Academic literature on the topic 'Guang bo yu yan'

Graphene-based composites have received a great deal of attention in recent year because the presence of graphene can enhance the conductivity, strength of bulk materials and help create composites with superior qualities. Moreover, the incorporation of metal oxide nanoparticles such as Fe3O4 can improve the catalytic efficiency of composite material. In this work, we have synthesized a composite material with the combination of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and Fe3O4 modified tissue-paper (mGO-PP) via a simple hydrothermal method, which improved the removal efficiency of the of methylene blue (MB) in water. MB blue is used as the model of contaminant to evaluate the catalytic efficiency of synthesized material by using a Fenton-like reaction. The obtained materials were characterized by SEM, XRD. The removal of materials with methylene blue is investigated by UV-VIS spectroscopy, and the result shows that mGO-PP composite is the potential composite for the color removed which has the removal efficiency reaching 65% in acetate buffer pH = 3 with the optimal time is 7 h.
 Keywords
 Graphene-based composite, methylene blue, Fenton-like reaction.
 References
 [1] Ma Joshi, Rue Bansal, Reng Purwar, Colour removal from textile effluents, Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research, 29 (2004) 239-259 http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/24631.[2] Kannan Nagar, Sundaram Mariappan, Kinetics and mechanism of removal of methylene blue by adsorption on various carbons-a comparative study, Dyes and pigments, 51 (2001) 25-40 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0143-7208(01)00056-0.[3] K Rastogi, J. N Sahu, B. C Meikap, M. N Biswas, Removal of methylene blue from wastewater using fly ash as an adsorbent by hydrocyclone, Journal of hazardous materials, 158 (2008) 531-540.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.01. 105.[4] Qin Qingdong, Ma Jun, Liu Ke, Adsorption of anionic dyes on ammonium-functionalized MCM-41, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 162 (2009) 133-139 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat. 2008.05.016.[5] Mui Muruganandham, Rps Suri, Sh Jafari, Mao Sillanpää, Lee Gang-Juan, Jaj Wu, Muo Swaminathan, Recent developments in homogeneous advanced oxidation processes for water and wastewater treatment, International Journal of Photoenergy, 2014 (2014). http://dx. doi.org/10.1155/2014/821674.[6] Herney Ramirez, Vicente Miguel , Madeira Luis Heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation with pillared clay-based catalysts for wastewater treatment: a review, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 98 (2010) 10-26 https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.apcatb.2010.05.004.[7] Guo Rong, Jiao Tifeng, Li Ruifei, Chen Yan, Guo Wanchun, Zhang Lexin, Zhou Jingxin, Zhang Qingrui, Peng Qiuming, Sandwiched Fe3O4/carboxylate graphene oxide nanostructures constructed by layer-by-layer assembly for highly efficient and magnetically recyclable dye removal, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6 (2017) 1279-1288 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b03635.[8] Sun Chao, Yang Sheng-Tao, Gao Zhenjie, Yang Shengnan, Yilihamu Ailimire, Ma Qiang, Zhao Ru-Song, Xue Fumin, Fe3O4/TiO2/reduced graphene oxide composites as highly efficient Fenton-like catalyst for the decoloration of methylene blue, Materials Chemistry and Physics, 223 (2019) 751-757 https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2018.11.056.[9] Guo Hui, Ma Xinfeng, Wang Chubei, Zhou Jianwei, Huang Jianxin, Wang Zijin, Sulfhydryl-Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide and Adsorption of Methylene Blue, Environmental Engineering Science, 36 (2019) 81-89 https://doi. org/10.1089/ees.2018.0157.