NO KNIFE ON MY SILK ROAD
A pictorial presentation
by Helene Chung
Images by Helene Chung unless indicated otherwise
May 2019 unless indicated otherwise
A pictorial presentation
by Helene Chung
© www.helenechung.com
China’s Silk Road from Xian (Changan) to Kashgar
Centre of Xian, capital of Shaanxi Province
Bell Tower Hotel, Bell Tower
Population 9 m
Formerly called Changan
Xian = Western Peace
Capital of 13 dynasties
Including Qin (Chin), Han, Tang
Under Tang Dynasty (618 – 907)
Changan a cosmopolitan
leading world city
Bell Tower
Welcome to foreigners at South Gate, September 2017
Red carpet entrance to South Gate, September 2017
Approach to South Gate, September 2017
Crossing the moat, September 2017
Video: Re-enactment Silk Road traders and camels on South Gate, Xian, September 2017
Hui Muslims at prayer at the Great Mosque, Xian, June 1984
Islam introduced to China by Arab traders in 7th c
Imam Ma Liangji with John Martin, Helene Chung and ABC interpreter Old Fan (sunglasses) watch a gongfu tournament at the end of Ramadan, Xian, 1 July 1984 (Willi Phua)
Muslim Street, Xian: Entrance, cakes, shish kebabs, pomegranates, September 2017
Big Wild Goose Pagoda for Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by 7th c monk Xuan Zang
Buddhist worshippers among temple visitors
Buddhism introduced 1st c AD
Mahayana Buddhism
Gautama
‘merely one reincarnation
in a vast series of Buddhas’
In 65 AD Emperor Han Mingdi dreamt of a divine being
Sent an envoy west
He returned with Sanskrit texts
Translated at Louyang
(CP Fitzgerald, China)
First Emperor Qin (reign 221 BC – 207 BC)
His protective army of Entombed Warriors
Qin formerly spelt Chin
Defeated all rival kingdoms
United China named after him
Completed building Great Wall of China
Burial mound of Emperor Qin: vendors at the base, men under pomegranate tree, June 1984 (John Martin)
Terracotta army of soldiers and horses in pit 1
8 m visitors in 2018
Warrior with horse and middle ranking officer displayed behind glass
Archaeologists at work in pit 1
Estimated total 6,000 – 8,000 figures
Site of discovery by farming brothers
digging a well in 1974
Surviving farmer Yang Zhifa autographs a book
Sits for photograph with purchaser September 2017 (Helene Chung, Chinese photographer)
Huaqing Palace site of XIAN INCIDENT, Christmas 1936
Nationalist Generalissimo CHIANG KAISHEK kidnapped by subordinates
Released when he agrees to cease fighting Communists and join ZHOU ENLAI in a United Front against Japan
Did Xian Incident change the course of history? Might Chiang Kaishek have defeated Mao Zedong?
(1984, John Martin)
Negotiations assisted by
Australian William Henry Donald
(EA Selle, Donald of China
Portrait by Time)
Chiang Kaishek in 1935
(Jonathan D Spence, Search for Modern China)
Zhou Enlai at Yenan
(Jonathan D Spence, Search for Modern China)
Travel by fast train Xian to Lanzhou – 3 hours
Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province
Gansu, narrow Hexi (West of Yellow River) Corridor to Xinjiang
Lanzhou population 4 m
400,000 – 500,000 Muslims
Iron Bridge across Yellow River Renamed Zhongshan Bridge after Sun Zhongsun (Sun Yatsen)
Roadside stop at fruit stall on 2.5 hour drive from Lanzhou to boat for Bingling Grottoes
Liujiaxia Reservoir, Bridge and Park enroute to Bingling Grottoes
Motor boat to cross Yellow River to Jishi Mountains where café manager presents
Eight treasures tea: date, lychee, longan, red berries, chrysanthemum, rose buds, sugar, green tea leaves
Guide Lydia shows how to drink from three-storeys cup
Approach to Bingling Buddhist Caves is over a bridge with lotus pillars
Despite its muddy roots a blooming lotus represents purity and enlightenment
Seated Buddha
Buddha in lotus posture
Stupa and background including apsaras (flying angels)
Apsaras (flying angels) in Grotto 10, Tang Dynasty (618 – 907)
Tang Dynasty crowned Bodhisattva
(holy person who has not yet reached or has delayed nirvana through compassion)
Artist painting outside cave
