Silk Road



 In 138 BC, Han Dynasty emperor Wudi sent Chinese general Zhang Qian to the borders of China to attempt to create an alliance and stop the nomadic tribes that lived on the northern and western frontiers to stop them from raiding trading parties. Although Zhang failed to create an alliance, his attempt was not in vein, as he traveled as far west as modern-day Afghanistan and returned to China with information about trade routes and new products. Thereafter, it created and sparked the beginning of ideas and revolution of engaging in the Silk Trade.

 The Silk Road was the first trade route that connected China with the Mediterranean region in the second century BC and as early as 300 BC. The Silk Road was a 4,000-mile network of routes that passed through the entire Asian Continent. Maybe not the first, but the first recorded traveler who used the route was the Chinese general himself, Zhang Qian. The Silk Road gained its name from the popular demand and invention of silk that gained popularity from outside countries.

 One big factor that the Silk Road helped historically significantly because was that it helped develop western culture in the entire Asian Continent. The Silk Road helped develop civilization in countries such as China itself, India, Persia, Europe, and Arabia. Of course, not only silk was traded along the silk trade but other goods such as spices, paper, tea, gold, silver, wool, ivory, various technologies, religions and philosophies were traded as well. On the other hand, not only goods were traded but unfortunate and bad things were traded along the Silk Road such as the bubonic plague, also known as the “Black Death.” The diseases played a big role in the history of Asia and Europe in that time as well as the goods and luxuries.

 The Silk Road was a big factor to transportation because the invention of silk, paper and other goods was in very high and popular demand. In effect of the European countries demanding such goods, it created and developed higher efficient and faster transportation to get to China and the inland countries that they needed supply from. For example would be caravans.

 In the beginning, routes were very hard to go through which was also an effect of why early traders were unable to travel the full length. What they would do was, they’d travel a certain distance, trade their goods and wares at a trading post or oasis, and then return home. Then, traders at the oasis would travel farther on to the next oasis or post and do the same. Doing so would result in goods slowly shifting and being traded and reaching their way towards the West from the East. The West eventually, somehow, learned Chinese practices, inventions, and goods. In result, invention of better transportation helped out the trading between posts and saved time and made it more efficient. 

 It was not only the Europeans that were able to be influenced from the Asian Silk Trade but the Asian continent also benefited from it as well, as they learned and obtained goods from the West and gained influence from them as well. Because of the invention of better transportation, it allowed more and more influence to leak and flow towards the West and onwards.

The Silk Road, one of the most famous and mostly used trade route, stretched from China to the ports of the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road had its ups and downs during trade but it always flourished and continued through the 19 th  century and as late as the beginning of the 20 th  century. It brought many inventions to many different countries and influenced many in some way or aspect. China also flourished and prospered as well as other countries did well. Paper being a prime example of an invention that was something introduced and expanded to other countries was a very big contribution to the world but not the last or only.



Works Cited <p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal"> East Meets West: The Silk Road (Overview). (2012). In  World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras . Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/

<p class="MsoNormal"> Silk Road. (2012). In  World History: The Modern Era . Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/

<p class="MsoNormal"> [Untitled photograph of desert caravan]. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://interesting-world.info/2009/04/tour-to-rajasthan-while-on-india-travel/

<p class="MsoNormal"> [The Silk Road and Related Trade Routes]. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from: http://www.silkroadproject.org/tabid/177/default.aspx