The Silk Road

          Two of the most important goods that the merchants exchanged along the Silk Road were silk and china, which are exactly the symbols of ancient China’s cultural and political power. The trade of these two goods signifies a powerful Asian civilization’s growing influence on western societies, followed by the popularity of other goods, including teas and spices. Other countries, such as India, also utilized the Silk Road as an important trade route. Moreover, agricultural products on both sides were brought to each other: grapes, carrots and cucumbers to China. In addition to the exchange of real goods, the silk road also fostered the spread of regions,arts, philosophies and technologies. Buddhism was brought to the West and central Asia while Christian missionaries came to the East. The invention of printing was brought to the West and made significant contributions to the spread of ideas in the later movements, including the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment. However, the Silk Road inevitably led to the spread of The Black Death as well in the thirteenth century.