SILK ROAD PRELIMINARY RESEARCH by Sarinya Jeharajah https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5 en-us 2018-10-16 00:22:44 UTC 2018-10-22 00:01:50 UTC hello@padlet.com Allenka's Column jeharajah34243 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110629 Source 2: https://asiasociety.org/geographical-setting-silk-roads

Overview
  • network of trails and trading posts
  • connecting east Asia to the Mediterranean
  • land and sea
  • terrain of the Silk Road was difficult
  • islands of greenery, watered by rivers and springs made the journey possible
Concept of Asia
  • Eurasia Landmass
    • the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans
    • the Red and Mediterranean Seas
    • islands and archipelagos east and south of the landmass 
    • division of the land mass into “Europe” and “Asia"
  • Asia: collection of smaller entities
  • most of these regions have interacted
    • trade
    • religion
Eurasia's Subregions
  • Major subregions
    •  the Intermontain Desert and the Oasis Belt
      • zone is bounded on the north and south by mountains
      • high, dry terrain, infrequent and irregular water supplies, absent or scarce forage for caravan animals
      • most clearly defined segment of the Silk Road: leading northwest from Chang’an through the Gansu Corridor
        • Passed through the Jade Gate of antiquity
        • routes converges again at Kashgar
  • northern routes that converged in the Ferghana Valley
    •  several routes led onward to Samark and and Merv
    • Divergent trails led north of the Caspian to the Russian trade routes
  • the Trans-Eurasian Steppe Belt
  • China
  • the Mediterranean
  • the Middle East
  • South Asia
  • Northeast Asia
  • Northern Europe
  • Mainland Southeast Asia
  • Island Southeast Asia
  • the Boreal Forest
  • the Arctic Littoral
The Trans-Eurasian Steppe Belt
  • zone of rolling grassland
  • extends from eastern Mongolia west into Romania and Hungary
  • some of the Eurasian steppe can be turned to agricultural use 
  • became a vast highway
    • language
    • populations
    • cultural traits
China
  • divided into North China and South China
  • strong geographical and agricultural differences between North China and South China 
  • Some trade routes in China historically fed into the Silk Road or distributed goods from it
  • people were likely to look variously inland, toward Central Asia, or seaward for trade
    • North China
      • relatively dry climate
      •  where crops such as wheat and millet grow
      • broad plains and terraced valleys
      • eroded hills and valleys of loess soil 
    • South China
      • monsoonal climate
        •  Its soils, leached by the heavy seasonal rains, require heavy fertilization, and the staple crop is rice.
      • Transportation by riverboat or canal barge.
The Mediterranean
  • united North Africa and southern Europe
  • western convergence point of the overland + the maritime trans-Eurasian trade routes
  • channeled widespread distribution of Silk Road goods throughout western Eurasia
  • 1st millennium BCE: Trading ships criss-crossed in every direction, from at least the early 
The Middle East
  • between the eastern Mediterranean and the western reaches of Persia
  • close ties to Silk Road networks of Persia and Central Asia
  • desert traversed by caravan routes linking scattered oasis cities
  • Middle East was an end-point for the Silk Road
South Asia
  • India has plowed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau
    • isolated South Asia from the rest of Eurasia behind a formidable barrier of mountains
  • direct overland contact between India and China extremely difficult
  • caravans used passes through the Himalayan escarpment
    • giving salt 
    • bringing animal products, turquoise, and other local goods in return.
  • India’s principal route: through the Indus Valley of the northwest, then over the Khyber Pass or other passes into what is now Afghanistan.
    • Spices, pearls, gemstones, cotton cloth
Northeast Asia
  • Northeast Asia came under an expanding Chinese cultural zone
  • Buddhism spread to Korea and Japan by this route
Northern Europe
  • peninsula on the western tip of the great Eurasian continental landmass
  • trade routes within Europe connected the region to the Mediterranean and thus to the Silk Road
    • carried from the Black Sea, up the Danube, and down the Oder to the Baltic 
  • around 1000 CE: the Viking route
    •  from the Baltic through the trading settlement of Rus  and down the Volga to the Caspian Sea
  • distribution of political and economic power throughout the world
Mainland Southeast Asia
  • huge peninsula
  • includes Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and mainland Malaysia 
  • Strait of Malacca: one of the few navigable routes between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean
  • merchants brought Hinduism wherever they settled in trading communities
Island Southeast Asia
  • stretching from Taiwan through the Philippines to Indonesia
  • process of exploration and settlement that paved the way for interisland and long-distance maritime trade that conveyed goods between southern China and India
  • trade shifted to this maritime route when conditions made overland trade difficult



