Hump Day

Hi Guys,

Just finished up the reading.

I thought that Bulliet had some really cool points in this reading, one of those being the idea that the Silk Road  became so extensive and complex that it grew into a social system of it's own. It is remarkable to think back on the amount of languages, religion, and culture that were all flowing in to the Silk Road, along with the goods, and even currencies.
I also hadn't really thought about WHY the Silk Road happened in China. I think Bulliet makes another good point when he says that it depended somewhat on the type of people that were in China and the surrounding areas at the time. Those people were pretty mobile, and though they didn't tend to move for trading purposes, these people were often schlepping their belongings on the backs of certain animals, some horses, and mainly camels. This idea helped build the foundation for a system like the Silk Road, where people could travel it and wind up with a bigger purpose, and making better money. In fact this adoption became crucial and important to those in the Sasanid Empire, who were taught how to transition from being a nomadic person, to being a trader with a caravan. Most interesting I thought, was that, because so many people were schlepping products and culture all the way through the Silk Road, inventions like the Stirrup became super popular, as a result.


In conjunction with the Silk Road, the Indian Ocean System also played a huge role in facilitating goods to other places. In fact, the Indian Ocean System specifically brought highly valued goods with high demand across seas from anywhere from the east coast of India, to the China Malays, to the Persian Gulf. Some of these goods included copper, ivory, and wood. Important in this form of trade, was the social system as well. Coastlines became popular places to live, hubs, and ports became a center of trade and commerce, and women began to play a huge role in their ability to mediate the different cultures of sailors, and the natives of the land.