During the past year in China there’s been amazing plans set forth to develop the Silk Road (by One Road – One Belt, Silk Road Development Fund, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank as well as the Silk Road Gold Fund); so with exams finally finished and summer vacation looming, I thought, “Why not go on a Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour?”

Consequently I applied for some visas to smooth the way, packed the ol’ camera bag, saddled up the iron horse (in the form of an e-ticket), hopped on a super-speed electric train in Beijing and sailed smoothly so to speak (290 km/h most of the way) to Xian, the most famous of the two main ancient capitals of China. Why? Xian was and is one end of the fabled Silk Road. One could argue for Beijing, since a branch of the Silk Road extended there from Xian when it became the capital city during the Yuan Dynasty, but there’s not a whole lot of hype about that.

Brief Silk Road - Kung Fu Summary
The Silk Road grew with advances in transportation beginning with the domestication of the noble camel, primarily as a pack animal, sometime around the 8th century BCE. Chinese silk was used in Greece, the Middle East and Egypt by the middle of the first millennium BCE. The transition from horse-drawn wheeled vehicles to horse-riding happened around the 2nd century BCE.

In another sense the Silk Road evolved as a way for China to control its trade with Central and West Asia, rather than leaving it to nomads on horseback, a loose assortment of tribes spread all through northeast, west and central Asia and mostly classifiable as “Turkic nomads” (and against whom the Great Walls ultimately failed). The Silk Road didn’t become a complete entity until around the end of the 1st millennium.

There have been many famous Silk Road travelers. Circa 399–413, Faxian was the first of several Buddhist monks to travel the Silk Road to India to collect sutras. Later on, monk Huisheng accompanied Sung Yun on the Silk Road during the years 518–521. Probably the most famous of all Silk Road traveling monks was Xuanzang, who traveled the Tarim Basin via the northern route (through Turpan, Tashkent, Samarkand, and over the Hindu Kush to India) to collect the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle, before taking the Silk Road sea route home. His account served as inspiration for Journey to the West,” a classic novel that focuses on the exploits of Sun Wu Kong, the magical and amazing Stone Monkey who, according to the story, served as one of three rather naughty guardians/bodyguards for Monk Xuanzang along his Silk Road trip.

Daoist monk Ch’ang Ch’un traveled through the Altai and Tienshan Mountains, the southern parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Samarkand, Northeast Iran and Afghanistan, during the years 1220–1223, accompanied by his disciple Li Qi Ch’an – the man who actually wrote the remarkably detailed account of the journey.

And of course there’s Marco Polo, who wrote a detailed two-volume collection of notes about his extensive travels along the Silk Road and elsewhere. His family travelog begins in 1260, though most of the account occurs in the 1290s.

An excellent list of Silk Road travelers with brief descriptions can be found at http://www.silkroad.com/artl/srtravelmain.shtml

The most interesting contemporary Silk Road traveler I encountered was Turkish photographer Arif Asci who, in 1997 and over an 18-month period, traveled the entire Silk Road from Istanbul to Xian using camels. His remarkable photo-essay is already a classic of modern “neo-Classical” Asian art. He’s also a very cool guy (he answered my e-mail and sent some of his photos; salute to you, Sir!).

But these Silk Road travelers were the exception rather than the rule. Historically goods were very rarely transported by one person or group of people the entire length of the Silk Road. Usually they were bought and sold at way-stations along the road (called “Caravansaries”) in western Asia and the Middle East. The Silk Road was always a patchwork affair, except perhaps during the Yuan (Mongolian-ruled) Dynasty when passage throughout the vast empire was relatively safe and smooth. Some of the Mongol rulers (e.g., Kublai Khan) were disposed towards Buddhism which held tremendous sway throughout that dynasty; however after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Islam became the dominant religion of Central Asia. Very little of Buddhist monasteries and culture remain in Central Asia, while Islam and Muslims continue to have a strong influence on some major branches of Chinese Kung Fu (see references at the end of this story).

One can only imagine the many campfires along the ancient Silk Road down through the millennium, where ideas and beliefs were exchanged among Muslims and Buddhists, Christians and Jews, Hindus and Zoroastrians, atheist philosophers, caravan guards, the rich and poor, freemen and slaves alike – thousands, possibly millions, of such campfire chats, perhaps as many as the stars in the night sky – which has led me to hypothesize a “reverberating history theory” originating on the ancient Silk Road, where the resonant sound is not from the primary tone of the vibration of the skin of the drum or string(s), but rather reverberations within and emanating outward from the (musical/transportation) vessel, in this case, the Silk Road itself.

Writer G. Brundage at Bell Tower in Xian Official Beginning of Silk Road

 

Xian
Xian, called Chang’an in antiquity, is the current-day capital of Shaanxi Province and the largest city in northwest China. It was the first capital of a unified China in 221 BCE (under Emperor Qin Shi Huang) and has been the capital of the empire on 12 different occasions, some more auspicious than others. It is the location of the famed terracotta warriors and eternal home of China’s first Emperor Qin, may he rest in peace along with his wives, warriors, slaves, horses, etc.

