Resurrecting the Sogdians

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ID: 322063
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Launched by the Chinese government in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been presented as a 21st-century Silk Road. Through a range of archaeological excavations, the project has created an idealised historical culture representing the splendid cross-cultural achievements of many regions now targeted by the BRI. Various historical, political, and archaeological factors have contributed to shaping this perception. Chinese historiography often promotes a stereotyped and exoticised image of the ethnic other. The BRI has become a new framework for reviving the image of an idealised Chinese cosmopolitanism attributed to the historical Silk Roads. Excavations of Central Asian immigrants’ tombs in China from the Northern Dynasties and Sui periods coincided with this broader project. The first significant discovery was the tomb of Yu Hong 虞弘, a prominent official of Central Asian descent in the Sui court. The artefacts associated with this tomb have become international emblems of the Silk Roads. Driven by this, scholarship has taken a new direction, favouring terms with specific cultural and political connotations. The central figure in this narrative became the Sogdian. The discovery, reception, and interpretation of Yu Hong’s tomb exemplifies how the label ‘Sogdian’ has been applied to all Central Asian elements in the archaeological record. This approach obscures the actual historical complexity of these elements, serving a cultural heritage management agenda with clear diplomatic and geopolitical objectives.
Reference Key
openalex_W7170058980 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Kiraz Perinçek Karavit, Aybike Şeyma Tezel, Erdal Küçükyalçın
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197800324.013.0038
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197800324.013.0038
Keywords Keywords not found

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