Research Paper on:
Three Tales in Susan Whitfield's Life Along the Silk Road ” by Susan Whitfield: The Princess's Tale, The Monk's Tale and The Nun's Tale

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
tales each based on a character between the years AD 750 and AD 1,000 an unstable period of Chinese history. Three of these tales "The Princesss Tale" (Taihe, 821-842), "The  Monks Tale" (Chudda, 855-870), and "The Nuns Tale" (Miaofu, 880-961) specifically tell of the latter end of the Tang Dynasty during a time when Tibetan raiders were constant threats and  the popularity of the Buddhist religion was falling out of favor. The tales reveal the inner characters and their lives but perhaps more importantly also reveal their realization about how  their lives are involved in and affected by the political and religious climate at the time. "The Princesss Tale" tells the story of a young Chinese princess during the years  821-843 and her travels along the Silk Road on her way to wed the Uighur kaghan to "cement their countries friendship". Taihe was the sister of the current emperor and  daughter of his predecessor and she was also not the first to have performed this bonding of the countries through the ceremonies of marriage. Taihe was "the fourth Chinese princess  to be promised to a Uighur kaghan" (Whitfield 95, 98). The Chinese depended on the alliance with the Uighurs for trade and defence and also "relied on the Uighurs for  their vital supply of cavalry ponies" and Taihe and those who had come before her were also vital in the maintenance of this friendship with her neighbors. Nevertheless, to travel  to the Uighur kingdom, she had to travel a distance of over one thousand miles which would take her the better part of the year. For Taihe, the journey became  one of boredom as her tents were erected for her before her arrival to camp, her food prepared and she had many servants to dress and prepare her for each