The Silk Road sold the fabric but also spices and other products.The Silk Road connected the East with the West and thus managed to remain over the centuries, even adapting to the present day with the so-called New Silk Road.
Index
- What was the Silk Road?
- Map
- The importance of the Silk Road
- The new Silk Road
- Solved exercises
What was the Silk Road?
The Silk Road carries that name because its main product sold was precisely silk. For centuries, the Chinese monopolized the way of making this fabric, and sold it for real fortunes, mainly to Westerners.
This route connected peoples by land, essentially. And it was formed by caravans of salesmen who used animals as conductors of cargo.
The main port of entry into territories other than China was through ports. From there, loads were distributed.
The silk that went to Constantinople , for example, arrived at the port and was delivered to nomadic traders from Central Asia who made it arrive in the destination city with high profits.
Although silk was transported in caravans and ocean vessels, it was not alone. Many other goods were traded together. The spice was one of more goods has spread along the Silk Road.
Map
The Silk Road linked Asia to Europe (Image: Reproduction | Wikimedia Commons)
The Silk Road was of great importance for the main peoples of the ancient and medieval world: Persia, Constantinople and China .
In principle, it connected China to Antioch, then Korea to Japan and finally, it connected all of Europe with the West, mainly through Flanders, which was at the time French dominated.
Silk came to Europeans through the conquest of Egypt by the Roman Empire in 31 BC
Curiosities
- Exporting silkworm cocoons was considered a crime in China. Anyone who did was condemned to death.
- Silk wore great royalty, not only Eastern but Western as well.
- The silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm , which releases a very fine thread. The shiny aspect of the thread, its rarity and beauty made it synonymous with nobility and luxury.
- It is said that the discovery of silk occurred when a Chinese empress was drinking tea in the afternoon and tried to pull the cocoon of the silkworm that had fallen into her cup. Because of the heat of the drink, the cocoon was loosening a thin thread.
- The routes were not just for commercial purposes, they were communication strategies between peoples. Many diplomats and religious leaders used these routes.
- The spread of Buddhismhas its origin in India, but through the Silk Road it reached China and established itself as the main religion in Japan.
- Great conquering figures also used the Silk Road, like Marco Polo, who invested in this path in the 13th century.
The importance of the Silk Road
The routes had an importance of communication between the peoples. More than a commercial purpose, the routes formed the main cities of the Middle Ages .
Every point where the caravans stopped, agglomerations were formed and, finally, with the intense traffic of people, houses, shopping centers, temples and bureaucratic spaces, they settled down.
The importance of the route was also due to the strategic end, because during conquests these paths were the main reference for advancing in different places.
For a long time in the Middle Ages, the borders between East and West were closed by the church. The Silk Road enabled this opening.
The new Silk Road
The new Silk Road aims at China’s independence from the United States, which is its main security on trade routes.
The project involves a major construction of highways, railways and maritime corridors based on the ancient Silk Road, which was able to serve the entire continent.
These land and sea corridors reach 60% of the Chinese population, which alone makes up 40% of the world’s GDP. This is a complex geopolitical strategy for economic strengthening.
The project is called ‘One Belt, One Road’, and has a construction value of more than 90 billion dollars. Which is equivalent to half of the entire Brazilian national wealth.
Examples of the corridors created on the New Silk Road:
- China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor:connects northeast China to Moscow via the Trans-Siberian route.
- New Eurasian land bridge:connects East China to the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
- China-Asia economic corridor:connects Central-West Asia across the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
- China-Indochina economic corridor:connecting southern China to Singapore.
- China-Pakistan economic corridor .
- BCIM Corridor:connects central China with Bangladesh, India and Miramar.
- Maritime corridors in the Indian Ocean and Africa.
Through the connections, we realized that it is a new project on the Silk Road, but that it wants a much larger structure and great economic power.
Summary of Content
In this text you learned that:
- The Silk Road connected Asia with Europe.
- Silk was the main product sold.
- The trade was made from caravans of traders.
- The Silk Road covered land and sea routes.
- In addition to silk, various products were sold, such as spices.
