Road to Yesterday

More than 2，000 years ago， accompanied by camel bells and exotic music， Chinese merchants carried silk across deserts， grasslands and snowy mountains. Stretching 7，000 kilometers， the ancient Silk Road started in Chang’an （today’s Xi’an City， Shaanxi Province）， crossed the Hexi Corridor and the Pamir， spanned Central Asia and Western Asia， and finally reached Africa and Europe. The route made it possible for commodities， technology and civilizations from far-off regions of starkly contrasting cultures to communicate.

Over the past 2，000 years， this road connecting Europe and Asia has endured many wars and changing regimes. Romans， Chinese， Mongolians and Arabs each successively controlled the road. Eons of history have not buried the tracks， but preserved traces of Indian， Chinese， Roman， Greek and Arabian cultures and the exchange of those civilizations along with their ups and downs.

Such history is recorded in Deke Erh’ pictures， which were taken during the photographer’s repeated travels along the Silk Road since 2000. A freelance photographer with over 30 years of experience， Deke Erh considers his photos visionary documentation of the Silk Road.

His images depict ruins of once-prosperous cities such as Persepolis， which was leveled by the flames of war brought by Alexander the Great， once-bustling Loulan City buried by desert， and remnants of the Milan that prospered from the Han （206B.C.-220A.D.） to the Tang Dynasty （618-907）. He also highlights modern lives seasoned by traditional flavor， such as an SUV aside a flock of camels， chil- dren running in front of a time-honored mosque and tuxedo-clad farmers carrying tools. Glory and humility， rises and downfalls， all happen along the road while harmoniously manifesting high levels of human civilization and the vitality of humankind.

Along with the rise of maritime transportation in the 15th Century， traffic along the ancient Silk Road gradually dwindled. Not until the 1970s， when German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen （1833-1905） discovered and coined the name “Silk Road，” did the route creep back into conversations. Today， it’s a common topic as Russia， the U.S. and China all unleash political and economic strategies paralleling the road， which has become a central metaphor due to its emerging markets. However， what did the road really look like in its heyday？

While experts and analysts link the road to interests such as money and oil while pushing for cooperation or competition， we should reexamine actual human experience along the illustrious route over past centuries： War transformed civilization into ruins while trade and exchange fostered prosperity and peace. Humanity’s creative and destructive power as displayed along the road is truly awe-inspiring， which is all the more reason to expect greater efforts to revive it as a place converging kindness and peace.