Ancient China and the Silk Road

Silk Road

Han Dynasty (Han Golden Age)

-Standard of living increased

-Cities grew

-Demand for goods increased

At the same time: Pax Romana

Political stability = means more trade

Multiple Choice

The Han Dynasty and the Pax Romana happened at approximately same time

• True

• False

Silk Road

• A lot of land between Rome and China

• Central Asia is covered with mountains, deserts, and vast grasslands.

• Traders provided an essential link between the Roman and Han empires.

How to carry the goods overland?

• Camels

• Can carry up to 500 lbs

• Can withstand harsh desert conditions

China kept silk making a secret

• Giving away the secret was a punishable offense

• This created a Chinese monopoly on silk trade

Multiple Choice

The Chinese wanted everyone to know how to make silk.

• True

• False

Silk

• Hotly desired/becomes actual currency

• Kept a Chinese secret until 6th century

Other things traded on Silk Road

• Spices from the East Indies

• glass beads from Rome

• Ginger and lacquerware from China

• Furs

• Slaves

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was an effect of only China producing silk?

• People outside of China didn't have silk

• Trade goods had to cross Asia, incorporating many people and locations into long-distance trade networks

• China became more isolated from the world

Slave Contract

Part of a 7th-century purchase contract, exchanging a fifteen-year-old enslaved person for six bolts of silk and five Chinese coins. This contract is from the city of Turfan, an oasis city along the Silk Road.

Diseases also travel the route

Plague in Rome

Kills 10% of population, probably arrived from China

Spread of Buddhism

From India into China and other parts of Asia

Multiple Choice

Silk was the only product traded on the Silk Road

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What effects did trade have beyond moving goods?

• Diseases spread by trade

• Ideas and religion spread by trade

• Innovations spread by trade

• All of the answers are correct

Multiple Choice

The spread of ideas, religions, products, diseases as seen on the Silk Road is an enduring issue of

• Power

• Control

• Cultural Diffusion

• Inequality