Another example of the ultimate colorfulness of this truly exotic ancient city can be found during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) when a mad tyrant general, Dong Zhou, took advantage of a weak emperor to seize the empire, decimating the old capital of Luoyang and moving his new government to Chang’an. Needless to say, he didn’t last long, as the “Mandate of Heaven” (required for rulership in China) clearly did not shine upon him. A somewhat fictionalized account can be found in the Chinese classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

As the starting and ending points of the Silk Road, Xian was also one of the world’s largest, richest and most diverse cities, with (not surprisingly) the highest and thickest walls, large portions of which remain today, remarkably enough.

Silk Road Across from Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves Near Turpan Xinjiang China

 

The Gold Road
The Silk Road very recently and quietly acquired another name: The Gold Road. This is the largest single fund ever proposed in Chinese history and was launched recently in Xian, led by the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE). Many countries along the Silk Road have extensive gold resources and China has the technological resources to help them develop that industry. This is going to be an unprecedented source of income for the region (and you read it here first). With a planned scale-up to 100 billion Chinese yuan and a term of 5-7 years, the Silk Road Gold Fund is expected to become the largest single fund in China.

Thus Xian is still very much a leader, while simultaneously preserving its history far better than most modern cities with an ancient history. For example, Xian is one of very few cities in China with well-preserved (partly rebuilt) walls, more than 15 km in length, which is astonishing in this day and age.

No less remarkable is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda monastery built in 648 to preserve the sutras brought back from India by Buddhist monk Xuanzang; though rebuilt a few times, it is still unquestionably a monument to enlightened inspiration, history and culture. There’s also the Muslim Hui District, built around the 15th century Great Masjid (Mosque) of Xian, located in an ancient part of town with narrow stone roads, bazaars, all manner of shops and more than a thousand years of history.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda Xian

 

The Exotic Road of Danger and Hope
Check most Chinese and Korean dictionaries and the word “exotic” translates as “foreign.” But exotic in English is a lot more than that, more like the richness of a magical Persian rug intricately woven with texture and stunning colors, scented with herbs, spices and precious oils from a thousand mystical forgotten cities and mountains. There is likely no road as exotic as the Silk Road that begins in China – an avenue woven with riches beyond imagining, romance, danger and, all too often, death. Yet this road was also the bringer of life and hope to the ancient world, and now it is again. So the wheel turns.

The Silk Road caravans brought to China many wondrous things: horses and wool carpets from Central Asia; dates, saffron powder and pistachio nuts from Persia; frankincense, aloes and myrrh from Somalia; precious stones and sandalwood from India; glass bottles from Egypt, gems and other precious stone from everywhere; and other expensive and desirable goods from all other parts of the world. In exchange, the caravans took back fine silk, medicines, porcelain, lacquer ware, art, education, and silver.

But the most valuable role of the Silk Road wasn’t any of these mere things; rather, it was the cultural exchange between east and west: religion, philosophies, art, sciences and technologies, medical knowledge, martial arts, myriad skills, languages, and every other aspect of civilization.

Certainly ancient Persian Zoroastrian philosophy influenced the development of Buddhist philosophy, and it is certainly possible that Chan (Zen) philosophy originating at the Songshan Shaolin with Bodhidharma (who himself was probably from Central Asia) had some influence on the Sufi mystics of Central and West Asia – begging the question of whether the transcendent realization of the oneness of all is inherent in everyone/everywhere. Certainly the Silk Road reverberated with the harmonies of infinite philosophies and business transactions, and naturally enough more than a few cacophonous sour notes were thrown in there too (e.g., slave traders, wars, bandits, etc.).

Silk Road Guards
One question has fascinated me for decades: “Who would be so brave or foolish as to become a Silk Road caravan guard?”

In order to protect caravans against bandits and organized thieving tribes, merchants usually traveled in large caravans with as many as 1,000 camels. Guards (often trusted nomads, former military men, martial artists of all sorts, body guards, and adventurers) took on the dangerous job of accompanying the caravans. To get a perspective of the quantity of goods traveling the road, a single-humped bactrian camel could carry 400–500 pounds of merchandise. The value of a single caravan was thus enormous, given that they usually carried not only simple spices, silk and carpets but also gemstones, silver and money (salaries for distant military garrisons, tax payments for distant rulers, and so on). Camels were not the only transportation vehicle along the Silk Road; horses, donkeys, mules and even elephants were at one time or another used.

Bajiquan has acquired a reputation as the "bodyguard style" in China, as many famous Chinese leaders relied on security personal trained in this particular martial art. But let there be no doubt about it, the Silk Road was where “Mixed Martial Arts” really began, with spinoffs in all directions from that artery of trade through Asia to Europe. Probably the greatest living expert on the kinds of martial arts used along the Silk Road is Shifu Ma Wenguo, who I interviewed at Xian Physical Education University for this series.

