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"Silk Road" by John Major
(Primary Article)

The Silk Roads
The Eurasian Silk Roads were a transmitter of people, goods, ideas, beliefs and inventions.

Inventions and Ideas
Ideas were transported across the Silk Roads- a prime example was paper from China spreading across to Europe. The Chinese had tried to protect their secret of papyrus, however it had spread too fast across the silk roads and were already in places like Rome.

Food and Diseases
Food and disease also spread across the Silk Road. Apples spread from Kazakhstan, Oranges spread from China, and Grapes spread from the European regions of the Silk Road. Disease spread, too, both attached to the food and virally. Plague-bearing flea eggs attached to rats, who then spread the flea eggs onto shipments in cargo ships. This resulted in the spread of the infamous Black Death Plague, which killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people across the countries connected to the Silk Road.

A Multi-Way Street
The Silk Road was a multi-way street that allowed different aspects of culture to pass to and from various countries that participated in it. Merchants traded items from China that made their way up to Rome, and items obtained in Rome made their way to China as well.

The Effect of the Silk Road
Evidently the Silk Road had its pros and cons, cons notably being the plagues and diseases that spread. However, it is often credited as the earliest form of globalisation for it allowed the spreading of many aspects of different cultures to spread to other parts of the world.

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by John Major

Good ideas and innovation travel easily-and far. Historically, these ideas spread along trade routes. This essay looks at the great Eurasian Silk Roads as a transmitter of people, goods, ideas, beliefs and inventions.

Good ideas travel easilyand far along trade routes, and the Silk Road was no exception to that rule. A famous example of a Chinese invention that helped to transform the world is paper. Paper was invented during the Han dynasty, probably just at the time the Silk Road trade was beginning to flourish. (Many accounts ascribe the invention of paper to a Latter Han official at the beginning of the 2nd century CE, but actual paper at least two centuries older than that has been archaeologically excavated from Han tombs.) Far superior to the narrow wooden strips or hard-to-handle rolls of silk that the Chinese had previously used for writing, paper soon became the writing material of choice throughout China and East Asia. It was found also in the Buddhist temples of China's northwest, but seemed not to make inroads beyond that for a long time, perhaps in part because the Chinese tried to protect the secret of its manufacture, and perhaps in part also because other writing materials, such as parchment and papyrus, were well established in the west.

But under the Mongols in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a group of Chinese workmen set up a papermaking establishment in Samarkand. Their product quickly spread by trade and imitation, and paper soon supplanted other writing materials in most of western Eurasia.

In China, the invention of paper stimulated the invention of printing, sometime during the 6th century CE-a development energetically supported by Buddhism, according to which the duplication of sacred texts was an act of religious merit. The re-invention of printing in Europe centuries later did not employ East Asian-style printing technology, but it may have been stimulated by accounts of Chinese printing that could have circulated in the Middle East.

Another invention that spread entirely across Eurasia was the noria, or irrigation waterwheel. This simple, ingenious device, invented in Roman Syria, consists of a vertical waterwheel to the rim of which are attached a series of pots or tubes. As the current of a river rotates the wheel, the pots fill with water at the bottom of the cycle and empty into a chute at the top; a large noria can lift water as much as forty feet with no input of human or animal energy. This inspired invention was obviously a good idea, and rapidly spread along the Silk Road and its tributaries. There is a famous example in Toledo, Spain, others along the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China, and many more in between.

Foodstuffs also count in this category of the travel of ideas and techniques Apples spread, in prehistoric times via the steppe belt, in both directions from the region of modern-day Kazakhstan; oranges went (via the maritime route) from China to the Mediterranean world; grapes went from the western reaches of the Silk Road to China.

These examples and dozens more that could be mentioned make the point clear: ideas, inventions, devices and techniques spread readily and far along the Silk Road, and the traffic was very much a two way, or perhaps one should say a multi-way, street. In the process the Silk Road enriched not just the merchants who carried and exchanged goods, but the people of countries and cultures all across Eurasia.

It is perhaps worth noting, however, that long-distance trade can have unexpectedly bad side effects as well as direct beneficial effects. For example, the Black Death plague that devastated Europe in the 14th century is believed to have come via the Silk Road from Central Asia, where plague is endemic among local rodents. One theory holds that a load of marmot pelts (destined to be used on fur-trimmed garments), contaminated with plague-bearing flea eggs, was brought from somewhere in Central Asia to a Middle Eastern port. There the eggs hatched into fleas that infested some local rats; some of the rats eventually went on shipboard and were carried to port cities in Italy. There the plague spread, via fleas, to other rats, and then to people; and a disaster was in the making.

