reflections of the silk road (in Japan)

 

It is said that sometimes as many as 500 camels would make up the great silk road caravans that journeyed east-west across what is some of the most daunting terrain on earth. Indeed, it is the terrain itself that perhaps more than anything defines these lands through which the caravans passed. In addition to being dominated by some of the highest mountain ranges on earth-- the Pamirs, the Karakoram, the Himalaya, the Kunlun--- the area is also home to some of the most deadly deserts and lifeless basin areas as well. Completely landlocked, it was a journey of great extremes.

The silk road...

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A victim of the atomic bomb blast (hibakusha 被爆者) at Hiroshima, Ikuo Hirayama is one of Japan's greatest living nihonga painters. Last night, flipping through a book containing some of his most famous paintings, a description of a time in his youth when the artist had hit a very low place in his life caught my attention. Suffering from sickness caused by radiation exposure, Hirayama had grown physically weak. And, in this debilitated state, he became emotionally distraught over his lack of success as a painter. "If I were to collapse now," he wrote, "none of my paintings would ever be known to the world-- nothing of myself would be left behind." He then vowed that he would not give up hope until he had achieved at least one painting that truly expressed what was in his own heart as well as the spirit of the times in which he was a part.

It was around this time that the image of the legendary translator of the silk road, the Chinese monk Xuanzang came to him in the form of his first great artistic success, the Transmission of Buddhism.

More powerful than what must have been great anxiety and fear over the hardship of making such a hazardous journey was Xuanzang's strong commitment to transmit the Buddhist teachings. Overcoming all his fears was his hope and prayers for a better and more peaceful future for humankind. It was this hope which gave the young Hirayama the start for his own personal journey （「平山郁夫の世界」より）

 

And what a journey his life has taken. From his painting of the great Chinese monk, Hirayama would embark on a lifetime devoted to painting and writing about the Silk Road. Not just as a painter, but in his capacity as a UNESCO goodwill ambassador, Hirayama has traveled and painted the silk road for some 50 years. From his work in Afganistan to UNESCO symposiums and children's projects, he is known for his vision of a "silk road" style cooperation and mutual flourishing between peoples.

Last week, I was working on a translation of an interview with one of Japan's greatest living composers. Like Yo Yo Ma, Miki Minoru is best known for his work on silk road music. When asked why he holds up the silk road as a symbol of mutual cooperation and peaceful coexistence, Miki had this to say:

The Silk Road was a uniquely peaceful trade route. Connecting Rome with Chang’an, it was a route that served to promote peaceful exchanges and mutual cooperation between Eastern and Western countries. It is interesting that while in Asia the Silk Road holds great interest and dreams, in the west it seems to be mainly of interest to archaeologists. As a person who fundamentally rejects the current uninteresting state of affairs whereby as the world Westernizes we are seeing more and more of a mono-culture, what I can do in my own projects is to choose artists whose own sense of identity is not that of “international.” Having said that, however, in my Japanese or Asian music projects, there are countless cases in which we utilize technologies or know-how produced by the West. Also, because of Japan’s own history of waves of influence by the refined culture of China, within my own identity as a Japanese, this great East Asian cultural flowering—together with my own personal approach--has been essential in my larger scale artistic activities.

Like Miki Minoru, I too have been surprised by the gap in how the silk road is understood in different places around the world. But rather than east versus west, I think that in fact all of the countries that once stood along the ancient silk road have a more or less similar view of the ancient trade route's symbolic value as an alternative possibility to international relations and globalization. Indeed, from Europe to Japan, UNESCO holds its Silk Road symposiums with this aim of promoting what they call "two-way dialogues" in the form of harmonious cultural and trade exchanges.

Especially in Japan, the Silk Road is often held up as a symbolic alternative to globalism-as -mono-culturalization. UNESCO's Eiji Hattori remarks that the opposite of this idea of the Silk Road is that of empire or colonialism. 

Miki, in his interview has a better description, I think, in which he says that while there will always be inbalances of power between different peoples over the stretch of time, when that inbalance of power tilts too far in one direction that it is this overwheming dominance of one group over another that has shown itself to have tremendous power in generating the kind of hate that leads to violence. And, it is his belief that it is only through harmonious exchanges and collaborative efforts between people that genuine peace can be established.

Yo Yo Ma said much the same thing in an interview he did for Wisconsin's public radio program East Meets West. Calling the Silk Road the "Internet of Antiquity," he said that as important as virtuosity in his work is what he calls a spirit of generosity. This is really captured by the image of an orchestra, says Miki, where virtuosity (in the form of the individual musicians) come together in a spirit of general equality (or as Yo Yo Ma says generosity) with the ultimate aim of mutual flourishing for all members.

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Obviously, no one is really talking about how things actually may have been or not, for indeed, we have also seen the silk road used as a slogan for aggressive multinational corporations wanting to get a piece of the energy pie in that part of that world as well. But, in Japan-- at least-- the silk road has been overwhelmingly taken up as a symbol of mutual cooperation and co-flourishing which is viewed ultimately as a symbol for anti-"globalization" and world peace. 

What is most illuminating about this vision is that the opposite of globalization is not isolation. It is a more cooperative or mutually benefiting type of "two-way" exchange. And, as a two-way exchange, it would have less impact than current trade practives. (I have been reading about the way the cultural and trade practices of traditional societies along the silk road in the Himalaya which had remained basically intact for a thousand years of silk road history are becoming almost totally extinct over the past two decades for reasons related to empire, globalization, monoculturalization. For more see this post on Ladakh)

Japan, with its vibrant peace and ecology movements, has taken up these reflections of the silk road like perhaps no other people. (See this post). Having lived the past two decades through this silk road boom, I have been so impressed by both the approach of silk road history scholars (like those at Ryukoku University) as well as the surprisingly long term enthusiasm of the general public.

As Eiji Hattori once famously remarked: civilizations don't clash, ignorance does.

And so this unique commitment to an ideal of peace and mutual cooperation as seen in the romance of the stories we tell about the history of the silk road has always struck me as highly praiseworthy. To try and see the connections and our mutual co-dependence...

A friend remarked that he sometimes feels as if a new culture is being born. I wish I could agree with him. I guess I am too dark and gloomy for that. But, I will say this much: if a new culture is being born, I wonder if it isn't the one I sometimes feel blossoming right here in Japan at the grassroots level- where peace and ecoloogy is is so often spoken of in terms of inter-connectability, inter-dependence and dialogue.

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Finally, I really recommend the Wisconsin public radio program (with Yo Yo Ma): East Meets West: the New Silk Road. Yo Yo Ma spoke about how important he believes it is for people to feel that they are a part of something bigger than just the practical concerns of their own lives. It reminded me of my friend Arsen's comment the other day concerning our conversation about Heidegger and "being online," when he remarked how hard he felt it was to find a spiritual or literary school in the busy-ness of our everyday practical lives (and how the Internet is so helpful in reaching out to form intellectual or spiritual communities). This all is, of course, very close to my own heart. To borrow my dear Caesar's words, I would always want to be the kind of person who isn't just sitting safely on the beach watching other people doing the swimming. Yes, it is a risk to get in the water-- you could even drown-- but, no matter what, I categorically agree with Caesar (and Yo Yo Ma) that one wants to live engaged and committed to something beyond just the practical. (Yes, Kierkegaard for President)