In Old Norse sources, such as sagas and runestones , Serkland (also Særkland , Srklant , Sirklant , Serklat , etc.) was the "land of the Serkir ", usually identified with the Saracens .
135-714: The exact etymology is disputed. Serk - may derive from "Saracen"; from sericum , Latin for "silk", implying a connection with the Silk Road ; from the Khazar fortress of Sarkel ; or from serkr , shirt or gown, i.e., "land of the gown-wearers". In all cases it refers to a land in the East. Originally, it referred to the land south of the Caspian Sea , but it gradually expanded to cover all Islamic lands, including parts of Africa (and possibly even Muslim Sicily ). Notably one of
270-539: A "complex network of trade routes" that gave people the chance to exchange goods and culture. A maritime Silk Route opened up between Chinese-controlled Giao Chỉ (centred in modern Vietnam , near Hanoi ), probably by the 1st century. It extended, via ports on the coasts of India and Sri Lanka , all the way to Roman -controlled ports in Roman Egypt and the Nabataean territories on the northeastern coast of
405-755: A Chinese tomb of Shanxi province dated to the Sui dynasty (581–618). Both the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang , covering the history of the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907), record that a new state called Fu-lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantine Empire) was virtually identical to the previous Daqin (大秦; i.e. Roman Empire). Several Fu-lin embassies were recorded for the Tang period, starting in 643 with an alleged embassy by Constans II (transliterated as Bo duo li , 波多力, from his nickname "Kōnstantinos Pogonatos") to
540-631: A contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans may have been part of Antony 's army invading Parthia . Sogdiana (modern Bukhara ), east of the Oxus River, on the Polytimetus River, was apparently the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. The margin of Chinese victory appears to have been their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem easily to have penetrated Roman shields and armour. The Han dynasty army regularly policed
675-737: A leading astronomer and physician in Khanbaliq , at the court of Kublai Khan , Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and was even granted the noble title 'Prince of Fu lin' ( Chinese : 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). The Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma , who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted as a representative for Arghun (a grandnephew of Kublai Khan), traveled throughout Europe and attempted to secure military alliances with Edward I of England , Philip IV of France , Pope Nicholas IV , as well as
810-462: A means of currency, just as valuable as silk yarn and textiles. Under its strong integrating dynamics on the one hand and the impacts of change it transmitted on the other, tribal societies previously living in isolation along the Silk Road, and pastoralists who were of barbarian cultural development, were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the civilisations connected by the routes, taking on
945-486: A number of important technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. Sogdians 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
1080-419: A succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way. In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of religious ( especially Buddhist ), philosophical, and scientific thought, much of which was syncretised by societies along the way. Likewise, a wide variety of people used the routes. Diseases such as plague also spread along the Silk Road, possibly contributing to
1215-535: A total length of more than 10 km (6 mi), believed to be part of the Great Wall, were discovered along the border of Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province. Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from rammed earth, stones, and wood. During the Ming, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime , and stone. The size and weight of
1350-817: Is figurative in a similar manner to the Greek and English myriad and simply means "innumerable" or "immeasurable". Because of the wall's association with the First Emperor's supposed tyranny , the Chinese dynasties after Qin usually avoided referring to their own additions to the wall by the name "Long Wall". Instead, various terms were used in medieval records, including "frontier(s)" ( 塞 , Sài ), "rampart(s)" ( 垣 , Yuán ), "barrier(s)" ( 障 , Zhàng ), "the outer fortresses" ( 外 堡 , Wàibǎo ), and "the border wall(s)" ( t 邊 牆 , s 边 墙 , Biānqiáng ). Poetic and informal names for
1485-772: Is "sixty days' travel" from Zeitun (modern Quanzhou ) in his travelogue Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling . He associated it with the legend of the wall mentioned in the Qur'an , which Dhul-Qarnayn (commonly associated with Alexander the Great ) was said to have erected to protect people near the land of the rising sun from the savages of Gog and Magog . However, Ibn Battuta could find no one who had either seen it or knew of anyone who had seen it, suggesting that although there were remnants of
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#17327721815691620-563: Is 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) high and 5 m (16 ft 5 in) wide. One of the most striking sections of the Ming Great Wall is where it climbs extremely steep slopes in Jinshanling . There it runs 11 km (7 mi) long, ranges from 5 to 8 m (16 ft 5 in to 26 ft 3 in) in height, and 6 m (19 ft 8 in) across the bottom, narrowing up to 5 m (16 ft 5 in) across
1755-469: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds . The name "Silk Road"
1890-571: Is a modern name, acquired from its similarity to the overland Silk Road. Like the overland routes, the ancient maritime routes through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean had no particular name for the majority of its very long history. Despite the modern name, the Maritime Silk Road involved exchanges in a wide variety of goods over a very wide region, not just silk or Asian exports. It differed significantly in several aspects from
2025-491: Is also mentioned by the 11th century skald Þórgils Fiskimaðr , and the 12th century skald Þórarinn Stuttfeldr . [REDACTED] This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok , a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain . This article about sagas is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This African history –related article
2160-428: Is also used occasionally. Although the term was coined in the 19th century, it did not gain widespread acceptance in academia or popularity among the public until the 20th century. The first book entitled The Silk Road was by Swedish geographer Sven Hedin in 1938. The use of the term 'Silk Road' is not without its detractors. For instance, Warwick Ball contends that the maritime spice trade with India and Arabia
