Silk Road PPT

Topic 2.1: The Silk Roads

Historical Developments

•Improved commercial practices led
to an increased volume of trade and
expanded the geographical range of
existing trade routes--including the
Silk Roads--promoting the growth of
powerful new trading cities.

•Demand for luxury goods increased
in Afro-Eurasia. Chinese, Persian,
and Indian artisans and merchants
expanded their production of
textiles and porcelains for export;
manufacture of iron and steel
expanded in China.

•The growth of interregional trade in
luxury goods was encouraged by
innovations in previously existing
transportation and commercial
technologies, including the
caravanserai, forms of credit, and
the development of money
economies.

Multiple Choice

How far apart were caravanserais on the Silk Road?

• 50 miles

• 100 feet

• 100 miles

• 50 feet

Open Ended

Identify the three (3) forms of credit that the Chinese created.

Improved commercial practices led to an increased

volume of trade and expanded the geographical
range of existing trade routes--including the Silk
Roads--promoting the growth of powerful new

trading cities.

Silk Roads Trade

Region

Products Contributed to Silk Road Commerce

China

Silk, bamboo, mirrors, paper, rhubarb, ginger, lacquer ware,
chrysanthemums

Forest lands of
Siberia and
grasslands of
Central Asia

Furs, walrus tusks, amber, livestock, horses, falcons, hides,
copper vessels, tents, saddles, slaves

India

Cotton textiles, herbal medicine, previous stones, spices

Middle East

Dates, nuts, almonds, dried fruit, dyes, lapis lazuli, swords

Mediterranean
Basin

Gold coins, glassware, glazes, grapevines, jewelry,
artworks, perfume, wool & linen textiles, olive oil

Match

Match the following products with their places of origin:

• China

• Middle East

• Mediterranean

• Central Asia

• India

paper, porcelain, silk

dried fruits, dates, nuts

grapevine, glassware, artwork

furs, horses, copper vessels

spices, cotton, herbal medicine

• paper, porcelain, silk

• dried fruits, dates, nuts

• grapevine, glassware, artwork

• furs, horses, copper vessels

• spices, cotton, herbal medicine

Chinese Women & Silk Production

❖

China held a monopoly on silk
production
➢

Lost the monopoly around 500 CE

❖

Trade was in the hands of men,
production in the hands of women

❖

Rural women were involved in
every step of silk production
➢

Tended mulberry trees (worms ate
the leaves)

➢

Unwound cocoons

➢

Turned fibers into thread

➢

Wove fibers into textiles

Chinese Women & Silk Production

❖

Homes were the primary site
of silk production with rural
women as the main labor
force

❖

By the Tang Dynasty (618-907
CE) women were making
large contributions to the
household economy and
state due to the tax revenue
they generated and paid

Multiple Choice

Select the BEST ANSWER to the following prompt:

Rural women of China were important because

• they brought a substantial portion of wealth the state

• they were used as trophy wives for important men

• they had to take care the home and the children

• they play an important role in the decision-making process for the bureaucracy

The Role of Silk

• Elite Chinese women and men

wanted this luxurious fabric

• Chinese officials used it to bribe

“barbarian” invaders/steppe
nomads from the north in
exchange for horses

• Romans demanded silk from East

Asia and cotton from India

• Used as a currency and means of

accumulating wealth

The Role of Silk

• Byzantines and Chinese made laws

restricting who could wear silk - only
elites were allowed to wear it as a sign of
social status

• Silks were given as gifts to Buddhist

monasteries

• In Christendom it was used for altar

decorations and priest vestments

• By 12th century (1100s) West African

kings in Ghana were wearing silk

Match

Match the following descriptions with their correct broad trends:

• Culturally

• Politically

• Socially

• Economically

• Technologically

silk was given as gifts to Buddhist monasteries

laws were made restricting who could wear silk

elite men, women, and clergy wore silk

silk is used as currency and means of accumulating wealth

silk was used for clothing, military banners, for writing, etc.

• silk was given as gifts to Buddhist monasteries

• laws were made restricting who could wear silk

• elite men, women, and clergy wore silk

• silk is used as currency and means of accumulating wealth

• silk was used for clothing, military banners, for writing, etc.

