The Silk Road

The Silk Road is the most well-known trading route of ancient Chinese civilization. The trade of silk began under the Han Dynasty in 206 BCE. The Silk Road was collectively made up of several routes, not just one single road. All routes started from the capital in Changan, headed up the Gansu corridor, and reached Dunhuang on the edge of the Taklimakan. Contrary to what the name suggests, the Silk Road was used to transport more goods than just silk. Gold, ivory, exotic animals and plants, precious metals, and glass are just a few of the commodities traded on the Silk Road.Many of these goods were bartered for others along the way, and objects often changed hands several times. Of all the precious goods crossing this area, however, silk was perhaps the most remarkable for the people of the West. Religions, such as Buhhdism and Christianity, were also spread using the Silk Road.. Zhang Qian, a chinese military leader during the Han Dynasty, is seen by many to be the father of the Silk Road. His missions opened up to China the many new kingdoms and commodities of a part of the world that was unknown to the Chinese.

While the Silk Road provided the Chinese with many new items and ideas,the development of these Central Asian trade routes also caused some problems for the Han rulers."Bandits soon learnt of the precious goods travelling up the Gansu Corridor and skirting the Taklimakan, and took advantage of the terrain to plunder these caravans". Merchants were forced to personally fund their own defense forces when traveling along the Silk Road, which was an added cost. Part of the Great Wall was even built along the northern side of the Gansu Corridor, in order to prevent the Xiongnu from disturbing the trade. These precautions didnt work as well as the Chinese had intended, causing themyo loose control of sections of the route at regular intervals. Although the Silk Road was considered somewhat dangerous, many settlements were set up along the way and they profited from the passing trade. These settlements "absorbed a lot of the local culture, and the cultures that passed them by along the route". Settlements came and went, due to migration or lost importance due to a change in the routes.