2295-582: Is no more conspicuous than many other human-made objects. Veteran US astronaut Gene Cernan has stated: "At Earth orbit of 100 to 200 miles [160 to 320 km] high, the Great Wall of China is, indeed, visible to the naked eye." Ed Lu , Expedition 7 Science Officer aboard the International Space Station , adds that, "It's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look." In October 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei stated that he had not been able to see
2430-529: Is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe , and may be discerned at the Moon." The claim was also mentioned by Henry Norman in 1895 where he states "besides its age it enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the Moon." The issue of "canals" on Mars was prominent in the late 19th century and may have led to
2565-720: Is the western terminus of the Ming Great Wall. From Jiayu Pass the wall travels discontinuously down the Hexi Corridor and into the deserts of Ningxia , where it enters the western edge of the Yellow River loop at Yinchuan . Here the first major walls erected during the Ming dynasty cut through the Ordos Desert to the eastern edge of the Yellow River loop. There at Piantou Pass ( t 偏 頭 關 , s 偏 头 关 , Piāntóuguān ) in Xinzhou , Shanxi province,
2700-793: The Alans ], Lijian [Syria under the Greek Seleucids], Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia), and Tianzhu [northwestern India] ... As a rule, rather more than ten such missions went forward in the course of a year, and at the least five or six. ( Hou Hanshu , Later Han History). These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire. The Chinese campaigned in Central Asia on several occasions, and direct encounters between Han troops and Roman legionaries (probably captured or recruited as mercenaries by
2835-656: The Berel burial ground in Kazakhstan , confirmed that the nomadic Arimaspians were not only breeding horses for trade but also produced great craftsmen able to propagate exquisite art pieces along the Silk Road. From the 2nd millennium BCE, nephrite jade was being traded from mines in the region of Yarkand and Khotan to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the lapis lazuli and spinel ("Balas Ruby") mines in Badakhshan , and, although separated by
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#17327721815692970-664: The Eurasian Steppe . Several walls were built from as early as the 7th century BC, with selective stretches later joined by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), the first emperor of China . Little of the Qin wall remains. Later on, many successive dynasties built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The best-known sections of the wall were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Apart from defense, other purposes of
3105-849: The Hungarian plain and the Carpathian Mountains to the Chinese Gansu Corridor, and linking the Middle East with Northern India and the Punjab , undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk Road. Scythians accompanied the Assyrian Esarhaddon on his invasion of Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as far south as Aswan . These nomadic peoples were dependent upon neighbouring settled populations for
3240-836: The Ingvar runestones , the Sö 179 , raised circa 1040 at Gripsholm Castle , commemorates a Varangian loss during an ill-fated raid in Serkland. The other remaining runestones that talk of Serkland are Sö 131 , Sö 279 , Sö 281 , the Tillinge Runestone and probably the lost runestone U 439 . For a detailed account of such raids, see Caspian expeditions of the Rus' . Several sagas mention Serkland: Ynglinga saga , Sörla saga sterka , Sörla þáttr , Saga Sigurðar Jórsalafara , Jökulsþáttur Búasonar and Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis . It
3375-720: The Karakum Desert . Both routes joined the main southern route before reaching ancient Merv , Turkmenistan. Another branch of the northern route turned northwest past the Aral Sea and north of the Caspian Sea , then and on to the Black Sea. A route for caravans, the northern Silk Road brought to China many goods such as "dates, saffron powder and pistachio nuts from Persia; frankincense , aloes and myrrh from Somalia ; sandalwood from India; glass bottles from Egypt, and other expensive and desirable goods from other parts of
3510-564: The Kushan Empire between the first and third centuries reinforced the role of the powerful merchants from Bactria and Taxila . They fostered multi-cultural interaction as indicated by their 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India, such as in the archeological site of Begram . The Silk Road trade did not sell only textiles, jewels, metal and cosmetic, but also slaves, connecting
3645-673: The Liaodong province, protecting it against potential incursions by Jurchen-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides. Towards the end of the Ming, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Even after
3780-991: The Magyars , Armenians , and Chinese. The Silk Road reached its peak in the west during the time of the Byzantine Empire ; in the Nile- Oxus section, from the Sassanid Empire period to the Il Khanate period; and in the sinitic zone from the Three Kingdoms period to the Yuan dynasty period. Trade between East and West also developed across the Indian Ocean , between Alexandria in Egypt and Guangzhou in China. Persian Sassanid coins emerged as
3915-758: The Malay Peninsula , and the Mekong Delta ; through which passed the main routes of the Austronesian trade ships to Giao Chỉ (in the Tonkin Gulf ) and Guangzhou (southern China ), the endpoints (later also including Quanzhou by the 10th century CE). Secondary routes also passed through the coastlines of the Gulf of Thailand ; as well as through the Java Sea , Celebes Sea , Banda Sea , and
4050-862: The Maldives . It branches from here into routes through the Arabian Sea entering the Gulf of Oman (into the Persian Gulf ), and the Gulf of Aden (into the Red Sea ). Secondary routes also pass through the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal , the Arabian Sea, and southwards along the coast of East Africa to Zanzibar , the Comoros , Madagascar , and the Seychelles . The term "Maritime Silk Road"
4185-630: The Moon . Even though the myth is thoroughly debunked, it is still ingrained in popular culture. The apparent width of the Great Wall from the Moon would be the same as that of a human hair viewed from 3 km (2 mi) away. One of the earliest known references to the myth that the Great Wall can be seen from the moon appears in a letter written in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley . Stukeley wrote that, "This mighty wall [ Hadrian's wall ] of four score miles [130 km] in length
