Overview

The Silk Road generally evokes images of places, cultures and peoples linked by the exchange of exotic goods and fabled treasures. The notion of the subject, however, often disregards the historical fact that the Silk Road routes functioned as a unique channel for spreading religious ideas, culture and literature. The personal or community beliefs of the Silk Road were changed radically as a result of the impact of external influences. 'Silk Road Footprints: Transnational Transmission of Sacred Thoughts and Historical Legacy' demonstrates that sacred communities interacted, coexisted, competed and influenced each other over long periods. These include those local traditions that evolved in ancient China, the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Korea and Japan and the subsequent larger traditions that arose in the region-Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam-as well as the shamanistic and animistic traditions of various nomadic peoples. The history of religions along the Silk Road is a remarkable illustration of how beliefs and civilisations often reflect a broad pattern of synthesis rather than clash. This book indicates that Asia (South, Southeast, East Asia and China), one of the most pluralistic religious regions in the world, has become a center of attention as a bridge between cultures. Ultimately, the creative study of the Silk Road and religious transnationalism evidences the implication that the local groups have been developed under the new environment of sacred principles and traditions as well as political influence.

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Reviews

This book offers a valuable and vibrant collection of essays, written by an international board of specialised scholars, on the 'silk road': a complex historical reality, but also the topos and locus of ongoing imaginary frames of ancient and more recent projections on this legendary connection between East and West. Lionel Obadia University of Lyon, France What sets this volume unique is its scrupulous attention to geo-cultural perspectives on the landscapes of the Silk Road and its consideration of the impact of counter-cultural religions. Contributors offer critical analyses of the transmission of religious philosophies from the perspectives of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, neo-Confucianism, and Protestantism as well as considering contemporary routes like China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This volume sets a new course for Silk Road studies and is likely to have an enduring impact on the field. Stephen D. Glazier Yale University

Author Information

David W. Kim (Ph.D.: Syd) is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, an Honorary Lecturer in the School of History at Australian National University, Canberra, and an Associate Professor of Modern History at Kookmin University in South Korea. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, UK, a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, UK, and the editor of the book series East Asian Religions and Culture (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK). Kim's publications include 'Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Religion: Environmental Hope' (Rowman and Littlefield 2024), 'Sacred Sites and Sacred Stories Across Cultures' (Palgrave Macmillan 2021), 'The Words of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas: the Genesis of a Wisdom Tradition' (Routledge 2021), 'Daesoon Jinrihoe in Modern Korea: The Emergence, Transformation, and Transmission of a New Religion' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2020), 'New Religious Movements in Modern Asian History' (Rowman and Littlefield 2020), 'Colonial Transformation and Asian Religions in Modern History' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2018), 'Religious Encounters in Transcultural Society: Collision, Alteration, and Transmission' (Lexington 2017), and 'Religious Transformation in Modern Asia: A Transnational Movement' (Brill 2015).

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