[Book Sip] Fascinating Stories Filling the Silk Road

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with readers, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

Central Asia, where many country names end with 'stan' (meaning 'land of'), such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The author, a theater critic specializing in Russian literature, shares 12 stories drawn from a firsthand journey to 'that land' (Central Asia), once the heart of the Silk Road. Through stories of various cities and writers, the book introduces the diverse facets of Central Asia, where Turkic and Mongolian nomadic cultures, Persian and Arab Islamic cultures, and the cultural heritage of the Russian Empire and Soviet regime blend together.

Since ancient times, Central Asia has been the center of the Silk Road connecting East and West. Along the desert, the long caravan of merchants' camels carried not only rare and valuable goods but also strange stories and new news from distant lands, flowing east and west. The caravanserai, where merchants on long journeys rested overnight, was also a place where incidents from various regions and small pieces of information were exchanged. Naturally, countless stories from all over accumulated here, and skilled storytellers continuously emerged. (pp. 8-9)

From the Abai statue in Almaty to the Navoi Literary Museum in Tashkent, every time I passed places related to Central Asia's great writers, I encountered unfamiliar names and was reminded of my ignorance. However, looking back, I realized that this was an important achievement of this visit. It was the realization that "I knew so little." In other words, before, I didn't even know how little I knew. (pp. 48-49)

In this way, Tamburlaine the Great is modeled on Amir Timur, but in fact, it is an interesting work in that it allows us to read the ambivalent gaze and contradictory desires of contemporary Europeans toward Timur rather than a historical biography of him. Historical figures newly written in literature always become mirrors reflecting not the era they lived in but the era that summoned them. In that sense, it is once again realized that writing and reading literature is always a process of reflecting ourselves. (p. 109)

From the 19th to the 20th century, cotton, called 'white gold,' fueled the desires of capitalists worldwide and was a treasure coveted by all the major powers of the time, turning this region into a stage for competing empires. The countries that most desperately and powerfully coveted this region were the British Empire and the Russian Empire, and the long and fierce struggle for Central Asia between these two countries was later called the 'Great Game.' (pp. 111-112)

Central Asia, where countless scholars were born and active, can truly be called a land of wisdom and scholarship. As a crossroads of East and West, connecting Islamic civilization and European culture, and inheriting the intellectual legacy of ancient Greece into the modern era, this region became a great link connecting two worlds geographically and temporally. Moreover, looking at Central Asia's great scholars, most were 'all-round intellectuals' who studied broadly in various fields such as mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, geography, history, and language, leaving achievements spanning multiple disciplines. (p. 223)

Central Asia, The Curtain Rises | Written by Kim Ju-yeon | Parole & | 280 pages | 20,000 KRW