View from doorway into cave
A niche at Bingling Caves and details of niche
Grotto 134 Buddha with two Bodhisattvas, Northern Zhou Dynasty (557 – 581)
Seated Giant Buddha 27 m, the Maitreya (Future) Buddha of all encompassing love, Tang Dynasty (618 -907)
Giant Buddha with niches and other caves in cliff wall, seen from opposite bank
Grotto 16 Sleeping Buddha 8.64 m, Northern Wei Dynasty (386 – 557)
Sakyamuni in Nirvana
China’s Silk Road from Xian (Changan) to Kashgar
Labrang (Tibetan: Labuleng) Civil Aviation Hotel, Xiahe County, Gansu Province
Morning yak yoghurt offered outside Labrang Tibetan Monastery, Xiahe
Pilgrims and tourists outside Labrang Monastery (at far left edge)
Labrang Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, founded 18th c Formerly held up to 4000 monks
A young Tibetan asks for a family portrait
Small Tibetan windows to preserve warmth
Inside the Yak Butter Temple
(only temple in which photographs may be taken)
Philosophical, Xiahe-born lama in Butter Temple
What is being? What is I?
Is there a place for visitors to meditate?
What is meditation?
Do you see yourself as Tibetan or Chinese?
What is Tibetan?
The Dalai Lama visited this Labrang temple in 1941
Stupa at Labrang Monastery
Tibetans in Labrang County
Oh, what shall I wear? How should I have it tailored?
Labrang Monastery as dusk descends
Tibetan prostration around Labrang Monastery
Turning the world’s largest corridor of prayer wheels, 3.5 k around the monastery
So, is the table booked?
5-hour fast train northwest from Gansu Province capital Lanzhou to Jiayuguan
Military re-enactment with canon at entrance to Jiayuguan Pass
Jiayuguan Pass at western end of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall (Judi Taylor)
East Gate against Heavenly Mountains
Visitors to Jiayuguan
Jiayuguan Museum: Multicultural society of peaceful coexistence
From Jiayuguan along Gobi Desert to Dunhuang Hotel
View of Singing Sands from room
Entrance to Singing Sands, Gansu
Singing Sands (Judi Taylor)
Camel riding with sand boots
Camel trail (Chinese photographer)
Children of the dunes
Crescent Lake – in the midst of sand dunes
A wonder of the Gobi Desert
Ladies of the lake
Departure Singing Sands for a courtyard lunch
A short drive from Jiayuguan to Dunhuang
Dunhuang Grottoes Visitor Centre
Unrenovated Mogao Caves as shown in Dunhuang Museum
The caves carved for Buddhist meditation and sometimes monks’ habitation
Mogao Caves: Caves of a Thousand Buddhas with 735 caves carved into cliff wall, May 2019
1st cave built in 366 by wandering monk who dreamt of thousand rays of light (Eastern Jin Dynasty)
Taoist priest Wang Yuanlu
(Dunhuang Museum)
Born Shanxi Province c 1848
Died Mogao Caves, Gansu, 1931
Credited with discovery of Mogao Caves
Became self-appointed guardian
In 1900 in Cave 16 he discovered a hidden door that led to another cave: Cave 17, the Library Cave crammed with perfectly preserved manuscripts
Hungarian-born naturalised British archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862 – 1943)
Discovered Mogao Caves in 1907
Removed 24 cases of manuscripts and 4 cases of paintings and relics
including the Diamond Sutra
Knighted in 1912
(Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia, Wikipedia)
As depicted in gallery of foreign exploiters of China
(Gaochang Museum)
Chinese Copy of the Diamond Sutra
Its teachings will ‘cut like a diamond blade through worldly illusion to illuminate what is real and everlasting’
Dated 868 (Tang Dynasty)
‘This copy of the Diamond Sutra is the world’s earliest complete and dated, printed book.’ (British Library)
Diamond Sutra made in 7 sections
Each printed from a single block
Stuck together to create
A scroll over 5 metres long
Unlike Stein, Pelliot’s expertise enabled him
Dunhuang guide at entrance to Cave 16 and ‘Hidden Cave’ No 17 in May 2019
No photographs inside caves allowed
Entrance to Cave 257
Maitreya (Future) Buddha
(Dunhuang Academy website)
Ancestor portraits of Yin family
