The Silk Road
Introduction The Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and Europe that was established during the Han Dynasty when China opened trade routes to the west. From the video " The Silk Road: Where East Meets West: Episode 1 ," there was one detail that I noticed that wasn't in Patrick Bresnan's Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. In the text, traveling "the Silk Road necessarily splits into a northern and a southern route when it reached the desert of the Takla Makan" (Bresnan 378). In the video, passing through those routes where the Great Wall of China used to stretch out is the Yangguan (Yang Pass), a pass where there once was a gate where "you paid you toll and passed though" ( Silk , 37:11 - 37:15). For how this reflects the environment, it is important to learn as much as we can about the location so that we can have a better understanding of their origins. Map of the Silk Road Mogao G...