UNESCO mission to the Chinese Silk Road as world cultural

UNESCO Mission to

The Chinese Silk Road as World Cultural Heritage Route

A systematic Approach towards Identification and Nomination

From 21-31 August 2003

UNESCO World Heritage Centre Paris, May 2004

UNESCO Mission to the Chinese Silk Road -August 2003 3

Table of contents

1. Acknowledgements 2. Objectives and Background to the Mission 3. Introduction 4. Cultural Routes: An Emerging Concept 5. Routes as World Heritage: Types and Forms 6. The Great Silk Road: Statement of Significance 7. Cultural Routes: Condition of Integrity and Test of Authenticity 8. The Great Silk Road: Identification 9. Management of a Great Silk Road Cultural Route 10. Conclusions 1 1. Recommendations

Annexes

a) Map of the Silk Road b) UNESCO Guidelines for Serial Nominations to the

World Heritage List

c) Chronology of the Silk Road

UNESCO Mission to the Chinese Silk Road - August 2003 5

1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The World Heritage Centre project for the identification and nomination of the Great Silk Road to the World Heritage List, which included this mission, is financed out of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust at UNESCO.

The mission would like to thank first of all the team of the Asian Region Unit and the Latin-America & Caribbean Unit at the World Heritage Centre for their work and kind assistance in preparing the mission to the Silk Road. Mr TIAN Xiaogang, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO is thanked for the guidance and support in the organization of the mission and the field visits. Ms YU Xiaoping of the National Commission was present in all the meetings and visits throughout the mission in China.

Furthermore, the Chinese counterpart of the State Administration for Cultural Heritage (SACH), in the persons of Mr GUO Zhan and Mr YANG Zhijun from the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and in particular Mr SHAN Jixiang, the Director-General of SACH are thanked for their time spent with the team travelling along the Silk Road, for sharing their knowledge and wisdom, and exchanging ideas and concepts. The mutual respect and understanding greatly inspired the mission team and its output.

The mission would like to express their gratitude also to Mr. Neville Agnew, Ms. Martha Demas, Mr. Jonathan Bell and other staff of the Getty Conservation Institute (USA), for their time spent with the team in Dunhuang, engaging in debate, answering questions, and discussing issues of conservation. Similarly, the mission greatly benefited from the company of Dr. Henry Cleere, former World Heritage Coordinator for ICOMOS from 1992-2002, who joined the team in his capacity as the Special Advisor to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China.

FJ& RvO Paris - May 2004


2. OBJECTIVES AND BACKGROUND TO THE MISSION

The World Heritage Centre mission along the Chinese Silk Road, which was sponsored out of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust at UNESCO, took place from 2 1 to 3 1 August 2003 and was carried out by Mr. Feng Jing of the Asian Region Unit and Mr. Ron van Oers of the Latin-America & Caribbean Unit in order to:

0 facilitate discussion on, and enhance understanding of, the identification and nomination of Cultural Routes to UNESCO’s World Heritage List;

0 contribute to an important initiative that is foreseen to have a significant impact on current thinking and operationalization of conservation projects;

0 share the information and preliminary findings of this project with the international conservation community.’

This mission report, as a result, has as its main objective to discuss and propose a systematic approach towards the identification and nomination of the Chinese section of the Silk Road, in particular the Oasis Route.

“As regards the Silk Roads, a scientific appraisal had already been prepared by the Japanese National Commission [for UNESCO] on the occasion of the International Symposium on the History of Eastern and Western Cultural Contacts (October-November 1957). This served as a guide, while the presentation brochure listed the very many examples of research work already undertaken. Some twenty Japanese specialists enumerated all their problems with the aid of a bibliography of over 750 titles, amounting to an appraisal of the situation in 1957. Out of these endeavors emerged the notion of three intercultural routes: the Steppe Route, the Oasis Route, and the Maritime Route.”2

Stretching over roughly 4,450 kilometers from Xi’an in Shaanxi Province to Kashgar, or Kashi, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the amount of monuments and sites along the Oasis Route is vast. While the significance and importance of this project was clear to the Chinese authorities -out of the SO+ sites on the Chinese Tentative List, this was given a priority for nomination to the World Heritage List-, how exactly to proceed in this

’ The preliminary findings are to be presented at the Getty Conservation Institute’s Intemational Conference ”Conservation of Ancient Sites along the Silk Road”, which will take place from 27 June to 3 July 2004 in Dunhuang, China. V. Eliseeff (ed.), The Silk Roads - Highways of Culture and Commerce, UNESCO Publishing/Berghahn

Books, NewYorWOxford 2000, p. 13. 2


major endeavour remains a question mark. Rather than assisting the Chinese authorities in the preparation of a nomination dossier, the issue is to cooperate in the development of an approach and methodology for the identification and nomination of a Cultural Route. As this was of relevance as well to other such projects currently under preparation, a coordination was established between different Units at the World Heritage Centre.3

Given the scope of this initiative and subsequent resources needed, taking into account the long-term planning nature and the complexity of World Heritage listing in general, it seems imperative to properly structure this process to avoid a random selection of culturally-historic important places along the road and in the process lose overview and context. As such, a first step should involve the definition of the concept of a cultural route and subsequently to determine the significant elements that constitute the Chinese Silk Road. With these in place, it will be possible to sketch a broad picture of meaning and impact of the route, and establish where essential aspects have condensated and materialized, which should be the focus of a nomination process.

Point of departure should be a holistic approach that focuses on the identification and justification of those aspects and elements that will ‘tell the story’ of the Chinese Silk Road in a comprehensive manner. More than referring to the presentation of heritage sites, this would mean that in order to understand and appreciate the Silk Road and its cultural-historic significance in its full dimension, inclusion of a wide variety of elements would have to be considered: next to the evident ‘grand sites’, perhaps also supplementary structures and landscapes that support the story telling. In addition to evident properties, such as buildings and settlements (living or fossilized), the mission took into view the widest possible spectrum to discuss inclusion of other elements as well (engineering, military, transportation). Since research and documentation on the Silk Road have been abundant, what is needed is the definition of a vision and proper methodology pertinent to the concept of cultural routes, with a re-packaging of existing information and proposition for a framework to facilitate the preparation of an incremental serial nomination: a phased nomination of a series of clusters linked by, and representing, the Silk Road. (See Annex 11: UNESCO Guidelines for Serial Nominations to the World Heritage List)

For this reason the mission consisted of World Heritage Centre staff of two regional desks, e.g. the Asia Desk and the Latin America and Caribbean Desk, as the discussions and outcomes were considered of importance in the development of the Camino Inca Project, a Transboundary Nomination of six Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). Both projects are sponsored out of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, as well as other Cultural Routes nominations involving the Great Salt Route (North and West- Africa) and the Slave Route (Indian Ocean section).

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3 INTRODUCTION

A property can only be registered on the World Heritage List if physical evidence of its existence remains, which can be protected and preserved for future generations. However, physical remains that have been radically altered would not be elegible, while conservation of conjectured elements is not accepted by the international professional community either, including the World Heritage Committee, as put down in the “International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites” (The Venice Charter, 1964). What constitutes physical evidence of a cultural route, however, is something that has only fragmentarily been described and is still open to broad interpretation.

