Chapter 12

Cross-Cultural Exchanges on the Silk Roads

THE CHAPTER IN PERSPECTIVE

Societies within a huge area, ranging from China through the Mediterranean basin, were linked by long-distance trade along the silk roads. Trade introduced wealth and new products to societies along the routes and encouraged economic specialization. The trade routes also fostered the spread of Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian religious thought. Finally, the spread of disease over the trade routes helped to bring closure to the classical societies.

OVERVIEW

Long-Distance Trade and the Silk Roads Network

Long-distance trade became far less risky and far more profitable during the classical age for two main reasons. The rulers of powerful classical states built roads and bridges that facilitated easier movement of goods and people. The empires grew to such an extent that they often shared common borders, reducing the dangers and uncertainties of trade. The tempo of trade increased along land routes maintained by the Seleucids and Ptolemies. Mastery of the monsoon patterns in the Indian Ocean increased trade along the water routes.

The most prosperous and important of the trade routes were the silk roads that linked Eurasia and northern Africa. From the eastern terminus at the Han capital of Chang’an the trade routes ran to the Mediterranean ports of Antioch and Tyre. Sea routes connected Guangzhou in southern China with southeast Asia, Ceylon, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. Silk, fine spices, cotton textiles, pearls, ivory, horses, jade, and manufactured goods were actively traded from one end of the silk roads to the other. Although a few merchants occasionally traveled the entire distance, the trade was usually carried out in stages.

Cultural and Biological Exchanges along the Silk Roads

Besides trade goods, the merchants traveling along the silk roads also brought religious concepts to a wider world. The support of Ashoka allowed Buddhism to spread to Bactria and Ceylon. The real expansion of Buddhism, however, occurred as the religion followed the trade routes to Iran, central Asia, China, and Southeast Asia. Indian influence was profound in Southeast Asia, with the appearance of Sanskrit as well as Hinduism and Buddhism. Christianity was spread in a similar fashion farther west. Christian missionaries made use of the Roman roads and sea lanes to spread the Gospel throughout the empire to Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Gaul. The influence worked both ways. The ascetic practices of the Mesopotamian and Iranian Christian communities influenced other Christian thinkers. Similarly, the actions of Egyptian hermits influenced the rise of Christian monastic communities. Eventually a split developed, and most of the Christians in southwest Asia became Nestorians. The rise of Manichaeism and its syncretic blend of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Buddhist elements says a great deal about the increasingly cosmopolitan world brought about by trade.

Contagious diseases spread rapidly along the trade routes. The Han and Roman empires suffered tremendous losses during the second and third centuries C.E. through the outbreak of epidemic diseases such as smallpox, measles, and bubonic plague. The population of the Roman Empire dropped from sixty million during the time of Augustus down to around forty million by 400 C.E. China’s population decreased from sixty million in 200 C.E. to approximately forty-five million in 600 C.E. Despite the loss of life, the outbreaks of disease brought other changes. Trade decreased dramatically, and the economies in both areas contracted and moved toward regional self-sufficiency.

China after the Han Dynasty

After four centuries of cultural and political brilliance, the Han dynasty collapsed in 220 C.E. Internally the Han dynasty was torn apart by factional violence. The economic and social implications of dramatically unequal land distribution may have been the most important factor in the Han decline. The efforts of Wang Mang to rectify this problem died with him. Uprisings such as the Yellow Turban rebellion painfully expressed the suffering of the peasants but only caused more social unrest. Traditional centers such as Chang’an and Luoyang were devastated. Nevertheless, important changes were shaping the Chinese social and cultural landscape. Nomadic tribes fell under Chinese influence and became more sinicized. Traditional Confucianism, in the face of political chaos, lost some of its vigor, and the Chinese increasingly turned to Daoism and Buddhism for hope in a desperate age.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was also going through a long period of decline. This topic, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, is obviously one of the most popular for historians. Despite many theories designed to explain this collapse, the reality is that a complex combination of factors brought an end to Roman power. Internal dissension, best represented by the twenty-six “barracks emperors,” tore Rome apart. Diocletian’s decision to split the empire in half was based on the fact that Rome had grown so huge as to be almost unmanageable. Although Constantine tried to reunify Rome, his choice of Constantinople as the new capital shows that the western half of the empire was in serious decline. Germanic invasions by tribes such as the Visigoths placed pressures on the decaying Roman state that were only increased by the appearance of Attila the Hun. Finally, in 476 C.E., the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was overthrown by the Germanic general Odovacar. Arguably the most important cultural change during this period was the rise to prominence of Christianity. By 380 C.E. the emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome. The hope for salvation made Christianity popular among the masses while St. Augustine’s efforts to harmonize the new religion with Platonic thought appealed to the educated classes. Eventually Rome, with the Pope at its head, became the center of the Christian world.

