Introduction

IDP-CREA is a collaboration between six IDP partners in Europe (from the UK, Hungary, France and Germany) and three associate partners from China with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union. The project aims to highlight a Eurasian culture that has existed for centuries — and continues to this day — by illustrating the remarkable tales of the European explorers, archaeologists and scholars who travelled to Chinese Central Asia in the early years of the twentieth century.

The worksheets enclosed are intended as tools to help introduce some basic Buddhist concepts and history to the classroom using source material from the British Library and other institutions involved with IDP-CREA.

It is intended that this resource will enable students to:

• Learn some basic facts about the Buddhist faith, its history and its ideals.
• Be able to engage with Buddhist art by recognising traditional iconography, symbolism, motifs and style.
• Understand the multicultural nature of the Silk Road and discuss how this relates to modern society.

This resource is also available online from the UK, French and German International Dunhuang Project (IDP) websites

The IDP education web pages offer a number of online resources for teachers and students on topics related to the Silk Road. Visit us at for more information on themes as varied as Buddhism, Chinese Astronomy, Medicine, Archaeology and Bookbinding. We are adding new material all the time so please get in touch and let us know how we can best help your study or classroom practice. Email your comments or suggestions to Abby.Baker@bl.uk.