Physical evidence of routes sometimes may be found in the form of roads, as in the case of the Camino Inca referred to by Oxford historian Felipe Fernhdez-Armesto in his work on civilizations:

“Historians of the early colonial period, likening the Incas to the Romans, exaggerated the uniformity of their institutions and the centralized nature of their government. Still, the intrusive nature of their rule is apparent in the evidence they have left of how to manage a high-altitude empire: relics of the extraordinary road system”.4

In other cases, however, very often physical evidence of the road has disappeared or has been replaced by a new system: while the Via Appia Antica still has the same structure, the 962 km. stretch of the Via Aurelia from Rome to Arles has been replaced by a modern road. Similarly, in the case of the Chinese Silk Road almost all of the original road -if ever there existed one, since much of it were tracks through the desert- has disappeared and been replaced by a four-lane highway. H o w to deal with this? To the extent possible, it is here that this report aims to fill a critical gap and propose an approach using a selection of findings of UNESCO expert meetings and other specialized studies.

While discussions on improved identification, classification and representation of categories of heritage have been going on since the early eighties of the last century, over the last decade in particular our view of meaning and value of heritage has been refined significantly and broadened its interpretation tremendously.’

An anthropological interpretation in the cultural heritage field has led from the protection of architectural and monumental heritage to recognition of the

F. Femhdez-Armesto: Civilizations, Pan Books, London 200 1, pp. 290-292. With inclusion of Cultural Landscapes as a new category for World Heritage listing in 1992, with inclusion of

criterion (vi) for cultural properties, and adoption of the Global Strategy by the World Heritage Committee, and publication of the Nara Document on Authenticity in 1994.

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living, spiritual heritage of indigenous people and their interconnections with the physical, natural environment. While this widened notion of heritage was already remarked upon by Franqoise Choay more than a decade ago: it has not yet been applied widely, but mostly by a selection of professionals and specialized institutes, in primarily Western countries. Next to a broadened interpretation of cultural heritage, at the same time an expanded notion of conservation needs to be introduced, e.g. “conservation as a social process that is best seen more inclusively, encompassing the creation of heritage, interpretation and education [. . .] to acknowledge the importance of social and economic values along with the traditional notions of conservation value, such as age, aesthetics, and historical ~ignificance”.~

It seems that the identification and protection of Cultural Routes, in addition to Cultural Landscapes, will prove to be the right context for such an approach. In this respect, cultural routes may be regarded as the latest development in a trend of an expanding scale and complexity of heritage properties, that requires a separate approach and framework to foster understanding and serve as a tool for informed decision making regarding recognition and effective management of these properties.

Considering this objective it becomes clear that this report will not contain detailed descriptions of monuments and sites to be found along the road - this remains the task of the relevant Chinese authorities in their preparation of the nomination dossier. This report aims to make a contribution to the theoretical and methodological underpinnings, taking the Chinese section of the Silk Road as a case study, and thereby facilitate the identification and nomination of other Cultural Routes in different parts of the world to the World Heritage List.

This mission involved only one section of the Oasis Route, e.g. the northern route along the Takla Makan Desert, and follow-up missions are scheduled to include the southern route, the Hexi Corridor and the Central Asian stretch into India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzistan and beyond, because ultimately, the endeavour should result in an incremental, multinational, trans-boundary serial nomination: the protection, from Xi’an in China to the coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea, in a phased process according to the pace of the various countries involved, of several clusters of properties, sites and landscapes, cultural and natural, linked by a shared vision and set of values, and formalized in unified conservation approaches and management plans, to preserve for future generations of all humankind the extraordinary legacy of the Great Silk Road.

F. Choay : L ’Allkgorie dupatrimoine, Editions du Seuil, 1992. 6

’ E. Avrami, R. Mason, M. de la Torre: Values and Heritage Conservation, Research Report, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 2000, pp. 68-70.


4. CULTURAL ROUTES: AN EMERGING CONCEPT

What constitutes a cultural route is something that has not yet been properly described and is part of ongoing debates, in particular by the Intemational Scientific Committee on Cultural Routes (CIIC) of ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UNESCO’s Advisory Body for cultural heritage. The CIIC was created out of a meeting on the topic of cultural routes held in Madrid in November 1994, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry for Culture and attended by experts from ICOMOS and UNESCO, following the inclusion of the Pilgrim’s Route to Santiago de Compostela on the World Heritage List. The conceptual premises of the CIIC emerged from the contents and conclusions of this meeting, and its creation was a direct result of the conclusion that more in-depth studies were needed to further its conceptual and operational development. Since its official creation as part of ICOMOS in 1998, eight international scientific meetings have been held.’ The references and a large part of the contents of these meetings have been included in various publications. The CIIC currently has 60 members from different countries all over the world and eight candidates seeking membership.

Among the definitions which were adopted by the CIIC at its meeting in Tenerife in September 1998, the following was included:

“The concept of a cultural route or itinerary refers to a set of values whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts and through which it gains its Meaning; Identification of the cultural itinerary is based on an array of important points and tangible elements that attest to the significance of the itinerary itself. To recognize that a cultural itinerary or route as such necessarily includes a number of material elements and objects linked to other values of an intangible nature by the connecting thread of a civilizing process of decisive importance at a given time in history for a particular society or group.”

See: Http://www.icomos-ciic.org/CIIC/CIIC.htm From “Conclusions and Recommendations”, in: El patrimonio intangible y otros aspectos relativos a 10s

Itinerarios Culturales, Congreso intemacional del comite internacional de itinerarios culturales (CIIC) de ICOMOS, Pamplona (Navarro, Espana), 20-24 de Junio 2001, p. 545.

Http://www.icomos-ciic.org/CIIC/CIIC.htm


In a recent meeting in Madrid, on 30 and 31 May 2003, experts and representatives of ICOMOS and UNESCO got together to discuss a draft of proposals and guidelines with a view to ensuring the inclusion and proper treatment of cultural routes in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, currently in process of revision. In the section on “Guidelines on the Inclusion of Specific Types of Properties on the World Heritage List” in the 3rd Draft Annotated Revision of the Operational Guidelines, it is stated that cultural routes “may be considered as a specific, dynamic type of cultural landscape”. During the ICOMOS General Assembly, which took place in December 2002 in Spain, the recommendation was put forward that cultural routes are independent both in concept and substance from cultural landscapes. A draft proposal for a definition of cultural routes, as well as proposed amendments to the revision of the Operational Guidelines, have been prepared for which the conclusions of earlier CIIC congresses were used.

In principle, it was argued that a definition of a Cultural Route should make references to some key aspects at least and, as such, cultural routes could be defined as physical or perceived representations of frequent and repeated movement over a significant period of time, linking places in time and space, over land, water, both, or otherwise and generating, next to an exchange of goods and ideas, a cross-fertilization within or between cultural regions of the world.

In the above, a road would be a physical representation of a route, while a sea lane, for instance, would be a perceived one (as it usually constitutes a dotted line on a seafarer’s map only). The material elements or artefacts along a route can be considered as ‘condensation points’, where exchange of ideas and goods materialized, or where the route actually became a road. Cultural routes as “linear landscapes”, as referred to in the Operational Guidelines, may not always be lines, but can take the form of a matrix, or a network, and it would be more appropriate to refer to them as a system. It was further agreed that continuity and the dynamic nature -as opposed to the far more static nature of a landscape-, are also essential aspects of a cultural route.


5. ROUTES AS WORLD HERITAGE: TYPES AND FORMS

As there exists no clear nomination model for Cultural Routes, the following section aims to discuss, in short, some core aspects of inscribed World Heritage properties with typological and/or physical similarities to cultural routes for clarification and guiding purposes. lo Several heritage routes have been inscribed on the World Heritage List already, often as “a linear nomination”. If a road is considered as a (segment of a) line, with a start and end point, a considerable length and limited width, theoretically a heritage route as a linear nomination constitutes a continuous nomination, where every point along the line is proposed for inscription. The following typology of heritage routes, many of which were inscribed as linear nominations, gives an indication of how this was applied in practical terms.

