Silk Road Origins: China–Mediterranean Trade Began 2nd Century BCE

Organized long-distance exchange between China and the Mediterranean world traces to the 2nd century BCE, when the Han Dynasty envoy Zhang Qian opened diplomatic and commercial contacts with Central Asian peoples (Dayuan, Kangju, Daxia).

The Silk Road Network

Not a single road but a shifting web of caravan routes linking:

• East: Chang'an (Xi'an), Dunhuang.
• Central: Tarim Basin oases, Samarkand, Merv.
• West: Ctesiphon, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome.

Exchanged Goods & Ideas

• East → West: Silk, porcelain, tea, paper, gunpowder, lacquer.
• West → East: Glass, wool, gold, silver, grapes, horses, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, astronomy, medicine.

Peak activity: 2nd century BCE – 15th century CE (Ottoman rise + maritime routes eclipsed overland trade). The Silk Road shaped civilizations across Eurasia.