Silk roads or steppe roads answers

A Silk Road Legacy: The Spread of Buddhism and Islam

Section 1: Identification of Secondary Source

A silk Road Legacy: the spread of Buddhism and Islam article was written by Xinru Liu in 2011. The article was published in Journal of World History on November 1, 2011. Xinru Liu is an Associate History professor in World History University of Pennsylvania .

Section 2: Thesis/Argument & Debate

The author of this article tries to explore the social life and religion of people from central Asia before and after they got to Islam. The author has majorly relied on historical records that were written by Chinese, Arabic, Persian and modern scholars in archaeology history. The article shows how people from central Asia survived very many calamities ad managed to excel in an environment that was constantly changing. According to this article, the greatest transition that the people of Central Asia experienced was the one about shifting from Buddhism to Islam. Further, the author has exemplified some f the themes that are basic in History series of Oxford University press. The author has been keen on this by presenting very detailed histories of the locality, national and regional area while still stressing on their connections to the world.

Section 3: Basic Outline of the Article’s Content

The article begins with an exploration of Rome, China, India and Asia, then goes to the flowering of Buddhism and finally the author describes how Mongols predicted the destruction of the Silk Road as a route of trade. The author blames the destruction of the Silk Road trade on integration of economy, power and politics. According to the author, People were barred from making trips from one end to the other with a good example being Gan Ying who was deterred from journeying to Rome by some Iran people who were protecting their status of being middlemen . There were some countries that were never allowed to go through the Silk Road states the author.

With Kushans being very dominant on the Silk route, the author states that they led to the widespread of Buddhism in the Silk Route between 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Kushans helped in building trade along Silk route because they totally depended on market forces rather than political control. According to the author, the technological and demographic changes greatly caused the decline in Silk route use. Other means of transportation like sea emerged and growing markets in the locality minimized the need for exportations. This according to the author had caused the decline in utilization of the Silk Road even before the Central Asian Steppes were overwhelmed by Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan. The Mongols tried to revive the route through Building colonies and cities along the route. According to this article, natural disasters in China also led to decline in the use of the road since most of the exports were destroyed in the disasters.

The author was keen on the contemporary bibliography of the article through ensuring that it comprises of subject precise websites and specialist, and also included a list of ‘further reading’. This form of reading is crucial to students that are looking for introductory works as well as academicians that seek information for other disciplines. It is interesting how this article offers the reader equal coverage of commercial economy, religious and political information of various cities that served as points of staging from Pacific up to Mediterranean .

Section 4: Sources

In this article, Liu got her primary sources from Central Asia, China, Rome, India and Mediterranean as well as from Islamic World. Most of the data was translated for the first time in English since it was written. More information was collected from religious texts, laws and inscriptions among other sources. Other sources include letters, accounts from travellers, geographies and letters. Additional support was collected from annotations, maps, head notes and religious institutions.

Section 5: Strengths and Weaknesses

The greatest strength that I have seen in this article is the ability of the author to offer very detailed information on the topic through offering the reader well researched information. The author used numerous sources to compile her work hence providing a very rich reading to the reader. One thing the reader should improve on is use of real life examples in her writing. Through such examples, the reader will have managed to connect better with the book and understand better the content of the book.

Section 6: Conclusion and Meditation

Having read the article, I must commend the writer because of her impressive way of writing. Not only has the writer offered the reader comprehensive work, she has also offered it in an easy to read manner. The book was broad enough hence it covered the topics that I was hoping for, especially the topic of how the Silky Road legacy diminished. This book would be best for researchers on various fields as well as for students. My question that remains and one that I would want to pose to the writer is “Would the improvement of the Silky Road bring much change in current trade considering the massive growth in technology?

Bibliography

Liu, Xinru. A silk Road Legacy: the spread of Buddhism and Islam. Journal of World History.2011

Lynda Jodi. Connections Across Eurasia: Transportation, Communication, and Cultural Exchange on the Silk Roads. McGraw Hill, New York. 2007

Watt, Chris. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.2007

� Lynda Jodi. Connections Across Eurasia: Transportation, Communication, and Cultural Exchange on the Silk Roads. McGraw Hill, New York. 2007

� Liu, Xinru. A silk Road Legacy: the spread of Buddhism and Islam. Journal of World History.2011

� Watt, Chris. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.2007.