[10] Zhao Lianqin, Yang Sheng-Tao, Feng Shicheng, Ma Qiang, Peng Xiaoling, Wu Deyi, Preparation and application of carboxylated graphene oxide sponge in dye removal, International journal of environmental research and public health, 14 (2017) 1301 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111301.[11] Yu Dandan, Wang Hua, Yang Jie, Niu Zhiqiang, Lu Huiting, Yang Yun, Cheng Liwei, Guo Lin, Dye wastewater cleanup by graphene composite paper for tailorable supercapacitors, ACS applied materials & interfaces, 9 (2017) 21298-21306 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b05318.[12] Wang Hou, Yuan Xingzhong, Wu Yan, Huang Huajun, Peng Xin, Zeng Guangming, Zhong Hua, Liang Jie, Ren MiaoMiao, Graphene-based materials: fabrication, characterization and application for the decontamination of wastewater and wastegas and hydrogen storage/generation, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 195 (2013) 19-40 https://doi. org/10.1016/j.cis.2013.03.009.[13] Marcano Daniela C, Kosynkin Dmitry V, Berlin Jacob M, Sinitskii Alexander, Sun Zhengzong, Slesarev Alexander, Alemany Lawrence B, Lu Wei, Tour James M, Improved synthesis of graphene oxide, ACS nano, 4 (2010) 4806-4814 https://doi.org/10.1021/nn1006368.[14] Zhang Jiali, Yang Haijun, Shen Guangxia, Cheng Ping, Zhang Jingyan, Guo Shouwu, Reduction of graphene oxide via L-ascorbic acid, Chemical Communications, 46 (2010) 1112-1114 http://doi. org/10.1039/B917705A [15] Gong Ming, Zhou Wu, Tsai Mon-Che, Zhou Jigang, Guan Mingyun, Lin Meng-Chang, Zhang Bo, Hu Yongfeng, Wang Di-Yan, Yang Jiang, Nanoscale nickel oxide/nickel heterostructures for active hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis, Nature communications, 5 (2014) 4695 https:// doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5695.[16] Wu Zhong-Shuai, Yang Shubin, Sun Yi, Parvez Khaled, Feng Xinliang, Müllen Klaus, 3D nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel-supported Fe3O4 nanoparticles as efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134 (2012) 9082-9085 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja3030565.[17] Nguyen Son Truong, Nguyen Hoa Tien, Rinaldi Ali, Nguyen Nam Van, Fan Zeng, Duong Hai Minh, Morphology control and thermal stability of binderless-graphene aerogels from graphite for energy storage applications, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 414 (2012) 352-358 https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2012.08.048.[18] Deng Yang, Englehardt James D, Treatment of landfill leachate by the Fenton process, Water research, 40 (2006) 3683-3694 https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.watres.2006.08.009.
 

This study describes the clinical, paraclinical characteristics and pathogens of pneumonia in 195 children with pneumonia at the Pediatric Department, Bach Mai Hospital from January to June 2019. According to the study results, most of the cases were aged under five (93.3%) with pneumonia clinical features of tachypnea, 99%; cough, 97.4%; crackling sound, 81.6%; respiratory failure, 80.5%; leukocytosis, 55.9%; and high CRP level in serum, 54.9%. There were 90 cases positive with incubated bacteria with the prevalence of three nasopharyngeal carriages: S.pneumoniae was 48.7%; H.influenzae, 27.8%; and M.catarrhalis, 18.3%. All the bacteria were susceptible to almost all the antibiotics used in treatment, such as Amoxicillin/acid clavunamic, cefotaxim and ceftriason. The study concludes that clinical and paraclinical characteristics in children with pneumonia were fairly various and bacterial pathogens of pediatric pneumonia were similar and susceptible to basic antibiotics.
 Keywords
 Pneumonia, Steptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, antibiotic-resistant.
