#Silk roads

[chaosnail]

Silk and gold in Boukhara and Samarkand, 19th-early 20th century.

[internationalchessday]

Chess and the silk road.

Traditional games including chess and its many variants constitute important elements of the cultures of different people living along the Silk Roads. The interactions and reencounters that have been taking place for thousands of years along the Silk Roads provided considerable opportunities not only for the spread of traditional games throughout different regions but also for their enrichment at different levels. 

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

The Cryptic Motif of “Three Hares with Conjoined Ears”

On the Heavenly Palace decorative patterns found in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang from the late Northern dynasties are images with cryptic patterns, including Buddha's head, the Taotie beast, deer, animals copulating, three hares with conjoined ears, and also writings. This type of decorative pattern is cryptic and difficult to understand and may be closely related to the history of the popular Eastern iconology and divination philosophy from the Han and Wei dynasties and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou's suppression of Buddhism. They are important references for studying the related history of this period.

[pocketseizure]

Sealing War bas-relief early concept art

[searchsystem]

Gregor Sailer / The Polar Silk Road – EISCAT I, Ramfjordmoen, Norway / Photography / 2020

[yoga-onion]

Heart Sutra ~ A sutra that describes “The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom" (2) 

The merits of “Prajna-paramita Hridhya Sutra” [So far]

The Heart Sutra, which is commonly circulated in Japan, was translated into Chinese from the original sanskrit by Xuanzang. 

Xuanzang (6 April 602 – 5 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi, also known by his Sanskrit name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts.

Not a few commentaries on the Heart Sutra emphasise its immeasurably great merits. It is quoted in part below:

'The Buddhist monk Xuanzang Dharma Master received this scripture and experienced an outstanding spiritual experience. This is why this scripture has been spread to the general public. Therefore, if you wear clean clothes, sit upright, and recite this scripture 500 times, you will be able to eliminate 95 kinds of evil ways, and if you live by following this scripture, you will be liberated from all suffering and troubles.’ It describes how Xuanzang received the spiritual power of the Heart Sutra.

In other commentaries, there are specific passages describing what the spiritual experiences of Xuanzang were. [To be continued]

般若心経 〜「智慧の完成」の精髄を述べる経典 (2)

『般若波羅蜜多心経 (梵: ﾌﾟﾗｼﾞｭﾅｰﾊﾟｰﾗﾐﾀｰ･ﾌﾘﾀﾞﾔ･ｽｰﾄﾗ) 』の功徳（これまで）

日本で一般的に流布している『般若心経』は、玄奘三蔵が原典のサンスクリット語から漢語に翻訳したものである。

玄奘三蔵法師（602年4月6日-664年2月5日）は、陳慧または陳毅の名で生まれ、サンスクリット名モクシャデーヴァとしても知られ、7世紀の中国の僧侶、学者、旅行者、翻訳者である。彼は、中国仏教への画期的な貢献、629 年から 645 年にかけてのインド旅行の旅行記、少なくとも 657 冊のインドの文献を中国に持ち込む取り組み、およびこれらの文献の一部の翻訳で知られている。

『般若心経』の注釈書の中には、その功徳��計り知れないほど多大であることを強調するものが少なくない。その一部は以下引用：

“玄奘三蔵法師はこの経典を受持されて優れた霊験を経験された。このことによってこの経典は一般に流布した。だから清潔な衣を着て正身端座して、この経典を五百回読通するならば、九十五種の邪道を除去することができ、またこの経典に随従して生活すれば一切の苦厄から解脱することができる。”

他の注釈書にも、玄奘三蔵が受けた『般若心経』の霊験がどのようなものであったかが、具体的に記されている箇所がある。[つづく]

[pinkflipphonez]

I'd like to think that we ruled the world for a short moment in time.

femslash february day 1: POWER

[safije]

Uyghur bread, Xinjiang China.

[yeoldegodzilla]

Godzilla was chosen by Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to meet the first Chinese delegation sent to Europe in the 14th century.

[evilsment]

Tang dynasty period drama (Luoyang 风起洛阳) 2021

Most of the C-drama costumes are restored based on real Tang dynasty paintings from the Mogao Caves. These are some examples.

Photos credit: silkroad_journey on Instagram.

[aerascreamer]

I just realised and want to ask people about it but:

Many have pointed out Hermes in Hades II looked East Asian and it got me thinking if this has anything to do with the Silk Road.

Hermes being the God of Travel but also Merchants and Trading, it could be an nice reference to how influential this axis has been in history between Europe and Asia

[steven-myself]

Art Deco - Wilfred Wong by Baldovino Barani x FACTORY Fanzine

[lutnistas]

Ascension Cathedral ( Almaty / Kazakhstan )

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

breaking news: love and deepsapce just released its PV for new card on Sep 23 with all four dressed in chinese fashion in tang dynasty style

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

China and Africa: Mutual assistance to defeat imperialism

By John Parker

“Over the past 65 years, China and Africa have forged unbreakable fraternity in our struggle against imperialism and colonialism, and embarked on a distinct path of cooperation in our journey toward development and revitalization. Together, we have written a splendid chapter of mutual assistance.” 

– Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China

That message was delivered at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). These powerful words against colonialism and imperialism were said in 2021, during a time when the COVID-19 pandemic especially affected Africa — a continent victim that has endured colonialism and imperialism, as well as the struggle for access to vaccine production. 

While the U.S. and Europe put profits before the needs of the victims of colonialism and imperialism, President Xi chose to put those words of solidarity into action.

[searchsystem]

Gregor Sailer / The Polar Silk Road – Military Facility, Norwegian Armed Forces, Andøya, Norway / Photography / 2020