Pictured: Nadine Tang, Leslie Tang Schilling, Sanjyot Mehendale, Corinne Debain-Francfort, Agnes Hsu-Tang, and Oscar Tang. Photo: Peg Skorpinski
The Silk Road — an ancient trade route connecting people and goods from the East and West — may conjure up images of camel caravans and bustling bazaars. But this romantic picture is only a sliver of what life might have been like.
Berkeley is opening the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, the first U.S. university center dedicated to the diverse cultures that flourished along the networks, thanks to a $5 million gift from Oscar Tang and his wife, Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang, Nadine Tang M.S.W. ’75, Leslie Tang Schilling ’76, and Martin Tang.
Oscar Tang says understanding China’s past is key to understanding its growing global importance today. “This small investment … encourages the study of Chinese humanities and how China related to the rest of the world, at a time when significant archaeological discoveries are revealing new information,” he says.
Home to leading specialists in the region’s ancient languages, history, religions, and intellectual and artistic traditions, Berkeley is a natural site for the specialized center.
“It’s about coming together and poring over material from different sides,” says Sanjyot Mehendale, the center’s inaugural chair. “You can’t just sit in your corner of expertise. You have to look at the art, study the texts, and examine the archaeological remains to build a bigger picture.”
Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, an honorary advisor, wrote, “Emily Dickinson said, ‘Forever is composed of nows,’ and George Santayana said, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ … You are truly joining the past, present, and the future.”
