The Silk Road which was a five thousand-mile-long network of sea and caravan routes that stretched from Chang’an to Westernmost parts of the Great Wall of China, and proceeded to Rome, were fabled trade links existing between East Asia and the West. Per se, the Chinese caravans transported high-end goods to the West and returned with gold as payment (Stokstad & Cothren, 2012). The name Silk Road was brought about by the discovery of a closely guarded secret by the Chinese. When two Christian missionaries managed to smuggle silkworm larvae to Constantinople, the secret that China was a mass producer of silk was revealed to the world. The discovery instigated a special interest in Rome and Greece. The Silk Road route, though dangerous and flooded with bandits, influenced both the West and China.
The Silk Road provided an avenue for the exchange of goods. Exchange of expensive and luxurious goods in return for gold and other precious metals formed the backbone of the fabled trade links. However, the Silk Road trade was not just limited to tangible goods only. Religious and cultural exchange was synonymous with the route. Religions such as Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Buddhism were introduced in parts of India and China (Stokstad & Cothren, 2012). Likewise, the route heavily contributed to the spread of Islam. Many Arabs traders in their quest to search for better silk and other goods ended up spreading Islam to China. Therefore, the Silk Road is attributed to spreading many religions to China and making it a multi-religious country. Arguably, the use of the Silk Road affected China by introducing diverse religion.
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The Silk Road had a great impact on China’s economy. The revelation that China was producing high-quality silk coupled with heavy demand from the West translated to a boom in China’s economy. The ripple effect of the boom was that many Chinese started working as merchants thereby making money (Li, Qian, Howard, & Wu, 2015). Proceeds from selling silk and those made by the merchants translated to great economic growth for the country. As the route expanded, more and more workers were needed and more gold trickled into China. Economists argue that the Silk Road trade formed the foundation of China’s economy (Yu, 2017). The Silk Road and trade of silk from China catapulted its economy to what is presently enjoying.
The Silk Road provided mutual benefits and common progress between China and the West. The compass, papermaking, gunpowder, and printing were some of the Chinese inventions that found their way to the West (Li, Qian, Howard, & Wu, 2015). The inventions were the greatest at the time of the Silk Road. Additionally, China introduced the skills of silk spinning and silkworm breeding to the West. The skills from the Chinese meant that development was picking at a very fast rate. Likewise, the Silk Road trade is closely associated with globalization. Since the trade and the route traversed almost all continents, it is believed that traders interacted with people from various backgrounds and races. Intrinsically, the Silk Road had its effect in China, the West and opened up trade to the world.
In conclusion, the Silk Road was a five thousand-mile-long network of sea and caravan routes stretching from Chang’an to Westernmost parts of the Great Wall of China and proceeded to Rome. Trade taking place on the Silk Road affected both China and the West. Among the effect of the Silk Road trade were; exchange of expensive and luxurious goods in return for gold and other precious metals, China’s economy experienced a growth that catapulted it to where it is presently, and the West was introduced to Chinese inventions such as the compass, papermaking, gunpowder, printing, silk spinning, and silkworm breeding.
References
Li, P., Qian, H., Howard, K. W., & Wu, J. (2015). Building a new and sustainable “Silk Road economic belt”. Environmental Earth Sciences , 74 (10), 7267-7270.
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. (2012). Art . Boston: Pearson.
Yu, H. (2017). Motivation behind China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’initiatives and establishment of the Asian infrastructure investment bank. Journal of Contemporary China , 26 (105), 353-368.
