As mentioned earlier, the Silk Road runs through the whole human history since the Neolithic Age, covering a vast area of the old continent of Asia, Africa and Europe, including many countries, regions and nationalities. Its historical evolution is tortuous and complicated, and the cultures of various regions, ethnic groups and countries are diverse and profound. Although from the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty BC, China's great historians Sima Qian and Ban Gu began to record it in their historical masterpieces Biography of Dawan and Biography of Hanshu in the Western Regions, and then described it in related history books and poems. Abroad, just as Richthofen quoted the Silk Road in his famous work China, Sailing to the Eritrean Sea, written by an unknown person in A.D. 1 century, described the traffic and trade between China and India and Central Asia, that is, in summer. Since then, messengers and businessmen from some western countries and regions began to travel on the Silk Road. One of the most famous is the Venetian businessman Kyle who came to China along the Silk Road in the early Yuan Dynasty13rd century in China. Poirot. He wrote The Universe, also known as Kyle? A Journey to Polo gives a detailed and wonderful record of the natural conditions, customs, religious movements, especially the economic and trade situation of the Silk Road and the areas related to the Yuan Dynasty Empire. However, in the face of the huge Silk Road, which stretches for nearly ten thousand years and covers tens of millions of square kilometers, it is very insufficient to reveal, study and discuss its historical and cultural problems. At present, under the situation that part of the Silk Road has been included in the world cultural heritage and the "Belt and Road" has become a global development strategy, it is particularly important and urgent to strengthen the research on the history and culture of the Silk Road.
(a) This is a fundamental measure to strengthen the understanding of the important historical fact of the Silk Road.
As mentioned above, although Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty, recorded the historical trace of "Zhang Qian sinking into the air" in his historical masterpiece Historical Records, and Chinese and foreign academic circles have also described and studied this traffic and trade avenue connecting China Central Plains Dynasty with Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, North Africa and Europe many times, there are still scholars who have raised various questions so far. For example, it is believed that "the Silk Road in history was neither built by China people nor promoted by China people, but was formed because foreign countries needed China's Silk Road"; For example, before the German geographer Richthofen named the Silk Road, China people lacked consciousness and initiative, and then abused the name of the Silk Road [6]. There are some such difficult words. This shows that it is necessary to further study the basic historical facts such as how the Silk Road was formed, whether China people contributed to the Silk Road and what contributions they made, come up with more detailed and credible historical materials and research results, and strengthen the academic and public understanding of this important historical fact of the Silk Road.
(2) This is a necessary move to activate the inherent vitality of the Silk Road and make it full of vitality in the new era.
Generally speaking, the Silk Road, a historical complex that has existed in the world for thousands of years, is still vividly presented to the world. If the road network is its blood, the region or country it involves is its body, and the precious commodities, politics, science and technology, religion and other information transmitted on the road network are its blood, then the culture contained in it is its soul and its internal vitality that can exist for a long time. Therefore, only by further revealing the historical facts of its formation and development comprehensively and accurately, and deeply and accurately analyzing the cultural connotation of the above historical facts, can this inner vitality be effectively activated; And make contemporary scholars and people of insight in the fields of politics, economy, science and technology cultivate new connotations for it, make it glow with vitality in the new era and continue to play its great role in promoting the progress of world history.
(3) This is an effective measure to promote the steady implementation of the current major development strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative.
As mentioned earlier, in recent years, when China established the "Belt and Road" as a major development strategy and pushed it to the world, on the one hand, many relevant countries responded; On the other hand, there are also many doubts. This is because some scholars in China have questioned that the Silk Road was not built and implemented by China people. There have also been some misunderstandings abroad. If some people interpret it as China's "westward strategy", others call it China's "Marshall Plan"; Some people even describe it as pursuing Chinese-style "destiny" in order to seek "maritime hegemony" and even promote "neo-colonialism". In order to get rid of the above misunderstandings and prejudices, and pragmatically promote the development strategy of "One Belt, One Road", on the one hand, we should exert political wisdom, actively declare that the implementation of the development strategy of "One Belt, One Road" by the China government is based on the concepts and principles of equality, tolerance, cooperation and win-win situation, accelerate economic, trade, political and cultural exchanges with other countries, enhance friendly relations of mutual trust and mutual benefit, and make * * * * win. On the other hand, through the research and publicity on the history and culture of the Belt and Road, the fine tradition of Chinese ancestors promoting friendly exchanges and mutual benefit with countries and regions along the Silk Road for thousands of years on land and at sea, as well as the historical fact of * * * promoting the continuous development of world history, are fully demonstrated, so as to show the sincerity of the China government and create a harmonious atmosphere for steadily and orderly advancing this major strategy. In view of this, the author agrees with the suggestion of "culture first" put forward by Professor Binglin Zheng, an expert on Silk Road culture in Lanzhou University. In view of China's strategy of building the Silk Road Economic Belt, many countries have responded. However, when some countries and regions don't know this phenomenon very well, Binglin Zheng thinks it is normal, and suggests to realize culture first, starting from the cultural field: "Let more people come to China and feel the sincerity of China." The author also believes that further strengthening the research on the history and culture of the Silk Road is an effective measure to effectively promote the steady implementation of the "Belt and Road" development strategy.
Second, several new viewpoints should be established in the current historical and cultural research of the Silk Road.
