Latest news with #HanDynasty
Ammon
2 days ago
- Science
- Ammon
Chinese archaeologists uncover evidence of early East-West cultural exchanges
Ammon News - A group of archaeologists in China have uncovered concrete evidence proving that material exchanges between the East and West began long before the Silk Road was formally established in ancient China's Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), shedding new light on evidence proving the existence of ancient trade routes. Findings released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Tuesday reveal that glass beads which resemble dragonfly eyes unearthed from four sites in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are similar with those discovered earlier in central China's Hubei Province. Both sets of beads are believed to have originated from the Levant region along the eastern Mediterranean coast. According to China Central Television (CCTV), this discovery indicates that material cultural exchanges between the East and West were taking place long before the missions of the ancient Chinese explorer Zhang Qian to the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. These exchanges occurred on what could be referred to as the "pre-Silk Road," prior to the formal establishment of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty. These unique "dragonfly-eye" glass beads are created by embedding one or more colours of glass into the base glass, forming patterns resembling the compound eyes of a dragonfly. The origin of these beads can be traced back to Ancient Egypt around the 16th century BC. In China, large quantities of such beads have also been discovered in tombs of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770 BC-221 BC) in what is now central China's Hubei, Hunan, and Henan Provinces.
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
BBC Antiques Roadshow guest collapses after expert reveals 'ancient' item is fake
BBC Antiques Roadshow's archaeology student guest was left in bits after finding out the truth about their rare find. Antiques Roadshow aired chaotic scenes after one guest collapsed when they were told by a BBC expert that her ancient artefact was actually a fake. The guest was an archaeology student, who had spied the item at a flea market for just £30 after bartering the owner down from £50, explaining they thought it was an ancient death offering used in funerary rituals. Antique expert David Battie gave his own assessment of the so-called 'offering', explaining that on the surface it would date back to the Han Dynasty, the Express reports. Giving it a look over, he said: 'It's a very unusual thing, where did you find it?' The owner replied: 'Unfortunately it wasn't in my family. I found it in a flea market in south east London, a few years ago on a Sunday afternoon. It was among loads of house clearance things and the guy didn't really seem very interested in it. "I'd just finished a part-time archaeology course and I was just really intrigued by it. Because it had sandy earth I presumed it was some sort of funeral offering.' David replied: 'Indeed, these were grave goods. Almost invariably they were buried and having been dug up you get all this wonderful colour building up here. "This is cast bronze and the copper is coming through – that's because of acid attack by the soil. "The thing that worries me is that this would normally be what we call a B disc, the eye, which actually has a hole in the middle.' The expert said the item would have likely have belonged to a 'highly important official' when it was buried with them. However, the real shock came when the guest asked: 'How old is it?' and David answered honestly: 'A couple of years.' The guest could not hide their disappointment as she collapsed onto his shoulder in response to his expert appraisal. Burying her face into him, she exclaimed: 'Oh no! You're joking? Are you joking? Oh no, I'm so upset! I'm really upset. "My life is over. It's like a stab to the heart.' Keen to reassure her, David said: 'I haven't finished yet. Listen, we are looking to the future. "This class of wear is coming from China, they are casting it, they are carving it, because they still can afford the skilled craftsmen to do it. It's a fantastic bit of work. 'This is my prediction for the future. You will not normally hear an expert predicting that a forgery is something to buy, but if you can buy that for £30, go out and buy them! Your children are going to thank you.'
Straits Times
6 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
Hong Kong's famous bamboo scaffolding is still hanging on, despite call to move to metal
Ms Daisy Pak is one of a small number of women in Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolding industry. PHOTO: LAM YIK FEI/NYTIMES Hong Kong's famous bamboo scaffolding is still hanging on, despite call to move to metal HONG KONG – As a truckload of bamboo poles pulled into a narrow street, Ms Daisy Pak pulled a safety harness over her paint-streaked leggings and began blasting Prince from a Bluetooth speaker. After manoeuvring a loaded cart into a lift , she opened a tiny window on the ninth floor and ducked out onto a narrow pipe, a bunch of zip ties sashaying behind her back like a bushy tail. She called for mid-length bamboo poles that she tied into a latticework clinging to the outside of the building. Ms Pak, 31, is one of the few female bamboo scaffolding workers in Hong Kong, using an ancient Chinese practice that is synonymous with the city even as its use has faded elsewhere in China. She turned to the industry for a fresh start in 2021, after a hardscrabble upbringing and a fall into drug addiction and debt. There was a demand for skilled construction workers, it paid relatively well and she had a passion for the time-honoured craft. 'It's so special, to build something completely all out of bamboo,' she said. Traditionally, workers learn their craft by shadowing one master with knowledge passed down through generations. But Ms Pak learnt any way she could, working with different bosses to broaden her skills and techniques, and overcoming taunts about her ability as a novice and her 1.55m stature. While dismantling a scaffold, a colleague once tossed her poles to catch instead of passing them downwards. Contractors have tried to pay her less than she was promised. Her arms and legs were constantly bruised. But she carried on. 