The final programme of music from the ancient trade route. Not only merchants and Buddhist teachers but also musical instruments made their way from Central Asia to China.
Today, Sara Nuttall presents an improvisation for the pipa - a pear-shaped lute whose strings were originally made of silk;
Buddhist and Taoist ritual music played on the shawm called guanzi; and a warlike ballet from the court of the T'ang dynasty, reconstructed by Laurence Picken.
Series producer John Thomley