Caravans Became More Organized

Use of caravanserai: a roadside inn
where travelers could rest and recover
from the day's journey. Caravanserais
supported the flow of commerce,
information, and people across the
network of trade routes covering Asia,
North Africa, and southeastern Europe,
especially along the Silk Roads.

Stirrups Improved Trade & Warfare

The stirrup was one of the milestones in
saddle development.
•first stirrup-like object offered very little
support

•nomadic tribes in northern China are
believed to be the inventors. The
stirrup appeared to be in widespread
use across China then spread to Europe.

•gave great support for the rider, and
was essential in later warfare.

The “Pax Mongolica” or

peace/stability created by the
Mongol Empire helped facilitate
these technological transfers!

Drag and Drop

The use of ​

Placeholder

was important because it was a place where travelers could rest and recover from the day. It also supported the flow of ​

Placeholder

, information, and people. Chinese technologies like ​

Placeholder

and the magnetic ​

Placeholder

reached Europe and later helped them ​

Placeholder

and conquer other parts of the world.​

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

caravanserai

commerce

gunpowder

compass

explore

stirrups

support

• More important than economic impact

was their role as conduit (carrier) of
culture

• Buddhism (from India) spread widely

throughout Central and East Asia –
thanks to merchants on the Silk Roads

• Buddhism had appealed to merchants

who preferred its universal message to
that of a Brahmin-dominated Hinduism
that privileged the higher castes.

Silk Roads – Spreading Culture!

Silk Roads – Spreading Culture!

• To the west, Persian Zoroastrianism blocked

the spread of Buddhism

• Buddhism changed as it spread

– Originally not focused on material wealth

– addition of wealthy merchants meant a

shift in priorities

• Mahayana Buddhism flourished on the Silk

Roads (popular b/c of emphasis of compassion,
use of Bodhisattvas, & Buddha was seen as
divine)

•Prosperous Buddhist merchants could earn
religious merit by building monasteries and
supporting monks

•Monasteries provided convenient and cultural
familiar places of rest and resupply for merchants

•Many cities became cosmopolitan centers of
learning and commerce

•In Sogdian city of Samarkand, use of Zoroastrian
fire rituals became part of Buddhist practice

•Gods of many people along the silk road were
incorporated into Buddhism as bodhisattvas
(guides to Enlightenment)

The Silk Road & Buddhist Monasteries

Multiple Select

Select the answer(s) that complete this prompt:

Buddhism changed as it spread along the Silk Road by

• focusing more on compassion for others than personal wisdom

• turning Buddha into a divine being

• shifting to a religion rather than a philosophy

• incorporating cultural traditions from the regions it spread to

Silk Roads – Spreading Disease!

• Not just goods traveled along these trade

routes – diseases traveled as well!

• People were exposed to unfamiliar

diseases for which they had little immunity
(thanks to increased trade)

• Smallpox & measles devastated

populations in both Rome and Han China
contributing to their collapse

• Diseases may have increased appeal of

Christianity in Europe & Buddhism in China
– both offer compassion in face of suffering

●The Mongols unified much
of the Eurasian landmass
during the 13th and 14th
centuries

●This intensive interaction
facilitated the spread of
diseases, most notoriously
the Black Death

●Spread from China to
Europe

●Between 1346-1348 around
half the population died

The Black Death

Multiple Choice

What diseases were diffused because of the expansion of trade networks?

• bubonic plague

• smallpox

• measles

• all of the above

Multiple Select

What religions grew because of their compassion of the less fortunate (sick or poor)?

• Christianity

• Buddhism

• Hinduism

• Islam

Barter to
money

economy

Money Economies

•The rise of money economies also led to
the end of feudalism in Europe

•Land stopped being the only way to hold
wealth which led to cracks in the feudal
relationships of land for loyalty

•Increased demand for currency over
agricultural surplus also led to greater
demands from feudal lords, upsetting
their peasants leading to uprisings

•The Black Death also helped end the
feudal system, as demand for laborers
was high and it gave bargaining rights to
peasants and serfs

Multiple Select

Select the answer(s) that correctly answer the following question:

How did the emergence of the money economy end the feudal system?

• People realized that having land wasn't the only way to have wealth

• Kings were taking land away from lords and giving to peasants

• Peasants began dying from the plague and laborers were scarce

• Feudalism was replaced by a system of bartering goods and services.