Unique Information from Both Sources
In this lesson, one topic that the two sources treated differently is the topic on what kind of perspective they told the story about the history in the period of Silk Road. I find the two sources with many differences because they totally told the stories differently comparing to each other. Something that I learned from the video "The Silk Road: Where East Met West: Episode 1" that was not covered in the Chapter 16 of Bresnan's Awakening is the story in Uyghur Xinjiang, One of which is the story about grapes, "The truth appears when Zhang Qian passed this way, the grapes were already here. Brought perhaps by the short lived empire of Alexander the Great. When he finally returned to his emperor in China's ancient capitol, Zhang Qian took of those grapevines with him."(Silk, 42:10-42:29)
Grape Harvesting Begins in Xinjiang - Youtube - By CCTV Video News Agency
Something that I saw from Chapter 16 that was not covered in the video was a good example of Martin Luther's ideas on Pure Land Buddhism, "Martin Luther was proclaiming very much the same sort of thing. Luther concluded that man is by nature sinful, and therefore no amount of 'good works' can ever earn salvation. The finite can never add up to the infinite. Salvation cannot be earned, but it can be had nontheless as a loving gift of God. Luther taught that the infinite merit (grace) created by Jesus in his death on the cross is available to everyone. All that is required is faith, a loving faith in God."(Bresnan 388) The text really done a great job here by giving a similar Western religious example on the Pure Land Buddhism, made it easier to understand for most people.
How Both Sources Treat Topic Differently
To say how specifically the sources treated the topic of perspective differently, we can identify by their contents. The text, obviously focused on the perspective of religion, as we can see it introduced Buddhisms such as the Tiantai Buddhism and the Pure Land Buddhism, "Of the many Buddhist sects that flourished in China, two were destined to dominate the scene in the long run. One of these was Pure Land Buddhism."(Bresnan 391)
However, the video is more dedicated in the prespective of introducing some of the interesting facts and events that once happened in this history of the Silk Road. One example that can represent the prespective is the market streets in the city of Khotan, "Khotan's markets an bazaars are full silk fabrics to this very day. And for at least 1,000 years, they've been making it in this style known as Atlas silk. I've been waiting 2,000 miles to see this."(Silk, 49:22-49:35)
My View on the Topic
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| Muslim influence in Venice Silk Road |
Something that was new to me in the video specifically was that Venice has some of the Eastern exotic architectural style within the city, "Statues like these advertised the presence of people who traded in the exotic artifacts and produce not of Europe, but of another world entirely."(Silk, 4:46-4:55) It's surprising to me because Venice had a pretty heavy Renaissance influence.
Other than that, something that I find and thought was new to me in Chapter 16 of Bresnan was that the Confucians and Daoists thought that Buddhism is the reason for all the chaos within the society, "There were those among the Confucians and Daoists who feared and hated the intrusion of this powerful new institution. In their eyes, Buddhist monasteries were responsible for the disharmony of the age. They saw Buddhist monasteries as treacherous institutions that were undermining the stability of the society."(Bresnan 391) This appear surprising to me is because that Buddhism is a peaceful path just like how Daoism would offer to be, a conflict between these ideas is rather surprising for me.
Works Cited
Bresnan, Patrick. Awakening : An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. New York, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.
“Grape Harvesting Begins in Xinjiang.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEnb1XbkBKQ. Accessed 12 May 2021.
“The Silk Road: Where East Met West: Episode 1.” Films Media Group, www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=127878. Accessed 12 May 2021.
Venice and the Silk Road: The Muslim World – Silk Road Gourmet. silkroadgourmet.com/venice-and-the-muslim-world/. Accessed 12 May 2021.
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