There exists a time when major civilizations were once divided in nature and were unaware of each other’s existence. The major civilizations developed at an independent rate, and most of the technologies and ideas were innovated without the influence of other civilizations. The Chinese were famed for their production of silk, a valuable textile coveted for its splendid texture and color. The Roman Empire was known for its wealth and domesticated animals. India was famous for its spices [1]. However, this situation then took a drastic change when the Silk Road was established by the Han Dynasty. The main purpose of this establishment was to maintain political contact with the kingdoms located in Central Asia. This route soon evolved into a trade route that connected China, Central Asia and Constantinople [2]. Sometime between 206 B.C and 220 A.D, Silk Road was known to be the main trade route that linked the west and the east [2]. The Silk Road then became one of the most iconic symbols of trade in the world, as it became the first trade route of its kind that managed to connect the west with the east. Although the Silk Road disappeared after 220 A.D due to the fall of Constantinople, it remained to be one of the most important human systems in history. This is because it gave rise to globalization, expedited the development of great civilizations and inspired the rise of maritime exploration.
The establishment of the Silk Road was the first main event that gave rise to globalization. Trade between the west and east was one of the main products of the Silk Road. This international trade allowed goods such as silk, which was one of the most coveted goods among merchant at that time, wools and domestic animals to be traded among di...
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...the east trade route by sea.
In conclusion, the Silk Road was an important landmark as it connected the west and the east which created an international trade system. Even after its disappearance due to the fall of Constantinople, its success was so huge that its existence in history still inspired and encouraged others to find ways to repeat its achievement. Although Christopher Columbus eventually failed to discover another path that links the east and the west, his endeavors that were inspired by the Silk Road led to the rise of maritime exploration, and even more importantly the discovery of the New World. Therefore, the Silk Road has demonstrated itself to be a significant aspect of the human experience, as from it, we are able to experience globalization, record the rise of some of the greatest civilizations, and also oversee the rise of maritime exploration.
An African rhino horn for some Chinese silk, 6 Iron bars for 12 Ferghana horses, or Chinese orange trees for India’s spices. Trade was encouraged by the Silk Road because it was the earliest type of compromise when wars were fought, and supplies were demanded.
Both routes allowed states to grow. The Silk Road allowed states to grow in Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean allowed states to grow in Southeast Asia. These states allowed for more trade along the route to where a variety of goods could be traded instead of mainly just the important items. Where a group of traders are, ideas are bound to be exchanged and then rapidly spread throughout the state (Strayer
As told by the roman historian Cassius Dio, Silk was used in Caesar’s celebration. (doc. 1). When Dio talks about the silk he calls it a “device of barbarian luxury.” This proves that a well educated roman was oblivious to the advancements that the Chinese had made, including The Great Wall and Grand Canal. Not to mention that the Chinese have existed thousands of years prior to the Roman civilization. Secondly Sima Qian who wrote The Records Of the Grand Historian clearly hints that Zhang Qian may have started the Silk Road. According to the document, Zhang Qian travels several thousand li (1 Li is equivalent to a bit more than one third of a mile.) Zhang brings back crops such as wheat and rice, and even find out about wine and grapes. Zhang was the first person to bring a clear account of present day Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, claiming it was people settled on the
...g. The tying together each small item to the events of world history symbolizes how the overarching theme of globalization involves many different aspects. Samuel Champlain’s excursion which could’ve been seen as complete accident actually helped establish a very profitable fur trade between North America. Chinese porcelain and its high demand introduced the world to the wonders of China as well as the rest of the world to China. Tobacco became a popular commodity of trade and was exported globally. Along with discoveries of routes, goods, and beliefs, and other things, the movement of people was, and still is, the most vital part of globalization. Without it, history wouldn’t be the same.
It can be said that Eurasia underwent large changes between 1000 and 1450. Governments were changing their methods of control and trade networks increasing globalization worldwide. Along with these new changes, scientific and technological innovations in Eurasia took flight and reached new heights unseen. As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen
2.) The Asian sea trading network was traditionally divided into three distinct sections that each handled certain types of goods. With the arrival of the Europeans, these zones became blurred as there was an increase of trade between each zone and Europeans bolstered the textile and spice trade with their efforts in joining the trade system. Due to large amounts of trade, trading factories and ports were established all throughout Southeast Asia, establishing permanent points of trade, widening the area that the network influenced.
