CH. 7: I FOUND IT INTERESTING TO READ THAT...
What I found quite interesting was just learning about the Silk Road in general. I find that the idea of the Silk Road was very fascinating to see such a large trade span across so many areas of land. It went across China, Middle East, forest lands of Siberia, grasslands of Central Asia, India and the Mediterranean Basin.
"The Eurasian landmass has long been home to the majority of humankind as well as to the world’s most productive agriculture, largest civilizations, and greatest concentration of pastoral peoples. Beyond its many separate societies and cultures, Eurasia also gave rise to one of the world’s most extensive and sustained networks of exchange among its diverse peoples, known as the Silk Roads, (284)."
To have something that large and yet so sustainable and productive is mind boggling to me, especially so long ago when they did not have the technology and resources like we do today. To build something like that and maintain it is what interests me. How did people communicate to other's like something of that sort was there and well-established? Also, the resources and material that were traded there we not just smaller items. It's fascinating how each part of the land had their main resources, and knew what they had to offer. I like that equality played a major role in the Silk Road trade as well. Although it was mainly male ran, women played a large role in it as well.
"Although the silk trade itself was largely in the hands of men, women figured hugely in the process in terms of both supply and demand. For many centuries, Chinese women, mostly in rural areas, were responsible for every step of the ingenious and laborious enterprise of silk production. They tended the mulberry trees on whose leaves silkworms fed; they unwound the cocoons in very hot water to extract the long silk fibers; they turned these fibers into thread and wove them into textiles, (286)."
"The Eurasian landmass has long been home to the majority of humankind as well as to the world’s most productive agriculture, largest civilizations, and greatest concentration of pastoral peoples. Beyond its many separate societies and cultures, Eurasia also gave rise to one of the world’s most extensive and sustained networks of exchange among its diverse peoples, known as the Silk Roads, (284)."
To have something that large and yet so sustainable and productive is mind boggling to me, especially so long ago when they did not have the technology and resources like we do today. To build something like that and maintain it is what interests me. How did people communicate to other's like something of that sort was there and well-established? Also, the resources and material that were traded there we not just smaller items. It's fascinating how each part of the land had their main resources, and knew what they had to offer. I like that equality played a major role in the Silk Road trade as well. Although it was mainly male ran, women played a large role in it as well.
"Although the silk trade itself was largely in the hands of men, women figured hugely in the process in terms of both supply and demand. For many centuries, Chinese women, mostly in rural areas, were responsible for every step of the ingenious and laborious enterprise of silk production. They tended the mulberry trees on whose leaves silkworms fed; they unwound the cocoons in very hot water to extract the long silk fibers; they turned these fibers into thread and wove them into textiles, (286)."
I too found the silk road to be very interesting. Honestly, before reading the assigned chapters I had never given much thought to why it was the silk road, I mean I assumed there was silk traveling it down it. It makes so much sense now, since high end lighter goods would have been most profitable. Can you imagine, all the silkiest fashions traveling though Asia?
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