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

The development and nature of trade along the silk roads is at the core of this chapter so it makes sense to have the students discuss the implications of trade. A good way to start a discussion would be to ask the students how many explorations have been carried out over the years for the sake of exploration alone. The notion of exploration for exploration’s sake is a very recent phenomenon, if it exists at all. The obvious point is that most exploration and travel was carried out for economic reasons. This approach will help students understand the fundamental role trade has played in the everyday life of human beings over the centuries. It may seem obvious to students that business and trade issues touch almost every aspect of life today, but they sometimes don’t understand how true that has always been. To the casual observer, history often seems to be exclusively about kings and nobles for centuries on end without any sense of how the rest of society made a living. One of the strengths of this chapter is that it gives the students a feel for the busy and constant movement of merchants along the trade routes. You could also ask the students to consider the advantages and disadvantages of trade. How does trade bring societies together, and how does it create tensions?

The life and death and controversial legacy of the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria makes for a wonderful discussion topic. Not only was Hypatia a brilliant thinker in an age dominated by men, but she has come to represent much more. At the very least you can use Hypatia to spark a discussion of the role of women in the ancient world. Ever since she was torn apart by a Christian mob in 415 C.E., Hypatia has served as a focal point for both examination and argument about the closing of the classical age and the origins of the Christian era. Does her death truly represent the end of classical free inquiry and the beginning of fanatical Christianity? To an extent matched by few historical characters, Hypatia’s life has become political fodder for later groups. You can discuss the various interpretations of Hypatia’s life as well as the difficulty of reaching a neutral, purely historical, view of controversial historical characters.

When students think of Rome and Christianity, they think of gladiatorial games or mass persecution. Ask students to list the benefits that Christianity gained from living within the later Roman Empire. They should be able to bring up unification and roads. Once they understand the basic connection between Roman and Christian history, ask them to consider the implications of this relationship (i.e., the position of Rome as the center of the Christian world, the papal combination of religious and political authority that relates back to the dual role of the Roman emperors, the hierarchy of the Catholic church, the influence of Hellenistic philosophy, etc.). Selections from the Confessions of St. Augustine might be a good starting point to bring these two worlds together.

Disease is another good topic that students, maybe because of the number of diseases that dominate the news today, find fascinating. The role that smallpox, influenza, and bubonic plague played in the decline of the Han and Roman empires was devastating. It fits perfectly into the chapter’s discussion of the role that trade along the silk roads played in forging connections between societies. Since this topic will be revisited most notably in discussions about the bubonic plague in Europe in the fourteenth century it is useful to bring the subject up now. Ask the students to think of ways that disease impacts the world today. Does the speed of today’s travel make the spread of disease all the more dangerous?

LECTURE STRATEGIES

Comparing and contrasting the decline and eventual collapse of the Han and Roman empires is an obvious but still useful topic. You could detail general problems that have helped to bring down even the mightiest of states (e.g., internal dissension; foreign invasion, especially the danger posed when a foreign invasion is tied to an internal uprising; disease; social tensions caused by issues of land distribution or tremendous inequality between rich and poor; economic or trade situations; etc.). Offer an opportunity for the students to contribute. Once they have an understanding of the problems that bring down states, they will have a better feel for the rise and fall of later empires.

Since American students have so much trouble with geography, this chapter provides a great opportunity to spend some time at the map. Allow the students to learn some geography while understanding the complexities of trade issues and the ways in which societies interrelate. Start at one end of the silk roads and trace the routes of trade, including the roads that branched off into far corners of Eurasia. You could discuss the items that would be traded at every step along the way and who would do the trading. You could also point out the dangers inherent at every step along the way. Students often think of trade being carried out by one merchant who traveled the entire length of the silk roads; they have no sense of the enormous number of people who played a small role along the way. The trading centers along the silk roads, especially the oasis towns or the ones that have disappeared, have a lonely and strangely romantic appeal.

