this is not the only representation of Buddha (there being much smaller versions of him), but the fact that there is not just 'one' Buddha per se, as I generalized.  I suppose that'd partly explain why I soon found myself looking at very different images of a Buddha:

It was only after further reading into the week's assignment that I saw how the spread of Buddhism into different countries and cultural groups soon found itself being influenced, in no small ways - including the very portrayal of the Buddha.  In particular, the Kushan portrayal of the Buddha - fully attired in the traditional attire of the particular cultural group - is quite different from the large laughing Buddha (which is, in fact, not technically a portrayal of the Buddha himself - a common misconception that I've been a victim of!)

Still, I found it quite interesting to see, further on on my own research, the different ways by which various cultural groups will interject their own cultural 'imagery' into a, once, foreign religion.  I suppose it's just one of many ways by which a new religion can be made into a more 'acceptable' thing within a new society - inter-graining it somehow with an already existing culture so that it appears more common than 'outsider'.

Zoroastrianism and its influence

I will confess that I knew virtually nothing about Zoroastrianism before going through the readings from this past week in the course reader - as always, it's quite an enjoyable experience to learn something new.

What struck me as the most interesting thing was the similarities that I was able to draw from this ancient tradition to more 'recent', mass-practised religions.  There is in Zoroastrianism the belief of creation from a Higher Being or Authority, much like the three Abrahamic traditions - these are apparently evident in the themes laid out in the Gathas and seem to be followed, more or less, in the Bible, Quran and Torah.  The basic principals and concepts is spread out between all four of these traditions - the idea of purity, good and evil in the universe, life and death, which involves the idea of an afterlife, are just a few of the main themes that can be seen in Zoroastrianism, and in turn in the Abrahamic traditions.  In that way, it would seem like Zoroastrianism has a degree of influence upon those traditions, perhaps in a manner by which they can trace their roots back up to it.

Just looking at this picture, I can't help but

find it quite reminiscent to Christian artistic portrayals of Jesus Christ

It's interesting drawing up these sort of connections between seemingly different religious practises and examining similar themes and ideas that come up.  In that way it's a pretty unique way to examine the history of a religion - backtracking and seeing what sort of other traditions may have had some sort of influence on how said tradition is shaped and practised.  Similarities are clearly seen in this way, and I think it wouldn't be too far from the truth to draw up this sort of connection.  Doctrinal similarities from the Gathas, and even some of their prescribed practises are somewhat similar in manner to some of the Abrahamic tradtions' practises.  Emphasis on cleanliness, prayer, purity and goodness - these can be traced up and seen in the older Zoroastrian tradition.  It's just interesting to see how a tradition, now a minority in terms of practise, has had such an incredible influence on traditions that are now far more dominant, in practise.

Zoroastrian Sadah Feast 

Sogdian Merchants on the Road

I thought it was quite amazing to read up about how the Sogdian merchants alone were able to dominate pretty much all of the trade of the Silk Roads from the second century BC up until about tenth century AD, around the end of the Tang dynasty's era of rule.  Just thinking about that time frame alone is pretty mind-boggling, especially considering the vastness of the Silk Road route, the number of various ethnic groups who traded around it, and the fact that it was plagued with attacks and excursions by bandits and other armed groups.  To be able to overcome all those factors and still play a leading role in such an important economic route is nothing short of amazing for a group of people.

Although they did not seem to have much lasting luck in terms of their military power, they were still able to preserve their status as the dominant leaders of the entire Silk Road.  Their language quickly became the common trade language along the route and their influence was key in aiding with the spread of religions along the Silk Road.  It just goes to show that military power is not necessarily the only major influencing force that one can hold - economic and trade power is, I would argue, far more powerful than arms could ever hope to be.

They were, without a doubt, a very economic and trade-minded people.  In a way, they were a 'gentler' version of more warlike groups.  Whereas groups like that instilled the idea of combat and physical toughness with their younger members from an early age - training and conditioning them for combat - the Sogdian instead focused more on education and commercial skills from very early ages.

Their culture undoubtedly relished in the exposure it received to a variety of other cultures and goods.  Being active traders, they were easily able to bring in resources and exotic goods from foreign cultures into their own.  It's the main way that most cultures develop, evolve and change over time - influence and exposure to the ideas and goods of other cultures, which then get incorporated into one's own.  The Sogdian did it themselves, to an extent - they aided with the spread of religions, and were actually key players in China and their quest for the Heavenly Horses (see post). 

