Commerce: The Cave Temples by Brenda Yates
Near the Great Wall’s westernmost frontier, a military outpost set down to guard a trade route between two deserts became another great invention: a city — that center of multiplicity, of voices, customs, art — thriving & prospering, coming to be called in its 1100+ years, Oasis Kingdom of Buddha because . . . merchants. Yes, in this story, heroes created a globalism we sometimes have when not too blind to want success for more than a few like us. They were Arab, Jew, Chinese, Indian, Mongol, Persian, Syriac, Tibetan — travelers traders, pilgrims — exchanging goods, science, know-how, medicine, belief & worldviews born of Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Laozi, Mani, Muhammad, etc. Etceteras who handcarved a thousand temples into the faces of local cliffs, who painted luminous murals on ceilings, walls, & who adorned them all with sculpture, scroll, silk. Then by imperial command the Jade Gate closed. Trade ceased.
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