Foreign Devils on the Silk Road

Written in 1980, this is the first of Hopkirk's Central Asia books - albeit more focused on Chinese Turkestan, or what is now China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. From what I understand this one is probably the one least involved in the Great Game, but more the precursor to it.

Here Hopkirk chronicles the Europeans (archeologists and explorers) who unearthed the ancient cities of the Silk Road, removing the artifacts and manuscripts, much to the later chagrin of the Chinese. It is a contentious topic, hard to be on the right side of - the removal of these to Europe. It is a central theme in the book, addressed again below.

This book concentrates on the six men who primarily led these expeditions - most of whom are well known to the world of explorers - Sven Hedin, of Sweden; Sir Aurel Stein, for Britain (I say for, because he is Hungarian born); Albert von Le Coq, of Germany; Paul Pelliot, of France; Count Otani, or Japan; and Langdon Warner, of the USA. Each made at least one foray, most of them more than one, in to the Taklamakan Desert to brave the heat and cold and excavate the Silk Road ruins.

For the benefit of European museums (as well as Japan), until the Chinese finally put an end to their expeditions, removed manuscripts, wall paintings, statues and sculptures literally by the ton. Perhaps the worst part, is that these treasures are largely not on display, and are spread among some thirty different institutions. Much as also been lost - such as the largest of the wall paintings which could not be removed from the German museum to safe storage before the war, and was destroyed as the result of Allied bombing.

The Chinese bristle and demand the return of these relics, but at the time this book was written few had been returned - there are regularly articles about this, I found a couple while browsing:
Global Times
Post Magazine
The counter argument is that the wall paintings not removed by these explorers were subsequently “shamelessly defaced by the local Mohammedans.” and especially the Buddhist treasures were surely “saved from Turki fanaticism”. The cultural ruination wrought by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution is infinitely greater than that resulting from removal of artifacts by these explorers. Religious fanaticism was not the only threat to the survival of these relics - farmers found the old earth valuable for enriching their fields and would excavate the ruins, or damage them irreparably with irrigation of their adjacent fields. Other arguments suggest that the relics are not all of Chinese origin, but many are Indian and all of ‘High Asia' and therefore not exclusively the history of China.

To the people living near these lost cities the relics were of no value - paper scraps held no interest, and they were paid for their labour, and transport - and often, as in the the case of Abbot Wang at the Caves of the Thousands Buddha's, sold the relics directly to these explorers.

Hopkirk's book is well written, logically arranged, and easy to read. The explanations and situations are described in an even-handed way, and while there is an element of repetition in each story it is not laboured or unnecessary. The book is relatively short, yet packs in a great deal of detail. There are of course whole books dedicated to each expedition, but there is need for an introductory or overview of these expeditions - this is a very good place to start.

4.5 stars, rounded down to 4.