Fix the mistake: The Silk Road and the World of Nomadic Peoples

The Steppe Route and the Oasis Route

The “Silk Road” is a general term for the ancient trade routes extending from China to Rome and the Mediterranean world. Not only silk but also spices, glass, religions, technologies, and various cultural products traveled along these routes. This trade route, named by the 19th-century German geographer Richthofen, was not actually a single road but consisted of several routes.

The Three Routes of the Silk Road

• Oasis Route (overland route): Began at Chang’an (Xi’an) in China, bypassed the Taklamakan Desert, and reached Rome via Samarkand and Parthia. The best-known route
• Steppe Route: A trade route across the steppes of Central Asia. Nomadic peoples became its main carriers
• Maritime Route: A sea trade route passing through the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. From the 7th century onward, Muslim merchants led it, and it expanded to Southeast Asia and East Africa

Trade Goods and the Flow of Culture

From east to west, silk, porcelain, paper, gunpowder, and the compass were transported; from west to east, glass, gold and silver ornaments, grapes, cotton, and horses (heavenly horses) were carried. Buddhism, Islam, Jingjiao (a branch of Christianity), Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, and other religions also spread east and west along these trade routes.

Practice

1. Name each of the three Silk Road routes and identify the peoples or groups that carried them.
2. Give the person who named the “Silk Road” and the period in which he lived.
3. Name three inventions or cultural products transmitted from east to west through the Silk Road.