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4320-675: The National Cultural Heritage Administration states that 22% of the Ming Great Wall has disappeared, while 1,961 km (1,219 mi) of wall have vanished. In 2007 it was estimated that more than 60 km (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms . In some places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than 5 m (16 ft 5 in) to less than 2 m (6 ft 7 in). Various square lookout towers that characterize
4455-520: The Persian Gulf and Red Sea into Persia , Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq ), Arabia , Egypt , Aksum (Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa . The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of political and cultural integration due to inter-regional trade. In its heyday, it sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as
4590-450: The Qin dynasty ("Qin Shi Huang") in 221 BC. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the sections of the walls that divided his empire among the former states. To position the empire against the Xiongnu people from the north, however, he ordered the building of new walls to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's northern frontier. "Build and move on"
4725-594: The Red Sea . The earliest Roman glassware bowl found in China was unearthed from a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou , dated to the early 1st century BCE, indicating that Roman commercial items were being imported through the South China Sea . According to Chinese dynastic histories , it is from this region that the Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Emperor Huan of Han . Other Roman glasswares have been found in Eastern-Han-era tombs (25–220 CE) further inland in Luoyang , Nanyang , and Nanjing . Soon after
4860-411: The Sasanian Empire that allowed the Byzantines to bypass the Sasanian merchants and trade directly with the Sogdians for purchasing Chinese silk. Although the Byzantines had already procured silkworm eggs from China by this point, the quality of Chinese silk was still far greater than anything produced in the West, a fact that is perhaps emphasized by the discovery of coins minted by Justin II found in
4995-458: The Silla Kingdom in Gyeongju , Korea. Chinese wealth grew as they delivered silk and other luxury goods to the Roman Empire, whose wealthy women admired their beauty. The Roman Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds: the import of Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of gold, and silk clothes were considered decadent and immoral. I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide
5130-432: The Sulu Sea , reconnecting with the main route through the northern Philippines and Taiwan . The secondary routes also continue onward to the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea for a limited extent. The main route of the western regions of the Maritime Silk Road directly crosses the Indian Ocean from the northern tip of Sumatra (or through the Sunda Strait ) to Sri Lanka , southern India and Bangladesh , and
5265-435: The Wusun . Zhang Qian's report suggested the economic reason for Chinese expansion and wall-building westward, and trail-blazed the Silk Road, making it one of the most famous trade routes in history and in the world. After winning the War of the Heavenly Horses and the Han–Xiongnu War , Chinese armies established themselves in Central Asia, initiating the Silk Route as a major avenue of international trade. Some say that
5400-450: The rampart which surrounded traditional Chinese cities and was used by extension for these walls around their respective states ; today, however, it is much more often the Chinese word for "city". The longer Chinese name "Ten-Thousand Mile Long Wall" ( t 萬里長城, s 万里长城, Wànlǐ Chángchéng ) came from Sima Qian's description of it in the Records , though he did not name the walls as such. The AD 493 Book of Song quotes
5535-428: The 12th century, the route was used to ship bullion from Yunnan (gold and silver are among the minerals in which Yunnan is rich), through northern Burma, into modern Bangladesh , making use of the ancient route, known as the 'Ledo' route. The emerging evidence of the ancient cities of Bangladesh, in particular Wari-Bateshwar ruins, Mahasthangarh , Bhitagarh , Bikrampur , Egarasindhur, and Sonargaon , are believed to be
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5670-400: The 13th and 14th centuries, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine , William of Rubruck , Marco Polo , Odoric of Pordenone and Giovanni de' Marignolli , mentioned the Great Wall. The North African traveler Ibn Battuta , who also visited China during the Yuan dynasty c. 1346 , had heard about China's Great Wall, possibly before he had arrived in China. He wrote that the wall
5805-460: The 21st century, the name "New Silk Road" is used to describe several large infrastructure projects along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site , while the Indian portion remains on the tentative site list. The Silk Road derives its name from
5940-407: The 4th century. The Silk Road was initiated and spread by China's Han dynasty through exploration and conquests in Central Asia . With the Mediterranean linked to the Fergana Valley , the next step was to open a route across the Tarim Basin and the Hexi Corridor to China Proper . This extension came around 130 BCE, with the embassies of the Han dynasty to Central Asia following the reports of
6075-417: The 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks , but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun , the oasis states , and the Xueyantuo . Under Emperor Taizong , Tang general Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turkic Khaganate . Under Emperor Gaozong , Tang general Su Dingfang conquered the Western Turkic Khaganate , an important ally of
6210-400: The Black Death. From 1453 onwards, the Ottoman Empire began competing with other gunpowder empires for greater control over the overland routes, which prompted European polities to seek alternatives while themselves gaining leverage over their trade partners. This marked the beginning of the Age of Discovery , European colonialism , and the further intensification of globalization . In
6345-439: The Byzantine empire. After these conquests, the Tang dynasty fully controlled the Xiyu , which was the strategic location astride the Silk Road. This led the Tang dynasty to reopen the Silk Road, with this portion named the Tang-Tubo Road ("Tang-Tibet Road") in many historical texts. The Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica , and the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian and Sogdian merchants benefited from
6480-437: The Byzantine ruler Andronikos II Palaiologos . Andronikos II had two half-sisters who were married to great-grandsons of Genghis Khan , which made him an in-law with the Yuan-dynasty Mongol ruler in Beijing, Kublai Khan. The History of Ming preserves an account where the Hongwu Emperor , after founding the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), had a supposed Byzantine merchant named Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) deliver his proclamation about
