The Importance of the Silk Road

This week in class, we discussed cross-cultural trade connections in the post-classical era. This reminded me immediately of the Silk Road trade routes, which we also talked and read about. I decided to do some more research on the topic because I thought it was unique in that goods, cultures, religions, and technology interacted globally for the first time. The information I found mentioned the history of the Silk Road, the goods that traveled it, how they traveled, and the social and cultural effects. Overall, one may say that the trade of the Silk Road became a foundation for the trade of the current world.

Brief Historical Overview

The Silk Road opened around the Second Century B.C.E. through Han Dynasty China Emperor Wu Di. One informational website I found states that there were actually many different trade routes, including Northern, Central, and Southern routes (across desert lands). The Road covered China, Asia, India, the Roman Empire, and other areas. The total length of the Silk Road was around 6, 500 kilometers. It reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in which China became united under a strong government. The Mongols strengthened the Silk Road as well because they made it more secure from nomad raiders. A third website states that the Silk Road declined in the latter half of the Tang Dynasty, partly as a result of conservative reactions to Buddhist integration in Chinese Culture.

What goods spread on the Silk Road?

China traded silk, furs, ceramics, spices, stones, and bronze with other countries. They traded many goods, like silk, iron, and bronze, with Rome. Rome used silk for looms, clothing, altar coverings, and burials. Porcelain, which found its way to central Asia from China in the 800s B.C.E., was also quite important. Horses came to China from Rome. China traded silk with India for goods like gold, silver, and jade.

How did the goods travel?

Much like the modern UPS system, trade goods on the Silk Road traveled through many different hands. The trader stayed within a specific area and passed the goods on to another trader who stayed within a specific area nearby. In this way, the goods traveled all the way from the Mediterranean to Central and Eastern Asia. The third website, imperialtours.net, states, “When the trader arrived at the edge of his operational region, he would sell the goods across a border usually to a different nationality and ethnic group who would continue the goods' passage along the east-west axis. Thus, going westwards from China, Chinese traders would sell to Central Asians, who would deal with Persians, who connected with Syrians, who did commerce with Greeks and Jews, who supplied the Romans.” Overall, this interesting quote reveals that the trade led to the travel of cultural ideas as well as goods.

Social and Cultural Effects?

The Silk Road trade system had cultural and social effects. It led to the expansion of Buddhism to China. The third website I recommended earlier said that around ninety percent of the population was exposed to Buddhism and many of them converted to it. Also, other religions, like Zoroastrianism and Islam, spread to China. The Silk Road further led to stronger, more centralized states that provided more protection. It was at this time in the Han Dynasty that Emperor Wu Di began to rebuild the Great Wall of China.

Therefore, one can clearly see the importance and effects of the Silk Road. It had a unique history, goods that moved on it and an interesting way in which they traveled, social effects, and cultural effects. The Silk Road became a foundation for the trade system that the world uses today.