The Mongols conquered and then united China. This created peace among the country and led to other great things. One of these great things is the Silk Road. The Silk Road is a long trading route that was created when China was united as they had started
The silk road encouraged people to start trading because it connected all the civilizations together. Therefore it is easier to trade.
The history of the world is bought together by its sophisticated culture and commerce net. Throughout the history, human beings have been taking on varies role in the society, and it has been the human activities kept the history alive, writing down the story of our time. Back in 16th century, an ancient nation was the center of world trading system; this nation attracted countries all over the globe to try to use its cultural and economic superiority for reference, and this nation was China. European countries such as Dutch, England and French had went to Ming and Qing China numerous time, trading had always been their main goal, but the process and strategies have changed throughout the history. There are proves stating that European merchant had taken on an active in Chinese society since Medieval China, which is 13th century. As time goes by, the trade between China and Europe had getting increasingly frequent and more complex. Therefore, this paper focuses on European trading activity with China from 16th century to 20th century, along with trading policy and social status changes.
The Chinese porcelain bowl was a symbolic representation of the growing trade with China; these decorations where becoming more common as the trade grew and the prices where able to drop – allowing the possibility for more commoners to afford it.2 Brook continues with his discussion on China and says that they where prohibited from traveling by the Europeans.2 Hence he thought them to be unintelligent and lacking technologically and linguistically, as the remainder of the exploring world developed. However, China later on began to reject the trading posts in their country and began wanting full control of their trade so they did begin to travel as encouraged by the government.2 Globalization is still a current event with all the trade agreements and contracts between countries for imports and support. Countries are all significantly interdependent as globalization has kept growing. Nevertheless, globalization has its risks and consequences as recourses in those exporting lands are not unlimited and there will be an demand that will not be able to be satisfied. As well, cross country wars are more possible as disagreements may happen between trade partners. Brook touched upon when talking about China and their change in mind.2 Globalization is complicated since there are multiple partners from different cultural and beliefs which will clash and will want what is best for their country just as the Chinese government wanted the best for them when the Europeans where taking over.2 Likewise, further proving that globalization connects countries
During this time in China the Han dynasty was responsible for the greatest expansion of China, to what is now southern China, northern Vietnam, and parts of Korea and had trade with Central Asia, India, Persia. Because of the expansion of the territory they were able to trade with more countries. This was furthered by the discovery of the Silk Road in 2nd century BC. The Silk Road, discovered by a Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian, was a series of trade routes from China to the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road got its name from the amount of silk used for trade during the Han dynasty. This route was used to travel from West to East on land they traveled to India, Persia, Arabia, and Europe, while traveling by sea they traveled through Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. These paths were used by merchants, pilgrim, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers.
The Mongols influenced the world in many great ways, one of them was their vast trade system. They relied quite heavily on trade, not only to gain resources, but also to get their inventions and objects to the Europeans and then hopefully spread from there. The Mongols enhanced the trading system by composing the “Silk Road”. The Silk Road was a path/road that the Mongols had control of and it was a trade route that many travelers and traders took. Along the Silk Road, the main resource that was traded was silk, hence the name “Silk Road.” The
At the time of the Han Dynasty, general trade began over the Silk Road, which was a network of trails that stretched 4,000 miles from China extending to the Roman Empire. At the time the Chinese were unique in their knowledge of how to raise silkworms and weave silk. Chinese silk was extremely expensive. In fact it was worth its weight as gold in Rome! Europeans also preferred other Asian luxury goods including but not limited to exotic sp...
The Silk Road was brought about around 200 B.C.E as a trading route from Western Rome to the Han Dynasty. Innumerable diverse patterns of interaction have taken place since then, coming to a halt around 1450 C.E. These changes and continuities generally revolved around products, cultural expression, and religion.
The Chinese were the first to produce silk from the silkworm. This was something that was very much desired by the West. The Romans even referred to it as the ‘land where silk comes from. ’ The Romans set out to find where this wonderful material was coming from. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia it is thought that the first contact between China and the west was around 200 BCE . Many types of merchandise were traded along this road. China had things like silk, bamboo work, and Chinese lacquers. The West had many new fruits, vegetables, spices, gold, and medicinal materials that China wanted. So this was a mutually beneficial trade route. As mentioned before much more than just material things were traded among this road like ideals, beliefs, and technology.