Walkway and stairs by Yin family portraits
Entrance to Cave 96: Big Buddha, 35.5 m high
Big Buddha is housed in a 9-storey pagoda
Section of Big Buddha, early Tang Dynasty 618-705 (David Tansey, Wikipedia)
Entrance to Cave 148: Nirvana (Sleeping) Buddha
Sleeping Buddha as shown on a Dunhuang Caves poster
Gobi Desert as seen from car driving from Dunhuang to Liuyuan train station
Wind power farm and Black Mountains (Heshan)
Liuyuan in the Gobi Desert
Helene Chung and Judi Taylor farewell Dunhuang driver Li and guide Spring over lunch
Liuyuan train station and entrance to Safety Check
Leads to confiscation of 12-year internationally-travelled Swiss Army knife (like this)
From checked-in airline case that has passed numerous checks on this trip
Confiscation of penknife
A reminder of request for fruit knife at Holiday Plaza Hotel Jiayuguan
Presented with flimsy plastic knife encased in cellophane
So now must continue with
No real knife on my Silk Road
Gansu Province borders the strategic and volatile Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Vital conduit of Belt and Road Initiative
In 1759 Qing Emperor Qianlong conquers and incorporates
Western Regions into China, so doubling the size of China
‘Qianlong’s most important achievement’
Western Regions later renamed Xinjiang = New Territories
(Jonathan D Spence)
Suicide car crash in Tiananmen Square
3 occupants of SUV
and 2 bystanders killed
Internment camps holding 1 million Uighurs
(China’s Hidden Camps, BBC, 24 October 2018)
China claims the camps are ‘vocational training centres’
This rejected by Amnesty International 2 November 2018
ABC Four Corners on how Australian Uighurs are caught in Xinjiang’s prison system
15 July 2019
Local Han Chinese repeat official policy
Even if only to protect themselves
‘Yes, some Uighurs are sent to classes
Maybe for up to a year
It’s educational
It’s to stop extremism – terrorism
We support the government policy
‘Cameras and surveillance are a nuisance but they make us safe’
But most usual response is:
‘This is a sensitive subject
We can’t talk about this’
Concourse outside Turpan train station, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Need for passport and police check and to be photographed
No pictures of police or police centre allowed
Entrance to courtyard of Silk Road Lodges, run by Muslins in the centre of a Uighur village
Security from inside looking out (Judi Taylor)
Chinese flags denote patriotism – love of Motherland of China
Western books on shelf
The Taming of the Shrew – Are Uighurs being tamed?
The Statue of Liberty – Crushed in Tiananmen Massacre
Breakfast in dining room – home with President Xi Yinping and the Chinese flag
Xi Jinping plate (Judi Taylor)
Four police checks within first hour of first full day in Xinjiang
Police check point at tourist Tuyu Uighur village car park
Model policeman a reminder of police presence at Tuyu Uighur village car park
Surveillance camera outside police centre and car park
Tuyuq Uighur Village: c 2013 – 65 households, 370 people but rather quiet today
Traditional painted double doors
German brewery heir and archaeologist Albert le Coq lived here
in Tuyuq Village while exploring Turpan
Plundered case loads of artefacts and carvings from Xinjiang
Some relics destroyed by British bombs in World War II
Portrait (Wikipedia)
Abandoned mosque opposite fruit and nut stall
Mosque and passer-by against Flaming Mountain
Mosque viewed from car park and police centre
Bread oven
Bed for sleeping outdoors during hot weather
Hanging gourds, sultanas and other dried fruit
Guide Wendy at basket stall
Muslim elder in skull cap, boy with dried plum, girl with bread
Police fly the flag
Forecourt Gaochang (Qocho) Museum
Xuan Zang 7th c
Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk
His travel from Xian to India for Buddhist scriptures part-funded by Qocho
Gaochang (Qocho) Museum
Video: Musician
Uighur Manager
Gaochang District 30 km southeast of Turpan
