Silk Road is not only the business capital of ancient China, but also a variety of cultures, civilizations dissemination and exchange of the road. Tibetan culture is closely related with the Silk Road, along the Silk Road remains a large number of Tibetan culture and Tibetan cultural heritage related to its long history, rich content, it has important academic and practical significance.

Silk Road exist at northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau which Tibetan inhabited, the Tibetan was also active in some part of the region of Silk Road, they have become one of the residents on the Silk Road. Counting from the era such as Tibetan, Tibetan history of the Silk Road activities and the dissemination of Tibetan culture, it can be broadly divided into the following phases:

1, Tufan period. At 633 AD Tibetan wape up Tuguhun and then they occupied Qinghai Lake area, Tuguhun channel is under the control of Tibet. At about AD 632, the first Tibetan Expansion into the Western Regions. AT 670 AD, Tibet once captured four towns in Anxi, Western Southern Silk Road by Tibetan control. After that, while the Tibetan "Shi Rebellion", occupied the Tang dynasty Longyou, Hexi, the encroachment of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Region domination, occupation and other Silk Road city of Khotan, the Tibetan occupation wire control about Silk Road of nearly a hundred years time. During this period, Tibetan officials, army and civilians moved west, Longyou and other places, and other nations to implement "Tubo" of policies that Tibetan culture is not only Western successor, west and other regions, and had a significant impact. After the Tibetan civil strife, although Tibetan areas along the Silk Road ruling was overturned, but the Tibetan people did not withdraw from the region, but with the other ethnic groups stageered, Tibetan culture is also preserved.

2, Song and Yuan era. At Song era, there are lot of Tibetan people living in the Hexi Corridor, Huangshui River, the upper of Weihe River , at the other places west of the Tibetan tribes had been established liangzhou six valley portions regime, after being conquered by the Western Xia. Hehuang Tibetan regions have established over Green Tang regime. The Tibetan tribes which exist at Weihe River just at the junction of Xia Song, or subject to the rule of the Western Xia, or subject to the jurisdiction of the Song Dynasty. Among them, Qing Tang regime keen on external commercial trade, transport and protection of the Silk Road and Western businessmen, it caued Qinghai Road to flourish again, Qingtang (now Xining) West trade became important, the city has opened a special for the Western Hu Merchants habitable zone. Song and Yuan dynasties, Tibetan Buddhism massive Eastward, drew Yuan Dynasty and Western Xia ruler of conformity and effective support, so that the wide dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism in the west and other places, and that is multi-ethnic beliefs, become dominant religion in the region.

3, Ming and Qing dynasties to contemporary. Ming and Qing Dynasties of Tibetan Buddhism in the west and other places still have a continuation of tradition, the Ming Dynasty Tibetan Buddhism uses multiple e public policy to build and play an active role in stabilizing the Northwest Frontier Buddhism in Tibetan, Gansu and Qinghai regions of the invention by several Government support towards the Tibetan Buddhist monastery. During the Qing Dynasty, the Silk Road, the main road in eastern Tibetan Buddhist culture gradually decline, but both sides of the Qilian Mountain and the Hexi Corridor, namely Inner Mongolia region is more prosperous. The Ming and Qing occupied Western Oirat Mongolia, the construction of the temple, the translation of Buddhist scriptures, carry forward Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism so widely in the Western development, religious culture make this region remains a diverse characteristics. To the contemporary, it remains one Tibetan resident of Hexi Corridor and other places, the Tibetan culture and its continued development along the Silk Road, and affect neighboring ethnic culture.

Silk Road Tibetan culture and Tibetan cultural heritage, a wide range of rich content. This article generally sort out, including the following three aspects:

(A) In Tibetan Buddhist culture as the core of Tibetan cultural heritage

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhist culture as an important part of the Silk Road culture, enrichment and development of the Silk Road culture has played an important role. Silk Road Tibetan culture and Tibetan cultural heritage are:

1, Cultural phenomenon of multi-ethnic Tibetan Buddhism along the Silk Road. Along the Silk Road, there are seven with varying degrees of Tibetan Buddhism like: Tu, Yugu, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, Han and Tibetan ethnic, it formed a multi-ethnic beliefs of Tibetan Buddhist cultural phenomenon, as well as diverse Tibetan Buddhist culture system.