 References
 [1] T.K.P. Nguyen, T.H.Tran, C.L. Roberts et al, Child pneumonia – focus on the Western Pacific Region, Paediatr Respir Rev 21 (2017) 102-110.[2] P.M.M. Yan Jin, Jose Irineu, Rigotti et al, Cause-specific child mortality performance and contributions to all-cause child mortality, and number of child lives saved during the Millennium Development Goals era: a country-level analysis, Glob Health Action 11(1) (2018) 1-20.[3] L. Liu, S. Oza, D. Hogan et al, Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–15: an updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals, Lancet Child Adolesc Health 16 (2016) 31593-31598.[4] WHO, World Health Statistics, 2015.[5] Bonita F. Stanton and Richard E. Behrman (2016), Overview of Pediatrics, Robert M. Kliegman Nelson Text Book of Pediatrics, 20th Edition, (Elsevier), Philadelphia, 20-39.[6] L.N. Tra, Biologycal constant of Vietnamese in 90th decade, 20th century. Medical Publishing house, Hanoi ( 2004).[7] WHO, Anemia. Global Database on Anaemia, (2015) 4-9.[8] Thomas Bénet, Sánchez Picot, Mélina Messaoudi et al, Microorganisms Associated With Pneumonia in Children <5 Years of Age in Developing and Emerging Countries: The GABRIEL Pneumonia Multicenter, Prospective, Case-Control Study, Clin Infect Dis 65(4) (2018) 604–612.[9] S.E. Katz and D.J. Williams, Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the United States Changing Epidemiology, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges, and Areas for Future, Infect Dis Clin North Am 32(1) (2018) 47–63.[10] Yi-Yi Yu, Luo Ren, Yu Deng et al, Epidemiological characteristics of nasopharyngeal Streptococcus pneumoniae strains among children with pneumonia in Chongqing, China, Sci Rep (9) (2019) 1-8.[11] Mohamed M Rashad, Sahar M Fayed and Aly Mona K El-Hag, Iron-deficiency anemia as a risk factor for pneumonia in children, Benha Medical Journal 32(2) (2015) 96-100.[12] Sopio Chochua, Valérie D'Acremont, Christiane Hanke et al, Increased Nasopharyngeal Density and Concurrent Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis Are Associated with Pneumonia in Febrile Children, PLoS One 11(12) (2016) 1-12.[13] Le Thi Hong Hanh, Đao Minh Tuan, Nguyen Duy Bo et al, Pneumonia at the Respiratory Department and Allergy Immunology Department of National Children Hospital in 2015, Vietnam Medical Journal 447 (2016) 70-75.[14] Ministry of Health, Guinline diagnosis and treatment pneumonia in children, 2015.[15] A. Zafar, R. Hasan, S. Nizamuddin,, Antibiotic susceptibility in Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pyogenes in Pakistan: a review of results from the Survey of Antibiotic Resistance (SOAR) 2002–15, J Antimicrob Chemother 71(1) (2016) 103-109.

Vitamin E (VitE) is a potent antioxidant and contributes as an apoptosis inhibitor by preventing apoptotic death by suppressing cell membrane scrambling with phosphatidylserine translocation and caspase activites. Fas ligand (FasL) is well known to induce cell apoptosis. Activation of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) signalling is stimulated by VitE. The present study addressed the effects of VitE on survival of mouse dendritic cells (DCs) and signalling molecules underlying. To this end, mouse bone marrow cells were isolated and cultured to attain bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs). The cells were treated with FasL in the presence or absence of VitE. Western blotting and FACS analysis were performed to determine expression of signalling molecules and their involvement in DC apoptosis. As a result, FasL treatment resulted in activation of caspase 8 and an increased number of Annexin V+ cells, the effects were significantly suppressed when VitE was present in the cell culture. Importantly, the anti-apoptotic effects of VitE were abolished by using pharmacological inhibition of PI3K signaling with LY294002. Our results showed that VitE inhibited FasL-mediated DC apoptosis through PI3K signalling, the effect is expected to facilitate the survival of DCs and promote the immune response against pathogens.
 Keywords
 Caspase, Dendritic cell; Fas ligand; PI3K and vitamin E.
