Research On Cultural Exchanges Along The Silk Road (2nd Century BC-2nd Century AD)

By using the theories and methods of historical cultural geography,this paper carried out research on cultural exchange along the Silk Road between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD.The cultural distribution along the Silk Road,the basic situation and characteristics of cultural exchange during this period,as well as those factors that promote or hinder cultural dissemination and communication were revealed.Based on these studies,this paper figuered out what means to Chinese and Foreign Cultural Exchange when the Silk Road was unimpeded,also the status and significance of this 400 years on the history of cultural exchange along the Silk Road and the history of oriental-occidental communication.This subject was studied in view of following five aspects:1.Explained the reason for choosing this subject and clarified the temporal-spatial scale.The existing researchs that related to the Silk Road,the region along the Silk Road and the cultural exchange along the Silk Road were summerized and retrospected,and a briefly introduction about the states and national regimes along the Silk Road between the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD was given.2.Select Hellenism as a representative of the culture that spread eastward along the Silk Road,then discussed the eastward-spread of Hellenism in Hellenistic Age and the repercussions of Hellenistic heritage based on the hierarchically order of cultural transmission and cultural diffusion.Cultural change in the Kushan Empire and the Parthian Empire on this background was analyzed.The indirect contact between the Hellenism and the Qin-Han Dynasty was emphasized by analysis those western elements in Qin-Han culture relics,and futher studies were made to make clear the way that cultural spread eastward and its relationship with the Silk Road.The characteristics of the culture eastward-spread along the Silk Road during the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD were summarized.3.Analyzed the westward transmission process of the Han culture in the early period of an unimpeded Silk Road.The Huns' role in the westward transmission process of the Han culture before Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission,how the Han culture acts on the formation of the western region culture,and what the contribution of nomadic tribes and ethnic's migration to the Han culture transmission was discussed.Via researches on the trade that happened along the west part of the Silk Road,it is suggested that the Kushan Empire and the Parthian Empire played an important role in the spread of Han culture.The characteristics of the Han culture wastward-spread were summarized.4.Considered various elements acts on the division of cultural region and gained achievements on the whole,this paper preliminary divided the cultural region along the Silk Road into east part and west part.Meanwhile,each part was further subdivided.The Central Asia and Xinjiang Province was the cross-culture place that formed in peripheral cultural region.Their cultural connotation and the reason why they became a cross-culture communication place were studied.5.Sum up the objective factors and subjective factors that influenced cultural exchange along the Silk Road between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD,and clarified the cultural communication pattern.Finally,this paper expounded the role of the unimpeded Silk Road in cultural communication,and the significance of these 400 years on the history of cultural exchange along the Silk Road and the history of oriental-occidental communication.