Protection of caravans was implemented at both private (bodyguards) and institutional levels. Institutional-level protection included Chinese garrisons and watchtowers beyond the Great Walls (of which there were many), which used smoke and signal flags for communication; Mongolian Postal Stations (which were sacrosanct, as attacking one would be suicidal due to Mongol vengeance); and the Caravansaries in West Asia, the Middle East and Anatolia.

The martial arts of that time must have been wickedly savage, and it evolved over time, incorporating bow and arrow (on horseback), swords, halberds, cudgels and just about every other weapon known to man during the two millennium history of the Silk Road.

Master Ma Wenguo Director of Martial Arts Institute of Xian Physical Education University

 

The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour
Reading the following series of stories, one will find that, starting on July 14, 2015, I traveled virtually the whole width of China, stopping at Xian, Turpan, and Urumqi only to sleep, eat, and search for (and when possible interview) the Kung Fu masters. From there I crossed the border to Kazakhstan, stopping in Almaty to interview the masters, and from there onward to Bishkek, Kyrgystan, stopping to interview the masters, and continuing from there by bus through a part of Kazakhstan to get to Tashkent Uzbekistan, where again I stopped to interview the masters (on August 1). Note that in most of the following stories I try to include background Silk Road and cultural information, as context is everything in telling a good story and giving a rounded perspective.

It was in Uzbekistan, however, that I found visas to be a real problem, forcing me to stop at Tashkent near the midpoint between Xian and Istanbul, which was my final destination on the Silk Road land route across Asia. Tashkent is an amazing, beautiful and historically rich city. The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour will hopefully recommence early next year starting in Tashkent, and continue through Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey.

In China one learns to make fortune from misfortune, so I won’t complain about still having a couple weeks of vacation before school starts. Besides, I’m supposed to be getting ready for the Beijing International Triathlon in September. For the readers information, if someone wants to travel through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey, it’s best to start applying for visas a couple of months ahead of time. And, if someone wants to research visa laws in different countries, don’t simply trust travel agency Internet sites for information. You have to directly contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the specific nations you want to visit. Then you need to contact travel agencies to arrange “Letters of Invitation” (LOI) at least for Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. This usually means you have to get “package deals” which include transportation and (mostly rather expensive) hotels. Doing it on the cheap like back in the 1970s just isn’t going to work these days.

On the bright side, I made a huge number of friends and had countless adventures on this first half of my “Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour.” So, I’ll call this Tour “Part 1,” and will probably break the second half into a couple of shorter trips. Why? It’ll give me more time to research, write, relax, and ensure all the visas are perfect.

In the series of stories that follow, I interviewed many amazing Kung Fu masters from northwest China and the eastern half of the Central Asian North Silk Road. First, I was honored to have the opportunity to interview people at the world-famous Xian University of Physical Education, starting with Director of the Center for International Exchange, Qiang Lei, followed by Sanda Master Coach Zhao, several of his top fighters including Ba Pe Er from Inner Mongolia, Xin Ge Le and Wang Guan, Director of Chinese Martial Arts Institute and PhD of Chinese Martial Arts Ma Wenguo, as well as Ms. Xu Yin, Director of Taolu, Luo Xuelin, Master of Fan Tsu Chuan, Mr. Tang Jun, Master of Mantis and Guo Yu, Master of Baji Chuan.

In Urumqi I was honored to have the opportunity to interview young Master Ai Li, a faculty member at Urumqi Jingwu School, famed for having the best Wushu faculty in Xinjiang. Also while there I got contact information for the highly respected Tai Chi master Chen Jia Gou, who lives and teaches a couple of hours outside the main urban area, and the Xinjiang Desert Tyvek Security Service Co., Ltd. & International Fight Club, also a couple of hours outside the main urban area.

Riding Turpan Camels by Flaming Mountains

 

In Almaty, Kazakhstan, I was honored to have the opportunity to interview Yuriy Vyalkov, master of Vinh Xuan Dang Gia (sometimes called Vietnamese Buddha Style Wing Chung), whose master is the legendary Nguyen Xuan Dang Nham based in Hanoi, and also to have met and interviewed Shifu Mike Adams who teaches Chinese Wing Chun Kung Fu also in Almaty.

In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, I was honored to interview Dmitrushenko Yuriy Vladimirovich, President of the Kung Fu Federation of Kyrgyz Republic.

In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, I was honored to interview Uzbekistan’s Wushu Federation President, Mr. Ganiev Ravshan.

So, though on this first try I may not have gotten all the way to Istanbul as originally intended, I am absolutely delighted, thrilled and fulfilled to have gotten as far as I did, and eternally grateful to all the masters, translators, guides and friends that helped along the way.

So, with the gracious cooperation and support of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine and its illustrious Associate Publisher Gene Ching, over the next few months a nine-part series of stories will be published about the “2015 Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour.” With a little bit of luck and help from upstairs, this will just be the beginning.

 

For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 2, click here.