Opening of the Silk Road
Apertura de la Ruta de la Seda
- Date
- c. 130 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Ferghana Valley, Central Asia (reached by Zhang Qian)
- Credited to
- Zhang Qian, Emperor Wu of Han
- People
- 👤 Zhang Qian200 BCE–114 BCE
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission to Central Asia revealed to China the existence of western kingdoms (Ferghana, Bactria, Parthia) and opened the transcontinental trade routes known as the Silk Road.
Coordinates of the Ferghana Valley, the region described by Zhang Qian. The routes were already partly used by Central Asian peoples; the term 'Silk Road' was coined by Richthofen in 1877.
What it led to
- Eurasian trade in silk, spices and paper
- Spread of Buddhism to China
- Transmission of plague and technologies between East and West
- Marco Polo's travels
Built on
- Camel domesticationc. 3000 BCE
- Sericulture and silk weavingc. 2700 BCE
- Bronze Age exchange routes in Central Asia
- Expansion of the Han dynasty
Made possible
- Faxian's Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (Foguoji)414 (viaje de 399-412)
- Silk production in Byzantium552
- Ibn Fadlan's Risala (journey to the Volga)921-922
- Marco Polo's travels to China1271-1295
- The term "Silk Road" (Richthofen)1877
- Karakoram Highway1966-1978
- Trans-Asian caravans
- Spread of gunpowder and paper to the West