Preview

Xuan Zang's 'The Silk Road Journey'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
920 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Xuan Zang's 'The Silk Road Journey'
Xiao Jie Yang
History
9:30

The Silk Road Journey

The Silk Road is one of the oldest and longest trade routes known in the ancient world. Xuan Zang is the only person in history known to have made the whole journey from the Tang capital of Chang’an all the way to India and then back. However, his sixteen years, ten thousand mile journey is a huge sacrifice that brought culture, religion, ideas, and various commodities together and connected China to the rest of the kingdoms to the west. Xuan Zang, unsatisfied with the Chinese translations of the Buddhist text, decided to travel to India, to the origins of the Buddhist text. He went against the wishes of the Chinese emperor Taizong, and escaped by night to wild. Xuan Zang’s determination to seek the truth kept him alive throughout his sixteen year journey. On his journey to India, Xuan Zang visited numerous kingdoms, and was welcomed by the kings there. One specific king, the King of Turfan is so intrigued by Xuan Zang’s teaching that he tried to force Xuan Zang to stay, only relenting after Xuan Zang’s firm decision to leave or die from his hunger strike. He is given clothing, gold, …show more content…
The book also tells us that the majority of the kingdoms Xuan Zang visited are supported by agriculture with their fertile fields. Therefore, they are able to produce cotton, sugar, cream, honey, rice, and grapes, which can be used to make wine. Xuan Zang’s visit to the city of Samarkand opened up our eyes to a major trading city. It is here that hundreds of merchants come to trade goods from many countries. “Caravans with gems and spices coming from India converge with caravans carrying silk and ironware from China on their way west to Persia and beyond Rome (38).” It is here that not only commodities are being exchanged, but also ideas, religions, and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of The Book 'Broken China'
    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of The Book 'Broken China'

    In the book Broken China the author Lori Aurelia Williams brings the reader a novel dealing with a young mother's struggles and much more. China Cup Cameron is 14 balancing going to school full time just barely hanging on and trying to raise her 2 year old daughter almost single handedly, until death is brought upon the family. China is forced to find a job that will require her to make lots of money to make ends meet. Unfortunately, her only option is to work at Obsidian Queens, a local gentlemen’s club. This brings up one reason why I believe that this book will not be read one hundred years from now. It presents a negative way have young teenage girls to work for money. In chapter three of the book the customers at…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Silk Roads Change 200 Bce Eurasia
    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages

    How Did Silk Roads Change 200 Bce Eurasia

    Between the years 200 BCE and 1450 CE Eurasia saw some of the most dramatic changes we have record of throughout history. Empires rose and fell, territories were invaded, and lands were conquered. Religions were created, and traditions were started. Throughout all the chaos that change brings about, there was one constant, The Silk Roads. They connected all of Eurasia, and were a key component in the cultural and economic development of the continent. Throughout the millennia they were in use, the success and use of the Silk Roads depended on the prosperity and the state of the empires it ran through.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Han China Book Report
    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Han China Book Report

    The place I was most eager to visit was the great wall of China. I didn’t know where the great wall of china was, but I figured i could get to it by traveling along the silk roads. When I arrived at the silk roads I was surprised to see so many people of different nationalities .There were Greeks,Indians, romans, egyptians, and even British merchants all trading on the silk roads. I saw them trading numerous products such as silk, wine, furs, and spices. Most of the traders went in large groups because smaller groups were easy targets for…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyze the changes and continuities in trading networks between Africa and Eurasia
    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Analyze the changes and continuities in trading networks between Africa and Eurasia

    From 300 to 500 CE, trade was starting to be more widespread because of new technologies and political change. The silk roads started during the Han dynasty in China in about 200 CE. The trade routes started at the Han capital Chang’an and then went around the dangerous Taklamakan desert. The trade routes stopped at various oasis towns, and one major city that was bustling with international trade was Kashgar in India. From Kashgar, the silk roads either went to India, Africa, or western Europe. Since other countries did not know how to manufacture silk, emperor Wu was very supportive of trading it because it was such a large profit. He tried to make the silk roads as safe as possible; however, much of the silk road went through central Asia, and since central Asia was mostly steppes and did not have great agricultural resources, there was no centralized power in central Asia. Since there was no centralized power, the trade routes were dangerous. The word Taklamakan literally means “he who enters does not come back out,” in Arabic. These dangers eventually change…

    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing The Silk Road Carry People's Ideas And Culture
    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Comparing The Silk Road Carry People's Ideas And Culture

    Is it possible that a single series of roads could carry someone's ideas and culture across thousands of miles? The Silk Road encouraged the trade of goods, ideas, and culture across eastern and western civilization. The Silk Road allowed goods to be easily exchanged across the Han, Kushan, Parthian, and Roman empires. An example of this is the trade of silk for horses between the Han empire and Ferghana. The Han were eager to trade for Ferghana's horses, and the Silk Road allowed that. And, as the name implies, the Silk Road made it easy for China to export silk to other areas. The fact that the Silk Road stretched across such a long distance made it possible for goods to be exported in this way. The Silk Road also allowed the transport of…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Han Dynasty Compare Contrast Essay
    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Han Dynasty Compare Contrast Essay

    Dynasty eventually opened a famous road known as the Silk Road. Overall, the Han Dynasty and…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Han Dynasty Silk
    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page

