This book is a collection of Nai Xia's quintessential works on Silk Road studies. A key resource in the field of Silk Road Archaeology, it features in-depth content, a broad range of material, careful textual research, and meticulous analysis. With thorough investigations of foreign coinage, silk textiles, and artifacts with foreign styles excavated in different parts of China, it explores the exchange between ancient China and Central Asia, Western Asia, and Europe. In particular, this book provides detailed descriptions of the economic and cultural ties between ancient China, Pre-Islamic Arabia, the Sasanian Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. The research propounds innovative theories on the history and evolution of East-West transportation routes, i.e., the overland Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road. Based on the study of ancient relics and excavated artifacts, it points out that cultural exchange along the Silk Road was never unilateral, but instead, mutual influence and cooperation were obvious. Since ancient times, countries along the Silk Road have had a tradition of amicable foreign relations and the promotion of common interests. The book is intended for academics, scholars and researchers.

Auteur

Nai Xia (1910-1985), courtesy name Zuoming, was a respected archaeologist born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. After 1949, he worked at the Department of Anthropology of Zhejiang University, and later served at the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as Vice Director, Director, and Honorary Director. He was Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, as well as Chairman of the State Cultural Relics Commission. He was elected as a member of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1962. He was also awarded honorary academic titles by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Literature, History and Antiquities. Nai Xia studied both in China and abroad. His research covered a wide range of fields, including the theory and methodology of archaeology, prehistoric archaeology, the origins of Chinese civilization, the history of Sino-Western relations, and the history of Chinese science and technology. His major publications include: Ancient Egyptian Beads, The Origins of Chinese Civilization, Dunhuang Archaeology, and The Collected Works of Nai Xia. As a twentieth-century scholar, Nai Xia was a key figure in archaeological studies in the People's Republic of China, and one of the founders of modern Chinese archaeology.