Tokharian Tales is a collection of post-futuristic seemingly science-fictional short stories set on an Earth that is being abandoned, including a love story about a scientist who falls in love with a ghost ... a romance that goes horribly wrong on the floating bridge between Hawaii and Viva-Mexico ... a story set in the Outzone, the dark underbelly of the internet ... a retro-futuristic novella about a quixotic social anarchist who dreams of spaceships during her datura trances ... storybook-tales for 67th century children about robots and replicants, osterlings and Oospheroids ... and the adventure of Shridmar Joe, Hovercipher Pro, in the most dangerous dance of a strangeous game you've ever played! Thousand years ago, the Tokharians lived in a lush oasis with orchards and vineyards where they grew gourds and peaches, melons and grapes. They had iron-smelting furnaces and Buddhist stupas. Merchants rested under mulberry trees, and in the marketplace they sold Chinese brides, Kashmir wool, Bactrian rubies and lapis-lazuli. Gone now, desert now: the oasis has dried up, and a desert wind blows sand over the shattered stupas, the stumps of mulberry trees. The Tokharians either departed or they died in the desert which overtook them. But distance yourself: the same thing is happening again as we dismantle the Earth to fly to the stars. The same desert wind blows over America, over the ruins of Santa Fe and New York City. The wats and shrines of Thailand have been unbricked, removed, and re-assembled in orbit around distant stars. Likewise, the massive Mesoamerican suntemples of Viva-Mexico have been transplanted to the jungle greens and desert sandstonewhites of other planets aroundindigo-orange stars.... About the author: Jason Murk is an existential anarchist from New Mexico who flies through the summer skies in sadhoo-tripsterly tradition in his own hovercipher. What's a hovercipher? You might as well ask what's existential anarchism - open this book and find out!

An epic account of the rise and fall of the Silk Road empires The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization. Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local peoples, and the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism combines outstanding contributions covering Buddhism as it developed and is practiced in this region. These newly-commissioned essays provide fresh scholarly perspectives on a wide range of concepts, texts, and practices. Offers a comprehensive and balanced survey of Buddhism within East and Central Asia, from the time of the Buddha through to the present day Provides fresh perspectives on a wide range of concepts, texts, traditions, doctrines, practices, and institutions – on topics spanning gender roles, tantric rituals, and the spread of Zen into Europe Brings together cutting-edge research by an interdisciplinary and international contributor team, including historians, literature scholars, and historians, as well as those from religious studies Presents a panoramic view of the extraordinary richness and variety of local Buddhist expressions and practices within Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan, cultures

What is the nature of human language? How did it originate? How are different languages connected? Exploring over two thousand years of human enquiry, The Stories of Linguistics is an accessible introduction to the individuals, ideas and events that have shaped the field of linguistics. From Herodotus to Chomsky, and from philosophy to neuroscience, Kim Ballard presents a fascinating narrative that brings to life a dynamic subject with a rich history. The Stories of Linguistics: - Uses a thematic rather than a traditional chronological approach to explore the complex development of Western linguistics - Offers an accessible introduction to a field of linguistics which is attracting more and more interest - Guides readers seamlessly through linguistic history, supported by timelines and suggestions for further reading and research With its broad scope and conversational style, The Stories of Linguistics is an ideal introductory text for students at every level, as well as anyone else with an interest in the history and development of language.

Communities Have Developed, From Old Times To The New, Different Writing Styles. From Cave Drawings To Alphabets, To Languages, Calligraphy And Printing With Its Technology The Journey Has Taken Many Long Centuries.

This 1988 book is a multidisciplinary and cross-cultural study of the legend that has evolved around the figure of Maitreya.

A vast region stretching roughly from the Volga River to Manchuria and the northern Chinese borderlands, Central Asia has been called the "pivot of history," a land where nomadic invaders and Silk Road traders changed the destinies of states that ringed its borders, including pre-modern Europe, the Middle East, and China. In Central Asia in World History, Peter B. Golden provides an engaging account of this important region, ranging from prehistory to the present, focusing largely on the unique melting pot of cultures that this region has produced over millennia. Golden describes the traders who braved the heat and cold along caravan routes to link East Asia and Europe; the Mongol Empire of Chinggis Khan and his successors, the largest contiguous land empire in history; the invention of gunpowder, which allowed the great sedentary empires to overcome the horse-based nomads; the power struggles of Russia and China, and later Russia and Britain, for control of the area. Finally, he discusses the region today, a key area that neighbors such geopolitical hot spots as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China.