Long before there were trains, ships and airplanes to transport goods from one place to another, there was the Silk Road. Beginning in the sixth century, this route was formed and thus began the first major trade system. Although the term “Silk Road” would lead one that it was on road, this term actually refers to a number of different routes that covered a vast amount of land and were traveled by many different people. Along with silk, large varieties of goods were traded and traveled along this route both going to and from China. Material goods were not the only thing that passed along this path, but many religions were brought into China via the Silk Road. These topics will be discussed in detail in this paper.
From Babylon in the west to Chang’an in the east and from Jada Gate in the north to Patna in the south, the Silk Road stretched over a wide space of the Asian and Middle Eastern countries. There was not one road or one direct route between the many stops between these destinations. The caravans that traveled the Silk Road mainly skirted the Taklimakan desert, also called the “Land of the Dead” by the people in that area. Nomadic tribes traveled from oasis to oasis, often with little or no protection from bandits. These bandits were accustomed to engaging in raids on the merchants that used this route to trade with other countries, attacking and stealing from the merchants and later selling what they acquired in this nefarious manner. It is important to note that while the deserts were a challenge to navigate, the highest mountain ranges also made travel difficult. Many of the people who used this trade route never traveled far, but instead traded goods many times between merchants. It is because of these ...
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...hina as well. Along the Silk Road, Buddhism, Christianity, and Manichaeism also migrated towards the east. The Silk Road supported trade of goods and services and the spread of ideas and religions, beginning the shrinking of the world to the relatively small place it has become in our time.
Works Cited
Wild, Oliver. Department of Earth System Science; University of California Irvine, "The Silk Road." Last modified 1992. Accessed March 31, 2012. http://ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html.
Lendering, Jona. LIVIUS Articles on Ancient History, "Silk road." Last modified 03/30/2012. Accessed March 31, 2012. http://livius.org/sh-si/silk_road/silk_road.html.
Major, John. Asia Society, "Silk Road: Spreading Ideas and Inovations." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 31, 2012. http://asiasociety.org/countries/trade-exchange/silk-road-spreading-ideas-and-innovations.
In the Background Essay Q’s, Doc B, Box 1, it mentions Hinduism. Doc A box 3 mentions confucianism. Rome worships christianity. Hinduism is technically Buddhism. These reasons explain that trade was never JUST physical items, but ideas and beliefs as well. The Silk Road made sure if you didn’t trade items you can hold, then you can trade items you can cherish. Finally, in the western civilizations (Rome), was accessed by boat. Boats could carry a ton more items and it was less of a walk for the merchants/traders. However, the Silk Road did lead a small backup path up north of Parthia. Around 27 B.C.E., the Roman Empire had only begun, but the silk road had been a thing for a very long time before that. About 3,073 years to be close to proximity. This took trade across seas! This was also how the Silk Road was Forgotten...boat travel became popular, less expensive, and easier to carry bigger loads.On Doc A, the map shows a series of dashes across the Mediterranean Sea. This represents the route to Rome by boat. Also on Doc A, the dashes on the backup path lead from east of India, to the north of the Caspian Sea, then south to Rome. Also, the timeline says 27 B.C.E.- Roman Empire begins. This time subtracted from 4000 B.C.E- Silk Cultivation in China, is about 3,073
Francesco Pegolotti was a Florentine merchant and politician. He wrote the The Practice of Commerce in which he expressed the personal qualities he believed that merchants were most needed to survive, which were compliancy and the skill to work with others, and have understanding. Pegolotti’s history was based on the sensitivity to local rules and customs was the key to survival. In this paper it will argue that the personal qualities that was needed to succeed in the Silk Road trade.
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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 was a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, and soldiers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. It was the most important trade route at the time, and was very important to both empires.
During the period between 200 BCE and 1450 CE, the Silk Road underwent many subtle transformation while at the same time holding its original purpose. The Silk Roads were first established as a route from Western Rome to China's Han Dynasty for the purpose of trading. The Chinese traded rice, tea, spices, pottery, and silk. From these products, silk became a luxurious item and was in a very high demand. Thus, it is called the Silk Road. China exported silk to areas such as India, the Mediterranean, and Rome. From the cultural interaction from the west and the east, we also see the exchange of religion in which this essay primarily focuses on.
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
Both Chang’an during the Tang dynasty and modern day New York City attracted people from all over the world because of the vast amounts of resources being traded. One of the greatest trade routes during the Tang Dynasty was the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a path that went from the Pacific coast of China to the Mediterranean Sea, and this road connected the Eastern market with the Western market (Chang’an). Chang’an was located at the Eastern end of the Silk Road. Many exotic goods were traded along this path from Persia and India (City Life in Tang). This trade made the people of Chang’an wealthy, and trade continued to increase in both the Western and Eastern markets. Because of the increased trade, many more people began to live near the Western market (Chang’an). The people of Chang’an began to be envied because of their vast wealth. This caused laws to be created that made it forbidden for people to show their wealth. While in New York City wealth is applauded and envied.
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...
Geography placed a major role in trading between multiple Kingdoms. If mountains were in the trade route, the people may have had to find a
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The Silk Road is trade route that connected east and west. Inaccurately named by Ferdinand von Richthofen in the 19th century, it is actually a collection of roads. Traders didn’t usually traverse the whole length of the route, however. Goods were usually traded multiple times before they reached the final destination. Items leaving from Asia and China were goods such as: silk, spices, textiles, ivory, jade, bronze objects, ceramics, lacquarware, flowers, furs, paper, jewelry, minerals, horses, and exotic plants and animals. Goods from the west were: wool, linen, coins, bullion, ambergris, gold, ivory, amber, coral, other precious stones, beads, and glass (a commodity that China has not been able to produce at this point). Goods originating from India were:...
...laborers available only in China at that time (China Travel Guide: Culture of the Silk Road).
The Silk Road started in second century BCE. However, this vast network of ancient pathways was not called The Silk Road. It really did not have a name. It didn’t start being called “The Silk Road” until around the 19th century when, in his book China, the German historian Ferdinand von Richthofen na...