Change and Continuity Over Time Essay
] b T0 opic: ________Analyze continuities and changes in patterns of interactions along the Silk Roads from 200 BCE to 1450 CE.________________ Beginning Middle End
The Silk Roads were first established as a route from Western Rome to China’s Han Dynasty around 200 BCE. The Chinese traded rice, tea, spices, pottery, and silk. There was a very high demand for silk, and it was considered a luxury. China exported its silk to areas such as India, the Mediterranean, and Rome. Buddhism became an influential religion for the Chinese brought from India along the Silk Roads. Buddhism mostly appealed to the people of lower rank because the religion rejected social hierarchies. The Romans traded gold and silver for silk. The trading routes were often dangerous due to bandits and the harsh desert. The collapse of the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty caused the end of the Silk Road in this era.
The Byzantine Empire picked up Silk Road after Western Rome collapsed. They learned the secret of making silk and traded with the Tang Dynasty. The Silk Roads spread Chinese inventions like gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press. Muslim traders in the Abbasid Dynasty also participated in trading. They influenced the spread of Islam across the Silk Road to parts of Asia like China and South East Asia. The spread of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism mirrored Islam. The Muslim traders also traded in Africa for gold, silver, ivory, and jewels and brought these goods to trade in the Silk Roads. This era in the Silk Road ended with the Mongol Invasion of Eurasia.
The Mongols started the Yuan Dynasty in China. Instead of taking over and forcing their own customs on China, they let them have their own identity. The Mongols even encouraged trade on the Silk Road and wanted to make an economy out of trading silk. The route also spread the plague. The Mongol unification of the