In the second edition of her book on the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield once again shows how remarkably difficult it is to write simply. Eschewing theoretical jargon, she performs the remarkable feat of providing concrete and lively depictions of the voyagers who travelled across West, Central, and East Asia. This splendid simplicity in writing actually requires considerable knowledge. Whitfield describes in detail, the musical instruments played by entertainers, the hairdos worn by princesses, the medicines purveyed by Buddhist monks, and the weapons employed by guards in forts, oases, and ships. En passant, she offers concise descriptions of Manicheism, Zoroastrianism, and other religions that are not well known to the Western reader and provides sketches of numerous great cities, including Chang'an, Isfahan, and Samarkand. She focuses on the period from the seventh to the tenth centuries or what is equivalent to China's Tang dynasty. Readers would benefit if she wrote a similar book on the Mongol era, a time during which the Silk Road was once again reaching new heights.
Specialists have questioned the concept and significance of the Silk Road. They have legitimately pointed out that commodities other than silk were as important, if not more so, in trade. They have also shown that local and short-distance commercial exchanges had far greater economic significance than long-distance Silk Road trade. To be sure, the Silk Road commerce consisted principally of luxury items—objects of low volume but of great value while local trade often comprised necessities. Yet the Silk Road trade was vital in facilitating intercultural relations and exchanges. Buddhism and Islam reached China via the Silk Road, and Chinese textiles were transmitted, via these same routes, and would dramatically influence Persian illustrated manuscripts. Music and military tactics and weaponry would all be affected by the exchanges the Silk Road prompted. It is no accident that only one of the twelve composite biographies Dr Whitfield wrote is that of a merchant. The other stories, which include tales about a nun, a writer, an artist, and a pilgrim, reveal the Silk Road's cultural dimension.
A perhaps pedestrian note about the Silk Road that emerges from Dr Whitfield's book is its contribution to global history. Arabs, Chinese, Armenians, Koreans, Jews, Persians, Khazars, Turks, Indians, Rus, Japanese, and Southeast Asians make an appearance, and the cast of characters could readily be expanded. Dr Whitfield unobtrusively weaves all of them in her various narratives, adding considerably to an understanding of intercultural relations. She can thus draw on numerous traditions, which permit her to incorporate many legends and systems of belief.
Whitfield's writing style is lively and engrossing, but specialists on the Silk Road have legitimately questioned some parts of her narrative. She generally bases her characters and their activities on careful reading of primary and secondary sources, but she also speculates concerning their feelings or reactions to events involving them. She may not be able to substantiate those parts of her narrative, but she has been able to provide the reader with a valuable vision of the Silk Road.
