Elizabethtown College held a discussion panel about the Silk Road Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. in Gibble Auditorium. The speakers of the presentation were professor of religion and Asian studies Dr. Jeffrey Long, assistant professor of political science and Asian studies Dr. Dan Chen and professor of finance and international buisness Dr. Hossein Varamini.

The Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking (CGUP) Director Dr. David Kenley began the event by introducing the speakers and how the event would run. Long presented first and talked about the history of the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe.

“It was called the Silk Road because silk was the main thing traded, but other things were traded as well,” Long said.

However, goods weren’t the only thing being passed along. According to Long, the Silk Road also transmitted religion and philosophy across Asia. Buddhism is one of the religions that was passed on.

“Buddhism came from India,” Long said. Long explained how as Buddhists came up from Delhi, India, they spread their religion.

There was a cross-cultural exchange occurring as people learned about one another through traveling. “Besides Buddhism, Christianity was also passed along,” Long said.

Long went on to explain how the Silk Road isn’t just a conduit for cultural exchange, but also shapes culture as well. The Pure Land Buddha is an example of this.

According to Long, this is a part of Buddhism that focuses on the savior figure known as the Buddha of infinite light.

This is similar to Jesus Christ, who is the savior figure in Christianity. This means, in this instance, Christianity may have influence Buddhism.

Varamini presented next and talked about the globalization of the Silk Road. He started with a definition of globalization and then talked about where we see examples of it today.

“When we think of globalization we usually think of production, global companies and financial markets,” Varamini said.

Varamini also outlined the opposing side, which is against globalization because of outsourcing and environmental issues. He went on to outline the history of globalization and the different levels.

He then introduced another trade route called the Persian Royal Road. This route was developed before the Silk Road.

“I have learned about the Silk Road, but hadn’t heard of Persian Royal Road before,” junior Connor Wallet said.

After Varamini’s discussion on the Persian Royal Road, he went into a little more detail about the Silk Road.

He talked about what materials were exchanged, including silk, bamboo, fur and cotton textiles. He concluded his presentation by emphasizing that culture was transferred as well as material goods.

Chen was the final presenter. She discussed the new Silk Road. Her presentation centered around the Belt Road initiative in China.

Like the Silk Road, this initiative would increase trade routes. “China would need to raise one trillion dollars for infrastructure,” Chen said. She went on to outline the motivation behind this initiative. One reason is economic.

According to Chen, China is overproducing and needs to outsource its goods. The other reason is to elevate China’s status.

China is trying to achieve what Chen referred to as “soft power.”
“Soft power is when other countries like you,” Chen said. The advanced infrastructure would be a way to influence other countries.

She then went on to highlight some of the achievements of this plan. “It would provide a link between Southeast Asia,” Chen said.

There would also be a railway system built to help import material. Wallet found this fact to be interesting because he has some background information on railway systems.

Chen finished her presentation by talking about some of the backlash this project has received. “Some countries think China is moving too fast and thinking too big,” Chen said.

The event concluded with a Q&A segment. Kenley asked each speaker one question related to their presentation topic. The event was a precursor to this year’s Ware Lecture.

The Ware Lecture is April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Leffler Chapel and Performance Center. The event will feature musicians of the Silk Road Ensemble.