CIRCA:The Digital Silk Road Project

From CIRCA

What is Silk Road?

The Silk Road (Chinese: 丝绸之路) was and is a network of trade routes connecting the East and West, from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century CE. It derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk that was carried out along its length beginning during the Han dynasty in China.

The Silk Road trade played a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China, Japan,  Indian subcontinent, Arabia, Africa and Europe, opening long-distance political and economic relations between those civilizations. Although silk was the major item exported from China for trade, many other goods and ideas were exchanged, including religions (especially Buddhism), syncretic philosophies, and technologies like paper and gunpowder. So, the Silk Road was a route not only for economic trade but also cultural interactions among the civilizations that used it. 

In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site.