In order to respond to the needs of the implementation of the "Belt and Road" strategy and further promote the study of the history and culture of the Silk Road on the basis of previous research results, the author believes that the following three basic viewpoints should be established first:
First, the viewpoint of global history or world history. In view of the fact that in the past, domestic scholars mostly focused on the historical and cultural contents of the Silk Road, and paid little attention to the relevant contents abroad. Therefore, not only most of the achievements are domestic historical facts, but also their basic viewpoints are based on the history of China and only from the perspective of China's historical development. The above research was valuable and worthy of recognition at that time, but it is too narrow today. The main reason is, of course, that the Silk Road itself is an international corridor that crosses borders and continents. To thoroughly understand its overall situation, we need to start with individual chapters in some fields, but in the end, we must integrate the whole chapter, especially from the perspective of world history, explore its positive role in the development of world history, and sum up its historical experience and lessons in order to carry forward today. Therefore, the research on the history and culture of the Silk Road should first continue to carry out domestic research, but we should take into account world history, go abroad, actively invest in relevant content abroad, or cooperate with scholars from the countries and regions where we are located to promote a comprehensive and in-depth study of the overall history and culture of the Silk Road.
Second, the regional view, that is, the nonlinear view. In the past, many people regarded the Silk Road on land or at sea as a cross-border and trans-regional traffic route with obvious linear characteristics. 20 14 On June 22nd, at the 38th UNESCO World Heritage Conference held in Doha, Qatar, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan jointly declared "Silk Road: Chang 'an-Tianshan Corridor Road Network" and "China Grand Canal" as World Heritage List. On June 23rd, 20 14, Guangming Daily and China Heritage reported this important news on the front page respectively, saying that the Silk Road and the Grand Canal are "super-large linear cultural heritages with extensive influence and appeal in the world" and "giant linear cultural heritages". In the subsequent media publicity, the node towns and important cultural relics along the Silk Road and the Grand Canal were also highlighted, which further strengthened the understanding of their linear cultural heritage. However, through continuous and in-depth discussions, especially after the country has established the "Belt and Road" development strategy, everyone has realized that "Belt and Road" not only has the function of promoting the protection and utilization of cultural heritage along the Belt and Road, but also undertakes the historic and important task of building a new pattern of international regional cooperation [1/kloc-0], which is in line with the national grand strategy [/kloc-0]. Therefore, some experts clearly pointed out that the "Belt and Road", a principled concept with strategic significance, will redefine the "circle of friends" with more than 60 developing countries along the route as a priority [13]. Some scholars vividly compared: "One Belt, One Road" is actually not two lines, but a huge online untied "Analysis of Chinese Global Strategy", published in the first 1 1, 20 15 issues of Phoenix Weekly. . Of course, all the above viewpoints are interpreted as a major national strategy. As an important development strategy of the country, the study of the Silk Road's history and culture must go ahead. Obviously, it cannot be limited to the study of important nodes along the Silk Road, but should be extended to the vast areas along the Silk Road, that is, vast and suitable areas. Only in this way can we further promote the historical and cultural research of the Silk Road region on the basis of the existing research results.
Third, pay attention to the viewpoint of cultural comparative research. To sum up, we can see that the Silk Road runs through the whole historical period of mankind, involving a vast territory and many nationalities. Therefore, only a certain cultural phenomenon in a certain region or a certain country has different manifestations in different periods of history; In different regions or countries, even the same culture will have different performances. Therefore, there are many cultural phenomena, both due to historical evolution and regional differences. Therefore, when we study the history and culture of the Silk Road and clarify its historical development process, we should follow the world historical viewpoint, regional viewpoint and comparative viewpoint when studying various cultural phenomena. In the face of various colorful cultural phenomena in the areas covered by the Silk Road, we should not only study their respective connotations and characteristics, but also reveal the differences formed by the evolution and transformation of different regions and countries before and after their history (including natural and human factors), and then compare them to explore their similarities and differences and their reasons, so that our research on the history and culture of the Silk Road will be richer and deeper, thus improving the academic value and social significance of the research results.
It is also under the guidance of paying attention to the comparative study of culture that we can carry out the following research work on the basis of in-depth study of the main connotations and basic characteristics of the cultures of various regions or countries in various historical stages of the Silk Road: the contents and methods of cultural exchanges between regions or countries in various historical stages; Cultural interaction between different regions or countries in different historical stages and its influence; The new characteristics and means of cultural exchange between regions or countries, and the countermeasures and attitudes that the government and the people should adopt.
Obviously, only by adhering to the viewpoint of world history and the overall situation, especially the viewpoint of cultural comparison, can we do a good job in the above research. The research results undoubtedly have concrete academic value and realistic social effects for strengthening the understanding of the historical facts of the Silk Road, activating its internal vitality and effectively promoting the steady implementation of the major development strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative. Third, the conclusion
At present, with the "Silk Road: Chang 'an-Tianshan Corridor Road Network" being included in the world cultural heritage, the construction of "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "2 1 century Maritime Silk Road" have been determined as major strategic decisions by the China Municipal Government, and they have been publicly promoted to the world, which has aroused great concern and heated discussion among relevant governments and international academic circles. What is certain is that in the long historical period in the future, in the process of the countries along the Belt and Road making joint efforts to implement this strategic concept, the academic research on the Silk Road will also enter a new stage, making it a world-renowned school, and its scale, achievements and social impact will greatly surpass the historical period. As academic members and historical geographers who have lived and worked in Xi 'an, the eastern starting point of the Silk Road for a long time, they should actively participate in the new round of Silk Road research upsurge. In view of the situation in the previous period, I would like to put forward some personal opinions on how to further study the history and culture of the Silk Road in the new historical period according to the needs of the current situation. I think there is something new in it for your reference. If there is anything wrong, please criticize and correct me.