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Serindian Art
Serindian art is the art that developed from the 2nd through the 11th century C.E. in Serindia or Xinjiang, the western region of China that was within the cultural sphere of Central Asia during the time. It derives from the Greco-Buddhist art of the Gandhara district of what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Gandharan sculpture combined Indian traditions with Greek influences. Modern researchers hypothesize that Buddhist missionaries travelling on the Silk Road introduced this artistic influence, along with Buddhism itself, into Serindia, resulting in a style that is a hybrid of Greek, Chinese and Persian. In modernity, Serindian art was rediscovered through the expeditions of Sir Aurel Stein in Central Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. Gallery Image:LoulanCarvedWoodenBeam.JPG, Carved wooden beam in Hellenistic style, 3rd-4th century Image:SerindianGroup2.JPG, Serindian group, 6th-7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang) Image:SerindianHead2.JPG, Head of a Seri ...
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Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; " taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ; ...
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Hopkirk, Peter
Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank Stuart and Mary Hopkirk (' Perkins); his father was an Anglican priest. The family hailed originally from Roxburghshire in the borders of Scotland. He grew up at Danbury, Essex. Hopkirk was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford. From an early age he was interested in spy novels carrying around Buchan's ''Greenmantle'' and Kipling's ''Kim''. While at the Dragon he played rugby and shot at Bisley. During his national service, he was commissioned in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in January 1950 and served as a subaltern in the King's African Rifles in the same battalion as Lance-Corporal Idi Amin. Before turning full-time author, he was an ITN reporter and newscaster for two years, the New York City correspondent of Lord Beaverbrook's ...
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Silk Road Transmission Of Buddhism
Buddhism entered Han China via the Silk Road, beginning in the 1st or 2nd century CE. The first documented translation efforts by Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE via the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory bordering the Tarim Basin under Kanishka. These contacts transmitted strands of Sarvastivadan and Tamrashatiya Buddhism throughout the Eastern world. Theravada Buddhism developed from the Pāli Canon in Sri Lanka Tamrashatiya school and spread throughout Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Sarvastivada Buddhism was transmitted from North India through Central Asia to China. Direct contact between Central Asian and Chinese Buddhism continued throughout the 3rd to 7th centuries, much into the Tang period. From the 4th century onward, Chinese pilgrims like Faxian (395–414) and later Xuanzang (629–644) started to travel to northern India in order to get improved access to original scriptures. Between the 3rd and 7th centuries, parts of the land route connecting ...
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Buddhist Art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and physical objects associated with Buddhist practice, such as vajras, bells, stupas and Buddhist temple architecture. Buddhist art originated in the north of the Indian subcontinent, in modern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the earliest survivals dating from a few centuries after the historical life of Siddhartha Gautama from the 6th to 5th century BCE. As Buddhism spread and evolved in each new host country, Buddhist art followed in its footsteps. It developed to the north through Central Asia and into Eastern Asia to form the Northern branch of Buddhist art, and to the east as far as Southeast Asia to form the Southern branch of Buddhist art. In India, Buddhist art flourished and co-developed with Hindu and Jain art, with cave tem ...
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Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva (Pali: ''bodhisatta'') refers to someone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so. In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated ''bodhicitta'', a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritually heroic persons that work to attain awakening and are driven by a great compassion (''mahakaruṇā''). These beings are exemplified by important spiritual qualities such as the "four divine abodes" (''brahmaviharas'') of loving-kindness ('' metta''), compassion (''karuṇā''), empathet ...
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Tumxuk
TumxukThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); is a sub-prefecture-level city in the western part of Xinjiang, China. The eastern part of Tumxuk is surrounded by Maralbexi County, Kashgar Prefecture. The smaller western part is near Kashgar. History In 1997, Tumxuk City was established. Geography It covers an area of and is located southwest of Ürümqi. Tumxuk Airport is under construction 15 kilometers away and will, upon completion, also serve the nearby counties of Maralbexi and Kalpin. Demographics As of 2015, 101,042 (62.0%) of the 163,101 residents of the city were Uyghur, 60,914 (37.3%) were Han Chinese and 1,145 were from other ethnic groups. Transportation The city is served by Tumxuk Tangwangcheng Airport and a branch from the Southern Xinjiang railway. Works of art Tumxuk (usually spelled Tumshuq) is a well known archaeological site for Serindian art. File:Tumshuk. Scenes of the Buddha preaching. 7th century CE.jpg, Tums ...
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Sir Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. Stein was also an ethnographer, geographer, linguist and surveyor. His collection of books and manuscripts bought from Dunhuang caves is important for the study of the history of Central Asia and the art and literature of Buddhism. He wrote several volumes on his expeditions and discoveries which include ''Ancient Khotan'', ''Serindia'' and ''Innermost Asia''. Early life Stein was born to Náthán Stein and Anna Hirschler, a Jewish couple residing in Budapest in the Kingdom of Hungary. His parents and his sister retained their Jewish faith but Stein and his brother, Ernst Eduard, were baptised as Lutherans. At home the family spoke German and Hungarian, Stein attended Catholic and Lutheran gymnasiums in Budapest, wh ...
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Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern world, East and Western world, West. The name "Silk Road", first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting East Asia, East and Southeast Asia, the South Asia, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Southern Europe, Europe. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk, silk textiles that were Silk industry in China, produced almost exclusively in China. The network began with the Han dynasty, Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, Protectorate of the Western Regio ...
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Serindia
The term Serindia combines '' Seres'' (China) and India to refer to the part of Asia also known as Sinkiang, Chinese Turkestan or High Asia. See main entry under Xinjiang. The art of this region is known as '' Serindian''. See also *Chindia References *Hopkirk, Peter (1980). ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia''. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a .... . {{Asia-stub Geography of Asia ...
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Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's Islam by country#Countries, second-largest Muslim population just behind Indonesia. Pakistan is the List of countries and dependencies by area, 33rd-largest country in the world by area and 2nd largest in South Asia, spanning . It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by India to India–Pakistan border, the east, Afghanistan to Durand Line, the west, Iran to Iran–Pakistan border, the southwest, and China to China–Pakistan border, the northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and fina ...
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran border, west, Turkmenistan to the Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border, northwest, Uzbekistan to the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border, north, Tajikistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, northeast, and China to the Afghanistan–China border, northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains Afghan Turkestan, in the north and Sistan Basin, the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. , Demographics of Afghanistan, its population is 40.2 million (officially estimated to be 32.9 million), composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and ser ...
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