]]> 2018-10-16 00:30:10 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110629 Anthony's Column martin45298 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110733 Source 4: https://asiasociety.org/religions-silk-road

  • Named by Ferdinand von Richtofen (Early 19th Century)
    • Referred to a loose network of pre-modern trading routes 
    • Stretched from Mediterranean to East Asia
    • No evidence that pre-modern Asians thought of the trade network as organised
  • Evidence of a Lingua Franca (common language)
    • Soghdian, Iranian language 
    • During Islamic times, it became Persian
  • Islam on the Silk Road 
    • Activities of Muslim merchants trading under the protection of local Muslim rulers 
    • Muslim missionaries (Sufi Preachers) in rural areas 
  • Archeological remains of Nestorianism and Manichaeism
    • Things resembling Baptism in inner Mongolian groups 
    • Functioning Manichaeism shrine Southeastern coastal China
  • West to East
    • Movement was West to East
    • Chinese travelers went for the purpose of bringing back foreign influences
    • However non-Chinese influences were altered to fit Chinese needs
  • Cultural Influences from the Silk Road
    • Chinese acquired wheeled transportation, metallurgy from the West
    • Chinese technologies such as paper were also acquired by westerners  
    • Strong influence of artistic traditions from the Chinese shown in Iran during Mongol period
    • Example: Iranian new year festival, which central Asia Muslims consider an 'Islamic' festival.
    • Silk Road towns are multicultural 
Source E: (can be found in research doc)
The Silk Road
  • The ‘Silk Road’ was used as a metaphor of Euro/Asian cultural interchange and sharing and exchange
  • Largely commercial exchange
  • It also provided for all sorts of exchange (like creative exchange between diverse cultures/peoples)
Commodities
  • Silk was a huge commodity traded on the Silk Road
  • Chinese guarded the secret of silk production 
  • Turks and Persians had a war over silk
  • Silk was a vehicle of cultural creativity wherever it went 
  • Went all over the world very easily 
  • Borrowing and choosing of techniques and patterns, discovery of uses
  • Every culture that used silk added to it (added to it's adornment of humanity 
  • Silk is everywhere (commercialized)
  • Found on medieval Viking ships
  • Found as kerchiefs from India 
  • Cowboys in America
  • Different styles of Silk based on different cultures that use it
  • In Syria, Damask silk 
  • In Europe, Silk chinoiserie (imitation of Chinese style silk)
  • Silk Cultivation
  • Silk is very practical (fireproof, rot proof, strong, light, keeps warm and cold)
  • This is also why it was very desired and important for different cultures (like Japanese kimonos, Indian saris)
  • Important for religious rituals as well (Muslims)
  • This might show how religions were spread using the Silk Road and Silk
  • In ancient China, used for everything including generalized exchange (currency)
Silk on the Silk Road stimulated other trading exchanges
  • Silk and trading silk stimulated and characterized other exchanges
  • Curative herbs, astronomy, religion
  • Many arts like tile making, calligraphy, painting 
  • People traveled all over Asia 
  • Islam was carried by Sufis (missionaries) to different countries 

