Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
willytex
and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia
by Peter Hopkirk
Burglary in the back of beyond!
Review by Mark Mcfarland
It's about the race to steal the treasures of north-western China at the
turn of the twentieth century. Sir Aurel Stein, a Brit. of Hungarian
birth, and Sven Hedin, a Swede with a bit of thing for dictators, began
a thirty year competition to find and save for posterity the ninth
century Buddhist art work that had lain under the sands of the
Taklamakan and Gobi deserts for the best part of a millennium. It would
change the West's understanding of Central Asian history and their
linguistics for ever.
After Stein and Hedin there came the ever-brilliant French, the
determined Germans and a very strange bunch of Japanese 'holy men' cum
spies. A Russian or two arrived a little late and the final curtain came
down on an headstrong Yank who didn't quite get what he'd bargained for
when the Chinese decided enough was enough.
All set off from Kashgar and travelled by camel into no man's land in
search of cities long forgotten and swallowed up in sand dunes. Not a
satellite phone between them, they all managed to return with cart loads
of precious art works and magnificent scrolls which they 'found' in
desert oases and religious retreats guarded by monks who were up for a
bribe or two.
All met the McCartney's of Kashgar, those mad English nutters who ran a
hilltop listening station in true Great Game style.
By the end you'll realise why Stein and Pelliot aren't names worth
mentioning next time you're passing through Chinese customs. The
Chinese, funnily enough, aren't too pleased at being reminded they all
stood by and watched while wave after wave of expeditions left their
territory with priceless artefacts - some of which were destroyed in
WWII bombing raids while others lie stacked in boxes under the cobbled
streets of Bloomsbury in London.
It's a gripping tale and one which reminds us that the world is very
different now. You just can't ride a donkey into someone's house and rob
them any more. How sad.
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Other titles of interest:
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia -- by Peter Hopkirk
Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet
by Peter Hopkirk
Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire
by Peter Hopkirk
A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia
by Frederick Burnaby, Peter Hopkirk
Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia (Kodansha
Globe)
by Peter Hopkirk
Quest for Kim: In Search of Kipling's Great Game
by Peter Hopkirk