1. Transportation (all feature under the category Industrial Heritage)

Railways 0 Semmering Railway (Austria, inscribed in 1998): linear

nomination, including several properties (mostly villas) along the railway; Darjeeling Railway (India, inscribed in 1999)

Canals 0 Canal du Midi (France, inscribed in 1996)

2. Trade Routes Frankincense Trail (Oman, inscribed in 2000): linear nomination, including a serial nomination of 4 archaeological sites;

3. Religious Roads 0 Camino de Santiago (Spain, inscribed in 1993): linear

nomination, including several properties along the road; 0 Camino de Santiago (France, inscribed in 1998): linear

nomination, including a serial nomination with around 70 properties inscribed;

4. Linear Monuments (e.g. FortificationsDefensive Structures) 0 Great Wall (China, inscribed in 1987) 0 Hadrian Wall (England, inscribed in 1987): linear nomination,

including several properties along the wall; 0 Defence Line of Amsterdam (Holland, inscribed in 1996): this

property falls also into the canals classification.

Acknowledging the contribution made by Ms. Pinagrazia Piras, Assistant Programme Specialist, LAC/WHC. 10


Taking a closer look at the above inscribed properties, it can be established that all the routes have a formal, materialized linear element as its core property. This rather narrow definition of a Cultural Route, as opposed to a network or system that perhaps not necessarily has a physical linear structure as its core (e.g. maritime route), has no doubt limited the identification and nomination of other properties. Furthermore, all the routes (including linear monuments) have structures and settlements associated to it. This is most apparent in the cases of:

0 The Camino de Santiago, which is inscribed as a linear nomination having a protected 30 meter strip on either side of the road. This protection zone broadens out in places to include towns, villages and buildings that are already protected for their cultural value under Spanish law; The Semmering Railway, where construction of the 41 km long railway across the Semmering pass between 1848 and 1854 led to the creation of a cultural landscape with villas and hotels over much of its route, that is an outstanding example of a sympathetic insertion of buildings of high and consistent architectural quality into a natural landscape; The Hadrian Wall, with almost 100 monuments associated to the wall, including forts, ditches, roads and rampart walks, forming an outstanding ensemble of defensive constructions and settlements in an archaeological zone that is the largest in the UK.

0

0

As such, a proper inventory of the structures and settlements along the route seems essential to establish the nature of the route and the most appropriate way of inscription, being linear (one continuing property), serial (a property consisting of clusters of sites, which can be discontinue), or mixed. Furthermore, a route cannot be dissociated from its context, e.g. the landscape, therefore a good analysis of ancient and modern topography, utilizing historic maps, is essential to assess the value of this aspect of the property to be nominated.


6. THE GREAT SILK ROAD: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Many cultural routes have linked great civilizations and shaped world history. Fernandez-Armesto points out that “avenues across the Gobi and Takla Makan were part of the web of silk roads that linked the civilizations at either end of Eurasia. [. . .] Chinese science and technology were diffused across Eurasia partly by maritime routes but also, vitally, via the deserts which the silk roads crossed”.’ ’ The global significance of the Great Silk Road needs hardly be debated anymore, indeed, as it has been for more than a decade as part of UNESCO’s Project on the Silk Road: Dialogue among Civilizations. In his introduction to the UNESCO publication on the Silk Road Project, Vadime Elisseeff explains that “these roads, regardless of how they were called, have been known to humanity for many centuries and, as far as the major routes are concerned, for several millennia. Most of them are the descendants of natural roads following patterns of vegetation whose ecological qualities enabled man and beast to thrive in the days when Paleolithic hunters tracked their game. These historical routes are also terrestrial and maritime, running from east to west and corresponding to waterways that run from north to south. They introduced sedentary and nomadic populations, and opened up a form of dialogue between the cultures of East and West”.12

Concerning the significance and impact of the Chinese Silk Road, he makes the following statement:

“Until the last three hundred years, most of the inventions and technical advances which made a real difference to people’s lives came from China - including, most notably, paper, the printing press, the blast furnace, competitive examinations, gunpowder, and - among many critical innovations in marine technology- the ship’s compass. Long sustained Chinese initiative depended on the availability of routes of transmission”. l3

Spanning a quarter of the globe, it did not only bring goods such as silk and spices to the western world, and objects of gold, glass and other prized Roman creations to the elite of the Orient. But in being the first route joining the Eastern and Western worlds, the Silk Road may be given a spiritual identity - along the Silk Roads technology travelled, ideas were exchanged, and friendship and understanding between East and West were experienced for the first time on a large scale. Therefore, the importance and

l 1 Femhndez-Armesto: Civilizations, 2001, p. 71. l2 Eliseeff, The Silk Roads, 2000, p. 2. l3 Ibid., p. 265.


value of the Silk Road can be related to the unity it brought about and this leads Zekrgoo to state that “the great Silk Road may be counted as the most important route in the history of mankind”. l4

Furthering this statement would be to argue that the immaterial aspect of cultural routes is more important than the material - i.e. the Silk Road as vehicle for cross-cultural exchange. In doing just so, Sugio writes “. ..the present Silk Road is not found to have been preserved in its perfect form up to the present, but the intangible heritage, such as the characteristics of surviving race surrounding the route and the minority race, their figures, the genes, languages, cultural properties, clothings, living styles, agricultural methods, city structures, architectural styles, customs, manners, political systems, religions, traditional skills, industries, arts, music, etc. are continuing distinctly still now. Therefore even though it is not necessarily existing or is preserved as a road in a clear form, its existence and value as a cultural route becomes evident when the existence of intangible heritage is traced back”.15

It seems that Cultural Routes, even more than Cultural Landscapes, can be considered a halfway station between tangible and intangible heritage, containing a significant part of each domain.16 Therefore, in order to preserve the legacy of the Silk Road in a comprehensive manner, more than just monuments and sites need to be taken into account. More pertinent, therefore, would be to adopt an approach that recognizes the immaterial and diffuse nature of a cultural route, the dynamic effects of transmission and impact, including all fields of human activity connected to the road, such as politics, commerce, science, religion and culture. Elements and aspects to consider should include oases and agricultural systems, engineering and transportation, caves for shelter and prayer, open landscapes for contemplation and spiritual motivation, vistas for orientation, resting places with bazaars and carravan serrais, but also transit points between different realms of power, with military garrisons, fortifications and communication towers. In this way, a better representation through significant aspects and elements as part of the nomination can be guaranteed; hence the guideline that the significance of a Cultural Route can be assessed through technological, economic, social and landscape factors. l7

Amir H. Zekrgoo, “The Spiritual Identity of the Silk Roads”, in: The Silk Roads - Highways of Culture and Commerce, 2000, p. 126. K. Sugio, “Intangible Heritage and Cultural Routes in a Universal Content”, in: El patrimonio intangible y

otros aspectos relativos a 10s Itinerarios Culturales, Congreso intemacional del comite intemacional de itinerarios culturales (CIIC) de ICOMOS, Pamplona (Navarro, Espana), 20-24 de Junio 2001, p. 44. See in this regard the definition of Intangible Cultural Heritage, in Article 2 of The International Convention

for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO, 16 October 2003. See: Operational Guidelines, 1999, Annex 3, pp. 9-1 1.

