The Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road

After Zhang Qian's mission, envoys passed frequently between the Han and the Western Regions, and economic and cultural exchange between East and West grew closer. Merchants carried Han silk and other goods from Chang'an through the Hexi Corridor and out of Yangguan and Yumen passes, then along northern and southern routes across the Western Regions and through Central and West Asia to the Mediterranean coast and Europe, bringing back local products to the Central Plains. Because silk was the most representative trade good, the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen named this trans-Eurasian route the “Silk Road” in the 19th century. Along it, Han silk, lacquerware, ironware and techniques such as canal building, well digging and ironworking spread west; walnuts, grapes, pomegranates, alfalfa, fine horses, spices, glass, gems, instruments such as the pipa, and song and dance came into the Central Plains, and Buddhism later entered China the same way. The Romans called China “Seres,” the “land of silk.” The Silk Road was the great artery of ancient East–West contact and did much to promote trade and cultural exchange between China and other countries and regions. Emperor Wu also opened sea routes. From ports such as Xuwen in Guangdong and Hepu in Guangxi, fleets sailed past today's Vietnam, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula as far as Huangzhi (southern India) and Yichengbu (Sri Lanka), forming the prototype of the Maritime Silk Road; routes from the Shandong coast also led to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. In 2014, “Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor,” jointly nominated by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was inscribed on the World Heritage List.