Final Project

My final project can be found at
http://silkroadsogdians.blogspot.com/

War Crimes Against Culture

Before reading this weeks articles, "Unesco's Rehabilitation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage: Mandate and Recent Activities" and "Afghan Cultural Heritage and International Law: The Case of the Buddha’s of Bamiyan" I never realized the toll war could take on cultural objects. It is common knowledge that war is very destructive, it murders millions of people, and abolishes infrastructure. I think a lot of people including myself forget that because of war many cultural objects are completely destroyed, stolen, or ruined. Cultural objects are extremely important to sustaining the heritage of a peoples and they are important factors in the history of a peoples. According to Francioni and Lenzerini the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha’s was considered a war crime. This again shows that the destruction of cultural objects was a negative consequence of war and the destruction is equal to that of destroying infrastructure or murdering people.

The article "Unesco's Rehabilitation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage: Mandate and Recent Activities" outlines all of the money various governments gave to help the preservation of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. The article states that "funding and other forms of assistance well exceeding the $7 million pledged during the May 2002 Kabul Seminar have been given for cultural projects in Afghanistan." (59) I wonder if people think all this money being poured into persevering Afghanistan's cultural heritage is too much? Would people think this money should go to other programs like food and shelter programs instead of spending so much money on restoring cultural objects? In my opinion I think cultural objects are just as important. They define a peoples, they become part of your life and the way you live. They help define you and it is important to make sure no culture is lost because no culture is more superior to another so we must treat each culture equally.

Islam

Before reading the article by Hirschkind and Mahmood I did not know how heavily involved the United States was in Afghanistan and how the environment they created helped the Taliban rise to power. By writing this article I think Hirschkind and Mahmood are trying to state that the West should not oversimplify and make assumptions, and how these assumptions have consequences on the Islamic faith. The article states that the Taliban policies “did not substantially affect the lives of the vast majority of rural women” as well as some women felt safer from being raped. They state that Feminist Majority in the West left these ambiguities out of their campaigns. By leaving out this information it can alter what actually was happening at that time. I wonder if the Feminist Majority were to include this information in their campaigns would they have been as successful.
            They also argue that assumptions and oversimplification of Islam had a negative effect on Non-Western culture. Anything that is not part of Western culture was seen as a threat. The West is very concerned with secularizing political issues and anything else in the public sphere which leads to complications for Muslims living in Western societies, for example the article states that headscarves were banned in French public life in 1994. Is all this Western influence really necessary?

There is no doubt that women were oppressed during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and in other times however I believe that Hirschkind and Mahmood are trying to stress that nothing should be taken at face value and that assuming information leads to a misrepresentation of what is actually going on.

Living in a City During the Tang Dynasty

Hansen’s article describes life in Changan during the Tang Dynasty. It seems as though life in Changan was highly organized. Much thought was put into the layout of the city; the market had to be in the north while the emperor’s audience hall must face the south so that his back is facing the market. This is to illustrate that the status of a person involved in commerce was low. The negative view attributed to people involved in commerce and the city layout are examples of a society based on class. Also the essay mentions a story of a young man who cannot escape his class no matter what he does, which again illustrates that social class was important and there was little mobility among the classes. This is not unique to Changan, this is a theme found in many articles that I have read for this class. The markets were also heavily supervised by the government. There was a market supervisor who over saw everything that had to do with the market including checking the quality of goods, currency, etc. This reminded me of the society that I live in today. We have departments in the government that regulate things like goods and currency to this day. However the merchants were not the only ones who were under government supervision, the commoners also experienced this. Therefore everyone in Changan was controlled by the government, illustrating again an organized society.

Bundy`s Missiological Reflections on Nestorian Christianity in China During the Tang Dynasty argues that the Nestorians did have an impact in China during the Tang Dynasty however not a great one. The essay states that foreigners in China got absorbed into Chinese culture. This assimilation of foreigners would make it difficult for the Nestorians to establish a strong following. However he does state that the Nestorians did attain some influence in China such as creating a Chinese Christian literature and theological vocabulary. Even though according to Bundy the Nestorians did not have a large impact in China, I believe that it would be difficult for any group to establish a new religion anywhere, especially in structured society like in China at this time.