The Silk Road

The silk road made it possible for a diverse group of people from different parts of the world, such as China and India, to communicate and exchange ideas and goods. The silk road trading networks prospered most when large and powerful states provided security for merchants and travelers. Flourished when Byzantine Empire, the Muslim Abbasid dynasty and the Tang dynasty in China created an almost continuous belt of strong states across Eurasia. Just like Christianity, the more it expanded the stronger and more prominent it got. By the sixth century the knowledge and technology for producing silk had spread beyond China. Silk began being used as religious clothing and altar covers in the Christendom world. Other silks were even inscribed with Quran passages. In addition, the silk road became a channel for the spread of culture and ideas. One of the major ideas spread was the philosophy of Buddhism. Slowly, Buddhism then became a huge part of the Chinese culture. Unfortunately, the silk road also contributed to the spread of diseases such as measles and smallpox which ravaged the Roman and Chinese Empire.

I find it amusing that some people in the first century were shocked and disgusted by the silk clothing. Seneca the Younger said "I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes... wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outside or foreigner with his wife's body". I find this statement interesting because history begins to repeat itself. As the fashions change, and clothes become more or less provocative, there will always be old fashioned thinkers that will be opposed.