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The Ouroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.<br/><br/> The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (compare with phoenix). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished. While first emerging in Ancient Egypt, the Ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the alchemist's opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism.
The Ouroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.<br/><br/> The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (compare with phoenix). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or qualities it cannot be extinguished. While first emerging in Ancient Egypt, the Ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the alchemist's opus. It is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism.
Detail from an anonymous Song Dynasty (960-1279) painted scroll.<br/><br/> In China, silk worm farming was originally restricted to women, and many women were employed in the silk-making industry. Even though some saw this development of a luxury product as useless, silk provoked such a craze among high society that the laws were used to regulate and limit its use to the members of the imperial family. For approximately a millennium, the right to wear silk was reserved for the emperor and the highest dignitaries.<br/><br/> Later, this right gradually extended to other classes of Chinese society. Silk began to be used for decorative means and also in less luxurious ways: musical instruments, fishing, and bow-making. Peasants did not have the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty.
Detail from an anonymous Song Dynasty (960-1279) painted scroll.<br/><br/> In China, silk worm farming was originally restricted to women, and many women were employed in the silk-making industry. Even though some saw this development of a luxury product as useless, silk provoked such a craze among high society that the laws were used to regulate and limit its use to the members of the imperial family. For approximately a millennium, the right to wear silk was reserved for the emperor and the highest dignitaries.<br/><br/> Later, this right gradually extended to other classes of Chinese society. Silk began to be used for decorative means and also in less luxurious ways: musical instruments, fishing, and bow-making. Peasants did not have the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty.
Detail from an anonymous Song Dynasty (960-1279) painted scroll.<br/><br/> In China, silk worm farming was originally restricted to women, and many women were employed in the silk-making industry. Even though some saw this development of a luxury product as useless, silk provoked such a craze among high society that the laws were used to regulate and limit its use to the members of the imperial family. For approximately a millennium, the right to wear silk was reserved for the emperor and the highest dignitaries.<br/><br/> Later, this right gradually extended to other classes of Chinese society. Silk began to be used for decorative means and also in less luxurious ways: musical instruments, fishing, and bow-making. Peasants did not have the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty.
Detail from an anonymous Song Dynasty (960-1279) painted scroll.<br/><br/> In China, silk worm farming was originally restricted to women, and many women were employed in the silk-making industry. Even though some saw this development of a luxury product as useless, silk provoked such a craze among high society that the laws were used to regulate and limit its use to the members of the imperial family. For approximately a millennium, the right to wear silk was reserved for the emperor and the highest dignitaries.<br/><br/> Later, this right gradually extended to other classes of Chinese society. Silk began to be used for decorative means and also in less luxurious ways: musical instruments, fishing, and bow-making. Peasants did not have the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty.
Dandan Oilik is a deserted historical town and desert oasis in the Taklamakan Desert of China. Dandan Oilik was an important (though small) centre of local Buddhism and trade on the Silk Road. Its name means 'Houses of Ivory' and has been the site of a small number of significant archeological finds.<br/><br/> Having been abandoned many hundreds of years ago, the oasis was found and lost to shifting desert sands several times. Most recently, a German expedition led by Christoph Baumer found the city based on the accounts of previous explorers such as Sir Aurel Stein, and uncovered relics dating to the 7th and 8th centuries. They also marked its GPS position, and the city is now being studied by Chinese archeologists.