The Discovery Of The Silk Road During The Tang Dynasty

In ancient times, trade could be a matter of survival. Eventually ancient peoples began trading luxury items as well, such as art and jewelry. When Europe and Asia discovered each other, tentative political bonds began to form once they discovered what the other had to offer. The Silk Road was the most significant and important trade route for many hundreds of years, especially during the Tang dynasty. Although it is called the Silk Road, there was a variety of products and even ideas that were transported across the continents. The Silk Road saw many goods, such as silk and spices, travel from Europe to Asia and from Asia to Europe, and the route greatly influenced both the East and West.

The Silk Road is said to have started in the 2nd century BC when a Chinese general Zhang Qian Travelled west and discovered Persia, Rome, and the former Soviet Union. The Emperor Han Wudi was intrigued by
Silk soon became a major export from china and the method of making this fabric was kept a well-guarded secret from the western world. The Silkworm is a type of caterpillar that spins a cocoon out of its spit, which is later extracted. This cocoon is the secret to the popular ancient Asian clothing, and soon silk was used all over the world: “[silk was] a form of adornment for people of importance, for kimonos in Japan and wedding saris in India, for religious ritual, for burial shrouds in China and to lay on the graves of Sufis in much of the Muslim world” (Kurin). The Silk Road itself was an important trade route for both Europe and Asia. For China, the silk industry was their most important and profitable export that filled the Emperors’ coffers. This trading route flourished, especially in the Tang Dynasty. Marco Polo, an