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The so-called Silk Road was a series of networks of overland caravan roads which connected China with Central Asia, the Middle East, and Rome. The chief Silk Road trading centers in China were at [[Dunhuang]] and [[Kashgar]] in northwestern China; caravan routes traveling west from China threaded along a variety of paths, including northern routes which passed through Samarkand, Tashkent, and Bukhara, and southern routes which connected up with Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus, and from there to Constantinople, Tyre, and Antioch, Mediterranean ports which in turn connected with Rome. Goods traveled between China and the Middle East by boat as well, across the Indian Ocean.
The so-called Silk Road was a series of networks of overland caravan roads which connected China with Central Asia, the Middle East, and Rome. The chief Silk Road trading centers in China were at [[Dunhuang]] and [[Kashgar]] in northwestern China; caravan routes traveling west from China threaded along a variety of paths, including northern routes which passed through Samarkand, Tashkent, and Bukhara, and southern routes which connected up with Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus, and from there to Constantinople, Tyre, and Antioch, Mediterranean ports which in turn connected with Rome. Goods traveled between China and the Middle East by boat as well, across the Indian Ocean.
Regular caravan connections likely date back to around 100 BCE, during the [[Han Dynasty]], while [[camels]] first came into general use around 300 CE, allowing caravans to cross deserts, incorporating many new lands into the trading networks.<ref>Walter McNeill, "The Changing Shape of World History," in Ross Dunn (ed.), ''The New World History'', Bedford/St. Martin's (2000), 152-153.</ref>
It was through these connections that much cultural exchange took place, as well as the spread of technologies and plants, as well as diseases. Technologies such as the stirrup, compound bow, cultivation of wheat, and domestication of horses may have developed originally in Central Asia, being introduced to China in a very early period along these routes. Similarly, Chinese developments, such as the production of paper, the compass, water-powered mills, and gunpowder, spread gradually west over the course of the centuries. These exchanges and interactions also allowed for considerable cultural continuities, at least in certain cases. One prime example is the lute, a musical instrument which exists in various different, but related, forms, all across Eurasia. Perhaps originally developed in Persia or the Middle East, it moved both west and east, evolving into a variety of different versions, including the European lute, the Turkish ''ud'', the Chinese ''[[pipa]]'', and the Japanese ''[[biwa]]''.
It was through these connections that much cultural exchange took place, as well as the spread of technologies and plants, as well as diseases. Technologies such as the stirrup, compound bow, cultivation of wheat, and domestication of horses may have developed originally in Central Asia, being introduced to China in a very early period along these routes. Similarly, Chinese developments, such as the production of paper, the compass, water-powered mills, and gunpowder, spread gradually west over the course of the centuries. These exchanges and interactions also allowed for considerable cultural continuities, at least in certain cases. One prime example is the lute, a musical instrument which exists in various different, but related, forms, all across Eurasia. Perhaps originally developed in Persia or the Middle East, it moved both west and east, evolving into a variety of different versions, including the European lute, the Turkish ''ud'', the Chinese ''[[pipa]]'', and the Japanese ''[[biwa]]''.
==References==
==References==
*[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 39-40.
*[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 39-40.
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[[Category:Nara Period]]
[[Category:Nara Period]]
[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:Locations]]