Source C:
Silk Road
  • System of caravan routes crossing Eurasian continent 
  • Influenced the emergence of trade and cultural ties between states and people
  • Transit road with 2 way movements 
  • Goods, scientific ideas and achievements, and cultural/religious values
  • Many people assumed it was only for silk (China to Europe)
  • Findings show different goods produced in Europe were imported to China
  • Many animals were imported, as well as crops and spices 
  • Channel for fashion and artistic style
  • Became widespread

  • Authors, contemporaries integrated into other cultures
  • The silk road was not only for goods, but for art dance and performances 
  • Silk road played role in dissemination (spread) of religious ideas 
]]> 2018-10-16 00:30:45 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110733 Christian's Column dagamac49438 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110762 Source 3: http://www.absolutechinatours.com/specialtopic/silkroad/Silk-Road-Cultural-Exchanges-Science-and-Technology.html

Science and Technology
  • China contributed a variety of products
    • compasses
    • dynamite
    • Chinese medicine
  • These products helped influence Western civilizations
    • compasses for ocean navigation
    • paper and printing      techniques allowed the sharing of culture and               knowledge
    • wells for irrigation
    • alchemy helped with the development of modern-day chemistry
  • The Chinese civilization grew from knowledge from the Western world
    • Indian ophthalmology (during the Tang dynasty)
    • Portugese cannons (Ming and Qing dynasties)
    • Western mathematics, ship building, and mechanics
    • map-making and astronomy
  • China transitions into its modern-day history due to influences from the Western world

Handicraft:
  • Chinese goods were traded via the Silk Road
    • Chinese silk, gold/silver/iron/
      lacquer ware
      • European aristocrats wear silk (fourth century)
      • Koreans wore silk dresses
    • The advancement of Maritime routes helped with porcelain trade
    • Europeans, such as King Louis XIV, were drawn to Chinese lacquer ware and furniture
  • China received several different handicrafts from the rest of the world
    • Emperor Lingdi (Han Dynasty) was drawn to clothes, beds, and instruments
    • during the Southern & Northern Dynasties
    • Glass in the middle east during the Tang dynasty

Food, Spice, and Drug:
  • China introduces cuisine culture to the Western World
    • introduces walnuts, cucumbers, carrots, and more
    • other imports include tomatoes, spinach, potatoes
    • tea was a major Chinese export and Europe is now the most important market
    • spices were trading during the Han dynasty
    • Chinese medicines were traded during the Tang dynasty
]]> 2018-10-16 00:30:54 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110762 Sofia's Column lim47934 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110878 Source 1 : Silk road
Source K : Lost on The Silk Road 

Positive examples : 
  • Paper and printing
    • Invented in China in the Han dynasty
    • Spread to the middle east Europe thought the silk road 
  • Irrigation waterwheel 
    • Invented in Roman Syria
    • Spread from Syria to Toledo, Spain, to the Yellow River in China
  • Apples 
    • From Kazakhstan 
    • Spread west and south thought steppe belt 
  • Oranges 
    • From China thought the  
      maritime route to the  
      Mediterranean 
  • Grapes 
    • From the western part of the silk road to China

Negative affects :
  • The black plague was possibly transmitted thought the silk road from china to Europe

 Source L :  The First Silk Roads
  • Making Connections 
  • Silk Road started in the early Common Era
  • Trading and collective learning 
  • Social, religious and philosophical ideas
  • languages and new technologies 
  • Diseases
  • Physical Goods 
  • 2300 BCE Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus Valley trading goods 
  • Warfare, conflict 
  • Romans conquering to Afro-Eurasia
  • Muslims armies enforcing Islam from Europe to the Tang dynasty (central Asia) 
  • The First Silk Roads 
  • First Era (20BCE-250CE)
  • Between the Chinese, Indians, Kushan, Iranian, stereo nomadic and Mediterranean cultures
  • 4 ruling dynasties controlling Eurasia from south china to atlantic by Roman, Parthian, Kushan, and Han empires 
  • Order and stability established 
  • Road networks constructed lead to advancements of: 
  • metallurgy and transport technology
  • Agricultural production
  • Use of coinage
  • Large nomadic communities formed like the Scythians, Xiongnu, and Yuezh promoted travel through the silk road 
  • Rome and Han traded silk, iron for glass, grapes, art, and horses 
  • Second Era (700-1200)
  • Connecting China, India, Southeast Asia, the Islamic realm, and the Mediterranean
  • Web based overland and sea trade
  • Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties specialised in agriculture and manufacturing while cities grew and new ones sprung up and printed paper 
  • Arab merchants benefiting from Abbasid administration in Baghdad (750–1228)