2 Tibetan Buddhist art. Tibetan Buddhist art mainly paintings, including murals and Thangka. Wherein, as the representative of the Mogao Grottoes, Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties Hexi Corridor of Tibetan Buddhist temple murals. Gansu Sunan County Matisi, inside Manjusri Temple Caves Western Xia, Yuan Tibetan Buddhist murals, statues and the like. Guyuan Sumeru Grottoes are also Tibetan Buddhism in Yuan Dynasty paintings. Gansu Yongjing County Binglingsi from occupied Tibet since become one of the important Tibetan monastery. Hexi Corridor area and Hehuang Ming and Qing Dynasties a large number of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, part of the monastery after the war and unrest still be preserved, such as Qinghai Ledu County Qu Temple, Gansu Yongdeng wonderful Temple, significant Education and Temple, Thanksgiving Temple, Todaiji, these temple murals mostly intact, and draw fine, Tibetan arts coexist, with a high cultural value. Thangka mainly silk painting Tubo period, Western Xia and Yuan Thangka painting.

3 Tibetan Buddhist architecture. Silk Road has a Tibetan cultural identity architectural heritage and monuments, mainly Buddhist architecture, including caves, temples, pagodas, etc., to the majority of Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the same time, due to the Silk Road multi-ethnic Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist temple architectural style is also quite multicultural characteristics. As architectural forms in Helan County, Acer is the traditional Chinese pagoda-style pavilion building and Tibetan Buddhism covered bowl tower combined. Gautama Temple, Miao Temple and other temples in the Ming Dynasty architecture, the layout of the palace, built entirely interior style, so called "Chinese-style Tibetan Buddhist monasteries," but the temple dedicated to the Buddha, architectural decoration, and so full of pagodas Features of Tibetan Buddhism.

(B) Historical literature class Tibetan cultural heritage

Literature class are: Tibetan writing this era, unearthed Western Tibetan literature, Tibetan literature Western Xia era, Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties of writing and woodblocks literature. Among them, the era of the Tibetan written by the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, is presented in possession of France, Britain, China, Russia, Japan and other countries. Total Library Cave Tibetan literature there are no precise statistics, roughly more than ten thousand volume number, the number of documents in the Library Cave, ranking second.

Also unearthed along the Silk Road have translated from Tibetan Xixia Uighur, Chinese, Mongolian literature, reflecting the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the cultural exchanges between nations and peoples.

In addition, also found along the Silk Road Slips literature Tubo period, as well as Tibet, Yuan Ming and Qing Dynasties inscription stone.

(Iii) Class Tibetan archaeological heritage

Along the Silk Road in archaeological work, we discovered a number of tombs associated with Tibetan culture, coins, utensils and other artifacts, which Tibetan culture provides physical evidence in spreading along the Silk Road.

Above we Tibetan history and Tibetan culture on the Silk Road was substantially comb, now on its value and significance, simple analysis

(A) Tibetan culture plays an important role in the Silk Road cultural heritage

Tibetan cultural heritage throughout the Silk Road occupies an important place in the cultural heritage, such as the Tibetan culture to enrich the content and form of grotto art of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and other areas west of the Silk Road World Heritage contributed. Meanwhile, Tang and Song Dynasties Silk Road Tibetan Buddhist art, opened a large-scale exchange of Yuan Ming and Qing era of art between the Chinese and Tibetan. Thus, the Silk Road Tibetan cultural heritage has an important historical position in terms of cultural ties between the Mainland and Tibet.

B) The Silk Road is the Tibetan culture and communication to spread an important channel

Hirtorically, Western and Tibetan culture to spread through the Silk Road Hexi Corridor region, it has affected the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty in the Northwest of all ethnic groups, but also by the influence of the nation. Along the Silk Road as a multi-ethnic Tibetan Buddhism phenomenon; Tibetan Buddhist murals and other works of art Chinese and Tibetan style blend; found "Book", "Warring States" Fragmentary Dunhuang Tibetan literature, "Confucius term care phase Q "and other Tibetan translation as well as the famous Indian epic" Ramayana "section and other translations. These facts reflect the Silk Road is not only an important window to spread Tibetan culture, but also to learn and absorb foreign culture zone, but also a variety of civilized coexistence blend of cultural corridor.

(Kan Benjia, Professor, School of Ethnology and sociology, Northwest University for Nationalities)