 References
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Martinou, Regulation of Bcl-2 proteins and of the permeability of the outer mitochondrial membrane, C R Biol 328 (2005) 616-31.[7] M. Rescigno, V. Piguet, B. Valzasina, S. Lens, R. Zubler, L. French, V. Kindler, J. Tschopp, P. Ricciardi-Castagnoli, Fas engagement induces the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs), the release of interleukin (IL)-1beta, and the production of interferon gamma in the absence of IL-12 during DC-T cell cognate interaction: a new role for Fas ligand in inflammatory responses, J Exp Med 192 (2000) 1661-8.[8] C. Qian, L. Qian, Y. Yu, H. An, Z. Guo, Y. Han, Y. Chen, Y. Bai, Q. Wang, X. Cao, Fas signal promotes the immunosuppressive function of regulatory dendritic cells via the ERK/beta-catenin pathway, J Biol Chem 288 (2013) 27825-35.[9] L. Bo, S. Jiang, Y. Xie, H. Kan, W. Song, J. Zhao, Effect of Vitamin E and Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Protecting Ambient PM2.5-Induced Inflammatory Response and Oxidative Stress in Vascular Endothelial Cells, PLoS One 11 (2016) e0152216.[10] K.S. Ahn, G. Sethi, K. Krishnan, B.B. Aggarwal, Gamma-tocotrienol inhibits nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathway through inhibition of receptor-interacting protein and TAK1 leading to suppression of antiapoptotic gene products and potentiation of apoptosis, J Biol Chem 282 (2007) 809-20.[11] E. Pierpaoli, V. Viola, F. Pilolli, M. Piroddi, F. Galli, M. Provinciali, Gamma- and delta-tocotrienols exert a more potent anticancer effect than alpha-tocopheryl succinate on breast cancer cell lines irrespective of HER-2/neu expression, Life Sci 86 (2010) 668-75.[12] A.A. Albahrani, R.F. Greaves, Fat-Soluble Vitamins: Clinical Indications and Current Challenges for Chromatographic Measurement, Clin Biochem Rev 37 (2016) 27-47.[13] E. Shumilina, N. Zahir, N.T. Xuan, F. Lang, Phosphoinositide 3-kinase dependent regulation of Kv channels in dendritic cells, Cell Physiol Biochem 20 (2007) 801-8.[14] X. Jin, L. Song, X. Liu, M. Chen, Z. Li, L. Cheng, H. Ren, Protective efficacy of vitamins C and E on p,p'-DDT-induced cytotoxicity via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway and NF-kappaB/FasL pathway, PLoS One 9 (2014) e113257.[15] B.C. Richardson, N.D. Lalwani, K.J. Johnson, R.M. Marks, Fas ligation triggers apoptosis in macrophages but not endothelial cells, Eur J Immunol 24 (1994) 2640-5.[16] J. Tschopp, M. Irmler, M. Thome, Inhibition of fas death signals by FLIPs, Curr Opin Immunol 10 (1998) 552-8.[17] J. Chung, Y.O. Yoon, J.S. Lee, T.K. Ha, S.M. Ryu, K.H. Kim, M.H. Jeong, T.R. Yoon, H.K. Kim, Inulin induces dendritic cells apoptosis through the caspase-dependent pathway and mitochondrial dysfunction, Biol Pharm Bull 34 (2011) 495-500.[18] S. Kreuz, D. Siegmund, J.J. Rumpf, D. Samel, M. Leverkus, O. Janssen, G. Hacker, O. Dittrich-Breiholz, M. Kracht, P. Scheurich, H. Wajant, NFkappaB activation by Fas is mediated through FADD, caspase-8, and RIP and is inhibited by FLIP, J Cell Biol 166 (2004) 369-80.[19] S. Buonocore, S. Van Meirvenne, F.X. Demoor, F. Paulart, K. Thielemans, M. Goldman, V. Flamand, Dendritic cells transduced with viral interleukin 10 or Fas ligand: no evidence for induction of allotolerance in vivo, Transplantation 73 (2002) S27-30.[20] D. Ashany, A. Savir, N. Bhardwaj, K.B. Elkon, Dendritic cells are resistant to apoptosis through the Fas (CD95/APO-1) pathway, J Immunol 163 (1999) 5303-11.[21] D. Ashany, X. Song, E. Lacy, J. Nikolic-Zugic, S.M. Friedman, K.B. Elkon, Th1 CD4+ lymphocytes delete activated macrophages through the Fas/APO-1 antigen pathway, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92 (1995) 11225-9.[22] S. Qi, W. Fu, C. Wang, C. Liu, C. Quan, A. Kourouma, M. Yan, T. Yu, P. Duan, K. Yang, BPA-induced apoptosis of rat Sertoli cells through Fas/FasL and JNKs/p38 MAPK pathways, Reprod Toxicol 50 (2014) 108-16.[23] L.P. Eberl, G. Egidy, F. Pinet, L. Juillerat-Jeanneret, Endothelin receptor blockade potentiates FasL-induced apoptosis in colon carcinoma cells via the protein kinase C-pathway, J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 36 (2000) S354-6.[24] N.T. Xuan, P.T. Trang, N. Van Phong, N.L. Toan, D.M. Trung, N.D. Bac, V.L. Nguyen, N.H. Hoang, N. Van Hai, Klotho sensitive regulation of dendritic cell functions by vitamin E, Biol Res 49 (2016) 45-54.[25] M. Baskiewicz-Masiuk, B. Machalinski, The role of the STAT5 proteins in the proliferation and apoptosis of the CML and AML cells, Eur J Haematol 72 (2004) 420-9.
