Silk Road Commerce and Culture

Sogdian diaspora

Silk Road Settlements, 4th-9th c.

Samarkand

Turfan

Peak eastern migration, 5th-8th c.

Sogdian Language

Sogdian Activities in China and Turkic Mongolia

Merchants, Farmers, Artisans, Government officials, Soldiers (An Lushan), Singers and dancers

Turkic archaeological remains in Mongolia

Sogdian Professions in Turfan Documents

Merchants, Farmers, Bronze smiths, Ironsmiths, Artists, Painter, Leatherworkers, Veterinarian, and Innkeeper

Culture in flux: Sogdian Diaspora Religion

Sogdian Zoroastrian Funeral

Orthodox (Persia)

Fire and dog

Inner Asian “Unorthodoxy”

Self-mutilation

Chinese “unorthodoxy”

Zoroastrian Burial

Kang Ye, d. 571, Chang’an

Funerary couch (Miho couch images)

Funerary objects

Chinese and Inner Asian

Chinese “orthodoxy”

Epitaph

An Jia (d. 579) Couch

Negotiations?

Glimpses of Diaspora Society

Iranian traditions

Hunting, Feasting, Dancing