Jim Millward is one of the worldโs leading scholars on Xinjiang and Central Asia, and the author of many books and articles, including Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864, and The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction, published by Oxford.
In this weekโs Sinica Podcast, Kaiser and Jeremy talk to Jim about the myths and histories of the Silk Road and a continentโs worth of related subjects: Xi Jinping’s signature effort to revive the Silk Road through the One Belt, One Road initiative; the mythological bird associated with Central Asia known as the Dapeng (ๅคง้น), or Roc; the argument over the connection of extremism in Xinjiang to global jihadism; the Chinese policy on ethnic minorities; and academic debates over “New Qing History” and a number of other issues that are putting Central Asia back into its formerly central place in the story of the world’s past.
This episode also features a special outro tune played by Jim and Kaiser.
Recommendations:
Jeremy โ books by Peter Fleming:
- Oneโs Company โ A Journey to China
- News from Tartary: A Journey from Peking to Kashmir
- The Siege at Peking
Jim:
- Rian Thum: The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History
- David Brophy: Uyghur Nation: Reform and Revolution on the Russia-China Frontier
- Justin Jacobs: Xinjiang and the Modern Chinese State
- Kwangmin Kim: Borderland Capitalism: Turkestan Produce, Qing Silver, and the Birth of an Eastern Market
- Judd Kinzley: Staking Claims to Chinaโs Borderland: Oil, Ores, and State-building in Xinjiang Province, 1893-1964 (book forthcoming) and a review of the dissertation
- Music video: Silk Road Tour 11 โ Urumqi โ Abigail Washburn & The Village
Kaiser: The Chinese immigrant hub of Flushing, Queens, in New York, as a subject of anthropological or cultural studies inquiry.