  • Stand Still (3rd century CE)
  • China and Rome withdrew from silk road because spread of smallpox, measles, and bubonic plagues
  • Rome lost 20 million people by 400
  • China fell by 15 million by 600 
  • While the Parthian, Han, and Kushan empires fell (220 and 250 CE)
  • Revival (eight and ninth century)
  • Establishment of the Islamic realm
  • Tang dynast emerged in china
  • Both Eras
  • Commercial trade
  • Exchange of intellectual, social, and artistic ideas
  • Bactrian camel built for the desert transported trade through the silk road
  • Sea trade mainly between Egypt (Roman) and India 
  • Summer - winds from africa to india 
  • Winter - from india to africa
  • Traders would transport to central aisa and then pass on the nomadic communities
]]> 2018-10-16 00:31:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293110878 Andrew's Column jeong49319 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293111381 Source 2: Sea Routes

2 most favored courses
  • East China & South China Sea Routes

East China Sea Route
  • History of about 3000 years
  • Started during the Zhou Dynasty
  • Ji zi who was sent to East was navigating across the Yellow Sea,  which eventually ended up silk spinning into Korea
  • New skills and technologies introduced in Japan during Han Dynasty
  • Many Japanese envoys and monks traveling to Xian along sea route

South China Sea Route
  • Guangzhou - starting point
  • Extended across the Indian Ocean and variou countries
  • Types of goods in trade
            -  Silk & Tea
  • Increased in popularity from the Three Kingdoms Period
  • Technologic advances led to the new sea-lanes to the Southeast Asia
  • Guangzhou - First Harbor
  • The Naval Expedition to the West showed the importance of silk road
  • The war between Ming and Qing Dynasties ended up to the destruction of the Sea Route.


]]> 2018-10-16 00:34:30 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/293111381 Allenka-Sources N + G jeharajah34243 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294184824 Source N
Silk Road
  • ancient trade route
  • linking China with the West
  • carried goods and ideas
  •  Going West: Silk 
  • Going East: wools, gold, and silver
  • China: received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism from India
  • Originating at Xi'an
  •  4,000-mile (6,400-km) road

Safety
  • gradual loss of Roman territory in Asia + rise of Arabian power in the Levant
    • Silk Road became increasingly unsafe and untraveled
  • 13th and 14th centuries: revived under the Mongols
  • mid-14th century: one of the ways plague bacteria responsible for the Black Death pandemic in Europe in the  moved westward from Asia.

Source G
Spreading Inventions
  • The Chinese invented paper during the Han Dynasty
    • Paper soon became the writing material of choice throughout China and East Asia
  • under the Mongols in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: group of Chinese workmen set up a paper-making establishment in Samarkand
    • quickly spread by trade to most of western Eurasia
  • invention of paper stimulated the invention of printing
  • 6th century CE: duplication of sacred texts was an act of religious merit (Buddhism)
  • Noria invented in Roman Syria
    • rapidly spread along the Silk Road and its tributaries
    • spread entirely across Eurasia
  • oranges went (via the maritime route) from China to the Mediterranean world
  • grapes went from the western reaches of the Silk Road to China
  • enriched merchants who carried and exchanged goods + people of countries and cultures all across Eurasia.

