Currently, I have been becoming a fan of Iran…
Sorry. That was a clickbait politically relevant statement. But I really have been becoming interested in Central Asia, especially all the unique cultures in the area.
One of my favorite manga series is Otoyomegatari, a story about families on the Central Asian steppe around the Caspian and Aral Seas. The author, Kaoru Mori, has a tremendous gift to present these lifestyles in such a calming yet captivating manner. The passage of time is slow in the manga, and there’s no overarching plot, but we get to see the characters deal with the issues of their lives that we don’t see much of today, like preparing a marriage dowry of sheep, taming the falcons, and repairing the tents for the winter.
I’ve also been reading some nonfiction books that centered around Central Asia, although history is basically just another story. Genghis Khan, by Jack Weatherford, is a telling of the life of the namesake grand conqueror. It starts out in the mountains of modern-day Mongolia, where a young boy named Temujin finds solace on the moutain Burkhan Khaldun. This boy, after passing between families and experiencing the realities of tribal conflict, will grow up to become the great Khan, and Burkhan Khaldun becomes the holy mountain of his family. I like this book because it reads like a story rather than a textbook, and it focuses a lot on what made the culture of the Mongols unique – their diet of mostly meat and dried milk made travel easy in comparison to agricultural societies, and their open religion attitudes meant that Christians, Jews, and Muslims could all congregate without worry.
Another book I enjoyed is The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan. This book is really a history from start to finish – it begins from the first civilizations of Babylon, through the birth of Jesus, and into World War 2. What left the greatest impression on me is just how much travelled through the namesake Silk Roads from Europe to China. Faith, religion, cultures and goods all travelled through Central Asia between these countries. The lands of Persia, in what is now Iran, became a thriving metropolis because of its central location. Of course, this location ended up becoming its downfall in the modern stage, as the US and Russia began staging wars and revolutions to gain control of its territory.
Through all of these works, what resonated with me the most is just how much culture existed that we don’t experience much of today. Things such as living life as a nomad, the ever-present games of territorial war, and setting out for a journey across half the world over the course of a decade. How even five hundred years ago, you could find Chinese pottery in Europe, Indian monks in Japan, and everything you wanted in Constantinople. One day, I want to make that fabled journey across the Silk Roads myself, just to see what I find along the way.
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