• Acta Via Serica
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.61-90
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• 2021

Recent excavations in Qinghai Province, China, have disclosed textiles and artworks from Tuyuhun-Tubo (Tibetan) tombs, dated to the 7^th-9^th centuries, that suggest artistic and cultural exchanges along an external southern branch of the main Silk Road, between Gansu and Sichuan Provinces, across the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau toward the Himalayas. Many similar textiles, possibly from this area, have appeared lately on the art market and ended in private collections. Although these textiles, dated to the early Tibetan period, follow a popular prototype established in Central Asia in the 6^th century, the technical features, colors, and other indigenous elements suggest that they were woven in workshops different from those established between Sogdiana and Gansu. The exhibition "Cultural Exchange Along the Silk Road - Masterpieces of the Tubo Period," organized by the Dunhuang Research Academy and the Pritzker Collaborative Art between July and October 2019 in Dunhuang, Gansu, was a groundbreaking event that gathered scholarly attention on early Tibetan material culture, but a relevant publication is still forthcoming. In my previous work, I briefly discussed a group of silk textiles, possibly from Qinghai or Sichuan, that I analyzed in 2014 in the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. In light of the recent material excavated, published online, or displayed in Dunhuang, in this article, I reevaluate the data previously collected, and discuss in detail the technical and iconographic features of one of the fragments held in Hangzhou. Eventually, the piece was recognized as the ending part of a large panel, which is now in the Abegg Stiftung in Riggisberg, Switzerland.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-47
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• 2017

The corridors to the north and south of the $Takl{\bar{a}}m{\bar{a}}k{\bar{a}}n$ (塔克拉瑪干 Ta-ke-la-ma-gan) Desert are the most important regions for cultural confluence on the Silk Road, where caravans made it to the Chinese capital or the Korean Peninsula by the northern road, through the city of Turfan, or the southern path of Khutan. Being an important part of the Silk Road in the course of history, this region was heavily influenced by the cultures of various nations and ethnic communities whose merchants utilized the road to advance their business. The region's language, writing system and literary structure were also affected, so much so that in the course of its tumultuous history, many words, phrases and terms belonging to neighboring cultures found their way into the region, leaving their mark on its linguistic structure. Of the cultural exchanges that took place between the peoples of the region, conspicuous traces can be seen in the architecture, music, literature, texts, and inscriptions. Located in the Turfan region, the minaret of Su Gong (蘇公 Su Gong ) is host to an inscription which bears many signs of such exchanges. As so far no independent research has been conducted to identify the cultural, literary and structural features conveyed in this inscription, the present paper is an attempt to study the inscription in terms of the script, language and syntax in order to unravel the effects of cultures prevalent on the Silk Road on this particular inscription. This study mainly aims to investigate the linguistic structure of the inscription and the impact of the Persian language on Silk Road culture. In fact, we approach the inscription as a symbol of cultural exchange on the Silk Road and will focus on the tradition of Persian inscription-making which affected the Turfan inscription.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.95-109
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• 2003

The style of different styles of clothing have been developed by not only the natural environment and social effects. but also by various variables such as the peculiar cultures and religions of different ethnic groups. It is naturally accepted without question that the origin of trousers was derived from the Skytie race in the modern style of dress. And the style of those trousers has changed and developed throughout a long history in different environments and surroundings. As part of the research of the process in this styles of clothing, it is essential to know how the fabric of trousers has been developed and how the styles have been changed because of different weather conditions and different religions. Nowadays, Eurasian countries was scattered from western and eastern Asian countries to middle Asian countries such as Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Iran and China. These countries are located on the way to the Silk Road. They are fully developed in a cultural area among the different religions. In terms of cultural aspects within the different religions, men's trousers had developed the traditional style of this dress as one of the importnat items on the cultural basis. The ranges and types of these traditional trousers are divided by the regions, such as west and southern Asia, central Asia and China. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey. Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel was a part of the west and southern Asian countries which were located between western countries and eastern countries. This tribes wore Shalwar trousers which is a wide style of trousers. Shalwar in the western and eastern Asian region has a specific feature by the each nation but has the same distinctions such as by using very wide and loose style and tying a fine thread around the waist. Some central Asian countries consisted of part of China, Turkmenistan. the Republic of Tajikistan. the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Afganistan. These style of trousers are compound types which appeared with mixing Draperian Greek culture. So it can be inferred from this data that the horse-riding nomadic trousers which had been handed down from Skytie tribe through Persia. The style of the trousers in those regions has small pieces. The style of the trousers in China, which is located on the way to the far eastern countries, has developed new trousers put together two pieces of the textile. These widen trousers can be worn by using a sash belt. So we can find out that those trousers of countries which mentioned above have a common point and a rule.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.39
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• pp.637-667
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• 2019

I have researched in the field the religious and performance culture of Indonesia through the musical iconography of Borobudur. There are many kinds of musical instruments which belong to India or Indonesia, performers being either court or folk musicians. Contemporary south-east Asian Indonesia has a broad religious heritage. Most of the population is Muslim, but the culture and customs are rooted in Indian Ramayana. I discovered, for example, the same percussion instruments played on a person's knees. I also came across similar string instruments with long and elliptical resonance casks on the iconography of the Incense Burner and Byam temple stone pagoda of Beakje dynasty in Korea and in Borobudur in Indonesia. The two musical instruments can not be found in other countries, such as Silla, Koguryŏ, China or the silk road area, but only Indonesia or India. This suggests that Beakje Buddhism is from the southern regions rather than China. I also discovered the same dancing motion with the court performers on the iconography of Borobudur, and the same musical instrument and performance in the Gamelan in today's Indonesian performance. Despite a disjuncture between the people and their past, the Shailendra Buddhism is alive in people's life and culture in the present day. So we can discover some familiarities between Indonesia's Gamelan and the percussional performance in Korean Buddhist rituals.