Silk Road East-West Cultural Exchange and Northern Grassland Art - Volume 1

Silk Road Cultural Exchange between East and West and the Art of the Northern Steppes is a six-volume series; this book is Volume 1. From multiple historical perspectives, it examines artistic cultures along the Silk Road and the mechanisms of East–West exchange, while surveying steppe art across Eurasia from the Bronze Age onward. Drawing on classical and modern texts and archaeological evidence, and combining historical inquiry with art-historical and iconographic analysis, it traces developments from painted pottery and early bronze cultures to the era of the Mongol Empire. The volume also clarifies key Silk Road concepts and reviews major interpretive approaches in art history, including monistic and pluralistic views. Richly illustrated, it analyzes ceramics, bronzes, metalwork, textiles, architecture, and sculpture across early China, Egypt, West Asia, the Aegean-Greek world, and the Roman-Byzantine tradition. Accessible yet rigorous, it serves scholars, teachers, students, and interested general readers. 

Professor Shen Aifeng, editor and lead author of this volume, is a professor at Soochow University School of Art. He also serves as a doctoral supervisor at Lahore University of Education and Varna Free University. He graduated from Nanjing college of Arts and Herzen University in St. Petersburg. His research focuses on world art history and the ancient art of the Silk Road; he is also a painter and contemporary art critic. He has led two national research projects and published two monographs—From the Lapis Lazuli Road to the Silk Road (2 volumes) and Ancient Art of China’s Western Regions along the Silk Road (co-authored). He also co-authored the textbook History of Chinese and Foreign Design and has written around 60 academic papers.