Calliope articles from February 2002

Calliope archives from February 2002

Along the Silk Road. (Musings).
February 1, 2002... There is nothing equal to the meats of Bukhara and a kind of melon they have called ash-shaq, nor the bows of Khorezmia, the porcelain of Shash, and the paper of Samarkand. --Excerpt from writings of Arab traveler, geographer, and writer...

The Silk Road in world history.
February 1, 2002... ON AUGUST 13, 1891, AT A REMOTE SPOT HIGH IN THE PAMIR MOUNTAINS in Central Asia, British explorer Francis Younghusband opened the doors of his tent to see 20 Russian Cossacks and six officers riding by. Younghusband sent them his card. That...

From sheep to shop: Chinese workers sort cocoons. Rumor has it that silk production began when a Chinese empress, more than 3,000 years ago, found that a silkworm cocoon had fallen into her cup of tea. As she removed it, a long silken thread unraveled ... the rest is history! Or legend?
February 1, 2002... WHY DO WE CALL THE WEB OF ROADS BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA THE "SILK Road"? This name celebrates the product that was the most expensive, least bulky to carry, and most difficult to produce. Silk production began in China and was already a...

The spread of religious beliefs: just as silk, porcelain, spices, gold, and silver moved along the Silk Road, so, too, did ideas. In fact, religious values and practices were among the most important ideas that spread along these routes.
February 1, 2002... Millions of people throughout India accepted the beliefs of the Buddha that life is suffering and that people should feel compassion for others and do as little harm as possible. Buddhist missionaries began to travel with merchants and...

Unifiers at the `crossroads of Asia'.(Kushan Empire)
February 1, 2002... THE IMPORTANT CULTURAL EXCHANGES THAT TOOK PLACE ALONG THE SILK ROAD WERE possible only because of four major farming civilizations that dominated Eurasia by the 1st century B.C.: the Romans, the Parthians, the Chinese, and the Kushans....

In search of the Buddha.(Xuanzang's 7th century travels along Silk Road)
February 1, 2002... Xuanzang is China's most famous traveler. For 16 years, from 629 to 645 B.C., he made his way along the Silk Road. However, he did not leave China in order to find new lands, but rather to study with teachers in the homeland of the Buddha, so...

A secret cave.(books and paintings found in cave near Silk Road town of Dunhuang, China)
February 1, 2002... A CAVE WAS DISCOVERED AT A BUDDHIST SITE NEAR THE SILK ROAD TOWN OF DUNHUANG IN 1900. The opening--plastered over and undisturbed for 900 years--led to a historical treasure trove. Inside were 60,000 books and paintings--each offering a unique...

`The Lotus Girl'.(Short Story)
February 1, 2002... Two Daoist priests lived in caves on either side of a densely wooded mountain. One day, the priest on the south side felt hot and thirsty and went down to the river to cool off. A doe approached and drank from the same water. She became...

A path for disease.(Silk Road)
February 1, 2002... WHEN CARAVANS BEGAN TO CRISSCROSS ASIA, CARRYING SILK AND OTHER PRECIOUS GOODS, merchants and their animals also carried invisible disease germs with them. When these germs reached a new part of the world, serious epidemics sometimes broke out....

Fun with words.(origins of textile names and expression 'parting shot')
February 1, 2002... MATERIALS WITH ROOTS IN ASIAN LANDS Since early times, humans have used a variety of materials to fashion clothes for themselves. The names of some cloths trace their origins to names of areas or cities connected with the Silk Road. ...

A musical journey.(role of Kucha, China, in music history)
February 1, 2002... A weary traveler, after weeks of journeying across the desert route from Kashgar, welcomed the sight of roads lined with poplar trees leading into Kucha. Sandwiched between the mighty Tianshan Mountains to the north and the Taklamakan Desert to...

Iranian whirling dancers. (Activity).(how to stage a dance performed during China's Tang Dynasty)
February 1, 2002... DURING THE TANG DYNASTY (618-907), WHEN TRADE ALONG THE SILK ROAD FLOURISHED, MANY MUSICIANS AND DANCERS CAME FROM CENTRAL ASIA TO THE GREAT TANG CAPITAL OF CHANG'AN BY WAY OF LONG AND DIFFICULT CAMEL ROUTES. THE CHINESE COURT PARTICULARLY...

Your first business trip along the Silk Road.
February 1, 2002... The year is 629. The place is Chang'an, China, the capital of the newly established Tang dynasty. You are a young Chinese merchant. Your father has died, leaving you, your mother, and your sister one camel, 50 rolls of silk, and 100 sheets of...

Finding the right word.(language families used along Silk Road)
February 1, 2002... IF YOU HAVE STUDIED FRENCH OR SPANISH, YOU KNOW THAT MANY WORDS ARE RELATED TO their English counterparts. That's because English, French, and Spanish all belong to the Indo-European language family. But if you try to learn Chinese, you...

Sasanian artifacts tell their tales.(silver and gold vessels made during Sasanian Dynasty)
February 1, 2002... THE SASANIAN DYNASTY EMERGED AS A POLITICAL POWER FROM ITS HOMELAND IN SOUTHWESTERN IRAN AROUND A.D. 224. THE SASANIANS RULED A VAST EMPIRE EXTENDING ACROSS PRESENT-DAY IRAN, IRAQ, AND AFGHANISTAN FOR APPROXIMATELY THE NEXT 400 YEARS....

Brides on the Silk Road.
February 1, 2002... A few surviving documents tell of exchanges along the Silk Road that were not welcome. In the ancient world, upper-class marriages were often about alliances, not love. On the borders of the steppes, political agreements or peace treaties were...

Strange tales.(Marco Polo's writings)
February 1, 2002... DURING THE 100 YEARS THAT THE MONGOLS DOMINATED ASIA, EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES and merchants who traveled the Silk Road brought home exciting stories of what they saw. Some travelers, such as John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, and Marco...

Tiger Lily.(Poem)
February 1, 2002... Tiger Lily Tiger Lily both orange and black Looks like a girl with freckles on her back. Grandpa said, "You're as pretty as can be." But, that does not seem true to me. I looked at pictures in a beauty magazine, ...

Beach.(Poem)
February 1, 2002... Beach I step on to the soft white sand feeling the cool wet mist on my face. The laughter of children is around me, as they build sandcastles that seem to reach to the sky. I gaze at the turquoise oceans' ...

Books. (Off the Shelf).
February 1, 2002... The Atlas of World Archaeology, edited by Paul G. Bahn (Checkmark/Facts On File, 2000), is a comprehensive, well-researched overview that details finds and research dating from the earliest hominids to the rise of civilizations worldwide, with...

On the net. (Off the Shelf).(Asia and Silk Road information)
February 1, 2002... For information about the documents found in Dunhuang, along with pictures of the sites and photographs of the Silk Road taken by Aurel Stein, maps, bibliographies, and links to other sites, check out: idp.bl.uk For AskAsia's Web site for...

The Silk Road today. (From Past To Present).
February 1, 2002... Just the mention of the Silk Road conjures up romantic images of camel trains, adventuresome monks, Marco Polo, and European adventurers, plunderers, and spies. Our journey along the Silk Road in the summer of 2001 proved that the romance still...