Problems
  • the Black Death plague that devastated Europe in the 14th century
    • believed to have come from Central Asia
  • Many other plagues spread via the silk road
]]> 2018-10-18 04:48:26 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294184824 Andrew-Sources E + O jeong49319 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185086 Silk Road
  • First invented by the German geologist and explorer B.F.V.R
  • "Silk Road" - metaphor of European & Asian cultural interchange
  • Provided the vehicle for exchange between variety of people and cultures
  • Symbolic meaning: sharing and exchange
  1.       Silk production hidden by ancient Chinese
  2.        Led to Ottoman Turks vs Persians war
  3.        Led to English and French competing to restrict its markets.       

Chinese Silk Cultivation
  • Silk cultivation & production is very extraordinary process
  • What is silk?
         - Keeps cool in the
           summer
         - Keeps warm in the 
           winter
         - Much more efficient
           than cotton, wool,
           linen
         - Strong enough to be
           used for surgical
           sutures
         - Heavier than steel
           and more flexible
           than nylon

Silk on the Road
  • Growth of the silk as a trade item became very important.
  • Herbs, material arts, tile making, painting, astronomy and religion moved along the Silk Road

]]> 2018-10-18 04:50:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185086 Christian-Sources A + B dagamac49438 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185201 Source A: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1boTOp_FCFPBQngI3PCHDdMi-01kf5ZREJdvLGPO9F_c/edit

  • The people of Tabriz traded for cloth, gold, silk, and more
    • merchants trading for jewels from foreign lands
  • Merchants from Indian ships selling goods such as elephant tusks
  • Travelers from Tenduc, China also sold and bought gold and silk
  • Ho-kien-fu is a city where people are left to die
    • gold, silk, and sandal were abundant
    • river flows through the city
      • irrigation and waterways


Source B:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y4t9AvuTBI_WZxEW_OfnYNATptWC4XoIP22EkuhtT2A/edit

Xi'an:
  • Largest city in the world at the time of 750 CE
    • Population of a million people
    • Merchants, ambassadors, scholars, and more came to exotic goods
  • Silk was said to be created by Chinese empress Xi Ling around 5000 years ago
    • A cocoon falls into her tea and it unwinds into a thread
    • She submerges more cocoons into the water, making a silk cloth
  • Music from Xi'an filled the Silk Road
    • Drums, flutes, stringed instruments, and cymbals told stories

Turfan:
  • Turfan was located in the Taklimakan Desert
    • full of drinking water and irrigation
    • farmers growing fruits and vegetables
  • Luxury goods, such as hats and jewelry were sold in the market place
    • Merchants bought other goods such as skins, feathers, and gems
  • French wines and Japanese pears were edibles sold in the market

Samarkand:
  • Sogdian merchants from Samarkand sold a variety of goods
    • These traders controlled commerce in countries such as Persia all the way to China
  • Paper is derived from plant material and and the pulp is turned into a thin sheet

Baghdad:
  • Baghdad is the Islamic capital of the world
    • The City of Peace was founded in 762
      • filled with palaces and gardens
      • the city brought in scholars, philosophers, and other learners
  • A Baghdad library known as the House of Wisdom was the biggest learning center
    • Scholars could study mathematics, astronomy, and geography in the library
    • Astronomers used astrolabes, measuring the distances between the sun and stars
      • Islamic scholars take Greek ideas and refined them
  • Mathematicians in the 800s used Arabic numerals, which we use today (Al-Khwarizmi)
  • Zakariya al-Razi wrote 200 books on medicine
  • Glass was a considered as a rare jewel
    • each crystal sparkling in color

Sea Routes:
  • Routes stretched up to 6000 miles from China to Baghdad
    • traders sailed for six months, facing storms and pirates
  • 851: Arab traveler accounted their journey from the Persian Gulf to Guangzhou
]]> 2018-10-18 04:51:51 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185201 Sofia-Sources L + K dagamac49438 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185274 2018-10-18 04:52:27 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185274 lim47934 https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185717 2018-10-18 04:56:46 UTC https://padlet.com/jeharajah34243/ty9rmfu4zfq5/wish/294185717