The Silk Road Quiz

Eurasian trade routes involving China:

• The Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century, playing a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West.

• The network began with the Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, which largely pacified the once untamed region.

• The Silk Road derived its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were produced almost exclusively in China.

• Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly altered the trajectory of various realms, if not world history.

• During its roughly 1,500 years of existence, the Silk Road endured the rise and fall of numerous empires and major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests.

• The Silk Road abruptly lost its importance with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1453, which almost immediately severed trade between East and West.

• The northern route of the Silk Road travelled northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu from Shaanxi Province and split into three further routes, two of them following the mountain ranges to the north and south of the Taklamakan Desert to rejoin at Kashgar, and the other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan, Talgar, and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan).

• The southern route or Karakoram route was mainly a single route from China through the Karakoram mountains, where it persists in modern times as the Karakoram Highway, a paved road that connects Pakistan and China.

• The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges/Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia.

• Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route refer to the maritime section of historic Silk Road that connects China to Southeast Asia, Indonesian archipelago, Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, all the way to Egypt and finally Europe.

• Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt.

• Scythians played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a lingua franca for Asian trade as far back as the 4th century.

• The Silk Road was an important precursor to European efforts to seek alternative routes to Eastern riches, thereby ushering the Age of Discovery, European colonialism, and a more intensified process of globalization.The Silk Road: A Historical Overview

• The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and conquests in Central Asia.

• The Silk Road was trail-blazed by the ambassador Zhang Qian, who visited various kingdoms in Central Asia and reported on their economic value.

• The Chinese won the War of the Heavenly Horses and established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Road as a major avenue of international trade.

• The Chinese were strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses in the possession of the Dayuan, the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia, which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu.

• The Han Dynasty army regularly policed the trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as Xiongnu.

• A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ and Roman-controlled ports in Roman Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of the Red Sea.

• The Western Roman Empire, and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, collapsed in the fifth century.

• The Byzantine Empire monopolized silk production in medieval Europe after two Nestorian Christian monks stole the silkworm eggs from China.

• The Tang Empire reopened the Silk Road in 639 when Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions, and remained open for almost four decades.

• The Silk Road fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by the 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India.

• The Silk Road was a complex network of trade routes that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture.

• The Silk Road connected China directly to the West for land-based trade.The Silk Road: A History of Trade and Cultural Exchange

• The Tang dynasty conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s, fully controlling the Xiyu and reopening the Silk Road, with this portion named the Tang-Tubo Road in many historical texts.

• The Silk Road sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese, reaching its peak in the west during the time of the Byzantine Empire.

• The Sogdians dominated the east-west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century as the main caravan merchants of Central Asia.

• The Islamic world expanded into Central Asia during the 8th century, under the Umayyad Caliphate, while its successor the Abbasid Caliphate put a halt to Chinese westward expansion at the Battle of Talas in 751.

• The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent from around 1207 to 1360 helped bring political stability and re-established the Silk Road, though they never abandoned their nomadic lifestyle.

• The Mongols developed overland and maritime routes throughout the Eurasian continent, Black Sea, and the Mediterranean in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south.

• The spread of religions and cultural traditions along the Silk Roads facilitated the transmission of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam.

• Nomadic mobility played a key role in facilitating inter-regional contacts and cultural exchanges along the ancient Silk Roads.

• The transmission of Christianity was primarily known as Nestorianism on the Silk Road, while the transmission of Buddhism to China via the Silk Road began in the 1st century CE.

• The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in the history of world religions, with Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism being the three primary forms of Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk Road.

• The Greek Seleucids were exiled to Iran and Central Asia because of a new Iranian dynasty called the Parthians at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, and as a result, the Parthians became the new middlemen for trade in a period when the Romans were major customers for silk.

• From the 4th century CE onward, Chinese pilgrims also started to travel on the Silk Road to India to get improved access to the original Buddhist scriptures.

• The fragmentation of the Mongol Empire loosened the political, cultural, and economic unity of the Silk Road, leading to its decline, though Armenians played a significant role in making Europe-Asia trade possible.The Silk Road: Buddhism, Judaism, and Artistic Influences

• The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting the East and West, traversing Central Asia and the Middle East.

• Buddhism was one of the major religions that spread along the Silk Road, with many different schools and movements developing.

• Merchants played a significant role in spreading Buddhism, as they found its teachings appealing and supported Buddhist monasteries along the route.

• Judean merchants also traveled along the Silk Road, with evidence of their trade networks from China to Rome.

• The arts were also greatly influenced by the Silk Road, with Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian, and Chinese influences intermixing and resulting in Greco-Buddhist art.

• Silk was a significant representation of art, serving as a religious symbol and also used as currency for trade.

• Many artistic items were traded along the Silk Road, including the lapis lazuli, a blue stone with golden specks used as paint.

• In 2014, the Silk Road was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and efforts have been made to develop sustainable international tourism along the route.

• China National Silk Museum announced a "Silk Road Week" to commemorate the Silk Road becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Bishkek and Almaty each have a major east-west street named after the Silk Road.

• The spread of Buddhism and Judaism along the Silk Road, as well as the artistic influences, were a result of the diverse and complex beliefs and influences of the different cultures and communities along the route.

• The Silk Road essentially ended with the rise of Islam in Central Asia around the 7th century CE.