Gaochang (Khoko) City ‘the power centre of the central government to control the Western Regions’
Gallery of foreign rogues, Gaochang Museum
19th – 20th c Russian, German, English and Japanese explorers and exploiters
‘They ransacked the cultural relics violently … Qocho City suffered an unprecedented catastrophe’
Shuttle bus from Gaochang Museum to Gaochang Ancient City
(Judi Taylor}
Gaochang Ancient City Built 2nd c BC – 14th c AD
Tang Dynasty control 7th – 9th c Uighur Kharakhoja Kingdom 9th – 14th c
Multi-ethnic population c 30,000
Walls 11.5 m high and thick Square outer city 5.4 k long 9 city gates Rectangular inner city 3 k long
(Professor Robert D Fiala Concordia University Nebraska orientalarchitecture.com}
Gaochang Ancient City Rammed earth temple of Manichaeism from Uighur Kingdom (12th – 13th c)
Café for a tasty shish kebab break on way to tombs of Astana
Stairs to Tang Dynasty tomb 73T
Astana Cemetery for the deceased Chinese of Gaochang 4th – 8th c
Bodies placed in wooden coffins with food, money and models of objects such as garments and jewellery for the afterlife
Mummies preserved by extremely dry climate
Male and female mummies of a couple
Side view of encased male mummy
Flaming Mountain, Turfan, where temperature has reached 49.60 c
Car park at entrance to Bezeklik Caves – Thousand Buddha Caves
A windy day at Bezeklik Caves, in a gorge of Flaming Mountain
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Bezeklik = Place of paintings in Uighur Art created 5th – 14th cen
Photographs inside Bezeklik Caves not allowed
These images are from Gaochang Museum
The jewels themselves were taken by foreigners
‘I had to go to Berlin’ laments Gaochang Museum manager
Cave 9: Two Buddhist monks Central Asian monk with young East Asian monk?
Gaochang Museum
For example, Prince Emin Hoja supported the central government to resist the rebellion of Junggar (Dzungar) noble [Mongols] and safeguarded the unity of China, making prominent contributions.
In the 1750s Uighur Emin Khoja sought Qing protection from Dzungar Mongols
He supported the Qing in their victory over the Mongols and conquest of Xinjiang
His second son, Suleman honoured his father by building the Emin Minaret/Tower
(Wikipedia/TravelChinaGuide)
Emin Minaret stands next to this near deserted Turpan mosque
Jiaohe Museum with Turpan guide Wendy
Zhang Qian (164 – 114 BC)
Han Dynasty explorer and diplomat
Early official Chinese contact between East and West
Early official Chinese on the Silk Road
Despatched by Emperor Wudi to Central Asia in 138 BC
Captured for 10+1 years by enemies, Xiongnu
Returned with 1 of 100 soldiers
First to provide reliable account of Central Asia to Chinese court
Led to introduction into China of superior horses ‘that sweat blood when they perspire’ and new plants including grapes and alfalfa
(CP Fitzgerald, Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Emperor Wudi farewells Zhang Qian as he set forth from Xian (Changan) to Central Asia
Mogao Cave 323 (Wikipedia)
Flying Horse of Gansu represents the ‘heavenly’ and ‘blood-sweating’ horses recommended by Zhang Qian as important in warfare
One hoof of the racing horse lightly touches a swallow that looks up amazed
(Gansu Provincial Museum, Lanzhou, image Wikipedia)
Jiaohe, a ruined earthen city
Jiaohe
Administrative and military centre to control Western Regions
Tang Dynasty ruins 7th – 8th c
c 7000 population
Stairs lead to Tang administration centre below ground
Karez is an underground water channel
Lin Zexu, whose destruction of illegal British opium in Canton in 1939 led to the Opium
Wars, was transferred to Turpan
He marvelled at the Karez and extended it throughout Xinjiang
A model on location by the Karez
Turpan Museum
All ethnic groups have left a legacy of their unique sites, cultures and creation
Today all our ethnic groups like Uighur, Han, Hui, Kazak … continue to promote great unity Let us inherit the great cultural heritage enhance the unity and harmonious relationships between different ethnic groups to achieve an even more beautiful future
