The King\u2019s Road<\/i>\u00a0offers a new interpretation of the history of the Silk Road, emphasizing its importance as a diplomatic route, rather than a commercial one. Tracing the arduous journeys of diplomatic envoys, Xin Wen presents a rich social history of long-distance travel that played out in deserts, post stations, palaces, and polo fields. The book tells the story of the everyday lives of diplomatic travelers on the Silk Road\u2014what they ate and drank, the gifts they carried, and the animals that accompanied them\u2014and how they navigated a complex web of geographic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. It also describes the risks and dangers envoys faced along the way\u2014from financial catastrophe to robbery and murder.<\/p>\n
Using documents unearthed from the famous Dunhuang \u201clibrary cave\u201d in Western China,\u00a0The King\u2019s Road\u00a0<\/i>paints a detailed picture of the intricate network of trans-Eurasian transportation and communication routes that was established between 850 and 1000 CE. By exploring the motivations of the kings who dispatched envoys along the Silk Road and describing the transformative social and economic effects of their journeys, the book reveals the inner workings of an interstate network distinct from the Sino-centric \u201ctributary\u201d system.<\/p>\n
In shifting the narrative of the Silk Road from the transport of commodities to the exchange of diplomatic gifts and personnel,\u00a0The King\u2019s Road<\/i>\u00a0puts the history of Eastern Eurasia in a new light.<\/p>\nAuteur<\/h3>\n
Xin Wen is assistant professor of East Asian studies and history at Princeton University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The King\u2019s Road\u00a0offers a new interpretation of the history of the Silk Road, emphasizing its importance as a diplomatic route, rather than a commercial one. Tracing the arduous journeys of diplomatic envoys, Xin Wen presents a rich social history of long-distance travel that played out in deserts, post stations, palaces, and polo fields. The book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":89969,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[805,11615],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-89968","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-divers","7":"product_cat-histoire-geographie","8":"product_shipping_class-standard","9":"pa_auteurs-xin-wen","10":"pa_editeur-princeton-university-press","11":"pa_edition-novembre-2024","12":"pa_nombre-de-pages-22319","14":"first","15":"instock","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple"},"exclude_global_add_ons":[],"addons":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/89968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=89968"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=89968"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.promoculture.lu\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=89968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}