6615-414: The Central Asian Silk Road through their ports in Barygaza (known today as Bharuch ) and Barbaricum (known today as the city of Karachi , Sindh , Pakistan ) and continued along the western coast of India. An ancient "travel guide" to this Indian Ocean trade route was the Greek Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in 60 CE. The travelling party of Maës Titianus penetrated farthest east along
6750-478: The Chinese Emperor Wu became interested in developing commercial relationships with the sophisticated urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and the Parthian Empire : "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan "Great Ionians " ) and the possessions of Bactria ( Ta-Hsia ) and Parthian Empire ( Anxi ) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of
6885-412: The Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" ( Hou Hanshu , Later Han History ). Others say that Emperor Wu was mainly interested in fighting the Xiongnu and that major trade began only after the Chinese pacified the Hexi Corridor . The Chinese were also strongly attracted by the tall and powerful horses (named " heavenly horses ") in the possession of
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#17327721815697020-407: The Dayuan (literally the "Great Ionians," the Greek kingdoms of Central Asia ), which were of capital importance in fighting the nomadic Xiongnu. They defeated the Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war . The Chinese subsequently sent numerous embassies, around ten every year, to these countries and as far as Seleucid Syria. Thus more embassies were dispatched to Anxi [Parthia], Yancai [who later joined
7155-510: The Empire as a whole. The Roman-style glassware discovered in the archeological sites of Gyeongju , the capital of the Silla kingdom (Korea) showed that Roman artifacts were traded as far as the Korean peninsula. The Greco- Roman trade with India started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE continued to increase, and according to Strabo (II.5.12), by the time of Augustus , up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt to India. The Roman Empire connected with
7290-407: The Ganges, they are only private citizens." His comments are interesting as Roman beads and other materials are being found at Wari-Bateshwar ruins , the ancient city with roots from much earlier, before the Bronze Age , presently being slowly excavated beside the Old Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Ptolemy's map of the Ganges Delta , a remarkably accurate effort, showed that his informants knew all about
7425-422: The Grand Historian , where it referred both to the separate great walls built between and north of the Warring States and to the more unified construction of the First Emperor . The Chinese character 城 , meaning city or fortress, is a phono-semantic compound of the "earth" radical 土 and phonetic 成 , whose Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as * deŋ . It originally referred to
7560-499: The Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders. The Tang and Song dynasties did not undertake any significant effort in the region. Dynasties founded by non-Han ethnic groups also built their border walls: the Xianbei -ruled Northern Wei , the Khitan -ruled Liao , Jurchen -led Jin and the Tangut -established Western Xia , who ruled vast territories over Northern China throughout centuries, all constructed defensive walls but those were located much to
7695-421: The Great Wall have included border controls , allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road , regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watchtowers , troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and
7830-414: The Great Wall of China. In response, the European Space Agency (ESA) issued a press release reporting that from an orbit between 160 and 320 km (100 and 200 mi), the Great Wall is visible to the naked eye. The image was actually a river in Beijing. Leroy Chiao , a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that
7965-447: The Great Wall splits in two with the "Outer Great Wall" ( t 外 長城 , s 外 长城 , Wài Chǎngchéng ) extending along the Inner Mongolia border with Shanxi into Hebei province, and the "Inner Great Wall" ( t 內 長城 , s 內 长城 , Nèi Chǎngchéng ) running southeast from Piantou Pass for some 400 km (250 mi), passing through important passes like the Pingxing Pass and Yanmen Pass before joining
8100-460: The Great Wall. A formal definition of what constitutes a "Great Wall" has not been agreed upon, making the full course of the Great Wall difficult to describe in its entirety. The defensive lines contain multiple stretches of ramparts, trenches and ditches, as well as individual fortresses. In 2012, based on existing research and the results of a comprehensive mapping survey, the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China concluded that
8235-402: The Great Wall. Perhaps the first recorded instance of a European actually entering China via the Great Wall came in 1605, when the Portuguese Jesuit brother Bento de Góis reached the northwestern Jiayu Pass from India. Early European accounts were mostly modest and empirical, closely mirroring contemporary Chinese understanding of the Wall, although later they slid into hyperbole, including
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#17327721815698370-400: The Han general dispatched envoy Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following these efforts by China to consolidate a road to the Western world and India , both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west. The Silk Roads were
8505-438: The Outer Great Wall at Sihaiye ( 四海 冶 , Sìhǎiyě ), in Beijing's Yanqing County . The sections of the Great Wall around Beijing municipality are especially famous: they were frequently renovated and are regularly visited by tourists today. The Badaling Great Wall near Zhangjiakou is the most famous stretch of the wall, for this was the first section to be opened to the public in the People's Republic of China, as well as
8640-432: The Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, regular communications and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe blossomed on an unprecedented scale. The Roman Empire inherited eastern trade routes that were part of the Silk Road from the earlier Hellenistic powers and the Arabs. With control of these trade routes, citizens of the Roman Empire received new luxuries and greater prosperity for
8775-587: The Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied through the Parthians), even though the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees. This belief was affirmed by Seneca the Younger in his Phaedra and by Virgil in his Georgics . Notably, Pliny the Elder knew better. Speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk." The Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk. Roman artisans began to replace yarn with valuable plain silk cloths from China and