 
 
 
 

The curtain rose. The howling of desert wind filled the performance hall in the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Into the center stage, where a scenic construction of a mountain cliff and a desert landscape was dimly lit, entered the character of the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu (1849–1931), performed by Chen Yizong. Dressed in a worn and dusty outfit of dark blue cotton, characteristic of Daoist priests, Wang began to sweep the floor. After a few moments, he discovered a hidden chambre sealed inside one of the rock sanctuaries carved into the cliff.Signaled by the quick, crystalline, stirring wave of sound from the chimes, a melodious Chinese ocarina solo joined in slowly from the background. Astonished by thousands of Buddhist sūtra scrolls, wall paintings, and sculptures he had just accidentally discovered in the caves, Priest Wang set his broom aside and began to examine these treasures. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the desert sky was pitch-black. Priest Wang held his oil lamp high, strode rhythmically in excitement, sat crossed-legged in a meditative pose, and unfolded a scroll. The sound of the ocarina became fuller and richer and the texture of the music more complex, as several other instruments joined in.Below is the opening scene of the award-winning, theatrical dance-drama Dunhuang, My Dreamland, created by China’s state-sponsored Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatre in 2000. Figure 1a: Poster Side A of Dunhuang, My Dreamland Figure 1b: Poster Side B of Dunhuang, My DreamlandThe scene locates the dance-drama in the rock sanctuaries that today are known as the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, housing Buddhist art accumulated over a period of a thousand years, one of the best well-known UNESCO heritages on the Silk Road. Historically a frontier metropolis, Dunhuang was a strategic site along the Silk Road in northwestern China, a crossroads of trade, and a locus for religious, cultural, and intellectual influences since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Travellers, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia, passing through Dunhuang on their way to Chang’an (present day Xi’an), China’s ancient capital, would stop to meditate in the Mogao Caves and consult manuscripts in the monastery's library. At the same time, Chinese pilgrims would travel by foot from China through central Asia to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, playing a key role in the exchanges between ancient China and the outside world. Travellers from China would stop to acquire provisions at Dunhuang before crossing the Gobi Desert to continue on their long journey abroad. Figure 2: Dunhuang Mogao CavesThis article approaches the idea of “abroad” by examining the present-day imagination of journeys along the Silk Road—specifically, staged performances of the various Silk Road journey-themed dance-dramas sponsored by the Chinese state for enhancing its cultural and foreign policies since the 1970s (Kuang).As ethnomusicologists have demonstrated, musicians, choreographers, and playwrights often utilise historical materials in their performances to construct connections between the past and the present (Bohlman; Herzfeld; Lam; Rees; Shelemay; Tuohy; Wade; Yung: Rawski; Watson). The ancient Silk Road, which linked the Mediterranean coast with central China and beyond, via oasis towns such as Samarkand, has long been associated with the concept of “journeying abroad.” Journeys to distant, foreign lands and encounters of unknown, mysterious cultures along the Silk Road have been documented in historical records, such as A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Faxian) and The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (Xuanzang), and illustrated in classical literature, such as The Travels of Marco Polo (Polo) and the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (Wu). These journeys—coming and going from multiple directions and to different destinations—have inspired contemporary staged performance for audiences around the globe.Home and Abroad: Dunhuang and the Silk RoadDunhuang, My Dreamland (2000), the contemporary dance-drama, staged the journey of a young pilgrim painter travelling from Chang’an to a land of the unfamiliar and beyond borders, in search for the arts that have inspired him. Figure 3: A scene from Dunhuang, My Dreamland showing the young pilgrim painter in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk RoadFar from his home, he ended his journey in Dunhuang, historically considered the northwestern periphery of China, well beyond Yangguan and Yumenguan, the bordering passes that separate China and foreign lands. Later scenes in Dunhuang, My Dreamland, portrayed through multiethnic music and dances, the dynamic interactions among merchants, cultural and religious envoys, warriors, and politicians that were making their own journey from abroad to China. The theatrical dance-drama presents a historically inspired, re-imagined vision of both “home” and “abroad” to its audiences as they watch the young painter travel along the Silk Road, across the Gobi Desert, arriving at his own ideal, artistic “homeland”, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves. Since his journey