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The Jade Road

Palo, Markus LU (2013) KINK11 20131
Chinese Studies
Abstract (Chinese)
在英文文献中不存在‘玉石之路’这个说法,但在中文的考古和文化的文章就能找到。这个词语怎么还没被翻译到英语里呢? 在这篇文论里有新石器时代(公元前 12,000 - 2200)和青铜时代(公元前 2200 - 500) 玉石贸易的证据, 把丝绸在丝绸之路沿着运输很久以前, 从今日的新疆维吾尔自治区地区来的玉器跟别的地方所找到的玉器可以看到相似之处, 即新石器时代的文化和青铜时代的文化已经有文化交流。中国的考古学家、宝石学家及人类学家用‘玉石之路’描述新石器时代和青铜时代的从“中国”西部的商人走东部的路, 有的学家说这些路去及地中海。在英文文献中这个贸易只有很简短的提及‘丝绸之路’的史前史。当前运用这个词语的中国学者大部分建议’玉石之路‘就是‘丝绸之路’的前身, 他们也建议玉石为东西两方的交换铺平了道路。商人到底是否常常在这条路走仍无证据, 但是有证据指从新石器时代有玉石的贸易穿过全现代的中国, 还有证据指这个贸易到达西亚, 这些证据在中国考古文章有凭有据。
Abstract
The term the 'Jade Road' is very hard to find in English literature yet the Chinese term '玉石之路' exists within Chinese archaeological and cultural articles (and even in business and travel magazines) as a prehistory to the 'Silk Road'. Why has this term, 'Jade Road', escaped translation and explanation in English material and what facts and theories exist about it? This thesis has found that there exists evidence of a jade trade during the Neolithic Period (12,000 – 2200 BCE) and the Bronze Age (2200 – 500 BCE) in China well before silk was transported along the 'Silk Road' (starting from about the Han Dynasty, 汉朝 206 BCE – 220 CE) . There have been cultural exchange between Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures during these periods shown on... (More)
The term the 'Jade Road' is very hard to find in English literature yet the Chinese term '玉石之路' exists within Chinese archaeological and cultural articles (and even in business and travel magazines) as a prehistory to the 'Silk Road'. Why has this term, 'Jade Road', escaped translation and explanation in English material and what facts and theories exist about it? This thesis has found that there exists evidence of a jade trade during the Neolithic Period (12,000 – 2200 BCE) and the Bronze Age (2200 – 500 BCE) in China well before silk was transported along the 'Silk Road' (starting from about the Han Dynasty, 汉朝 206 BCE – 220 CE) . There have been cultural exchange between Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures during these periods shown on the similarity of the jade artefacts and the jade from Hetian in present day Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region that has been found throughout China, called Hetian Jade (和田玉). Chinese archaeologists, gemmologists and anthropologists use the term 'Jade Road' to describe the routes used by traders during the Neolithic Period and Bronze Age from the west of present day China to the central and east parts, and some of them say it went as far west from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region as Egypt and the Mediterranean. In English literature this jade trade is in some material only briefly mentioned as a prehistory to the 'Silk Road'. Most Chinese scholars who use this term suggest that the 'Jade Road' was the forerunner to the 'Silk Road' and that jade was the goods that paved the way for exchange between the East and the West. There is no evidence of the frequency nor the scale of this trade however evidence that jade has been
traded since Neolithic times across the entire landmass of present day China and at least as far as western Asia exist and are well documented in Chinese archaeological articles. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Palo, Markus LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A study of the jade trade in ancient China
course
KINK11 20131
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
jade road, ancient china, silk road, neolithic period, bronze age, nephrite, jadeite, 玉石之路, 古代中国, 丝绸之路, 新石器时代, 青铜时代, 软玉, 硬玉
language
English
id
3864130
date added to LUP
2013-06-25 11:30:05
date last changed
2013-06-25 11:30:05
@misc{3864130,
  abstract     = {{The term the 'Jade Road' is very hard to find in English literature yet the Chinese term '玉石之路' exists within Chinese archaeological and cultural articles (and even in business and travel magazines) as a prehistory to the 'Silk Road'. Why has this term, 'Jade Road', escaped translation and explanation in English material and what facts and theories exist about it? This thesis has found that there exists evidence of a jade trade during the Neolithic Period (12,000 – 2200 BCE) and the Bronze Age (2200 – 500 BCE) in China well before silk was transported along the 'Silk Road' (starting from about the Han Dynasty, 汉朝 206 BCE – 220 CE) . There have been cultural exchange between Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures during these periods shown on the similarity of the jade artefacts and the jade from Hetian in present day Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region that has been found throughout China, called Hetian Jade (和田玉). Chinese archaeologists, gemmologists and anthropologists use the term 'Jade Road' to describe the routes used by traders during the Neolithic Period and Bronze Age from the west of present day China to the central and east parts, and some of them say it went as far west from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region as Egypt and the Mediterranean. In English literature this jade trade is in some material only briefly mentioned as a prehistory to the 'Silk Road'. Most Chinese scholars who use this term suggest that the 'Jade Road' was the forerunner to the 'Silk Road' and that jade was the goods that paved the way for exchange between the East and the West. There is no evidence of the frequency nor the scale of this trade however evidence that jade has been
traded since Neolithic times across the entire landmass of present day China and at least as far as western Asia exist and are well documented in Chinese archaeological articles.}},
  author       = {{Palo, Markus}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Jade Road}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}