For three years, an international team of archaeologists, historians, art historians and religious studies scholars -- including several scholars from Yale -- have been excavating a site at Turfan in northwestern China, an important stop along the so-called Silk Road. Team members from the recently completed project will discuss their findings at a conference titled "The Third Silk Road Conference at Yale: A New Look at the Turfan Oasis in Xinjiang, China," which will be held on campus Friday-Sunday, July 10-12. The conference is free, and the public is welcome.
The Silk Road was a key trade route linking China and the West from the fourth to ninth centuries. Most of the surviving documents from that period are official government papers, but those found at the site in Turfan include materials that illuminate the everyday life of ordinary people. These papers -- including contracts detailing the sale of animals and slaves, family letters and other materials -- survived because the local population recycled these hand-written documents to make ritual paper clothing for their dead. The bodies were buried in tombs, where the documents were later found in well-preserved condition, along with textiles, petrified food and coins. The people of Turfan also dedicated caves with wall paintings to Buddhist monasteries.
The Turfan site has been under excavation since 1900 by explorers from France, Germany, England and Japan. Evidence of contact with India, Tibet and Iran have been uncovered at the Turfan site, and artifacts from the city have been found as far away as India and Korea, confirming its importance along the Silk Road. Modern researchers are compiling a database to help them track the variety of objects related to Turfan.
Titled "The Silk Road Project: Reuniting Turfan's Scattered Treasures" and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation Inc., the expedition brought together a team of 25 Chinese and American scholars, including three Yale scholars: project director Valerie Hansen, associate professor of history; Stanley Insler, the Edward E. Salisbury Professor of Sanskrit; and Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan, professor of East Asian studies and the history of art. Other participants include Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania; Oktor Skjaervø, Harvard University; Denise Leidy, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Chen Guocan, Wuhan University; Deng Xiaonan, Beijing University; and Wu Min, Xinjiang Museum.
On Friday, there will be 15-minute presentations by graduate students and other scholars not directly affiliated with The Silk Road Project. These sessions will take place in Street Hall, 1071 Chapel St.
Members of The Silk Road Project will discuss their work in Turfan during panel sessions on Saturday and Sunday at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies in Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. Topics will include the Astana graveyard and the Turfan site; transmission of technology and belief; society and institutions; Buddhist art; Persians and Persian influence at Turfan; non-Chinese at Turfan; and the significance of Turfan to Silk Road studies. All sessions will be in English.
For further information, email Valerie Hansen at
valerie.hansen@yale.edu or consult the conference schedule.
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