Kashgar Airport: in van with revolutionary red flags
5-star Chinese flag for Communist Party ruling workers, peasants, artisans, traders
Hammer and sickle, communist symbol of union between workers and peasants
Shish kebab lunch: restaurant and waiters
Lamb in butcher’s stall, Tajik guide Luik with driver Corban, Paris place mat
An entrance to Kashgar Market
Surveillance cameras
Rugs airing
Nuts and dried fruit
Shirts
Junction of renovated Old Kashgar
Wide straight streets easy to navigate and locate people and places
Unlike narrow weaving paths with hidden private spots
Paintings of old times adorn Kashgar’s new housing blocks
Remains of actual Old Kashgar in process of redevelopment, May 2019
Kashgar crafts and traders horseshoe maker earthenware pots amid flag spice trader with cumin
Family home-turned hotel
Faces of Kashgar: elegant elder, red beauty, smiling Buddha
Xinjiang region famous for fruit, especially melons
A hundred year-old tea house and regular patron
Inside the tea house
Tea and dancing on the verandah
Surveillance cameras operate as craftsmen work: coppersmith and bamboo basket-maker
Id kah the largest mosque in China: houses 10,000 on Fridays, can hold 20,000
Built in 1442, incorporating sections from 996
1933 Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhancang kills Uighur leader Timur Beg: his head displayed at mosque
1934 General Ma demands Uighur loyalty to Republic of China (Kuomingtang in Nanjing)
2014 Imam Jume Tahir is stabbed to death before morning prayers
(Wikipedia, edited 20 April 2019)
No call to prayer
President Xi Jinping offers hope
A good life enjoyed by the loyal
A 10-Yuan massage
And views of snow-capped Heavenly Mountains
Return to Xinjiang capital, Urumqi
Video: Dancing at entrance to Urumqi Grand Bazaar
Invitation by young girl to join her
Flags fly in Urumqi
Faces of Urumqi on a Sunday
Urumqi Museum
Xi Dada foyer
Xinjiang’s dry saline environment has preserved human remains for thousands of years
One of the world’s largest collections of mummies
Different nationalities lived and mixed together, creating the splendour of different cultures
A solid foundation for multi-ethnic habitation, multi-religious co-existence cultural integration and plurality
Examples of mummies at Urumqi Museum: adult female, adult female, male with tattoos, infant
Tarim Basin is the site of ancient cemeteries with numerous preserved mummies
Loulan Beauty European/Caucasian
Parcel of wheat
Feathered hat Woven wool shroud
c 1800 BC
Artist’s Impression
Loulan Beauty: when first discovered in 1970s Uighurs considered her their ancestor
They believed this gave them priority to the region over Han Chinese who arrived about 2,000 years later
(Victor H Mair, ‘Ancient Mummies of the Tarim Basin’, Expedition Magazine 58.2_2016)
Neither Sinitic-speaking Chinese nor Turkic-speaking Uyghur
Departure Urumqi Museum
Investigator clay figurine and painted clay tomb guardian Tang Dynasty (618 – 907)
Unearthed from Astana cemetery, Turpan
End of Silk Road adventure
Flight Urumqi to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province
Overnight in Chengdu
Before return via Hong Kong to Melbourne
Panda province hosts Australian wine promotion
Fruit knife and fork in hotel room – normality
No Knife on my Silk Road
Yet a glimpse into China from Imperial to Communist era
First Emperor Qin to today’s President Xi Jinping
- Ancient cities and cultures
- Buddhist art and history
- Foreign exploitation of China
- Glories of Tang Dynasty
- Promotion of nationalism
- Security and surveillance
- Sinicization of Muslims – traditions outlawed
- Taboo of freedom of speech
- Modernisation from east coast extended to far west
- Complexities of history, ethnic origins and government
NO KNIFE ON MY SILK ROAD
A pictorial presentation
by Helene Chung
Images by Helene Chung unless indicated otherwise
May 2019 unless indicated otherwise
A pictorial presentation
by Helene Chung
© www.helenechung.com