The Silk Trade,2,3,The west came to know silk Routes of the Silk Road The meaning of the Silk Road,.The west came to know silk,5,THE SILK ROAD,The ancient Silk Road in northwest China has a history of more than two thousand years. Originally, the Chinese traded silk internally within the empire. Caravans from the empires interior would carry silk to the western edges of the region. They were often attacked by the small Central Asian tribes who wanted to capture the traders valuable commodities.,6,THE SILK ROAD,In order to protect these caravans and assure the safety of the trade, the Han Government dispatched General ZhangQian as an envoy to build good relationships with these tribes.,7,(164BC114BC),An explorer, traveler and diplomat in Han dynasty.,8,THE SILK ROAD,Starting from Changan, todays Xian, which was the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang led his team across the vast Western Regions and reached Loulan, Guizi and Yutian states and established trade relations with these small kingdoms.,9,THE SILK ROAD,Loulan, Guizi and Yutian were three important states in the Western Region at that time. They were all abandoned for uncertain reasons and travelers today can see ruins of these three once flourishing places.,10,THE SILK ROAD,Zhangs officers went even further into the central Asia. All of the kingdoms that Zhang and his team had visited sent their envoys to visit Changan (todays Xian) to express their appreciation for the new relationship and show their respect to the Han Government.,11,THE SILK ROAD,From then on, merchants could travel on the silk route safely, and they began to explore this new route in order to carry silk from China to other parts of the world.,12,THE SILK ROAD,The famous Chinese Monk Xuanzang in Tang Dynasty traveled along the Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty.,13,THE SILK ROAD,The famous Chinese Monk Xuanzang in Tang Dynasty traveled along the Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty.,Xuanzang began his trip from Changan (todays Xian) and passed through the GanSu Corridor, HaMi, TurPan and continued his journey westward to India. Xuanzang was surprised by the warm reception he received along his way.,14,THE SILK ROAD,It was commonly believed that people in those states were brutal, wild and uncontrollable. Xuangzangs trip changed the attitude toward the nomadic tribes in the Western Region and this contributed greatly to the Tang governments friendly relationship with these states. By 760 AD, the Tang Government had lost control of the Western Region and trade on the Silk Road was halted.,15,THE SILK ROAD,It revived tremendously under the Yuan Dynasty during the eleventh and twelfth centuries when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. Genghis Khan conquered all the small states, unified China and built a large empire under his rule.,16,THE SILK ROAD,Trade along the Silk Road reached its zenith during this period. The famous traveler Marco Polo traveled along the Silk Road visiting DaDu that is todays Beijing and wrote his famous book about the orient.,17,THE SILK ROAD,As overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and travel by sea 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 significantly.,18,THE SILK ROAD,The Silk Road was definitely an important path for cultural, commercial and technological exchange between traders, merchants,pilgrim ,missionaries even soldiers. During more than 2000 years, the road improved the transfer from nomads to urban dwellers across the Asian continent even the countries bordering upon Mediterranean.,19,THE SILK ROAD,The emergence of the Silk Road vigorously promoted the East-West economic, cultural exchanges, and contributed to the rise of the Han Dynasty. Further more, that route is a key pathway of Intercourse between East and West, either.,20,As the road to the west was popularly known for its trade of silk, which was priced as valuable as gold, that commercial route came to be known as the Silk Road.,21,.Routes of the Silk Road,Generally speaking , there were two major routes: one was overland, the other was across the Indian Ocean.,22,The sea route of “Silk Road” normally starts from Guangxi or else port towns on the southeastern coast of China. A fleet extends its voyage through the sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, South China Sea, the Bay of Bengal（孟加拉湾）, around the Malay Peninsula, off the coast of Burma, and came to Southeast Asia and the India Peninsula. Then, it continues along a route across the Indian Ocean, the Arab Sea, the Persian Gulf(波斯湾), the Red sea and finally arrives at destination ports of Africa or Europe.,23,Guangxi the sea of Japan the Bay of Bengal the India Peninsula the Persian Gulf,24,With the development of seamanship and navigation, particularly after Zhenghe successfully sailed to the West, a sea rout