The Silk Road
Why China Benefited the Most from the Silk Road
The Silk Road
The Silk Road was a huge trade route located primarily along the northern borders of China, India, and Persia. It was used from about 130BCE until 1453CE, and during this long period of time it made inventions, communication, and progress possible. It was over 4,000 miles long, and it was named the Silk Road because one of the main items traded along the route was silk. It was an important factor in and a wonderful time for China's growth and progress.
The Silk Road.
China's Trade
China benefited more than any other region on the Silk Road. China had a lot of good, much needed, and highly desired items to trade on the Silk Road. These items included silk, spices, porcelain, tea, jade, citrus, gunpowder, crossbow, compass, paper, printing, and sugar. China's invention of paper was vitally important for many reasons, and its significance to people today is still very evident. In a 2011 report, it was said that each person in the United States uses around 749 pounds of paper every year. Because China had so many items to trade on the Silk Road, and because China acquired so many new items through the process of trading, the people living in China benefited from trade along the route more than the people from other countries in the region who didn't have as much to offer. This success along the Silk Road led China to its Golden Age.
These are some of the items that were traded by China and other countries in the region on the Silk Road.
Why Did China Thrive as a Result of The Silk Road?
China not only benefited from the things its people traded away, but it also benefited from the things that it acquired. The other countries wanted the things that China had because China had so many unique and important items to trade, so China learned a lot from the other countries that shared the Silk Road. Because of this mingling with other regions, religion slowly spread from the West into China. These religions included Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. Also, China used the things that it acquired to create great, useful, and highly desired inventions. These inventions included the compass, gunpowder, paper, printing, and many more. Thanks to the Silk Road, China was now connected with the West and China could now trade its goods to acquire more goods, which enabled it invent many things that the modern world still uses today. This period of time during which the Silk Road was used led China to its Golden Age.
The Silk Road.
Silk
Silk was one of the main items traded from China. China was the only region on the Silk Road that made silk, and China had a lot of it. This benefited China because the demand for silk in other regions was very high and because silk was valuable. China gained a lot of wealth and new things from other countries from trading silk. This is one of the main reasons why the Silk Road benefited China so much. The Silk Road may not have existed at all if silk hadn't been traded because silk is what really made China's involvement in trading very active in the beginning.
Silk
This is silk.
Silkworms
These worms make silk.
Silk dress
These are dresses that women would wear in China. They're made of silk.
Bibliography:
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