The Silk Road
by Steven Mon
 | | The word “silk” in Chinese1 |
 In China, the Tang Dynasty spanned from 618 C.E. to 906 C.E. It was a glorious dynasty with many achievements. However, one of its most famous achievements was the growing success of the Silk Road. This was the ancient trading route that linked China with the imperial Rome. The approximate length of the road was about 6000 km or 4000 miles long.2 The phrase, “Silk Road”, was first given to this trading route by Barn Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German scholar.3 This ancient route between the East and West was established during 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. in the Han Dynasty during one of China's rare expansionist period. The purpose of this trading route was to establish political contact with the many Kingdoms of Central Asia.4 Land and sea routes were part of the network of the Silk Road.
Initially, silk was traded only internally within the Chinese Empire. Frequently, small Central Asia tribes would attack the silk trading caravans with the intention to capture the valuable silk commodities. As matter of fact, certain sections of the Great Wall of China were built during the Han Dynasty to protect the traders along the Silk Road.6 It was Chang Ch'ien, one of China's greatest explorers, who initiated contact with the Central Asian tribes. He also expanded the silk trade by including the smaller Central Asian nomads.7 As a result, the Silk Road was born.
Although silk was the most remarkable and desirable item traded on the Silk Road, many other precious commodities were also traded. Caravans that traveled from the West to China carried gold, other precious metals, ivory and glass which was not manufactured in China until the 5th Century. Jade, ceramics, bronze objects, lacquer, and iron were exported from China to the West.8 (Note: Silk was a status symbol because of the dangers in importing it. Rich Romans were splurging in extravagant luxury.)
As illustrated in the map above, the Silk Road is not just one route that connected the China to the Western Civilization. Although there were three or four main paths, there were many possible branches that the travelers could have taken by going through different oasis settlement.10 This famous route was surrounded by the Taklimakan Desert which was a very hostile and severe region. The harsh climate is marked with soaring temperature of greater than 50 degrees Celsius in the summer while the temperature could fall as low as below 20 degrees Celsius in the winter. Another dangerous feature of the Taklimakan Desert is the sandstorm with strong winds. Equally, hostile regions surround the Taklimakan Desert.11 The Gobi Desert is to the northeast while some of the highest mountains surround the other three sides of the Taklimakan Desert. It appeared that all routes started in Changan (present day “Xian”) which was the capital of the Tang Dynasty. This city led to the least difficult entry to the Silk Road through the “Gansu Corridor” which was a relatively fertile strip along the base of the Qilian mountains. The Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia was the first area where the western end of the trading route developed.12
The Silk Road brought wealth for many traders. In addition, the local people profited from the trades since they catered to the needs of the travelers. Many caravanerai or roadside inns developed along the Silk Road to house caravans which could contain as many as 1,000 camels.14 Some caravanserai thrived and became cites, such as Samarkand, Tashkent, and Ray, which is now the modern Tehran.
One of the renowned travelers on the Silk Road was Marco Polo. It was his diary of his travels to China from 1271 to about 1295 which gave the outside world a new perspective on the Chinese regions and culture.15
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