RA #1

The Road Less Traveled

In our class debate on June 7, 2011, a group argued for chapter 8 of Robert Strayer’s book, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History ¹, on why the roads or modes of transportation are more important than what is being delivered on these roads. They have contended that the goods, people or religions that have used these roads would not have flourished if these roads did not exist. They have claimed that the roads are what gave rise to those that were mentioned above and without the roads then these goods, people or religions would be nothing at all and wouldn’t have blossomed the way in which they had. Now I ask you, do you actually buy into this argument or do you believe as I do that the roads are not more significant than what is being delivered on them?

I am not arguing that the roads had no significance whatsoever. However, I am arguing that the roads are merely a tool that is used to deliver the things that are of importance. Without the goods to be delivered then the roads would’ve never have been built in the first place. The roads are created because someone or many people have found the need for them to be created. They need a way to deliver their goods, their people or their religion in a faster and more efficient way.

Let me now discuss the Silk Road and it rise to prominence and its demise.

The Rise of the Silk Road

“Originally, the Chinese trade silk internally, within the empire. Caravans from the empire's interior would carry silk to the western edges of the region. Often small Central Asian tribes would attack these caravans hoping to capture the traders' valuable commodities. As a result, the Han Dynasty extended its military defenses further into Central Asia from 135 to 90 BC in order to protect these caravans.

Chan Ch'ien, the first known Chinese traveler to make contact with the Central Asian tribes, later came up with the idea to expand the silk trade to include these lesser tribes and therefore forge alliances with these Central Asian nomads. Because of this idea, the Silk Road was born.

The route grew with the rise of the Roman Empire because the Chinese initially gave silk to the Roman-Asian governments as gifts.” ²

The Fall of the Silk Road

“By 760 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty, trade along the Silk Road had declined. It revived tremendously under the Sung Dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. In addition, trade to Central and Western Asia as well as Europe recovered for a period of time from 1276-1368 under the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols controlled China. The Chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves in addition to precious stones. As overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and overseas trade became more popular, trade along the Silk Road declined. While the Chinese did maintain a silk-fur trade with the Russians north of the original Silk Route, by the end of the fourteenth century, trade and travel along the road had decreased.” ²

Even though the Silk Road has diminished, silk trading today is still thriving. As explained in the History of Silk web page “World silk production has approximately doubled during the last 30 years in spite of man-made fibers replacing silk for some uses. China and Japan during this period have been the two main producers, together manufacturing more than 50% of the world production each year. During the late 1970's China, the country that first developed sericulture thousands years ago dramatically increased its silk production and has again become the world's leading producer of silk.” ³

Now with the knowledge and insight that I have provided you, wouldn’t you now be able to logically conclude that the goods, people or religions that have traveled on the Silk Road are far more important that the road itself? Silk trade is thriving today but the Silk Road is not. If the Silk Road was indeed so important then shouldn’t have the trade of silk be dead as well? The same would go for the religions like Muslim, Christianity and Buddhism; shouldn’t they have been relegated only to the areas in which they had flourished and where they were introduced? Why are those religions still around and in other areas of the World where the Silk Road did not extend to? Why are they still growing globally despite the Silk Road being gone today? The answer is simple, the goods, the people and the religions are far more important the road they travelled on.

Works Cited

1 Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2009.

2 The Silk Road: Linking Europe and Asia Through Trade.

http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sr/. Date accessed June 12, 2011.

3 History of Silk. http://www.silk-road.com/artl/silkhistory.shtml. Date accessed June 12, 2011.