Experts from major Chinese universities and research institutes gather together Tuesday at a symposium held in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, discussing the languages and cultures of the ancient nationalities along the Silk Road.

The two-day symposium is cosponsored by China Ethical Ancient Character Research Institute, Lanzhou University and Dunhuang Research Institute.

Yang Fuxue, researcher from the Dunhuang Research Institute, said the symposium provides a good platform for experts who are engaged in the research into the Silk Road to exchange information and share their research findings.

Many historical documents concerning Dunhuang and the Silk Road were written in the languages of the minority groups and it is necessary to categorize and study them, said Nie Hongyin, vice chairman of China Ethical Ancient Character Research Institute.

The discovery and research of the documents will promote the studies of Chinese, Dunhuang and ancient characters, which have aroused great interests of experts both at home and abroad, Nie said.

Stretching over 7,000 kilometers, the 2000-year-old Silk Road, widely acclaimed as a symbol of communications between China and Europe, snakes from Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, through central Asia and ends in Rome.

It was an important passageway linking the eastern and western cultures.

Source: Xinhua