In 'return', Chinese artistic influence - wall-painting, for example - came upon Sogdian art

It's interesting to see how these 'trade-offs' work between cultures - each one influencing each other in some way, in a variety of degrees.  For the Sogdian, they were perhaps a key player in aiding China with achieving considerable military power with their calvary units.  In return, the Sogdian flourished under their trader-based cultural lifestyle and had personal developments with their arts and ideas.

Horses and Resources

The one thing that really stood out of this week's assigned chapter reading was the importance that the Chinese Han court apparently placed on accumulating a variety of resources and goods from their enemies and subjects in order to advance their own culture, technology and civilization in general.

China actually apparently found itself at the mercy of some of its enemies, notably the Xiongnu tribals - so much to the extent that the Chinese found themselves giving them 'gifts' (as opposed to the term 'tribute').  Still, China itself received its own degree of resources as gifts/tributes from other peoples.  In this way, the Han court found itself in command of a variety of important resources.

Perhaps the most notable 'resource' that the Chinese acquired was the Heavenly Horses from Yuan.  I found it interesting that these horses were the main reason that the Chinese declared a four-year long invasion against the Yuan in order to acquire these horses - undoubtedly a massive military campaign.  Still, as the chapter later discusses, these horses - renowned for their 'bloody sweat' - were the perfect addition to compliment China's already relatively powerful army.  Given the advantage that their calvary units have them against marauding tribes and invaders, it would appear that the horses were a worthwhile acquisition.  Even after their loss of 6,000 of their horses, the Yuan were forced to deliver a yearly tribute of two new horses to the Han court, given the difficulty that the Chinese encountered when attempting to breed them.  Again, this just goes to show the importance that lay behind diplomacy and the tribute system in aiding the Chinese empire to strengthen its power.

Another interesting aspect behind diplomacy was the idea of hostages and matrimonial alliances - of which can be seen in European history as well.  It seemed to me that daughters, or princesses, were a valuable 'commodity' if you will, in that they were useful in sealing alliances between various groups.  Now whether this is 'morally correct' by today's standards is irrelevant (although I would argue it's a practise still played out in some parts of the world), but it is interesting to see the different manners by which alliances were forged and broken, with both these matrimonial alliances and the idea of taking and holding hostages - often princes from a court.

A beginning and then some

Just from looking at a map of the Silk Road route in its entirety, it's pretty mindblowing to imagine that people actually undertook a journey along this trade line constantly back and forth, exchanging goods, ideas, cultures and populations. The Silk Road itself has a long history, spanning back to the time of the Roman empire, with whom China enjoyed quite a degree of trading with - in particular, trading in silk, the route's namesake.

Still, I find it interesting to see that the Silk Road was not necessarily 'just' a goods trade route, as most people assume it to be. While it's true that goods were traded, it was much more than the silk from which the route was named. Various goods from the various points along the route exchanged many hands and found its way into foreign lands. Jade, silk, spices, foods, wool, precious jewels and many various other manner of goods were traded along the route. Even then, merchants were certainly not the only ones who undertook the journey - missionaries, explorers, archaeologists, cartographers, immigrants and emigrants all found themselves travelling along this route. It was the perfect manner by which ideas, cultures, religions and populations found themselves in foreign lands. Cultures and religions in particular enjoyed a great degree of exposure to new lands, throughout the route's history - from the time of Alexander to further on into later Chinese imperial dynasties.

 What really strikes me as amazing about this route is the sheer vastness of it - stretching from Europe to far East Asia. Just the thought of people actually undertaking this journey, by foot and camel/horseback, it's hard to really grasp just how difficult and dangerous such a journey would have been like - especially when considering how the route works its way through a number of differing  geographical regions and areas. From mountainous snowcapped regions, to vast deserts and further on into fertile landscapes through Asia. In this way, the whole route itself is a vastly homogenized pot - a large variety of differing cultural and social groups can be encountered along this journey, due to travellers and immigrants moving and settling down in new cultural regions.

Truly the Silk Road was far more than 'just' a route to trade goods. It holds its own history - numerous historical events are linked to the route itself, affecting it or were even affected by it. The route was one were goods were traded, alongside populations, ideas, culture - in this way, aiding in the creation and shaping of a new level of social and cultural development in foreign countries.