Essay
Format: Write a 3000-word (10% leeway) essay (footnotes and bibliography excluded) on ONE of the essay topics listed below. The essay should be properly referenced (footnotes or endnotes are acceptable) and include a separate bibliography.
At least SIX references are required for the completion of this essay
Only TWO foreign language reference are allowed to be cited
The essay word count has a 10% leeway, which means 2750 – 3250 words are acceptable. It is strongly discouraged that you write an overtly lengthy essay. 3300 words is the top limit.
You MUST come up with an essay title. Remember, an essay title is NOT the same as a research question.
The readings listed here are suggestions. You are not required to base your essay on the materials suggested for each topic. You are free to look for material that better supports your argument or that is more accessible.
In writing the essay, make sure that you use only your own words. Refer to all your sources in footnotes or endnotes and attach a list of these sources as “Bibliography” to your essay. Both the Harvard and the APA system of referencing are acceptable.
Essay questions:
1). What were the aspects of the geography and ecology of Central Asia that led to the rise of pastoral nomadism and irrigation agriculture. Did they lead to trade?
This question asks you to look at trade along the Silk Road as conditioned by ecological factors. You might want to look at such factors as availability of water; mountain, oasis, desert steppe ecology; animal populations, plant distribution; as well as human interactions with both other groups and the environment.
2). Discuss what contribution art and iconography made to the diffusion of religious traditions along the Silk Road?
The question asks you to discuss why and how religions use material culture to promote their cause. Does a religion need to express its faith and identity through art and architecture? What function does art serve in shaping a particular religious world view?
3). To what degree did either Buddhism or Islam (choose one of the two) provide a basis for cultural exchange and trade along the Silk Road? The question asks you to view the believers’ religiosity and the active spread of religious beliefs as stimulating cultural exchange and facilitating commercial activities.
Susan Whitfield, Life along the Silk Road. Berkeley: University of California Press
4). What were the characteristic components of international trade along the Silk Road in the Pre-Mongol era (pre-13th century); the traders, their means of transport, their goods, their geographical range, the currency they used and so on? To what extent was this trade dominated by the major empires situated at either end of the Silk Road?
This question asks you to look into the components that were important for trade along the Silk Road: the traders, their means of transport, their goods, their geographical range, the currency they used and so on. You are also asked to give some thought to how this trade was promoted or perhaps impeded by the empires whose inhabitants produced and bought the goods traded along the Silk Road.
Helen Wang, “How much for a camel? A New Understanding of Money on the Silk Road before AD 800”, in S. Whitfield (ed.), The Silk Road. Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Hong Kong: Serindia
5). Would you agree with the statement that, “International trade shaped the economy, culture and civilisation of many Central Asian Silk Road societies in the pre-Mongol era”. Compare the impact of this international trade to other forces such as economic, political and cultural forces that were at work in the societies along the Silk Road.
6). Discuss and express your opinion of the veracity of the claim that, “After arriving in China, religions imported from the Silk Road were changed almost beyond recognition.”
This topic asks you to define the religions that have at different historical stages travelled to China and to compare their appearance in China with the form they had at the place and time of their origin. Use the example of one or two of these religions for a discussion of the above statement.
7). Nomadic pastoralists founded states and even empires along the Silk Road, using examples discuss the methods they used in this process and the particular problems they faced.