Additional Background Reading on Asia

Why were there so many Chinese fans in the bleachers at this year's FIFA World Cup, when the Chinese team wasn't even on the field? Student Jerry Tian gives us his perspective.

by John Major
Good ideas and innovation travel easily-and far. Historically, these ideas spread along trade routes. This essay looks at the great Eurasian Silk Roads as a transmitter of people, goods, ideas, beliefs and inventions.

Good ideas travel easilyand far along trade routes, and the Silk Road was no exception to that rule. A famous example of a Chinese invention that helped to transform the world is paper. Paper was invented during the Han dynasty, probably just at the time the Silk Road trade was beginning to flourish. (Many accounts ascribe the invention of paper to a Latter Han official at the beginning of the 2nd century CE, but actual paper at least two centuries older than that has been archaeologically excavated from Han tombs.) Far superior to the narrow wooden strips or hard-to-handle rolls of silk that the Chinese had previously used for writing, paper soon became the writing material of choice throughout China and East Asia. It was found also in the Buddhist temples of China's northwest, but seemed not to make inroads beyond that for a long time, perhaps in part because the Chinese tried to protect the secret of its manufacture, and perhaps in part also because other writing materials, such as parchment and papyrus, were well established in the west.

But under the Mongols in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a group of Chinese workmen set up a papermaking establishment in Samarkand. Their product quickly spread by trade and imitation, and paper soon supplanted other writing materials in most of western Eurasia.

In China, the invention of paper stimulated the invention of printing, sometime during the 6th century CE-a development energetically supported by Buddhism, according to which the duplication of sacred texts was an act of religious merit. The re-invention of printing in Europe centuries later did not employ East Asian-style printing technology, but it may have been stimulated by accounts of Chinese printing that could have circulated in the Middle East.

Another invention that spread entirely across Eurasia was the noria, or irrigation waterwheel. This simple, ingenious device, invented in Roman Syria, consists of a vertical waterwheel to the rim of which are attached a series of pots or tubes. As the current of a river rotates the wheel, the pots fill with water at the bottom of the cycle and empty into a chute at the top; a large noria can lift water as much as forty feet with no input of human or animal energy. This inspired invention was obviously a good idea, and rapidly spread along the Silk Road and its tributaries. There is a famous example in Toledo, Spain, others along the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China, and many more in between.

Foodstuffs also count in this category of the travel of ideas and techniques Apples spread, in prehistoric times via the steppe belt, in both directions from the region of modern-day Kazakhstan; oranges went (via the maritime route) from China to the Mediterranean world; grapes went from the western reaches of the Silk Road to China.

These examples and dozens more that could be mentioned make the point clear: ideas, inventions, devices and techniques spread readily and far along the Silk Road, and the traffic was very much a two way, or perhaps one should say a multi-way, street. In the process the Silk Road enriched not just the merchants who carried and exchanged goods, but the people of countries and cultures all across Eurasia.

It is perhaps worth noting, however, that long-distance trade can have unexpectedly bad side effects as well as direct beneficial effects. For example, the Black Death plague that devastated Europe in the 14th century is believed to have come via the Silk Road from Central Asia, where plague is endemic among local rodents. One theory holds that a load of marmot pelts (destined to be used on fur-trimmed garments), contaminated with plague-bearing flea eggs, was brought from somewhere in Central Asia to a Middle Eastern port. There the eggs hatched into fleas that infested some local rats; some of the rats eventually went on shipboard and were carried to port cities in Italy. There the plague spread, via fleas, to other rats, and then to people; and a disaster was in the making.

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by John Major Good ideas and innovation travel easily-and far. Historically, these ideas spread along trade routes. This essay looks at the great Eurasian Silk Roads as a transmitter of people, goods, ideas, beliefs and inventions. Good ideas travel easilyand far along trade routes, and the Silk Road was no exception to that rule.

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"Religions of the Silk Road"

Spread of Buddhism
Buddhism was founded in India but due to the silk road it was able to spread internationally. For example, traces of Buddsim was founeded in Afghanistan

Spread of Islam
Islam spread to places like China

Spread of Nestorianism and Manichaeism

Traces of Nestorianism and Manichaeism

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"Silk Road Cultural Exchanges" - Absolute China Tours
Science and Technology:
China was ahead of other civilizations in terms of technologies and inventions. When China's inventions (such as paper making and dynamite) were shared on the silk road, it helped other civilizations to grow their technology. Chinese inventions greatly impacted Europe, like dynamite for example, sparked a weapons revolution in Europe.

