Connections across Eurasia : transportation, communication, and cultural exchange on the Silk Roads / Xinru Liu, Lynda Norene Shaffer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Liu, Xinru.

Contributor:

Shaffer, Lynda, 1944-

Series:

Explorations in world history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Silk industry.

History.

Commerce.

Eurasia--Commerce--History.

Eurasia.

Silk Road--History.

Silk Road.

Silk industry--Eurasia--History.

Physical Description:

x, 262 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boston : McGraw-Hill, [2007]

Summary:

Connections Across Eurasia: Transportation, Communication, and Cultural Exchange on the Silk Roads is part of the McGraw-Hill Explorations in World History series designed to introduce readers to particular historical developments that have been significant on a global scale. This volume illuminates the ways in which the Eurasia-wide trade in Chinese silks and many other products led to significant cultural exchanges. It explores the emergence of the silk roads in the 2nd century BCE, how these trade routes were transformed over the next 1500 years, and the impacts of the silk roads and the commercial interchanges they witnessed on the peoples and cultures of Eurasia. Highlights: Provides a coherent, thematic, Eurasia-wide framework for the study of exchanges among the many different cultures of this large region. Reveals the extent of cross-cultural interaction both among and between Eurasian civilizations and their nomadic neighbors. Enriches World History courses as a valuable yet brief and affordable supplement to core texts.

Contents:

Introduction: The Ecological Context for the Emergence of the Eurasian Silk Roads 1

The Silk 3

Three Interrelated Ecological Zones 5

Inside the Urban-Agricultural Zone 6

Inside the Pastoral Zone 7

Inside the Taiga Forest Zone 10

Exchanges Among the Zones 11

The Significance of Horses 12

Chapter 1 The Origins of the Silk Roads: Silks and Horses on the Chinese Frontier 19

Steppe vs. Sown on the Chinese Frontier 21

The Xiongnu, the Yuezhi, and the Chinese 21

The Yuezhi-Kushan in Tuhara (Formerly Bactria) 31

The Political, Cultural, and Symbolic Significance of Horses, Chariots, and Silk 35

Chapter 2 An Overseas Silk Road: Roman Empire Traders in India, the Yuezhi-Kushan Kingdom, and the Development of Mahayana Buddhism 43

The Roman Empire Traders 45

The Arabian Peninsula and the Early Trade in Aromatic Wood Resins 46

Gan Ying and a Chinese Attempt To Find the Sea Markets 52

The Cosmopolitan Kushan Empire 56

Mahayana Buddhism and Its Spread to China 63

Chapter 3 The Desert Routes: Second Century BCE To Fifth Century CE 75

The Hexi Corridor and the Great Wall 78

Oases Around the Takla Makan Desert 82

Buddhist Establishments on the Desert Routes 85

Desert Routes on the Roman Frontier 90

Hellenistic Cities under the Seleucids 92

The Silk Trade in Eurasia's Western Deserts 93

Chapter 4 Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Buddhism: Political Turmoil and a New Relationship Between Empire and Religion 107

Upheavals 108

Religions, Institutions, and Values 112

Buddhist Networks 112

Zoroastrian Networks 119

Christian Networks 125

The Byzantine Empire's Government Silk Monopoly 129

The Tang Empire and Government Restrictions on Some Varieties of Silk 135

Chapter 5 Trade and Communication Under the Muslim System 147

The Islamic Attitude Toward Trade 152

Islamic Currency and the Tiraz System 155

The Significance of Textiles 157

Sericulture and Trade in the Islamic Domain 164

The Spread of Paper-Making and Books 170

Scholarly Pursuits 175

Chapter 6 Oceans and Seas, 900-1300 187

The Origins of the Route Between China and Sri Lanka 189

The Maritime Trade of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates 192

The Fatimid Caliphate and the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt 196

The Mediterranean Trade 201

The Indian Subcontinent as the Center of Southern Ocean Trade and the Rise of Cola 206

An Age of Chinese Seafaring 209

Chapter 7 The Mongol Conquests and a New Order of Trade 223

The Mongols and Trade 226

Cross-Cultural Communications and Trade Sponsored by Mongol Rulers 231

Tent Cultures and Textiles 239

Growth and Development of the Seafaring Trade 246.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780072843514

0072843519

OCLC:

70699004

Online:

Publisher description