14

15

16

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7. AND TEST OF AUTHENTICITY

CULTURAL ROUTES: CONDITION OF INTEGRITY

Initially, the condition of integrity applied to natural sites primarily, while the test of authenticity was reserved for cultural sites. As of lately, and initiated by the introduction of Cultural Landscapes, integrity is also more and more used in reference to cultural sites. Von Droste explains that “the notion of ‘integrity’, even in its common use referring to ‘wholeness’, has an ecological basis. Integrity relates to the maintenance of fimctional relationships between components of a system. When applied to World Natural Heritage Sites, one can describe conditions which are essential for the maintenance of the integrity of particular World Heritage values9’.l8 The issue seems relevant to Cultural Routes as well.

During the 2001 Thematic Expert Meeting on Asia-Pacific Sacred Mountains in Wakayama, Japan, it was discussed that “. . .integrity implies a balanced state of ecological systems, aesthetic, cultural, religious or artistic associations.” Parallel to sacred mountains, for protecting the integrity of cultural routes evolving cultural practices, including traditional ecological, engineering, and construction knowledge, may need to be taken into account - “an enhanced appreciation of the interface between ecology and culture as a dynamic basis for maintaining the integrity” of a cultural route.”

While it may be obvious to many that for Cultural Routes the condition of integrity should apply, how to deal with the test of authenticity remains a dilemma, since the original function of the route usually has disappeared over time, which nevertheless would still leave cultural sites, properties and natural areas along the route of historic and scientific importance, authentic and worthy of protection and conservation. The current Operational Guidelines state that the authenticity of a heritage route can be assessed on

B. von Droste zu Hulshoff, in Linking Nature and Culture ..., Report of the Global Strategy Natural and

UNESCO Thematic Expert Meeting on Asia-PaciJic Sacred Mountains, Final Report, Tokyo November 200 1,

18

Cultural Heritage Expert Meeting, UNESCO-WHC, Amsterdam 1998, p. 13.

p. 262. 19


the ground of its significance and moreover on the duration of the route itself, as well as “the legitimate wishes for development of peoples affected.” What does this mean?

Addressed as well during the Asia-Pacific Sacred Mountains Expert Meeting, authenticity as defined in the Operational Guidelines and the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) is applicable to cultural routes, and “should encompass the continuation of traditional cultural practises” to be found along the cultural route. “This authenticity, however, must not exclude cultural continuity through change, which may introduce new ways of relating to and caring for the place”.*’ Furthermore, in order to determine the degree of authenticity and to protect it, one needs to examine closely the distinctive character and components of tangibles, and the associated intangible values, which represent the outstanding universal significance of the Cultural Route.

2o Ibid


8. THE GREAT SILK ROAD: IDENTIFICATION

All this involves the protection and conservation of a series of elements of various natures, incorporating tangible and intangible values, linked by a physical or perceived artifact, like a string of pearls. The pearls, essentially, are significant places of memory, which constitute the main story line: they are sites that contain Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), the main criterion required for World Heritage listing.

However, as was argued before, perhaps it will be needed to look beyond properties and sites of Outstanding Universal Value alone, to consider support sites that are needed to filly understand and appreciate context and relationships, to complement the picture - they give the story more depth and character. While some in this regard argue that “routes are, par excellence, the sum of their parts - [...I no site in isolation perhaps crossing the threshold for heritage listing- but a combination of sites forming a powerful and significant cultural experience [. . perhaps the issue is more pertinent. For example: What does the World Heritage site of Mogao Caves (listed

in 1987, under criteria i, ii, iii, iv, v, iv) actually reveal of the Silk Road? Except for wall painting depictions, such as at Cave 103 showing Xuanzang’s joumey to India traversing the Pamirs in search of Buddhist scriptures, the answer would be: very little. 22

While the caves’ extraordinary collection and quality of Buddhist art is unquestionable, and indeed of Outstanding Universal Value, it can be argued that the site gains even more significance if one properly understands the conditions under which this outstanding art was produced, by whom, where and why. Picture practising monks in an oasis, providing a haven for travellers, both physically and spiritually, at a remote location along the Silk Road in the incredibly harsh environment of the Takla

S. Blair, N. Hall, D. James, L. Brady, “Making Tracks - Key Issues about the Heritage of Australian Routes and Journeys”, in: El patrimonio intangible y otros uspectos relativos a 10s ltinerarios Culturales, Pamplona (Navarro, Espana), p. 230. 22 R. Whitfield, S. Whitfield, N. Agnew, Cave Temples of Moguo - Art and History on the Silk Road, The Getty Conservation Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 2000, p. 25.

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U N E S C O Mission to the Chinese Silk Road - August 2003 19

Makan, one of the most fearsome deserts in the world, which in Turki means “go in and you will not come out”: these all provide an essential contribution to appreciating this site to the fullest, whereby it gains even more value. It is the beauty in juxtaposition to the alien setting provided for doomed souls braving a journey of incomprehendable proportion - indeed, this context constitutes one of the intangible values of the site. But, is it protected and properly cared for now?

With the current pace of development everywhere in China, there is a serious danger that soon only the formal World Heritage site will remain, i.e. the caves with Buddhist art, and that its context and relationship with the Silk Road can only be understood through a one-liner in a presentation brochure. The physical experience of visiting a site in the desert will have disappeared, and thereby the link to one of the important aspects. Meaning in practice that, next to the caves themselves, a wide area should be protected, maintained and presented that provides the fullest possible setting: the oasis, including caves that were the “living” quarters of the monks (without art), with unobstructed vistas into the surrounding, neverending desert, where the ancient Silk Road used to traverse. Any kind of development should be located outside a wide perimeter around this expanded heritage site.

Aside from considerations related to intangible aspects, the physical setting of cultural heritage is a factor that is taken more and more into account. In this regard, already a decade ago Hiroyuki Suzuki remarked that “traditional villages were built among rice fields, and farmers’ houses and surrounding rice fields are in~eparable”.~~ For cultural routes this seems of particular importance, because in principle a cultural route was

formed, or guided, by geological formations and it crossed natural and cultural landscapes. In this regard, a concept that could be of importance in defining cultural sites in their context and setting, and the extent of their significance in direct relationship to a cultural route, would be shakkei or “borrowed scenery”. Shakkei is used in Japanese garden design and “a technique for enlarging the visual scale of the garden beyond its actual physical boundaries by incorporating a distant view as an integral part of the

23 H. Suzuki, “Authenticity of Setting in the Cyclical Culture”, in: Nara Conference on Authenticity, Proceedings by K.E. Larsen (ed.), U N E S C O World Heritage Centre, Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan, 1994, p. 400.


garden”.24 Borrowed scenery was one of the important techniques used in the planning and design of Chinese gardens as well, where it was not only scenery that could be borrowed, but forms, sounds, colours and fragrances were also incorporated into gardens.25

The importance of the surrounding landscape in the context of the Silk Road becomes apparent when one realizes that silk, as a commodity, in ancient times was so valued in particular because of the hardships merchants had to go through to bring it to the markets in the West.

“The early trade in silk was carried on against incredible odds by great caravans of merchants and animals travelling at a snail’s pace over some of the most inhospitable territory on the face of the earth - searing, waterless deserts and snowbound mountain passes. [. . .] Blinding sandstorms forced both merchants and animals to the ground for days on end [. . .] and altitude sickness and snow blindness affected both man and beast along cliff-hanging and boulder-strewn trackes. Death followed on the heels of every caravan”.26

For the Chinese Section of the Silk Road, in particular around the Takla Makan Desert, the oasis towns were of paramount importance, as they allowed the caravans to make, and survive, the overland journey. Very few caravans, including the people, animals and goods they transported, would complete the entire route that connected the capitals, Rome and Xi’an, of the two great empires. These

oasis towns provided the caravans with fresh merchants, animals and goods, and became important trading posts and commercial centres. In light of this, preserving the urban and architectural heritage of these towns alone would not allow to comprehend their significance - even if of Outstanding Universal Value. Preserving the traditional agricultural practices, and supportive engineering structures that provided for water, for instance, are at least as important in telling, and understanding, the story: one could say they would constitute “borrowed scenery”.

