CONNECTING WOMEN TO THE SILK ROADS Primary Sources Connect Women to the Silk Road

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Primary Source #10

Female Buddhist Donors

Mural painting of Khotanese Princesses
as Buddhist donors to Cave temple 61 at Dunhuang
10th century.

These are only some of the female donors portrayed in the Buddhist temple caves they sponsored. Those who sponsored such construction include varied classes of society; some were Buddhist nuns, some wives of wealthy people, some leaders of Buddhist charitable organizations, some even prostitutes. The patrons of the caves were keen to demonstrate their social status, economic power, religious feeling, and political ideology by determining the size of a cave and by choosing certain motifs to be depicted in it.

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CONNECTING WOMEN TO THE SILK ROADS
Introduction

Influential Women	Women and Silk Production	Exploring Primary Sources
Tang dynasty’s Wu Zetian	Making Silk	Primary Source Lessons
Princess Wencheng	Wearing Silk
Sorghaghtani Beki	Reviving Silk Traditions
Empress Irene