Encounters at the Jade Gate Along the Silk Road The Frontier Between Worlds In the harsh Gobi Desert, approximately ninety kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Dunhuang, stand the weathered ruins of what was once one of the most significant checkpoints in human history. The Jade Gate—Yumen Pass in Chinese—served for nearly a millennium as the primary gateway between the Chinese Empire and the vast expanse known as the Western Regions. Here, at the edge of the known world, merchants, soldiers, diplomats, and adventurers paused before crossing the threshold between civilization and wilderness, between the ordered realm of the Middle Kingdom and the lawless expanses of Central Asia. The name itself speaks to the pass's commercial importance. "Yumen" literally translates as "Jade Gate," named for the countless caravans carrying jade from the mines of Khotan that passed through its walls. But jade was merely one commodity among many. Through this unpreposse...