24 M.P. Keane, Japanese Garden Design, Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc., Tokyo 1997, p. 140. 25 C. Liyao, Ancient Chinese Architecture -Private Gardens, SpringerWiedNew York 1999, p. 135. 26 J. Bonavia, The Silk Road, Odyssey Publications Ltd., 6th Edition Hong Kong 2002, p. 14.

UNESCO Mission to the Chinese Silk Road - August 2003 2 1

For identification purposes it is advised, therefore, to distinguish between ‘anchor sites’ and ‘support sites or structures’ .27 Anchors would be those sites, which are considered to contain Outstanding Universal Value, while support sites or structures do not necessarily contain OUV themselves, but are nevertheless important to complement the picture. They will have to be connected therefore, physically and/or conceptually, as a cluster to the anchor sites. With regard to protection, conservation and management, however, there should be little distinction: they deserve equal care and resources to guarantee their preservation for future generations.

Whether physically or conceptually connected, support structures could become part of the buffer zones of core areas, the anchor sites. As matter of principle, core and buffer zones for the protection of a cultural route should be established upon thorough assessment of the varying levels of the route’s heritage values. A buffer zone should ensure the conservation of the integrity of the core zone of the cultural route, which contains the most important parts and evidence. “Such a buffer zone could also promote sustainable development, thus reducing excessive human impact in terms of environmental degradation of sites. [. . .] As traditional land-use and land management practices, which have ensured long-term protection of certain [sites and their settings], can be useful tools, these practices should be taken into consideration when planning [protection, conservation and] sustainable development activities”.28

’’ Acknowledging the concept that was developed by the Natural Heritage Section at WHC, N. Ishwaran and A. Pedersen, in the context of sustainable tourism management of World Heritage sites. ’’ UNESCO Thematic Expert Meeting on Asia-Paclfic Sacred Mountains, Tokyo November 2001, p. 263.


9. MANAGEMENT OF A GREAT SILK ROAD CULTURAL ROUTE

To oversee and guarantee high and consistent levels of management of clusters of heritage sites along more than 4,000 km. of roads the establishment of a National Management Unit would be appropriate. Given China’s centralized structure, this would be easy to achieve. This National Management Unit could be entrusted with the classification of the different clusters, with a division into main themes that are represented by the clusters, including Art (Buddhist, Islamic, other), Architecture (temple, urban, vernacular), Archaeology (cities, monuments), Religion (temples, mosques, meeting points, peaceful and violent), Military Engineering (garrison stations, forts, walls, towers), Agriculture, Trade & Manufacture (farming, hydraulic systems, markets, caravanserais), Travel & Transportation (engineering structures, resting places, orientatiodbeacons), etc., including combinations of several. Identification and management of properties and sites according to these themes would allow for a broad spectrum and subsequent representation of important aspects related to the Silk Road.

While legislation and management practices should be uniform for all clusters, separate conservation management plans should be prepared for each cluster, according to their own characteristics and associated values (both tangible and intangible) with a clear division into core and buffer zones (anchor and support sites). However, in addition to all the elements that would normally be considered in the protection of Cultural Landscapes, one fundamental aspect to consider for Cultural Routes would be elements and aspects related to the movement of people and goods (transportation, vistas for orientation, beacons and communication towers, etc.). Each conservation management plan should contain parameters for conservation and monitoring purposes, for which individual, local teams would be responsible. The National Management Unit would supervise preparation of plans, and enforcement of legislation, for clusters according to the highest international standards, while individual teams would ensure inclusion of


regional or local characteristics and practises, and facilitate consultation and community participation.

Over time and when more information and resources become available, at the national level decisions can be taken for extension of sites or inclusion of other sites that would significantly complement the picture of the Chinese section of the Silk Road from a national perspective (something that would be difficult to achieve on a decentralized regional level). Furthermore, tested and tried concepts could be further developed in association with neighbouring countries that pursue connection of their most significant sites to the Great Silk Road.


10. CONCLUSIONS

Cultural Routes, as latest development in a trend of an expanding scale and complexity of heritage properties, require a separate approach and framework to foster understanding and serve as a tool for informed decision making in Conservation. Based upon a holistic approach, those heritage sites that will explain and present the Chinese Silk Road in a comprehensive manner should be the focus of identification, protection and conservation efforts. This would mean that inclusion of a wide variety of elements that relate to the movement of caravans with people and goods would have to be considered, next to the evident ‘grand sites’. In this regard different clusters of monuments, sites and landscapes could be identified, comprising main themes such as Art, Architecture, Archaeology, Religion, Military Engineering, Agriculture, Trade and Manufacture, or combinations of several.

In addition to considerations related to intangible aspects, the physical setting of Cultural Routes should be taken into account, because in principle they were formed, or guided, by geological formations and crossed natural and cultural landscapes. Traditional land-use and land management practices, which have ensured long-term protection of sites, should be taken into consideration as well when planning protection and conservation activities. Emerging, therefore, is a combination of ‘anchor sites’ and ‘support sites or structures’ that would allow to fully understand and appreciate context and relationships. However, with regard to their conservation, there would be little distinction, as all would need to be protected and managed to guarantee their preservation for future generations.

While legislation and management tools should be uniform for all clusters and supervised from a national level, separate conservation management plans should be prepared for each cluster, according to their own characteristics and associated values (both tangible and intangible), for which individual, local teams would be responsible, thus guaranteeing inclusion of regional or local characteristics and practices, and facilitating community participation. Over time additional clusters could be included, in China and beyond, linked by a shared vision and set of values to preserve for future generations of all mankind the extraordinary legacy of the Great Silk Road.


11. RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Identify cultural properties in Xi’an for possible World Heritage listing

While the Oasis Route has branched off several times to accommodate changes in natural environment or political constellation (see Sketch Map of the Ancient Silk Roads), nevertheless its starting and endpoint have remained the same throughout its long history: respectively the capital of Chang’an (Xi’an) and the city of Kashgar (Kashi). It is difficult, therefore, to perceive a nomination of the Oasis Route, which doesn’t include both these cities. Fernbdez-Armesto, once again, explains that “crossroads are founded by accident and grow to greatness by virtue of the sheer volume of traffic passing through them. Routes are established for the sake of their termini but the central stretches tend to become the most frequented

As the city of Xi’an has been heavily modernized, and little is still revealed of the archaeological sites of Chang’an, where excavations are on-going, to identify cultural properties in Xi’an for possible World Heritage listing remains a challenge. At the moment, it seems that more time is needed to map the important cultural-historic properties and sites in and around the city wall of Xi’an. While an overall inventory has been made, clearly, more time and research would be needed to complement this overall list before making a decision.

2) Start preparation of a Conservation Management Plan for Kashgar

Currently the Municipal Government of Kashgar is planning for major infrastructural interventions in the centre of the old city of Kashgar, which still has a significant and relatively large, authentic core. If the plans of the Municipal Government are implemented, it would severely fragment the remaining authentic heart of this ancient city of mud brick houses and narrow alleyways. This would create serious difficulties in identifying a site of proper proportions with related authenticity issues that would merit inscription on the World Heritage List.