The Silk Road also helped the Chinese, because they were introduced to new inventions, and new ideas and knowledge from Europe helped them improve their inventions. Knowledge of natural sciences were brought to China via Europeans.
Handicraft:
Different arts were shared on the silk road, like Chinese porcelain and silk. Porcelain and silk were large exports from China. Different types of instruments were brought to China from Europe, like flutes and harps.
Food, spice, drug
Lots of plants were traded along the Silk Road, affecting the cuisine of Europeans and Chinese. The biggest food export from China was tea, and it was sold to Europeans, as it still is today. Spices were traded along the Silk Road, a lot of them coming from India, the Middle East, and East Africa.
Different plants imported to China became used in their medicines, and still are used today.

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"Religions of the Silk Road" - Interview with Richard C. Foltz
(Secondary Article)

1) For religions that are less common today such as Zoroastrianism, did they spread a lot during the Silk Road, or were they instead replaced by religions more occurrent today?

2) Being one of the prominent figures when the Silk Road is mentioned, how did Genghis Khan utilise the Silk road to its greatest capacity?

3) Is the Silk Road still prominent today? Obviously there are still trade that goes on between Europe and China, but is the two way street still as prominent as it was before, or is it more of a one way street today?

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An Interview with author Richard C. Foltz.

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No, the Silk Road should not be called the silk road. Silk was a prominent item that was traded across the Silk Road, it is true. But so much more was traded that it almost seems unfair that it is coined the Silk Road. The Silk road traded precious metals, ideas, beliefs, religion, paper, and so many other resources that calling it the silk road is an understatement of the extent that the Silk Road had. Because of this, the Silk Road should have a more umbrella-like name that encompasses more aspects of the trade route.

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"Lost on the Silk Road" - Big History Project

Traveling Information:
Like the internet, the silk road served as a link for communications to pass between different people and cultures. As people travelled to different places, information was being passed along all over Asia and Europe.

Silk:
The most popular good that was traded on the silk road was silk. Silk was a rare product that many others from other countries did not have access or manufacturing to.

Trade and Cultures:
Not only did others want silk, but the Chinese desired horses, cattle, leather, furs, ivory, and jade. This large band of trade between people and communities allowed for branching the road to India, Persia (Iran) , and Bactria (Afghanistan). Music, songs, and stories also travelled along the silk road, shared around campfires where caravans were stopped.

Information from the Narrative Story:
By interacting with other people and learning more about them and their cultures, allowed more people to understand beyond their own beliefs. The person arrived at the canyon they wanted to locate and met other herders from Tibet. By talking with a person named "Arnold," this person learned more about other cultures and collectively learned more about the world.

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Secondary article: "The Products of the Silk Road" by Absolute China Tours

Connections:
The way new technologies really affected Europe and other Western civilizations relates to the year of 2007 when the iPhone was released. Compass greatly helped ocean navigation and paper making allowed for more communication and human connectivity, just like the iPhone allowed. The iPhone was a huge advance in technological history, allowing for much easier and efficient access to information. With the spread of information on such a faster level (including communication around the globe), there was more collective learning. The Silk Road is very similar to this because there was a lot of trade of information, goods, and ideas, enabling many to learn and globalize.

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We shouldn't call the silk road the silk road because so much more happened than just the popular trade of silk. Not only did the silk road open up people to trade of many goods and products they didn't have, the silk road "traded" information and knowledge to one another, affecting the cultures of many surrounding countries. Therefore, the name of the Silk Road should be more related to the importance it had on other countries than how silk was a very popular good.

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No, since many other things spread in the silk road.

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"Silk Road" by John Major

Paper is an example of an invention from China that helped transform the world. It was invented in the Han Dynasty, just as the silk road was beginning its success. The invention of paper allowed for the spread of knowledge and ideas.

The noria or irrigation waterwheel is another invention that spread entirely across Eurasia. The device came from Roman Syria, and its purpose was to lift water from rivers with no input from humans or animals.

Foods also contributed to the travel of ideas and techniques. Apples spread via the steppe belt, oranges spread via the maritime route from China to the Mediterranean.

Despite the many benefits of the long distance trade, it did not come without bad side effects. The Black Death plague in Europe during the 14th century was said to have come from Central Asia via the silk road.

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The Silk Road should not be called the Silk Road, because it does not justly characterize the importance and broad scope of this trade network. Much more, and much more important things were traded along the Silk Road than just silk. Exchanges of ideas, inventions, and cultures had much bigger impacts on the Afro-Eurasian zone than silk did. Many of the effects of these exchanges are seen today, for example, when seeing the spread of religions like Islam around the world, or in inventions such as paper. The knowledge of math and science that was exchanged also helped form our knowledge today. The Silk Road helped integrate the Afro-Eurasian zone, and sped up the processes of globalization. Because of this, the Silk Road should have a name that better characterizes its importance and broad scope, and does not just leave the image of cars driving on silk in your head.