The Luscious Silk Roads
After watching the video the Silk Road: Where East Met West and reading Chapter 16 The Awakening by Patrick S. Bresnan introduced the importance and the background of the famous Silk Road. "From Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan, emperors and princes fought to control the Silk Road" because it was worth fighting for due to the many miles of money to be made ( Silk ,1:38-1:43). Silk Road Map In the video, I learned that "Xi'an has always been seen as the beginning of the Silk Road"( Silk ,7:45-7:47). People of the region traded, bought goods, exchanged ideas and techniques with other traveling merchant. Many of them became an influence vital source to "Western Europe such as paper, gunpowder and musical instruments"( Silk , 2:01-2:03). It was interesting that Zhang Qian would lay a foundation of the Silk Road when he traveled to find the unique and dominate "heavenly horses" that were far superior to the ones in China( Silk ,19:11-...