SILK ROUTE

● One of the major "global" systems of commercial exchange in the premodern world was
the Silk Road, a network of overland trading routes linking the Asian continent from
China to the Levant, from which point both goods and people then reached Europe and
the rest of the West.
● The Silk Road was the most significant commercial system of the ancient and medieval
worlds, maintaining its supremacy until the European age of exploration and the
subsequent shift of focus to the trading of goods to and from the "New World".
● It is not exactly clear when systematic, large scale trading began on the Silk Road.
● It was not only a trade route but also a major channel of knowledge, technology, religion
and arts.
● However, we do know that the western end of the trade route developed earlier than the
eastern end, principally because of the development of the Persian and Roman empires in
the west, and the easier terrain of the lands between them.
● By the second century B.C.E. trade had extended further east, thanks to the influence of
China's Han Empire (which lasted from 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.).
● The earliest evidence of merchandise moving along the whole route from China to Rome,
or vice versa, dates to about the middle of the second century C.E.
● The height of the Silk Road, however, is dated to the apex of the T'ang Dynasty from the
seventh to the ninth centuries C.E.
● The Silk Road was given its name because the major commodity traded along its routes
was Chinese silk.
● Of course, this was but one of the commodities traded, which also included porcelain,
jade, horses, metals, jewelry, and many other goods.
● The nature of the Silk Road, as well as its organization and economics, was deeply
influenced and ultimately determined by the geography of the lands along which it
expanded.
● Even more influential to the nature of the network is the fact that the region separating
China from Western Asia and Europe is one of the most inhospitable in the world.
● There were little vegetation lack of rainfall, hot and humid condition making it a
dangerous terrain
● The overall difficulty of travel and communication in the pre-modern world made it
almost impossible for anyone to cross the Asian continent in an efficient way.
● Only a few individuals, most famously Marco Polo and his uncles, for example, actually
traveled the length of the continent.
● Instead, merchants traveled in stages
Travel became easier under the great classical empires of Rome and Han China, as well
as under the Kushan Kingdom, all of which created and maintained better roads and
 standardized coinage, allowing merchants not only easier travel but also easier financial
transactions.
● Both of these advantages also reduced the costs of long-distance trade, making it more
profitable and, therefore, more attractive.
● Still, the route remained segmented, as the difficulties presented by the geographical
layout of the continent and dangers inherent in long-distance hauling made this
arrangement the most sensible.
● Therefore, at its apex, the main route of the Silk Road started in the Han capital.
● There the road split into two main branches that skirted the desert to the north and south.
Once around the desert, the road branched off in many directions, including southern
routes to India, southwestern routes to Egypt, and western routes to Antioch in the
Levant.
● As you can imagine, the length and segmentation of the Silk Road required the
involvement of individuals from all of the many territories through which these trade
routes cut.
● Many people thus benefitted from the goods made available and the wealth to be made
through the Silk Road.
● Still, it was the major commercial powers - including the Chinese, Parthians, Persians,
Indians, and Romans - who ultimately profited most from long-distance trade along the
Silk Road, as they could set the terms of exchange, charge a variety of tariffs and taxes,
and control the flow of goods through their territories.
● There were two important innovations developed specifically to deal with the difficulties
presented by travel along the Silk Road.
● The first is the development of caravans, companies of travelers who banded together,
offering mutual assistance and defense when traveling through dangerous territory. These
caravans would hire their own guide or local guides, as well as soldiers to offer protection
against bandits and marauders, against which not even the most powerful empires had
developed systematic defenses.
● Perhaps the most important element of the caravans were their camels, which represent
the second innovation which Silk Road travelers embraced.
● Sturdy animals acclimated to the desert, camels can go long distances without water and
have broad hooves which allow them to carry heavy loads across the soft sand surface of
the desert.
● Therefore, they are the perfect vehicle for hauling both goods and people along the long
stretches of desert between settled trading posts.

GOODS TRADED
● At the core of Silk Road commerce were a number of luxury goods, from which the most
profit could be gained.
● Of course, the most obvious item traded was Chinese silk, for which the Road was named
in the nineteenth century.
● In fact, into the late medieval period, China was the only country where cultivators and
weavers had developed techniques for producing high-quality silk fabrics.
● Silk was such a highly sought-after and profitable commodity that the Chinese authorities
imposed draconian controls on its production and manufacture, attempting to keep from
everyone else the secret of its production.
● There are three major reasons. The first is that silk is, in a nutshell, soft and pleasing to
the touch. Its softness simply makes for excellent wearability. Second, silk has what we
would call "climate control" qualities. That is, silk can keep one cool in summer and
warm in winter, an attribute no other natural textile shares.
● The second reason for the status of silk is the fact that no other natural textile can achieve
the color saturation which silk does. In other words, silk holds brighter colors for longer,
a very desirable trait in a world in which every other textile could only achieve muted,
drab colors.
● Of course, these three attributes made silk not only sought-after but expensive, which in
turn made it affordable only to the upper classes.
● In a kind of socio-economic cycle, then, silk consequently became a mark of social
standing differentiating those who could afford to wear it from those who could not.
● While China's main export was silk, it was not the only one. The Chinese also
manufactured and traded highly-sophisticated ceramics, known as porcelain or "china".
Made of special clay and porcelain stone, Chinese ceramics were glazed in a special
lacquer which allowed it to withhold higher temperatures while remaining light and
delicate.
● "China" is also considered an art form, as the most sophisticated ceramics, known as
porcelain or "china". Made of special clay and porcelain stone, Chinese ceramics were
glazed in a special lacquer which allowed it to withhold higher temperatures while
remaining light and delicate.
● The Chinese also exported jade (raw or carved) and tea. / The balance of trade definitely
benefited China over its trade partners. That is, China exported much more than it
imported, making more money than it spent on commerce with the West.
● Nevertheless, several "Western" goods were highly sought-after in the East.
● Among these were glassware (particularly from Roman territories in the Near East and
later from Venice), jewelry, perfumes, bronze goods, wool and linen textiles, pottery, iron
tools, olive oil, wine, and gold and silver bullion (this last one particularly after the
"discovery" of the New World and its seemingly bottomless silver mines).
● What is particularly interesting about trade from West to East is that Mediterranean
merchants and manufacturers often imported raw materials, such as uncut gemstones, for
the East, which they then exported as finished products in the form of expensive jewelry
and decorative items.
● In fact, any number of goods coming from any number of places was traded along the
Silk Road.: horses (particularly from the Middle East), jade (particularly from the lands
immediately to the west of China), and spices from the South East Asian islands which
today make Indonesia.
● As you might already know, spices were the second best-selling commodity traded along
the Silk Road.
● Spices were highly-sought after for several reasons. Perhaps most famously, spices serve
as natural food preservatives, keeping food edible for longer periods of time, a
particularly attractive attribute in a world with no refrigeration. Spices also flavor food,
which makes it more palatable (and hides bad tastes in case of decomposition).
● However, spices served not just to preserve or season food; they can also be used as
medicines, drugs, anesthetics, aphrodisiacs, perfumes, aromatics, and any number of
potions.
● The trade of spices was so remunerative, in fact, that they were the reason for both the
Portuguese and the Spanish to attempt to circumvent the usual middlemen and find their
own route to the "Spice Islands".
● And, of course, this search for a new route to the East was what ultimately led to the
"discovery" of the "New World".