8910-421: The Silk Road from the Mediterranean world, probably with the aim of regularising contacts and reducing the role of middlemen, during one of the lulls in Rome's intermittent wars with Parthia, which repeatedly obstructed movement along the Silk Road. Intercontinental trade and communication became regular, organised, and protected by the "Great Powers." Intense trade with the Roman Empire soon followed, confirmed by
9045-419: The Silk Road slave trade to the Bukhara slave trade as well as the Black Sea slave trade , particularly slave girls. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered the way silk was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (ruled 527–565) as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal
9180-410: The Silk Road trade. The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of wild silk , which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East. Following contacts between Metropolitan China and nomadic western border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold
9315-432: The Silk Road, from Khotan ( Xinjiang ) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long as 5000 BCE , and are still in use for this purpose. The term "Jade Road" would have been more appropriate than "Silk Road" had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade; the term is in current use in China. The Silk Road consisted of several routes. As it extended westwards from
9450-425: The Tarim Basin, in the modern day Xinjiang region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the Xiongnu culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern Han dynasty , who spoke a Sino-Tibetan language . Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in Ancient Egypt . The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of
9585-463: The West until the period of the Mongol Empire . He notes that traditional authors discussing east–west trade such as Marco Polo and Edward Gibbon never labelled any route a "silk" one in particular. William Dalrymple points out that in pre-modern times, maritime travel cost only a fifth of overland transport, and argues for the pre-13th century primacy of an India-dominated " Golden Road " extending from Rome to Japan. The southern stretches of
9720-884: The West for land-based trade. The Tang captured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo General Gao Xianzhi . While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu ), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. The Tang dynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during
9855-604: The Xiong Nu) are recorded, particularly in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana (Joseph Needham, Sidney Shapiro). It has been suggested that the Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world on such occasions, although the Greek gastraphetes provides an alternative origin. R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy suggest that in 36 BCE, [A] Han expedition into Central Asia, west of Jaxartes River , apparently encountered and defeated
9990-754: The ambassador Zhang Qian (who was originally sent to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu ). Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of Dayuan in Ferghana , the territories of the Yuezhi in Transoxiana , the Bactrian country of Daxia with its remnants of Greco-Bactrian rule, and Kangju . He also made reports on neighbouring countries that he did not visit, such as Anxi ( Parthia ), Tiaozhi ( Mesopotamia ), Shendu ( Indian subcontinent ) and
10125-484: The ancient commercial centres of China, the overland, intercontinental Silk Road divided into northern and southern routes bypassing the Taklamakan Desert and Lop Nur . Merchants along these routes were involved in "relay trade" in which goods changed "hands many times before reaching their final destinations". The northern route started at Chang'an (now called Xi'an ), an ancient capital of China that
10260-406: The belief that long, thin objects were visible from space. The claim that the Great Wall is visible from the moon also appears in 1932's Ripley's Believe It or Not! strip. A more controversial question is whether the wall is visible from low Earth orbit (an altitude of as little as 160 km (100 mi)). NASA claims that it is barely visible, and only under nearly perfect conditions; it
10395-431: The body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes. ... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body. The Western Roman Empire , and its demand for sophisticated Asian products, collapsed in the fifth century . The unification of Central Asia and Northern India within
10530-404: The bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone, so construction quickened. Additionally, bricks could bear more weight and endure better than rammed earth. Stone can hold under its own weight better than brick, but is more difficult to use. Consequently, stones cut into rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and outer brims , and gateways of the wall. Battlements line
10665-482: The carriers of a mixed Sogdian-Türkic culture that often came from mixed families." Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China ( traditional Chinese : 萬里長城 ; simplified Chinese : 万里长城 ; pinyin : Wànlǐ Chángchéng , literally "ten thousand li long wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from
10800-567: The commanding Ming general, Wu Sangui , who formed an alliance with the Manchus, hoping to use the Manchus to expel the rebels from Beijing. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and eventually defeated both the Shun dynasty and the remaining Ming resistance , consolidating the rule of the Qing dynasty over all of China proper . Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia
10935-437: The commerce between East and West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomed foreign cultures, making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centres. In addition to the land route, the Tang dynasty also developed the maritime Silk Route. Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd century BCE, yet, it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be found in
11070-884: The course of the Brahmaputra River, crossing through the Himalayas then bending westward to its source in Tibet . It is doubtless that this delta was a major international trading center, almost certainly from much earlier than the Common Era. Gemstones and other merchandise from Thailand and Java were traded in the delta and through it. Chinese archaeological writer Bin Yang and some earlier writers and archaeologists, such as Janice Stargardt, strongly suggest this route of international trade as Sichuan – Yunnan – Burma – Bangladesh route. According to Bin Yang, especially from