Concentrate on the spread of religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Manichaeism along the trade routes. Discuss the strange relationship between the spiritual world and the very secular world of trade. Examine how a religion like Manichaeism could represent the increasingly cosmopolitan world created by trade. Discuss the social, cultural, and intellectual influences of religions as they come into an area for the first time. When a society converts to a new religion, they do far more than simply take on a new view of God.

You might also want to mention, at least briefly, the collapse of the Han and the unsuccessful role that Liu Bei played in trying to restore order. His efforts would take on an increasingly heroic image in the following years of chaos. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms use this image and help establish the ideal of the Chinese hero. Compare Liu Bei to other heroes, both historical and literary, who capture the imagination of an age.

GROUP ACTIVITIES

  1. Imagine that the year is 150 C.E. and one group member is a Chinese merchant, one a central Asian nomad, one a Parthian trader, one a Malay mariner, and one a Roman subject who is a trader in the Middle East. Describe to each other what you do for a living, your religious beliefs, your greatest concerns. On a map, locate which parts of the trade routes you would travel or be involved in and why. Which one of you has the easiest life and why? Which one the hardest and why?
  1. Of all the religions discussed in this chapter, Buddhism became the most popular along the silk roads. Discuss why this would be so: address the belief system, the people who converted to it, and the people who did not (Hindus, Christians, Manichaeans).

SUGGESTIONS FOR RESOURCES

Besides the works cited in the chapter bibliography, you might find the following books helpful:

Allsen, Thomas. Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire.

Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray (eds.). The Oxford History of the Roman World.

Bollet, Alfred Jay. Plagues and Poxes: The Rise and Fall of Epidemic Disease.

Burckhardt, Jacob and Moses Hadas. The Age of Constantine the Great.

Cho-Yun Hsu. Han Agriculture: The Formation of Early Chinese Agrarian Economy.

Dzielska, Maria. Hypatia of Alexandria; Ramsey MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire.

Foltz, Richard. Religions of the Silk Road: An Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century.

Frye, Richard N. The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion.

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Hopkirk, Pete. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia.

Jackson, V. Williams. Researches in Manichaeism.

James, Jean M. A Guide to the Tomb and Shrine Art of the Han Dynasty 206 B.C.–A.D. 220.

Kraeling, Carl Hermann, Anthropos and Son of Man: A Study in the Religious Syncretism of the Hellenistic Orient.

Lieu, Samuel N. C. Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China.

Lieu, Samuel N. C. Manichaeism in Central Asia and China.

Loewe, Michae. Divination, Mythology, and Monarchy in Han China.

Loewe, Michael. Everyday Life in Early Imperial China during the Han Period, 202 B.C.–A.D. 220.

Mack, Arien (ed.). In Time of Plague: The History and Social Consequences of Lethal Epidemic.

Maenchen-Helfen. Otto, The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture.

Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens. Michelle The Han Dynasty.

St. Augustine. City of God.

St. Augustine. Henry Chadwick (tr.), The Confessions.

Thompson, E. A. A History of Attila and the Huns.

Wang Zhoungshu. Han Civilization.

Whitfield, Susan. Life along the Silk Road.

Williams, Stephen. Diocletian and the Roman Recovery.

Xinru Liu. Silk and Religion: An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People, 600–1200.

The following films from the Films for the Humanities and Social Sciences should prove useful: Cyber Rome; The Foundations of Rome; Mightier Than the Sword; Thine is the Kingdom; Gospel Truth; Testament: The Bible and History.

The following films from Insight Media should prove useful: The Rise of Rome; Fall of Rome; Gladiators: Sports and Entertainment; Overview of Chinese History.

The following selections from the McGraw-Hill PRIMIS World Civilization Document Database should prove useful: St. Augustine, City of God; Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (accounts of the Xiongnu).

FILMS

The Silk Road, Central Park Media (2000). A four DVD set. The film cost $50 million dollars to make and took ten years to film.

The Silk Road (1992). The legendary story of a young scholar’s coming of age on the war-torn fringes of a great empire. Dragooned by a Chinese mercenary general, Xingte saves the life of a beautiful princess, and their love and fate is sealed in the woven textures of eleventh-century China. Directed by Junya Sato.