ReportontheFormationandDevelopmentoftheSilkRoad
I.Introduction
TheSilkRoadisoneofthemostsignificanttradeandculturalexchangeroutesin
humanhistory.Ithasnotonlyconnecteddifferentregionsbutalsopromoted
exchangesinvariousaspectssuchaseconomy,culture,andtechnologybetweenthe
EastandtheWest.
II.FormationoftheSilkRoad
A.EarlyExchanges
EvenbeforetheformalestablishmentoftheSilkRoad,thereweresomesporadic
exchangesbetweenChinaandtheWest.Archaeologicalevidencesuggeststhatas
earlyastheBronzeAge,thereweresomeexchangesofgoodsandculturalelements
betweenCentralAsiaandChina.Forexample,someuniqueCentralAsian-style
artifactshavebeenfoundinancientChinesetombs,indicatingearlyinteractions.
B.ZhangQiansMission
1.MotivationIntheHanDynasty,theemperoraimedtoformanalliancewith
theYuezhiagainsttheXiongnu,apowerfulnomadictribeatthattime.
2.JourneyandResultsZhangQianwassentonthisarduousmissionin138BC.
Hisjourneytookhimthroughnumerousdifficultterrainsanddifferent
kingdomsinCentralAsia.Althoughhedidnotsucceedinformingthealliance
initially,histravelsbroughtbackdetailedinformationabouttheWestern
regions.Thisinformationwascrucialasitopenedupthepossibilityoffurther
exchanges.ItwasafterZhangQiansreturnthattheHanDynastystartedto
paymoreattentiontotheWesternregionsandgraduallyestablishedtradeand
diplomaticrelationswiththem,whichlaidthefoundationfortheSilkRoad.
C.NamingoftheSilkRoad
In1877,FerdinandvonRichthofen,aGermangeographer,namedthetraderoute
betweenChinaandCentralAsia(from114BC-12