Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology, Hong Kong Baptist University

Straddling languages, exploring civilisations, connecting Europe and Asia, and focusing on the entire world, let us, across the connectivity of time, space, and culture, join hand-in-hand and recreate the resplendent epic of civilisations of the ancient world.

This lecture series is sponsored by Eurasia Foundation (from Asia). No registration is required. All are welcome to attend each lecture in-person or with the following Zoom meeting details:
In-person Venue: Hong Kong Baptist University
Online platform: ZOOM
Link: https://hkbu.zoom.us/j/96903819508?pwd=bFhSTGF0alM0Z0U0YjRTaHYrYnlDZz09
Meeting ID: 969 0381 9508
Password: 973008

Lecture 1: Before the Silk Roads
2023/9/15 │ 16:00–17:30
Professor Edward Shaughnessy
Lorraine J. and Herrlee G. Creel Distinguished Service Professor in Early Chinese Studies, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago

- Abstract: Long before Zhang Qian 張騫 (d. 114 BCE) made his celebrated trip through Central Asia, people were passing back and forth along the entire breadth of Eurasia. Chinese silk has been found woven into the air of a female mummy from Egypt dating to about 1000 BCE. On the other hand, there is evidence of the knowledge of—if not necessarily—the physical presence of Egyptian-style papyrus in China about the same time. Other examples of contact across Eurasia include horse-drawn chariots from no later than 1200 BCE down to the pyramids covering tombs in the mid-Warring States period and even the statues of soldiers near the tomb of Qin Shihuang (d. 210 BCE). In this talk, I will present comparisons of these types of artifacts on either end of what would become the Silk Roads.
- Language: English
- Venue: SWT 702, Level 7, Shaw Tower/ZOOM