It is known to all that among the diverse cultural systems in human history,
the greatest, or the most influential, are the cultural system of West Europe
originating from ancient Greece and Rome, the cultural system of India, the
cultural system of Islam and the Chinese cultural system. The Turpan Depression,
however, is the only place in the world where the four greatest cultural systems
once converged. This cultural convergence was possible because of the ancient
Silk Road, in fact a web of trails across the length and breadth of the area
that linked China with lands to its west. In the words of German scholar Hans
von Klimkeit, few oasis in the world can match Turpan in Xinjiang in terms
of cultural diversity. The Turpan Depression, he noted, lies where great ancient
roads, some from north to south and some from east to west, crossed, making
it possible for different cultures to converge. Hans Llimkeit compared the
area as a "cultural sponge", which in ancient times absorbed the
spirit of cultures, including the forms of written languages, without trying
to transform them into a new, unified culture. While an oasis in nature, the
kind of culture exemplified by ancient Turpan was highly international.
