By Othuke Evroh.
Imagine sauntering through the ancient City Gates of Xi’an, the indomitable imperial capital of Chang’an under the Han and Tang Dynasty, the conception and genesis of the legendary Silk Road, where traders, travellers, and explorers from ancient times once converged to share technologies, cultures, stories, innovations and trade. And standing before me in artistic arch-angles like an immortal colossus was the historic but all famous Mogao Caves of Dunhuang .
As I traversed these immortal historical wonders, I could not help but feel and experience the weight of history and culture that percolates and infiltrates every brick and statue of this ancient city of Dunhuang. Being one of the 25 Visiting Sinologists hosted by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, I had the very rare privilege of visiting the Gansu Provincial Museum and the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Yellow River, the Gansu Jiandu Museum, Wuwei Museum, the Great Buddha Temple and the Mati Grottos in Zhangye City, the Yulin Grottoes and Xuanquan Posthouse, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang City and in addition, attend the Silk Road (Dunhuang) 2025 International Cultural Expo, visit the Singing Sand Dunes and Crescent Moon Spring and attend the Starry Night Concert, while traversing the Yangguan Han-era Great Wall Ruins, among others.
Dunhuang City, the springboard of China’s Silk Road is nothing short of a testament to the country’s rich heritage and global influence that is consciously being revived through a systematic but yet strategic blend of culture and tourism. Dunhuang has remained the harbour, the haven of the ancient Silk Road, serving not only as a pivotal crossroads where trade routes melt, but also a significant hub for cultural and religious exchanges, such as Buddhism between China and the West.
The Silk Road which was an ancient network of exchange—of silk, stories, ideas, spices, goods and spirit and once a historic artery connecting East to West, is undoubtable, in my perspectives, the foundation of China’s economic modernization and the sub-structure for China’s emergence as a global economic powerhouse. This ancient Silk Road has metamorphosed through time and space from the ”One Belt One Road” to today’s ”Belt and Road Initiative”(BRI), which has remained the diplomatic torch and all-purpose philosophy that currently underpins China’s cultural, socio-economic exchange and diplomatic engagements with the entire globe. The BRI as such, is not merely an infrastructure development project; it is a means to promote civilization exchanges and people-to-people diplomacy.
Further, it is instructive to state that China’s economic ascendance is not solely a product of modernization, industrialization and BRI; rather, it is a product of its patriotic citizenry and its rich cultural heritage. It is an embodiment of the people and what they believe. The ordinary Chinese man in the streets of China believes in his government’s huge investments in culture and the nexus between a people’s culture and economic prosperity. They display this belief among others by flocking different museums and ancient relic sites in numbers regardless of time and cost just as numerous Chinese teenagers sacrifice their valuable leisure time to act as volunteers at different provincial museums to drive home this unperturbed faith.
Further, for instance, during our 21 day Visiting Sinologists Programme, our tour guides which included; Wang Jiaqi, Xu Rui, Cai Jinyuan, Mai Mengxiao, She Yue, Wei Yiyu, Ma Le, Dang Yixuan and Wag Yuanhui who are also staff of Gansu Jiandu Museum, were an amiable embodiment of professionalism who displayed uncanny attitude of dedication as if their lives depended on ensuring that we understood the missive and reasons behind the several tours. They believed in what their government is doing and in addition, have faith that the Silk Road, People and Culture are the major tripods of today’s Sino-China economic prosperity.
In conclusion, it is pertinent to state that the Silk Road and by implication the BRI has become an instrument in shaping China’s economic prosperity in today’s modern China. And as the People’s Republic of China continues to navigate the complexities of global politics and economics, the BRI, its people and rich cultural heritage/historical legacy will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping its economic trajectory.
And as President Xi Jinping once told lawmakers from Xinjiang during the annual session of the National People’s Congress;
”we should love ethnic unity as loving our eyes, cherish ethnic unity like cherishing our lives”. By embracing its Silk Road Cultural heritage, China is not only reconnecting with its past but also forging a new path to economic greatness. The nexus between Culture and Economic Prosperity can therefore not be overemphasised.
