Women along the Silk Road - Images from the murals of Dunhuang

For many years, the world has had a fascination with the Silk Road for a big part due to its intercultural importance: people of all different cultures and religions met in the trading towns and exchanged goods, ideas, opinions, attitudes, traditions, philosophies, knowledge and much more.

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe. Dunhuang in China was the gateway to the Silk Road and is home to a historic grotto complex, regarded as the world's largest and best-preserved treasure house of Buddhist scriptures, murals, and architectural designs.

At this free public talk, Dr Lily Lee who specialises in Chinese women’s history and literature, will reveal attitudes and perceptions relating to women and, more importantly, will provide an insight into the everyday life of actual women along the Silk Road depicted in artworks and archaeological findings.