Therefore, it is advised to start up a discussion concerning the necessity of the planned interventions and to seek for alternative solutions to combat traffic congestion, sanitation problems, etc. All this would be best arranged in the framework of a Conservation Management Plan, delimitating the site into core and buffer zones and designing appropriate mechanisms for protection and conservation aiming to upgrade living and working

29 Femandez-Armesto: Civilizations, p. 3 10.


conditions of the resident population, while respecting the particular characteristics of the place.

3) Clustering of Archaeological Cities to include related graveyards, agricultural landscapes and engineering systems, among others

As argued in the previous chapters, the oasis towns that thrived because of their sources of water and agricultural produce, and by virtue of that became important stop-overs and trading places for caravans, need to be identified through a holistic approach. It will be needed to construct a comprehensive image consisting of all the elements necessary to understand and appreciate this significant aspect of the Great Silk Road, including next to the magnificent fossilized archaeological cities, the adjacent or surrounding cultural landscape of cotton fields or grape vines supported through the karez, the centuries-old engineering system that channeled water from the distant mountains into the oases.

4) Clustering of a Series of Buddhist art sites and cave complexes

In addition to the Mogao Caves, it is advised to identify those sites and cave complexes that will complement the picture of the gradual difhsion of Buddhist art from India into China, as well as the later, gradual down-fall and destruction of this art in favour of Islamic art, emphasizing the Silk Road as a route of transmission. Within the requirements for World Heritage listing, as complete a picture should be constructed through the various sites that enhance understanding of this process, that displays this gradual evolution with different artistic styles, etc. Herein, it could be argued that the entire cluster of several identified important Buddhist art sites together should contain Outstanding Universal Value, making a distinction between anchor and support sites possible.

5) Resubmit the deferred World Heritage nomination of the Ruins of Jiaohe City

The World Heritage nomination of the Ancient Jiaohe City in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regiuon was submitted by the Government of China in October 1993, the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee at its 18th session in June 1994, decided that consideration of the nomination be deferred until the Chinese authorities can provide evidence of the existence and implementation of a comprehensive management plan for the site of Jiaohe. The mission was presented a site management plan covering conservation, restoration and development issues of the property. With the completion of such a comprehensive Management Plan for this extraordinary site, which is currently in a good state of conservation and well- presented to the general public, the nomination could be resubmitted. This could be the starting point for the incremental, serial nomination of the Oasis Route as part of the Chinese Silk Road, announced through its title, which should make a reference to this.


6) Establish National Management Entity

At the national level a coordinating unit should be established that oversees the entire nomination process for the Silk Road, to ensure national protection of all the identified properties and sites, and to coordinate studies, inventories and preparations for dossiers: a Silk Road Nomination Task Force. This unit should establish a participatory process for selection and prioritization of properties and sites for nomination in the future, based on a thorough assessment of required needs and challenges, all to be communicated and agreed upon with regional units responsible for conservation and management, to be established at the same time.

7) Organize a Stakeholder Meeting to co-ordinate the preparation of World Heritage nomination

As a direct follow-up to this report, a stakeholders meeting should be organized with high-level decision makers involved in this endeavour to discuss outcomes of the first mission, the approach and methodology that is proposed, and to identify fbrther programme of assistance, including the coordination of the preparation of World Heritage nomination. Given the fact that the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee is taking place in China this year, the opportunity is taken to organize this stakeholders meeting after the Committee session.

8) Bilingual Publication in English and Chinese

This report, as well as those to follow on the subject, should be translated and published into English and Chinese to facilitate discussion and dissemination of ideas and proposals.

I. Map of the Silk Road

I I . UNESCO Guidelines for Serial Nominations to the World Heritage List

I l l . Chronology of the Silk Road

3

m W 0 s Y

.

,.'


Annex I1 - Guidelines for the Preparation of Serial Nominations tothe World Heritage List

Introduction

This set of guidelines is designed to assist States Parties prepare serial nominations for the World Heritage List.

Definition

The Operational Guidelines (paragraph 19) provides for the inscription of serial nominations on the World Heritage List. A serial nomination is any nomination which consists of two or more unconnected areas. A single World Heritage nomination may contain a series of cultural and/or natural properties in different geographical locations, provided that they are related because they belong to: (i) the same historico-cultural group; (ii) the same type of property which is characteristic of the geographical zone; or (iii) the same geological, geomorphological formation, the same biogeographic province, or the same ecosystem type, and provided that it is the series, and not necessarily each of its components taken individually, which is of outstanding universal value.

A serial nomination should be treated as a single nomination, not several nominations packaged together under a single cover letter.

The core difference between a serial nomination and a single-site nomination to the World Heritage List is in the way in which the proposed property is identified in the Nomination Format's Section 1, Identification, through the use of a serial nomination table. In the following pages, we present a sample Section 1 for a fictitious nomination, annotated to highlight the differences and opportunities for preparers.

All eight sections of the Nomination Format should be presented only once. However, if extensive information is available about each component of a serial nomination, it may be desirable to prepare a small booklet on each, presenting the Description (Sec. 3) and Documentation (Sec. 7) separately. Use of this format does not alter the need for a common Identification or Justification sections (Sec. 1 and 2).

The use of common sections for 4.Management, 5.Factors Affecting the Property, and 6.Monitoring highlights the need for a common management regime for all parts of the serial nomination.

Advantages

Serial nominations can be used to nominate many properties in the same thematic group or geological period in a single nomination dossier. Recent successful examples have included the Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia (Belgium, 1999), the Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, 1996), Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) (Japan 1994), The Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (Romania, 1993,1999) or the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/ Naracoorte) (Australia, 1994).


Serial nominations may also be used for transboundary properties, such as Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis (Argentina and Brazil, 1984): Other examples discussed include the Roman Limes in Europe, Historically significant suspension bridges, or the Routes of Santiago de Compostela. Transboundary nominations must be jointly signed and submitted by all States Parties concerned.

Notice

These guidelines do not replace the provisions of the existing Operational Guidelines or Nomination Format. Both may be found on the web site of the World Heritage Centre at: http://whc.unesco.org/opgutoc.htm and http://whc.unesco.org/archive/nominfim.pdf .

http://whc.unesco.org/opgutoc.htm

http://whc.unesco.org/archive/nominfim.pdf


NOMINATION F0RMAT:PROPERTIES FOR INCLUSION ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Example adopted for use for a serial nomination

In preparing the nomination, State Parties should delete the explanatoy notes furnished beneath each entry.

I 1. Identification of the ProDertv I

Together with Section 2, this is the most important section in the nomination dossier. It must make clear to the Committee precisely where the property is located and how it is geographically defined. In the case of serial nominations, insert a table that shows the name of the component part, region (if different for different components), coordinates, area and buffer zone. Other fields could also be added (page reference or map no., etc.) that differentiate the several components.

a. Country (and State Party if different) 30 Republic of ATLANTIS

b. State, Province or Region Western Somany (region)

c. N a m e of Property Classical Atlantis and its Marine Reserve

This is the name of the property that will appear in published material about World Heritage. It should be concise. Do not exceed 200 characters, including spaces and punctuation. In the case of serial nominations, give a name for the ensemble (e.g., Baroque Churches of the Philippines) . Do not include the name of the components of a serial nomination, which should be included in the serial nomination table .

