Wen, Xin
The King's Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road
- ISBN 13:
- 9780691237831
- author:
- Wen, Xin
- format:
- Hardback
- publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- language:
- English
- Publication Year:
- 2023
- Pages:
- 400
- Dimensions:
- 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.8 centimetres (0
- Genre:
- History, Asia, China,
- Condition:
- New
- Availability:
- Item usually sent within 10 working days
Description
The King's Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road by Xin Wen is a new history that reinterprets the significance of the Silk Road as a diplomatic route rather than a commercial one. This richly detailed account explores the journeys of diplomatic envoys, tracing their experiences in deserts, post stations, palaces, and polo fields. The book delves into the everyday lives of these travelers, examining what they ate and drank, the gifts they carried, and the animals that accompanied them as they navigated complex geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. Xin Wen also describes the risks and dangers envoys faced along the way, from financial catastrophe to robbery and murder. Using documents unearthed from the famous Dunhuang "library cave" in Western China, The King's Road paints a detailed picture of the intricate network of trans-Eurasian transportation and communication routes established between 850 and 1000 CE. By examining the motivations of the kings who dispatched envoys along the Silk Road, Wen reveals the inner workings of an interstate network distinct from the Sino-centric "tributary" system.
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