In a previous module, you learned about the Silk Roads. As you have advanced through this course, you mainly encountered world history one culture at a time. However, the Silk Roads were a trade network that impacted many cultures during multiple time periods.

The Silk Roads were most valued for cultural exchanges in architecture, art, language, philosophy, religion, and technology. At this point in history, the Silk Roads progressed because of technological advances that were being transferred between cultures. Networks were also developed whereby countries relied on each other economically. The Silk Roads thrived through the exchange of goods, technologies, and ideas until around 542 A.D. (C.E.), when the bubonic plague spread along these routes and arrived in Constantinople, demolishing the Byzantine Empire and its people, who did not have the immunity to fight this foreign disease. Once the Silk Roads closed, merchants turned to the seas for trade with other cultures. These maritime routes included the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea; and this prompted globalization during the Age of Discovery from 1453 to 1660 A.D. (C.E.).

Silk was the earliest good to be transferred through the trade routes across Central Asia. While its exclusive production was initially only for the imperial Chinese, around 2700 B.C. (B.C.E.), China offered it as gifts to its neighbors, and eventually silk was presented to the Romans, Egyptians, and Mongolians. The routes of the Silk Roads, and the goods, technologies, and ideas that spread, continued to develop over time. Specifically, spices were traded from cultures around the Indian Ocean; textiles came from India, China, the Middle East, and eventually Europe; and porcelain came from China and Persia. Paper came from China through the Muslim world to the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe. New crops originated in India, allowing for cultures to make sugar; and waterwheels and windmills were exchanged from the Middle East. In addition, serving as middlemen of maritime trade between the Asian and Mediterranean worlds, the Arabs and Persians relied on a variety of navigational technologies that also spread through the Silk Roads, like the compass that came from China, and the lateen sail that came from regions near the Indian Ocean. Ideas were also exchanged between cultures using the Silk Roads. China prompted other civilizations to print and use paper money. Also, religious ideals spread across the hemispheres. In particular, Buddhism came from China and was adopted in Korea and Japan; Hinduism and Buddhism came from India and were adopted in Southeast Asia; and Islam spread into West Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Take a moment to view this interactivity that will help you identify exactly what goods, technologies, and ideas were exchanged between various locations throughout the world. Click the player button to begin.

View a printable version of this interactivity.

 

Trade in the Eastern Hemisphere Review

Now that you have explored trade in the eastern hemisphere, review your knowledge in this interactivity. Click the player button to get started.