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Comparing The Silk Road And The Columbian Exchange

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The Silk Road began in the 2nd century BCE with the diplomatic missions of Zhang Qian sent by the Han Emperor. The Silk Road was largely fragmented, commodities carried by merchants of many countries on the Silk Road from present day China to present day Turkey. The interaction of these different cultures created a cultural diffusion that can be seen in the resulting names, tools, jewelry, luxuries and house wares that these different societies adopted.

Silk was one of the most important items traded along the Silk Road. Once the Silk Road was open techniques of weaving the silken thread did not begin to spread because this material was similar to that used by cloth weavers. Silk cloth was the secret of the central and western Asia using Chinese thread. The Silk Road is one of the primary factors that has shaped the world of the past and created the world of today. Without it, many ideas would not have spread throughout Eurasia, and the Europeans would not have embarked on their Age of Discovery and Exploration that propelled them to their position of power. …show more content…

A difference between these two trading systems, however, is that the Columbian exchange took place over seas and the Silk Road was mainly land

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