11205-510: The court of Emperor Taizong of Tang . The History of Song describes the final embassy and its arrival in 1081, apparently sent by Michael VII Doukas (transliterated as Mie li yi ling kai sa , 滅力伊靈改撒, from his name and title Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar) to the court of Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty (960–1279). However, the History of Yuan claims that a Byzantine man became
11340-456: The defensive system of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. The collection of fortifications known as the Great Wall of China has historically had a number of different names in both Chinese and English. In Chinese histories , the term "Long Wall(s)" ( t 長城, s 长城, Chángchéng ) appears in Sima Qian 's Records of
11475-602: The east. This section was one of the first to be renovated following the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution . At the edge of the Bohai Gulf is Shanhai Pass , considered the traditional end of the Great Wall and the "First Pass Under Heaven ". The part of the wall inside Shanhai Pass that meets the sea is named the "Old Dragon Head". 3 km (2 mi) north of Shanhai Pass is Jiaoshan Great Wall ( t 焦山 長城 , s 焦 山 长城 , Jiāoshān Chángchéng ),
11610-464: The erroneous but ubiquitous claim that the Ming walls were the same ones that were built by the first emperor in the 3rd century BC. When China opened its borders to foreign merchants and visitors after its defeat in the First and Second Opium Wars , the Great Wall became a main attraction for tourists. The travelogues of the later 19th century further enhanced the reputation and the mythology of
11745-523: The establishment of a new dynasty to the Byzantine court of John V Palaiologos in September 1371. Friedrich Hirth (1885), Emil Bretschneider (1888), and more recently Edward Luttwak (2009) presumed that this was none other than Nicolaus de Bentra, a Roman Catholic bishop of Khanbilaq chosen by Pope John XXII to replace the previous archbishop John of Montecorvino . Although the Silk Road
11880-508: The exact length and course of the Qin walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. The human cost of the construction is unknown, but it has been estimated by some authors that hundreds of thousands of workers died building the Qin wall. Later, the Han , the Northern dynasties and the Sui all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of
12015-470: The expansion of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) into Central Asia around 114 BCE, through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian , which brought the region under unified control . The Chinese took great interest in the security of their trade products, and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route. By
12150-525: The fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Tao River (Taohe) in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates the edge of the Mongolian steppe ; spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) in total. Today,
12285-598: The first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought-after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece. Other lucrative commodities from the East included tea, dyes, perfumes, and porcelain ; among Western exports were horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold. Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly affected the trajectory of political history in several theatres in Eurasia and beyond. The Silk Road
12420-568: The formidable Pamir Mountains , routes across them were apparently in use from very early times. Genetic study of the Tarim mummies , found in the Tarim Basin , in the area of Loulan located along the Silk Road 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke Indo-European languages , which remained in use in
12555-466: The frontier general Tan Daoji referring to "the long wall of 10,000 miles", closer to the modern name, but the name rarely features in pre-modern times otherwise. The traditional Chinese mile ( 里 , lǐ ) was an often irregular distance that was intended to show the length of a standard village and varied with terrain but was usually standardized at distances around a third of an English mile (540 m). However, this use of "ten-thousand" ( wàn )
12690-498: The head of the Persian Gulf and across to Petra and on to Alexandria and other eastern Mediterranean ports from where ships carried the cargoes to Rome . The southwestern route is believed to be the Ganges / Brahmaputra Delta, which has been the subject of international interest for over two millennia. Strabo, the 1st-century Roman writer, mentions the deltaic lands: "Regarding merchants who now sail from Egypt ... as far as
12825-744: The international trade centers in this route. The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia , East Asia , the Indian subcontinent , the Arabian Peninsula , eastern Africa , and Europe . It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished until the 15th century CE. The Maritime Silk Road was primarily established and operated by Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia who sailed large long-distance ocean-going sewn-plank and lashed-lug trade ships . The route
12960-789: The journey by sea from various points. Crossing the high mountains, it passed through northern Pakistan , over the Hindu Kush mountains, and into Afghanistan , rejoining the northern route near Merv, Turkmenistan . From Merv, it followed a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran , Mesopotamia , and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant , where Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy , while land routes went either north through Anatolia or south to North Africa . Another branch road travelled from Herat through Susa to Charax Spasinu at
13095-519: The long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert , the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Yellow River . Unlike the earlier fortifications, the Ming construction
13230-458: The loss of all of Liaodong , the Ming army held the heavily fortified Shanhai Pass , preventing the Manchus from conquering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, after Beijing had already fallen to Li Zicheng 's short-lived Shun dynasty . Before this time, the Manchus had crossed the Great Wall multiple times to raid, but this time it was for conquest. The gates at Shanhai Pass were opened on May 25 by
13365-519: The lucrative trade in silk , first developed in China , and a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network. It derives from the German term Seidenstraße (literally "Silk Road") and was first popularized in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen , who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872. However, the term itself had been in use in decades prior to that. The alternative translation "Silk Route"
13500-460: The maritime spice networks between Southeast Asia and South Asia , and the West Asian maritime networks in the Arabian Sea and beyond, coinciding with these ancient maritime trade roads by the current era. Austronesian thalassocracies controlled the flow of trade in the eastern regions of the Maritime Silk Road, especially the polities around the straits of Malacca and Bangka ,
