Silk Road Research Paper

During the period between 200 BCE and 1450 CE, the Silk Road underwent many subtle transformation while at the same time holding its original purpose. The Silk Roads were first established as a route from Western Rome to China's Han Dynasty for the purpose of trading. The Chinese traded rice, tea, spices, pottery, and silk. From these products, silk became a luxurious item and was in a very high demand. Thus, it is called the Silk Road. China exported silk to areas such as India, the Mediterranean, and Rome. From the cultural interaction from the west and the east, we also see the exchange of religion in which this essay primarily focuses on.

The people of the Silk Road in its early decades followed many different religions. In the Middle

From its origins in north eastern India, Buddhism has already spread to lands that are now Pakistan and Afghanistan by 1st century BCE. Buddhist merchants build temples and shrines along the Silk Road, spreading the faith rapidly. The essential message of Buddhism was the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. When China defeated the nomadic Xiongu and pushed Chinese military control northwest, Buddhism was known in Central Asia but was not yet widespread in China nor had it reached elsewhere in East Asia. Buddhism became an influential religion for the Chinese brought from India along the Silk Roads. The arrival of Buddhism was officially noted by the imperial court in the mid 1st century CE. The religion mostly appealed to the people from the lower class because Buddhism rejected social hierarchies. Buddhist missionaries began program of translating sacred texts into Chinese, and a number of Chinese priests and monks travelled the Silk Road in search of doctrinal instruction in India. Buddhism eventually spread from China to Japan by the 6th century CE. The religion retained a dominant position in China until the decline of the Tang dynasty in the 9th century. Buddhism also interacted in China with Daoism in 3rd century CE. Daoism offered believers immortality or reincarnation. Daoism spread westward into Central Asia along the Silk Road, providing just as Buddhism had

Christianity spread east as well as west. Christianity on the Silk Road was primarily known as Nestorianism. Nestorianism was known from the teachings of Nestorius, who soon outraged the Roman and Byzantine worlds due to stripping the Virgin her title “Mother of God.” Nestorian Christianity spread to Persia, India, and China, bringing with it the Syriac language and script. By the time, Nestorian churches were to be found in cities along the Silk Road, it was already too late because of the massive spread of Buddhism in Central Asia. Another Middle Eastern faith that was important on the Silk road was Manichaeism. Manichaeism was established by the Persiam prophet Mani in the 3rd century CE. Mani arose from the Zoroastrian tradition, and consciously incorporated elements of Zoroastrianism, Chrisitianity, Hinduism, buddhism, and other faiths into his own doctrines. He saw himself the saw himself as the successor of all great ancient religions. Like Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism emphasized the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. The religion became so important that it rivalled Christianity in the Middle East and Mediterranean North Africa, though with little or no impact on China and East Asia. By the 6th century, the influence of Manichaeism started to fade. The Silk Road faiths from the Middle East to the north western of