Serial nomination table for Classical Atlantis and its Marine Reserve

elemen

Proprium 12" 42' 37" W 003 Ancient Via Nova Mercuria 36"13' 10" N,

Tuscanum * 12'41' 00" W 004 Mount Nova Mercuria, 36" 10' 34" N,

Inexhaustible Litenia, Omnis 12" 40' 56" W Proprium

005 Marine Reserve Omnis 36'1 1' 12" N, Proprium 12" 43' 10" w

TOTAL

M a p Area of core Buffer zone (ha) 1 zone(ha) 1 e n e x 1

4.5 10.0 1,2

13,526,564.75 I 1,400,012 I

If the serial nomination is transboundary, then "State Party" should also be in the table. Use this reference number to cross reference particular elements in different parts of the nomination.

30

31

32 If the nomination is in more than one State or Province, a separate column for state or province should be included in the table. Alternatively, if all parts of the property are in the same town, this field may be omitted fiom the table.

34 Indicate here the relevant maps which have been annexed to the nomination. The map annex should be keyed to the list of maps provided in Section l(e).

Use Lat/Long or UTM coordinates. Do not use other coordinate systems. 33


* Linear property, 3.5 km long and 20m wide. It has a buffer zone that extends 200m on either side of the right-~f-way~~

d. In this space provide the latitude and longitude coordinates (in decimal degrees or to the nearest second) or UTM coordinates. Do not use other coordinate systems. If in doubt, please consult the World Heritage Centre. In the case of serial nominations, provide a table showing the name of each property, its region (or nearest town as appropriate), and the coordinates of its centre point, Coordinate format examples: 45" 06' 05" N; 15" 37' 56" W or UTM Zone 18 Easting: 545670 Northing: 4586750

Geographical coordinates to the nearest second

See serial nomination table, above

e. zone 36

Maps, and plans if available, showing boundary of area proposed for inscription and of any buffer

Annex to this dossier, and list below with scales and dates: i) An original copy of the official topographic map showing the property nominated, at the largest

scale available which shows the entire property. The boundaries of the core area and buffer zone should be clearly marked. Either on this map, or an accompanying one, there should also be a record of the boundaries of zones of special legal protection from which the property benefits.(Multiple maps may be necessary for serial nominations.) Maps may be obtained from the addresses shown at whc.unesco.org/map-agencies.htm. a Location Map showing the location of the property within the State Party,Plans and specially prepared maps of the property showing individual features are helpful and may also be annexed.

ii)

To facilitate copying and presentation to the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Committee, it is extremely helpful to include both an A4-size reduction and a digital image file of the principal maps.

Maps Annexed to the nomination are keyed to the Serial nomination table above.

M a p Annex no. 1. 2. 3 4. collection of the Nova Mercuria Historical S0~iety.Q~ 5. 6.

"Atlantis" Scale: 1 :250,000. Atlantis Mapping Agency, 1985 "Nova Mercurial' Scale 1 :25,000. Atlantis Mapping Agency, 1990 "Omnis Proprium, Sheet 2". Scale 1:5,000. Omnis Proprium Planning Office, 1996 "Litenia West". Scale 1 :25,000. Atlantis Mapping Agency, 1934 (Out of print, photocopied from the

"Mount Inexhaustable". Scale 1 :25,000. Atlantis Mapping Agency, 1954 "Via Tuscanum World Heritage Area". Scale 1 :7,500. Atlantis World Heritage Committee, 2001

35 If more than one linear property is included in the nomination, it may be useful to include this information in the table. 36 Each map should clearly show the core and buffer zones of the nominated property. If the zones of other protective legislation are shown, be sure that the core and buffer zones of the proposed World Heritage property are clearly marked. 37 Maps do not have to be current, if the location can be clearly shown on an older map which is out of print. Out of print maps should be clearly photocopied, at the same scale as the original, and the source of the original noted.

U N E S C O Mission to the Chinese Silk Road -August 2003 36

f. Area of property proposed for inscription (ha.) and proposed buffer zone (ha.) if any

Core area: ha.

Buffer zone ha

Total ha

In the case of serial nominations, the serial nomination table should be used to show the size of the core areas and of the buffer zone(s).

See serial nomination table above.

(Refer to Explanatory notes of the Nomination format for guidance on completing the remainder of the nomination dossier.]

I 2. Justification for Inscriution I This section should be common to all components of the serial nomination.

I 3. DescriDtion I An overall description should be provided for the serial nomination. The nomination n?ay be accompanied by separate booklets containing the description ox and documentation for, the several components of the serial nomination. Every element listed in the serial nomination table should be described. It may be he&&l to include the site element number given in the table.

I 4. Management

This section should be common to all components of the serial nomination.

I 5. Factors Affecting the Property I This section should be common to all components of the serial nomination.

I 6. Monitoring


I 7. Documentation I This section may be common to all components of the serial nomination. See description, above.

8. Signature on behalf of the State Party.



Annex I11 - Chronology of the Silk Road 5000-500 B.C

3200 3000 3000 3000 2500 desert travel. 1700 1500 1500 900 Spread of mounted nomadism. 753 Rome founded. 707 Urartu in Near East. 900-700 first races learn to ride horses and wear trousers. stirrup. 600s Zoroaster bom in Persia. 560s Buddha bom in Nepal. 550 500s 450 on Scythians. 55 1-479

Horse domesticated on south Russian steppe. Minoan civilization starts, the earliest in Europe. Silk first produced in China. Sumerians develop first writing system. Domestication of the Bactrian and Arabian camel, vital for

Horse-drawn chariot introduced in Near East. Iron technology developed in Asia Minor. Seminomadic stockbreeding tribes inhaabit steppes.

Cimmerians, earliest-known mounted nomads, defeat kingdom of

Scythians and Samatians appear in the northern steppes - two of the

Achaemenid Empire established in Persia. Chinese adopt nomadic style, wear trousers and ride horses. Herodotus visits Greek trading colony of Olbia to gather information

Confucius born in China.

400 B.C. 0 Empire of Alexander the Great expands into Asia. Greek culture into Central

Asia.

300 B.C. 0 Roman expansion begins. 0 Greco-Bactrian kingdom develops in Central Asia. 0 Parthians establish their empire in Iran. 0 Qin dynasty unites the entire China for the first time. 0 Chinese complete Great Wall as defense against the northem nomads' invasion. 0 Han dynasty overthrows Qin and develops its vast empire. 0 Buddhism begins to spread north. Gandhara art type emerges and starts a new

art style - Serindian. 0 Paper first made in China. 0 Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

200 B.C. 0

0

0

Stirrup appears in Indian and Central Asia Greek city-states come under Roman rule. The Xiongnu, later called Huns rise to power in Central Asia and invade Chinese western border regions. Han Emperor, Wu-ti's interests in Central Asia cause him to command the Chang Ch'ien expeditions to the West, (Fergana and the Yueh-chih). Celestial Horses introduced to China.

0


0 Han power reaches Tarim region. The Silkroad under China's control and the route to the West now open.

100 B.C. 0

0

Roman conquers Gaul. 0

Mithridates, Parthian king, sends ambassadors to both Sulla and Wu-ti to provide an important link between Rome and China. Parthians defeat Romans at Carrhae. One of the most disastrous in Roman history.

Egypt under Roman rule. Gives Rome access to Red Sea and Spice Route trade. Rome officially becomes an empire. 0

1 A.D. 0

0

0

Silk first seen in Rome. Buddhism begins to spread from India into Central Asia. Roman Syria develops the technique of blowing glass. The industry expands. Kushan Empire of Central Asia. Sogdians trading on Silk Route. Xiongnu raids upset Chinese power in Tarim region. Death of Jesus Christ. Spread of Christianity begins. Chinese General Pan Ch'ao defeats Xiongnu and keeps the peace in the Tarim Basin. The stability of the Silkroad popularizes the caravan trades into two routes - north and south.