13635-425: The maritime route faced different perils like weather and piracy , but they were not affected by political instability and could simply avoid areas in conflict. Central Eurasia has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland Steppe Route across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road. Archeological sites, such as
13770-466: The mortar or any part of the wall, contrary to what a legend states. Communication between the army units along the length of the Great Wall, including the ability to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements, was of high importance. Signal towers were built upon hill tops or other high points along the wall for their visibility. Wooden gates could be used as a trap against those going through. Barracks, stables, and armories were built near
13905-508: The most famous images of the wall have disappeared. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud , rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion. In 2014 a portion of the wall near the border of Liaoning and Hebei province was repaired with concrete. The work has been much criticized. A section of the wall in Shanxi province was severely damaged in 2023 by construction workers, who widened an existing gap in
14040-468: The nineteenth century, "the Great Wall of China" had become standard in English and French, although other European languages such as German continue to refer to it as "the Chinese wall". The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries BC. During this time and the subsequent Warring States period ,
14175-558: The north of the other Great Walls as we know it, within China's autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and in modern-day Mongolia itself. The Great Wall concept was revived again under the Ming in the 14th century, and following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu . The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Mongol tribes after successive battles, and
14310-602: The one contained in João de Barros 's 1563 Asia . Other early accounts in Western sources include those of Gaspar da Cruz , Bento de Goes , Matteo Ricci , and Bishop Juan González de Mendoza , the latter in 1585 describing it as a "superbious and mightie work" of architecture, though he had not seen it. In 1559, in his work "A Treatise of China and the Adjoyning Regions", Gaspar da Cruz offers an early discussion of
14445-592: The other going north of the Tian Shan mountains through Turpan , Talgar , and Almaty (in what is now southeast Kazakhstan ). The routes split again west of Kashgar, with a southern branch heading down the Alai Valley towards Termez (in modern Uzbekistan) and Balkh (Afghanistan), while the other travelled through Kokand in the Fergana Valley (in present-day eastern Uzbekistan) and then west across
14580-431: The overland Silk Road, and thus should not be viewed as a mere extension of it. Traders traveling through the Maritime Silk Road could span the entire distance of the maritime routes, instead of through regional relays as with the overland route. Ships could carry far larger amounts of goods, creating greater economic impact with each exchange. Goods carried by the ships also differed from goods carried by caravans. Traders on
14715-757: The remainder date back to Northern Wei , Northern Qi , Sui , Tang , the Five Dynasties , Song , Liao and Xixia . About half of the sites are located in Inner Mongolia (31%) and Hebei (19%). Han fortifications starts from Yumen Pass and Yang Pass , southwest of Dunhuang , in Gansu province. Ruins of the remotest Han border posts are found in Mamitu ( t 馬 迷途 , s 马 迷途 , Mǎmítú , l "horses losing their way" ) near Yumen Pass. The Jiayu Pass , located in Gansu province,
14850-845: The remaining Great Wall associated sites include 10,051 wall sections, 1,764 ramparts or trenches, 29,510 individual buildings, and 2,211 fortifications or passes, with the walls and trenches spanning a total length of 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi). Incorporating advanced technologies, the study has concluded that the Ming Great Wall measures 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This consists of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) of wall sections, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. In addition, Qin , Han and earlier Great Wall sites are 3,080 km (1,914 mi) long in total; Jin dynasty (1115–1234) border fortifications are 4,010 km (2,492 mi) in length;
14985-472: The showpiece stretch for foreign dignitaries. The Badaling Great Wall saw nearly 10 million visitors in 2018, and in 2019, a daily limit of 65,000 visitors was instated. South of Badaling is the Juyong Pass ; when it was used by the Chinese to protect their land, this section of the wall had many guards to defend the capital Beijing. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall
15120-699: The silkworm eggs , resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe. In 568, the Byzantine ruler Justin II was greeted by a Sogdian embassy representing Istämi , ruler of the First Turkic Khaganate , who formed an alliance with the Byzantines against Khosrow I of
15255-474: The site of the first mountain of the Great Wall. 15 km (9 mi) northeast from Shanhaiguan is Jiumenkou ( t 九 門 口 , s 九 门 口 , Jiǔménkǒu ), which is the only portion of the wall that was built as a bridge. In 2009, 180 km of previously unknown sections of the Ming wall concealed by hills, trenches and rivers were discovered with the help of infrared range finders and GPS devices. In March and April 2015, nine sections with
15390-470: The states of Qin , Wei , Zhao , Qi , Han , Yan , and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly of stone or by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. King Zheng of Qin conquered the last of his opponents and unified China as the First Emperor of
15525-472: The top. Wangjing Lou ( t 望 京 樓 , s 望 京 楼 , Wàngjīng Lóu ) is one of Jinshanling's 67 watchtowers , 980 m (3,220 ft) above sea level. Southeast of Jinshanling is the Mutianyu Great Wall which winds along lofty, cragged mountains from the southeast to the northwest for 2.25 km (1.40 mi). It is connected with Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to
15660-513: The trade route against nomadic bandit forces generally identified as Xiongnu . Han general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 mounted infantry and light cavalry troops in the 1st century CE to secure the trade routes, reaching far west to the Tarim Basin. Ban Chao expanded his conquests across the Pamirs to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the borders of Parthia . It was from here that
15795-506: The trades of marauders or mercenaries. "Many barbarian tribes became skilled warriors able to conquer rich cities and fertile lands and to forge strong military empires." The Sogdians dominated the east–west trade after the 4th century up to the 8th century. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia. A.V. Dybo noted that "according to historians, the main driving force of the Great Silk Road were not just Sogdians, but