is ultimately a spiritual one, the conceptualisation of travelling “abroad” could also be perceived as “a journey home.”Staged more than four hundred times since it premiered in Beijing in April 2000, Dunhuang, My Dreamland is one of the top ten titles in China’s National Stage Project and one of the most successful theatrical dance-dramas ever produced in China. With revenue of more than thirty million renminbi (RMB), it ranks as the most profitable theatrical dance-drama ever produced in China, with a preproduction cost of six million RMB. The production team receives financial support from China’s Ministry of Culture for its “distinctive ethnic features,” and its “aim to promote traditional Chinese culture,” according to Xu Rong, an official in the Cultural Industry Department of the Ministry. Labeled an outstanding dance-drama of the Chinese nation, it aims to present domestic and international audiences with a vision of China as a historically multifaceted and cosmopolitan nation that has been in close contact with the outside world through the ancient Silk Road. Its production company has been on tour in selected cities throughout China and in countries abroad, including Austria, Spain, and France, literarily making the young pilgrim painter’s “journey along the Silk Road” a new journey abroad, off stage and in reality.Dunhuang, My Dreamland was not the first, nor is it the last, staged performances that portrays the Chinese re-imagination of “journeying abroad” along the ancient Silk Road. It was created as one of many versions of Dunhuang bihua yuewu, a genre of music, dance, and dramatic performances created in the early twentieth century and based primarily on artifacts excavated from the Mogao Caves (Kuang). “The Mogao Caves are the greatest repository of early Chinese art,” states Mimi Gates, who works to increase public awareness of the UNESCO site and raise funds toward its conservation. “Located on the Chinese end of the Silk Road, it also is the place where many cultures of the world intersected with one another, so you have Greek and Roman, Persian and Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cultures, all interacting. Given the nature of our world today, it is all very relevant” (Pollack). As an expressive art form, this genre has been thriving since the late 1970s contributing to the global imagination of China’s “Silk Road journeys abroad” long before Dunhuang, My Dreamland achieved its domestic and international fame. For instance, in 2004, The Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara—one of the most representative (and well-known) Dunhuang bihua yuewu programs—was staged as a part of the cultural program during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. This performance, as well as other Dunhuang bihua yuewu dance programs was the perfect embodiment of a foreign religion that arrived in China from abroad and became Sinicized (Kuang). Figure 4: Mural from Dunhuang Mogao Cave No. 45A Brief History of Staging the Silk Road JourneysThe staging of the Silk Road journeys abroad began in the late 1970s. Historically, the Silk Road signifies a multiethnic, cosmopolitan frontier, which underwent incessant conflicts between Chinese sovereigns and nomadic peoples (as well as between other groups), but was strongly imbued with the customs and institutions of central China (Duan, Mair, Shi, Sima). In the twentieth century, when China was no longer an empire, but had become what the early 20th-century reformer Liang Qichao (1873–1929) called “a nation among nations,” the long history of the Silk Road and the colourful, legendary journeys abroad became instrumental in the formation of a modern Chinese nation of unified diversity rooted in an ancient cosmopolitan past. The staged Silk Road theme dance-dramas thus participate in this formation of the Chinese imagination of “nation” and “abroad,” as they aestheticise Chinese history and geography. History and geography—aspects commonly considered constituents of a nation as well as our conceptualisations of “abroad”—are “invariably aestheticized to a certain degree” (Bakhtin 208). Diverse historical and cultural elements from along the Silk Road come together in this performance genre, which can be considered the most representative of various possible stagings of the history and culture of the Silk Road journeys.In 1979, the Chinese state officials in Gansu Province commissioned the benchmark dance-drama Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, a spectacular theatrical dance-drama praising the pure and noble friendship which existed between the peoples of China and other countries in the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.). While its plot also revolves around the Dunhuang Caves and the life of a painter, staged at one of the most critical turning points in modern Chinese history, the work as a whole aims to present the state’s intention of re-establishing diplomatic ties with the outside world after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, it presents a nation’s journey abroad and home. To accomplish this goal, Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road introduces the fictional character Yunus, a wealthy Persian merchant who provides the audiences a vision of the historical figure of Peroz III, the last Sassanian prince, who after the Arab conquest of Iran in 651 C.E., found refuge in China. By incorporating scenes of ethnic and folk dances, the drama then stages the journey of painter Zhang’s daughter Yingniang to Persia (present-day Iran) and later, Yunus’s journey abroad to the Tang dynasty imperial court as the Persian Empire’s envoy.Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, since its debut at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the first of October 1979 and shortly after at the Theatre La Scala in Milan, has been staged in more than twenty countries and districts, including France, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Russia, Latvia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and recently, in 2013, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.“The Road”: Staging the Journey TodayWithin the contemporary context of global interdependencies, performing arts have been used as strategic devices for social mobilisation and as a means to represent and perform modern national histories and foreign policies (Davis, Rees, Tian, Tuohy, Wong, David Y. H. Wu). The Silk Road has been chosen as the basis for these state-sponsored, extravagantly produced, and internationally staged contemporary dance programs. In 2008, the welcoming ceremony and artistic presentation at the Olympic Games in Beijing featured twenty apsara dancers and a Dunhuang bihua yuewu dancer with long ribbons, whose body was suspended in mid-air on a rectangular LED extension held by hundreds of performers; on the giant LED screen was a depiction of the ancient Silk Road.In March 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping introduced the initiatives “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his journeys abroad in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. These initiatives are now referred to as “One Belt, One Road.” The State Council lists in details the policies and implementation plans for this initiative on its official web page, www.gov.cn. In April 2013, the China Institute in New York launched a yearlong celebration, starting with "Dunhuang: Buddhist Art and the Gateway of the Silk Road" with a re-creation of one of the caves and a selection of artifacts from the site. In March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, released a new action plan outlining key details of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Xi Jinping has made the program a centrepiece of both his foreign and domestic economic policies. One of the central economic strategies is to promote cultural industry that could enhance trades along the Silk Road.Encouraged by the “One Belt, One Road” policies, in March 2016, The Silk Princess premiered in Xi’an and was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing the following July. While Dunhuang, My Dreamland and Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road were inspired by the Buddhist art found in Dunhuang, The Silk Princess, based on a story about a princess bringing silk and silkworm-breeding skills to the western regions of China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) has a different historical origin. The princess's story was portrayed in a woodblock from the Tang Dynasty discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist during his expedition to Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) in the early 19th century, and in a temple mural discovered during a 2002 Chinese-Japanese expedition in the Dandanwulike region. Figure 5: Poster of The Silk PrincessIn January 2016, the Shannxi Provincial Song and Dance Troupe staged The Silk Road, a new theatrical dance-drama. Unlike Dunhuang, My Dreamland, the newly staged dance-drama “centers around the ‘road’ and the deepening relationship merchants and travellers developed with it as they traveled along its course,” said Director Yang Wei during an interview with the author. According to her, the show uses seven archetypes—a traveler, a guard, a messenger, and so on—to present the stories that took place along this historic route. Unbounded by specific space or time, each of these archetypes embodies the foreign-travel experience of a different group of individuals, in a manner that may well be related to the social actors of globalised culture and of transnationalism today. Figure 6: Poster of The Silk RoadConclusionAs seen in Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road and Dunhuang, My Dreamland, staging the processes of Silk Road journeys has become a way of connecting the Chinese imagination of “home” with the Chinese imagination of “abroad.” Staging a nation’s heritage abroad on contemporary stages invites a new imagination of homeland, borders, and transnationalism. Once aestheticised through staged performances, such as that of the Dunhuang bihua yuewu, the historical and topological landscape of Dunhuang becomes a performed narrative, embodying the national heritage.The staging of Silk Road journeys continues, and is being developed into various forms, from theatrical dance-drama to digital exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s Pure Land: Inside the Mogao Grottes at Dunhuang (Stromberg) and the Getty’s Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road (Sivak and Hood). 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