0 China sends the first ambassador to Rome from Pan Ch'ao's command, but he fails to reach Rome. Graeco-Egyptian geographer, Claudius Ptolemy, writes his Geography, attempts to map the Silkroad.

100 A.D. 0

0

0 Buddhism reaches China. 0

0

Rome sends the first Roman envoy over sea to China. Roman empire at its largest. A major market for Eastern goods.

For the next few centuries, Buddhism flourishes, becoming the most popular religion in Central Asia, replacing Zoroastrianism. The four great empires of the day - the Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Chinese - bring stability to the Silkroad.

200 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

Silk is woven into cloth across Asia, but using Chinese thread. Han dynasty ends. China splits into fragments. Sassanians rise to power from Parthians. Strong cultural influence along the trade routes. Barbarian attacks on the Roman Empire. Death of Mani in Persia. Manichaeism spreads throughout Asia, not to die out until the 14th century.

300 A.D.

0

0

Stirrup introduced to China by the northem nomads Secret of sericulture begins to spread west along the Silkroad. Xiongnu invade China again. China hrther dissolved into fragments.


0 Constantinople becomes Rome's capital. 0

0

0 Huns attack Europe. 0

0

Christianity becomes the official Roman religion. Dun Huang caves starts to appear and becomes the world's largest Buddha caves.

Roman Empire splits into two. Fa-hsien, one of the first known Chinese Silkroad travellers by foot and a Buddhist monk, sets out for India.

400 A.D. 0 A Chinese princess smuggles some silkworm eggs out of China. Silkworm

farms appear in Central Asia. 0 New techniques in glass production introduced to China by the Sogdians. 0 Visigoths invade Italy and Spain. 0 Angles and Saxons rise in Britain. 0 Western Roman Empire collapses. 0 Frankish kingdom formed.

500 A.D. 0 Silkworm farms appear in Europe. 0 Nestorian Christians reach China. 0 Kingdom of Hephthalites (White Huns) in northern Asia, conquering Sogdian

territory. 0 Buddhism reaches Japan. 0 Split of the Turkish Kaganate into Eastern and Western Kaganates. Western

Turks move to Central Asia from Mongolian plateau. At the Chinese end of Central Asia, the Eastern Turks or Uighurs are in control.

Sassanian Empire at its greatest extent in Central Asia. 0 Sui dynasty reunites China. 0

600 A.D. 0

0

Roman Empire becomes Byzantine Empire. Tang dynasty rules in China. For the first two centuries, the Silk Road reaches its golden age. China very open to foreign cultural influences. Buddhism flourishes.

Death of Muhammad. Muslim Arab expansion begins. Xuan Zang's pilgrimage to India. The Avars from the steppes introduces stirrups to Europe. Sassanian Persia falls to the Arabs. Muslims control Mesopotamia and Iran, along with the Silk and Spice routes.

0 The Islamic religion founded. 0

0

0

0

0

700 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

Arabs conquer Spain in Europe, which introduces much Eastern technology and science to Europe. Arabs defeat Chinese at Talas and capture Chinese papermakers, which introduces paper making into Central Asia and Europe. Block printing developed in China Tang dynasty begins to decline, and with it, the Silkroad. Glassmaking skill introduced to China by Sogdians.


800 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

First porcelain made in China. Gunpowder invented in China and spread to the West by the 13th century. All foreign religions banned in China. Compass begins to be used by Chinese. Diamond Sutra dated 11 May 868, the world's oldest known printed book made in Dunhuang. Venice established as a city-state. 0

900 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

0 Sung Dynasty reunites China. 0

Kirghiz Turks in control of Eastern Central Asia, establish kingdoms at Dunhuang and Turfan. Tang Dynasty ends. China fragmented. England unified for the first time. Playing cards invented in China and spread to Europe toward the end of 14th century. The Islamic Empire divides into small kingdoms.

Porcelain developed in China and exported to western Asia.

1000 A.D. 0 First Crusade. Exchange of technology between Europe and Middle East.

1100 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

China divided into Northern Sung and Southern Sung. Muslim oust the Franks from the Levant. Genghiz Khan unites Mongols. Expansion of Mongol Empire begins. Silk production and weaving established in Italy. Paper money, first developed in China.

1200 A.D. 0 Death of Genghis Khan. 0

0

Mongols invade Russia, Poland, and Hungary. The Europe's first envoy to the East, Friar Giovanni Carpini leaves Rome for Mongol capital at Karakorum. Friar William Rubruck sent to Karakorum by the King of France.

Mongol control central and western Asia. Silk road trade prospers again under the "Pax Mongolica." Kublai Khan defeats China and establishes the Yuan dynasty. Paper money introduced to Central Asia and Iran by Mongols. Marco Polo leaves for the East.

0

0 Seventh, and last, Crusade. 0

0

0

0

0

1300 A.D. 0

0

0

Turkish Ottoman Empire in power. Tamerlane, with capital in Samarkand, rises and conquers Persia, parts of Southern Russia, and northern India. Third Silkroad route appears in the north.


0

0

0 Paper made across Europe. 0 Spinning wheel in Europe. 0

0

Ibn Battuta, the first known Arab travels on a 750,000 mile journey to China via the Silkroad. The Black Death spreads throughout Europe.

Battle of Crecy between French and English, where cannons used first in Europe. Mongol Yuan Dynasty collapes. Chinese Ming Dynasty begins.

1400 A.D. 0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Tamerlane defeats the Ottoman Turks, and causes the deaths of seventeen million people. Renaissance period in Europe. Chinese explore the Spice Routes as far as Africa Death of Tamerlane leads to the decline of Mongol power. Ottoman rises again in the Central Asia. Ottomans conquer Constantinople. Gutenberg printing press in use. China closes the door to foreigners. Fearing the power of Uighurs, Ming China reduces the trade and traffic dramatically in the Silkroad. The Silkroad comes to an end for purposes of silk. Lyon becomes the new center of the silk trade. Columbus reaches America. Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route fiom Europe to the East via the cape of Good Hope to Calicut in India.

1500 A.D. 0 Islam becomes the religion of the entire Taklamakan region.

1600 A.D. 0

0

0

Uzbek Turks appear from the north, settle in today's Uzbekistan. Prince Babur, descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, extends his empire from the Ferghana valley to India. Founder of Mogul dynasty. Manchuria rises and invades China. Qing Dynasty established.

1700 A.D. 0

Porcelain produced in Europe. 0

Numbers of severe earthquakes in Central Asia damage some of the great monuments .

The Manchus, a Tungusic people from Manchuria, absorb the Gobi and Altai districts.

1800 A.D. 0 German scholar, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen uses the term "Silkroad"

(Seidenstrasse) for the first time. Manchus take over the Tarim Basin. Xinjiang Province created under Qing Dynasty.

0

0


0 Elias crosses the Pamirs and identifies Muztagh Ata. Recommends the Wakhan corridor be established. Younghusband crosses the Gobi Desert, pioneering a new route from Peking to Kashgar via the Muztagh Pass. Hedin explores the Kun Lun and Takla Makan desert, unearthing buried cities along the old Silkroad. Conway in the Karakoram Mountains. Stein's archaeological investigations of the Takla Makan and central Asia. The Great Game - Tsarist Russia and British India expand in Central Asia.

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1900 A.D. 0 Hedin expeditions. 0

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0 Tibet under China's control. 0

Chinese revolution; end of Chinese dynasties. Europeans begin to travel in the Silkroad

Karakoram highway from Islamabad to Kashgar built by China and Pakistan.

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Documents

UNESCO mission to the Chinese Silk Road as world cultural