'I was born with the will to prove people wrong, to do things that they say cannot be done,' she said. Ms Pak working on a bamboo scaffolding project in Hong Kong. PHOTO: LAM YIK FEI/NYTIMES But the industry that helped transform her life now faces its own uncertain future. Some, including Ms Pak, are worried after Hong Kong's development bureau issued a memo in March requiring at least half of government projects to use metal scaffolding, in an effort to gradually widen its use to keep pace with modern industry practices and improve safety. The city is one of the last bastions of an art – and later industry – that was first depicted in scroll paintings from the Han Dynasty around 2,000 years ago, and it has thrived in bamboo-rich regions in China. But in the past two decades, the rest of China pivoted towards metal amid an overproduction of steel. Lattices of bamboo poles bound together by intricate knots regularly rise across the city to build and renovate apartment blocks and commercial skyscrapers that can be dozens of storeys high. A temporary theatre of bamboo scaffolding built around a cliffside temple on Po Toi Island in Hong Kong on April 19. PHOTO: LAM YIK FEI/NYTIMES Advocates of the material, including Ms Pak, say it is lighter and cheaper than metal to transport and carry in Hong Kong's tight urban spaces. Builders particularly favour the material when erecting platforms that support workers who patch up building exteriors and replace old pipes and window sills. The government development bureau wrote in a statement that metal scaffolds offered better fire resistance and were more rigid and durable. But it added that it had no intention of phasing out bamboo scaffolds entirely, 'particularly in special circumstances including limited working space on site'. Mr Tony Za, former chair of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers' building division, said a spate of industrial accidents involving bamboo structures had raised safety concerns. Metal scaffolds are more suitable for large-scale construction projects as skyscrapers grow taller and building materials change to include more glass, he added. For metal scaffolding, engineers can make decisions such as how thick a pole to use and how far apart to space the ringlocks based on calculations accounting for load and extreme weather, he said . That cannot be done for bamboo scaffolds because the poles do not come in uniform shapes, requiring the discretion of bamboo masters. Ms Pak had the foresight to get licensed to work with metal scaffolds in 2024 , saying she already used some metal components, such as platforms. 'They reinforce one another, like brothers scaling a mountain together,' she added. Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong. PHOTO: LAM YIK FEI/NYTIMES But her love for bamboo has only grown. 'The material is so dynamic and resilient,' she said. 'It's just like the spirit of Hong Kong.' Passers-by often do a double take when they watch her haul a bundle of 2.1m bamboo poles with ease. Raised by a single mother, Ms Pak worked in a seedy nightclub for a while, but moved into construction during the Covid-19 pandemic. The daily rate was about US $90 (S$115) for novices and could go up to US$250 for a skilled worker. With no connections in the industry, she trawled scaffolding groups on Facebook, asking if anyone would hire a female worker. Many contractors responded out of curiosity, she said. For the first year, she stayed on the ground, passing tools and bamboo poles several times her height to more seasoned workers dangling from rooftops and balconies. She said she earned greater acceptance as she became more experienced. She amassed several qualifications in the industry, including what is nicknamed the 'master license'. 'I am now respected,' she said. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-04-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
New luxury train will travel some of world's most remote, exotic regions
Is there any more evocative term in travel than 'Silk Road'? Reaching back through history to the second century BC and China's Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), rulers created it as a route between Asia and Europe. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were among the many who traversed the web of caravan tracks the route comprised. It was used for more than 1500 years before sea trade became the easier option. With freedom and romance replacing trade and power as the wind beneath their travelling wings, the hippies and footloose backpackers of the 1960s and 1970s revived it, with painters, authors and musicians chronicling their bohemian odysseys for posterity. Now, you can choose all manner of travel modes to explore the wonders of the route, but few are as alluring as a luxury train, from which you can admire the passing scenery and experience eclectic stops from a capsule of luxury. To celebrate its new train, the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, and to mark its 35th anniversary, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains has launched an epic 22-day journey, Grand Silk Road, melding six nights onboard its new train, and 12 nights on the Golden Eagle train. Set to depart in September 2026, it promises to 'take in some of the world's most remote and historically rich regions in supreme comfort and safety'. On all counts, it sounds like the mother of all understatements. The Grand Silk Road Express travels a wondrous 6500 kilometres, departing from Beijing and heading across China to Kashgar, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, before meandering through the 'Stans', of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with many stunning stops.
The Age
25-04-2025
- The Age
New luxury train will travel some of world's most remote, exotic regions
Is there any more evocative term in travel than 'Silk Road'? Reaching back through history to the second century BC and China's Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), rulers created it as a route between Asia and Europe. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were among the many who traversed the web of caravan tracks the route comprised. It was used for more than 1500 years before sea trade became the easier option. With freedom and romance replacing trade and power as the wind beneath their travelling wings, the hippies and footloose backpackers of the 1960s and 1970s revived it, with painters, authors and musicians chronicling their bohemian odysseys for posterity. Now, you can choose all manner of travel modes to explore the wonders of the route, but few are as alluring as a luxury train, from which you can admire the passing scenery and experience eclectic stops from a capsule of luxury. To celebrate its new train, the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, and to mark its 35th anniversary, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains has launched an epic 22-day journey, Grand Silk Road, melding six nights onboard its new train, and 12 nights on the Golden Eagle train. Set to depart in September 2026, it promises to 'take in some of the world's most remote and historically rich regions in supreme comfort and safety'. On all counts, it sounds like the mother of all understatements. The Grand Silk Road Express travels a wondrous 6500 kilometres, departing from Beijing and heading across China to Kashgar, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, before meandering through the 'Stans', of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with many stunning stops.
