This course focuses on premodern art in China and its neighbors in Inner Asia, defined here as present-day Mongolia, Siberia and the Russian Far East. We will follow the paths of ancient nomads, monks, merchants, ambassadors, warriors and explore the artistic traditions they helped build and disseminate across cultural spheres. As such, we will not view Chinese art in a vacuum but rather study the biographies and social lives of Chinese artworks in the larger context of premodern Afro-Eurasian trade networks such as the Silk Roads and Eurasian steppe routes. Why do we find Persian textiles and Roman glass in ancient Chinese tombs? How do we account for discoveries of Chinese ceramics as far as Madagascar? How might we understand the relationship between imperial China and its nomadic neighbors in light of recent archaeological discoveries? What changes did Chinese painting undergo under Mongol rule? How did Buddhism arrive in indigenous Siberian communities? These are just some of the questions we address in the course, inspired by the premise that concepts, religions, ideologies can travel just as swiftly as people, animals and objects. We will critically assess different types of movements and migratory patterns and the ways in which they shaped art in the region of China and Inner Asia. From bronze casting to manuscript illumination to throat signing, the course traces the historical fates of a wide range of monuments, crafts and performance arts.