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Return to the Pamirs: In Search of Xuanzang and the Silk Road Author: Hou Yangfang Publisher: Shanghai Translation Publishing House
Return to the Pamirs: In Search of Xuanzang and the Silk Road Author: Hou Yangfang Publisher: Shanghai Translation Publishing House
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
Dialogue with the Millennium Walker Returning to the Academic History Scene
Retracing the real Silk Road and breaking the boundaries of modern people's imagination
Recommended by Ge Jianxiong
Attached are 101 photos of the author walking along the Silk Road and a map of the route
On May 19, 2014, the Silk Road Geographic Information System developed by Professor Hou Yangfang of the Institute of Chinese Historical Geography of Fudan University was officially launched. The system uses the results of the research team's several field trips to the Pamir region to accurately present the route of Xuanzang's return to the east, the ancient Karachi Road, and the Naztash Road passed by the British expedition team during the "Great Game" in the 19th century, as well as the Kashgar-Yingjisha Road from the east to Kashgar under the Pamir Mountains and the Puli Post Road to Yarkand. Why did Professor Hou want to accurately restore the Silk Road? Why did he first choose such a difficult Pamir section for investigation? How to achieve accurate restoration of the route in a complex geographical environment? Professor Hou answered these questions one by one in his new book "Return to the Pamirs: Pursuing Xuanzang and the Silk Road".
This book is divided into the following parts:
1. A review of the Central Asian expeditions conducted by explorers from various countries over the past century, including Stein, Sven Hedin, Curzon, etc., following in the footsteps of Xuanzang.
2. Professor Hou Yangfang led the Fudan scientific expedition team to restore the Xuanzang Road.
3. Pamir is the most important hub of the Silk Road. The concept of "precision" can be understood as the route is specific to every mountain pass, every river, and every pass, "with an error of no more than 30 meters". Between 1900 and 1931, the famous British archaeologist and explorer Stein conducted four surveys in Central Asia. In Xinjiang, he tried to restore Xuanzang's journey through the Pamirs according to the English version of "A Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty", but he "parted ways" with Xuanzang in Taxkorgan. A hundred years later, the scientific expedition team of the Institute of History and Geography of Fudan University once again connected the clues of history...
About the Author · · · · · ·
Hou Yangfang was born on May 10, 1970 in Siyang, Jiangsu. He is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Chinese Historical Geography, Fudan University, chief expert of the "Silk Road" series of projects at Fudan University, dean of the Fudan-Gansu Silk Road Economic Belt Collaborative Development Research Institute, and director of the Fudan Ruinan Belt and Road Development Research Center. Since April 2013, he has planned and presided over the world's first series of surveys on the entire Pamir Plateau in a century. Based on dozens of surveys of the Pamirs, southern Xinjiang, Lop Nur, Central Asia, and South Asia, he made the world's first "precise restoration" of the Silk Road and developed the world's first "Silk Road Geographic Information System", which has aroused great social repercussions and has been reported on the front page of Guangming Daily and China Social Sciences Daily. This system realizes the intuitive three-dimensional display of the Silk Road in the geographic information system. Users only need to click to enter the system to get the route, landmarks and their longitude and latitude, photos, and videos displayed by precise navigation. As research and investigation continue to deepen, the system will continue to be updated. Professor Hou Yangfang advocates the unity of knowledge and action. He believes that the study of historical geography must be verified on the spot and cannot be limited to paper. He has crossed the mountain pass with an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters many times, and his footprints have covered many important river valleys and mountain passes in and outside the Pamir Plateau. He once walked 34 kilometers between 3,600 and 4,600 meters above sea level in one day. He is the first person since the Qing Dynasty to find and reach the original site of the Qianlong Monument on the Pamir Plateau outside the country.
