Silk and Religion An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People, AD 600-1200

by Xinru Liu

• ISBN13: 9780195636550
• ISBN10: 0195636554
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Xinru Liu studies the silk trade in Eurasia between the seventh and twelfth centuries to explore how religious ideas affected economic behavior. Long-distance silk trade was established for centuries in ancient Eurasia, well before the state in Tang China and the Byzantine Empire set up state silk industries and clothing codes to regulate the trade and consumption of silk textiles. Silk textiles were invested with symbolic meaning and their use restricted to bureaucratic and religious hierarchies in both regions.

Author Biography

Xinru Liu is Director, Department of Ancient and Medieval History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
Rise of Buddhist Folk Religion and Relic Transactions	p. 25
Silk and Buddhism	p. 49
Silk in Byzantium	p. 73
Cult of Saints and Christian Expansion	p. 92
Christianity and Silk Trade	p. 113
Rise of Islam and the Tiraz System	p. 130
Silk Trade under Islamic Rule	p. 158
Concuding Comments	p. 179
References	p. 197
Chronological Table	p. 212
Index	p. 221
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