Table of 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
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
For Further Reading 39
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
For Further Reading 71
The Desert Routes: Second Century BCE To Fifth CenturyCE 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
For Further Reading 101
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
For Further Reading 143
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
For Further Reading 179
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
For Further Reading 218
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
For Further Reading 252