15930-411: The uppermost portion of the vast majority of the wall, with defensive gaps a little over 30 cm (12 in) tall, and about 23 cm (9.1 in) wide. From the parapets, guards could survey the surrounding land. Sticky rice mortar , consisting of sticky rice soup mixed with slaked lime , was extensively used to hold bricks together; no human bones or body parts were ever incorporated into
16065-462: The wall at that time, they were not significant. Soon after Europeans reached Ming China by ship in the early 16th century, accounts of the Great Wall started to circulate in Europe, even though no European was to see it for another century. Possibly one of the earliest European descriptions of the wall and of its significance for the defense of the country against the " Tartars " (i.e. Mongols) may be
16200-793: The wall included "the Purple Frontier" ( 紫 塞 , Zǐsài ) and "the Earth Dragon" ( t 土 龍 , s 土 龙 , Tǔlóng ). Only during the Qing period did "Long Wall" become the catch-all term to refer to the many border walls regardless of their location or dynastic origin, equivalent to the English "Great Wall". Sections of the wall in south Gobi Desert and Mongolian steppe are sometimes referred to as "Wall of Genghis Khan", even though Genghis Khan did not construct any walls or permanent defense lines himself. The current English name evolved from accounts of "the Chinese wall" from early modern European travelers. By
16335-421: The wall to make a shortcut for an excavator to pass through. Police described the act as causing "irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and to the safety of the cultural relics". Various factoids in popular culture claim that the Great Wall can be seen (with the naked eye) from space, with questionable degrees of veracity. The Great Wall of China cannot be seen by the naked human eye from
16470-504: The wall's inner surface. While portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even extensively renovated, in many other locations the wall is in disrepair. The wall sometimes provided a source of stones to build houses and roads. Sections of the wall are also prone to graffiti and vandalism , while inscribed bricks were pilfered and sold on the market for up to 50 renminbi . Parts have been destroyed to make way for construction or mining. A 2012 report by
16605-406: The wall, faced sections of the ram-earth wall with bricks and constructed 1,200 watchtowers from Shanhaiguan Pass to Changping to warn of approaching Mongol raiders. During the 1440s–1460s, the Ming also built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in function to the Great Wall (whose extension, in a sense, it was), but more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed the agricultural heartland of
16740-537: The world." In exchange, the caravans sent back bolts of silk brocade , lacquer-ware , and porcelain . 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 . It then set off westwards, but with southward spurs so travelers could complete
16875-441: Was a central guiding principle in constructing the wall, implying that the Chinese were not erecting a permanently fixed border. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating
17010-580: Was also utilized by the dhows of the Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea and beyond, and the Tamil merchants in South Asia . China also started building their own trade ships ( chuán ) and followed the routes in the later period, from the 10th to the 15th centuries CE. The network followed the footsteps of older Austronesian jade maritime networks in Southeast Asia, as well as
17145-635: Was annexed into the empire, so constructions on the Great Wall were discontinued. On the other hand, the so-called Willow Palisade , following a line similar to that of the Ming Liaodong Wall, was constructed by the Qing rulers in Manchuria. Its purpose, however, was not defense but rather to prevent Han Chinese migration into Manchuria. None of the Europeans who visited China or Mongolia in
17280-554: Was excavated and found to have not only Greek bronzes but also Chinese silks. Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in Scythian grave sites stretching from the Black Sea region all the way to Warring States era archaeological sites in Inner Mongolia (at Aluchaideng) and Shaanxi (at Keshengzhuang [ de ] ) in China. The expansion of Scythian cultures, stretching from
17415-518: Was far more consequential for the economy of the Roman Empire than the silk trade with China , which at sea was conducted mostly through India and on land was handled by numerous intermediaries such as the Sogdians . Going as far as to call the whole thing a "myth" of modern academia, Ball argues that there was no coherent overland trade system and no free movement of goods from East Asia to
17550-479: Was first coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes , on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central , East , South , Southeast , and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe . The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were primarily produced in China. The network began with
17685-644: Was initially formulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141–87 BCE), it was reopened by the Tang Empire in 639 when Hou Junji conquered the Western Regions , and remained open for almost four decades. It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699, during Empress Wu 's period, the Silk Road reopened when the Tang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installed in 640, once again connecting China directly to
17820-418: Was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the Scythian -style animal art of the steppes (depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze, with other versions in jade and steatite . An elite burial near Stuttgart , Germany, dated to the 6th century BCE,
17955-487: Was moved further east during the Later Han to Luoyang . The route was defined around the 1st century BCE when Han Wudi put an end to harassment by nomadic tribes. The northern route 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
18090-432: Was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. Up to 25,000 watchtowers are estimated to have been constructed on the wall. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong. Qi Jiguang between 1567 and 1570 also repaired and reinforced
18225-478: Was utilized over a period that saw immense political variation across the continent, exemplified by major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests . The network was highly decentralized, and security was sparse: travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain. Few individuals traveled the entire length of the Silk Road, instead relying on
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