    Han Dynasty Silk

    Manufacturing became more advanced in the Han Dynasty, and lead to interacting with other cultures. The Han Dynasty became good ironworkers, and had great iron swords and armor which made the army more powerful, and iron plows and wheelbarrows for the farmers. Silk also became quite popular for it smooth, light, and expensiveness. To keep this good wealth coming for China, they kept the instructions and steps to make it a secret. Silk became so popular, the Silk Road was made specifically as a way for people to trade silk from China, for it was the only place that produced it. The Silk Road was 4000 miles long, and reached through Asia’s deserts, and all the way to the Mediterranean…

    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Silk Road Research Paper
    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Silk Road Research Paper

    Majority of these goods were luxury, made for the wealthy and elite market. Out of all the luxury goods, silk was the good that symbolized the Eurasian network of trade. It started in China during the fourth millennium, that particular civilization held up a game on silk production. For a lot of centuries, Chinese women were in charge of the steps of the business of silk manufacturing. The best Chinese women and men, fit out a bit of the call for the deluxe fabrics, which put them at a high status. As the contribute of silk grew, its numerous diversity spread more so across Afro-Eurasian trade routes. Silk was used as a currency in Central Asia, governments overtook laws that cramped silk clothing to just member of the elite group, and silk was a symbol of a having a high status. Compared to other global trade routes, the capacity of commerce on the Silk Roads were humble, and its focus on splendor good held back the straight collision on majority of people. More important than the financial collision of the Silk Roads was the role as a channel of culture. Buddhism advanced amongst the pastoral people of Central Asia. As Buddhism expanded throughout the Silk Roads from India to Central Asia, China, and much farther, it also changed a lot. The native faith had originally avoided the…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did The Silk Roads Change Over Time
    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Did The Silk Roads Change Over Time

    The Silk Road was a trade route, beginning in China and created during the Han dynasty, which facilitated trade throughout Eurasia. The Silk Roads stretched all the way to the Mediterranean, and goods from places such as Rome and even Africa were traded along the roads. From 200 BC to 1450 BCE, the patterns of interactions along the Silk Roads changed with the spread of religions and the rise and fall of civilizations, but maintained continuity with the goods traded along its routes and its main purpose.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Old Stone Age: The Classical Period In AP World History
    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Old Stone Age: The Classical Period In AP World History

    The Silk Road was a network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce. The silk roads started to see action in 138 B.C.E. This is important because it showed communications between nations and established relations.…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Silk Road, 100 BCE-300 CE
    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Silk Road, 100 BCE-300 CE

    March 7, 2013 Humanities The Silk Road Rome_____________Central Asia______________Han China | India The Nomads The Silk Road crossed nomadic territory Extreme Agriculture: humans + omega animals Sparce population in a large area Calorie Exchange: 90,000 calories * Plants- 100,000 calories * Animals- 10,000 calories Horse= mobility No borders (territorial imperative )= pastures War; Secure pastures…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Silk Road In Western Europe
    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Silk Road In Western Europe

    Throughout the period 200 BCE to 1450 CE, the Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes connecting the Western and Eastern Empires that were central to cultural diffusion through areas of the Asian continent. The Silk Road played an extremely important role in the growth of trade and the exchanging of culture, language, ideas, and religion. During this time period in Western Europe many changes took place, however the main purpose of the Silk Road stayed intact. In 200 BCE, Western Europe relied heavily on trade with Chinese merchants which supported the growth of both cultures. Over time, Western Europe and Asia became increasingly infatuated with the new luxuries exposed to them through the Silk Road, resulting in the shaping of each culture.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Life Along the Silk Road
    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Life Along the Silk Road

    During the outward-looking rule of China's Tang dynasty (seventh-ninth century C. E. ), sophisticated people in northeastern Iran developed such a taste for expensive, imported Chinese pottery that they began to imitate it in great quantity for sale to people who could not afford the real thing. And in northern China there was a vogue for beautiful pottery figurines of camels laden with caravan goods or ridden by obviously non-Chinese merchants, musicians, or entertainers. Non-Chinese camel figurines found in Mesopotamia carry loads that duplicate the distinctive appearance of the loads on the Chinese figurines. So it is clear that by the time of the rise of Islam in the seventh century, contact across the Silk Road not only was extensive, but had affected the material and aesthetic cultures on both ends (William/ Spielvogel 145). Clearly, one of the most important and most utilized animals during the Silk Road era was the camel.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An Analysis Of Xuanzang's Journey
    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page

    An Analysis Of Xuanzang's Journey

    As he continued onto his journey, Xuanzang ran into a Buddhist monastery in an independent domain located along the route that he had been traveling along. The ruler of the kingdom, King Qu-wentai, was honored to have Xuanzang in the kingdom because the kingdom he ruled supported over several hundred Buddhist monks. The king intended to keep Xuanzang because he wanted Xuanzang to stay in his country to be a teacher and he was willing to keep him using force. Xuanzang denied and he declared an oath that he wouldn’t eat anything in order to convince the king that he had to continue on his journey. Xuanzang sat in a grave posture and for three whole days, he didn’t eat nor drink a single thing and on the fourth day, the king had come to his senses…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyze the Changes and Continuities in Patterns of Interactions Along the Silk Road from 200 B.C.E to 1450 C.E.
    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analyze the Changes and Continuities in Patterns of Interactions Along the Silk Road from 200 B.C.E to 1450 C.E.

    Time has the ability to change many things, but many also stay the same. This holds true for the interactions along the Silk Road from 200 B.C.E to 1450 C.E. Although the similarities may outweigh the changes, the silk road diffused disease along with culture, adapted to overseas trade, helped to forge a connection between Asian and European markets and triggered periods of Enlightenment in Europe.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics