Along it travelled precious cargoes of silk, gold and ivory, as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of Buddhist art and learning. In time it began to decline. The traffic slowed, the merchants left and finally its towns vanished beneath the desert sands to be forgotten for a thousand years. But legends grew up of lost cities filled with treasures and guarded by demons. In the early years of the last century foreign explorers began to investigate these legends, and very soon an international race began for the art treasures of the Silk Road. Huge wall paintings, sculptures and priceless manuscripts were carried away, literally by the ton, and are today scattered through the museums of a dozen countries. Peter Hopkirk tells the story of the intrepid men who, at great personal risk, led these long-range archaeological raids, incurring the undying wrath of the Chinese.

    

    

    

    The volume as a whole covers the subjects of alchemy, early chemistry, and chemical technology (which includes military invention, especially gunpowder and rockets; paper and printing; textiles; mining and metallurgy; the salt industry; and ceramics).

    

    Crump discusses social and historical context, stages, stagecraft, and literary art of Yuan drama and presents complete translations of three plays—a bandit adventure, a melodrama, and a murder mystery.

    CONTENTS The Frog Rider The Wooden Horse Ma Liang and His Magic Brush The Story of Hero Shigar The Third Son and the Magistrate Seeking Her Husband at the Great Wall Olive Lake How the Brothers Divided Their Property Stories About Nasrdin Avanti