The Silk Road and ancient trade

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The Silk Road and ancient trade발음듣기

[John] Hi there, I'm John Green.발음듣기

This is Crash Course World History, and today we're going to talk about the Silk Road, so called because it was not a road and was not made of silk.발음듣기

So this is a t-shirt.발음듣기

It was designed in Belgium and contains cotton from both Brazil and Texas which was turned into cloth in China, stitched in Haiti, screen-printed in Washington, sold to me in Indiana, and now that I am too fat to wear it it will soon make its way to Cameroon or Honduras, or possibly even back to Haiti.발음듣기

Can we just pause for a moment to consider the astonishing fact that most t-shirts see more of the world than most of us do?발음듣기

John from the past: Mr. Green! Mr. Green!발음듣기

But t-shirts can't see the world because they don't have eyes.발음듣기

[John] Look, me from the past, it's difficult for me to isolate what I hate most about you because there is so much to hate.발음듣기

But very near the top is your relentless talent for ignoring everything that is interesting and beautiful about our species in favor of pedantic sniveling in which no one loses or gains anything of value.발음듣기

I'm gonna put on a collared shirt because we're here to tackle the big picture. (bright pop music) so the Silk Road didn't begin trade but it did radically expand its scope.발음듣기

And the connections that were formed by mostly unknown merchants arguably changed the world more than any political or religious leaders.발음듣기

It was especially cool if you were rich because you finally had something to spend your money on other than temples, but even if you weren't rich, the Silk Road reshaped the lives of everyone living in Africa and Eurasia, as we will see today.발음듣기

Let's go straight to the thought bubble.발음듣기

As previously mentioned, the Silk Road was not a road.발음듣기

It's not like archaeologists working in Uzbekistan have uncovered a bunch of yield signs and baby on board stickers.발음듣기

It was an overland route where merchants carried goods for trade.발음듣기

But it was really two routes, one that connected the Eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia, and one that went from Central Asia to China.발음듣기

Further complicating things, the Silk Road involved sea routes, many goods reach Rome via the Mediterranean, and goods from Central Asia found their way across the Pacific to Japan and even Java.발음듣기

So we shouldn't think of the Silk Road as a road, but rather as a network of trade routes.발음듣기

But just as now, the goods traveled more than the people who traded them.발음듣기

Very few traders traversed the entire Silk Road, instead they'd move back and forth between towns selling to traders who take the goods further toward their destination with everybody marking up prices along the way.발음듣기

So what'd they trade?발음듣기

Well, silk for starters.발음듣기

For millennia, silk was only produced in China.발음듣기

It is spun from the cocoons of mulberry tree-eating worms and the process of silk making as well as the techniques for raising the worms were closely guarded secrets since the lion's share of China's wealth came from silk production.발음듣기

The Chinese used silk as fishing line, to buy off nomadic raiders to keep things peaceful, and to write before they invented paper, but as an export, silk was mostly used for clothes.발음듣기

Silk clothing feels light in the summer and warm in the winter, and until we invented 700 dollar pre-distressed designer jeans, decking yourself out in silk was the number one way to show people you were wealthy.발음듣기

Thanks, thought bubble.발음듣기

But the Silk Road wasn't all about silk.발음듣기

The Mediterranean exported such cliche goods as olives, olive oil, wine, and mustachioed plumbers.발음듣기

China also exported raw materials like jade, silver, and iron.발음듣기

India exported fine cotton textiles, ivory that originated in East Africa made its way across the Silk Road, and Arabia exported incense and spices and tortoise shells.발음듣기

Oh god it's a red one, isn't it?발음듣기

Bitch is gonna chase me, I- Ow!발음듣기

Up until now in Crash Course we've been focused on city-dwelling civilizational types.발음듣기

But with the growth of the Silk Road, the nomadic peoples of Central Asia suddenly become much more important to world history.발음듣기

Most of Central Asia isn't great for agriculture, but it's difficult to conquer, unless you are... wait for it... the Mongols.발음듣기

It also lends itself fairly well to herding, and since nomads are definitionally good at moving around, they are also good at moving stuff from point A to point B, which makes them good traders.발음듣기

Plus all their travel made them more resistant to diseases.발음듣기

One group of such nomads, the Yue Zhi were humiliated in battle in the second century B.C.E by their bitter rivals the Xiong Nu, who turned the Yue Zhi's king's skull into a drinking cup in fact.발음듣기

And in the wake of that, the Yue Zhi migrated to Bactria and started the Kushan empire in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan.발음듣기

Although Silk Road trading began more than a century before the birth of Jesus, it really took off in the second and third centuries C.E. and the Kushan Empire became a huge hub for that Silk Road trade.발음듣기

By then nomads were being equipped by professional merchants who traveled the silk roads often making huge profits.발음듣기

But those cities that had been founded by nomadic peoples became hugely important.발음듣기

They continued to grow because most of the trade on the Silk Road was by caravan, and those caravans had to stop frequently, for food and water and prostitutes.발음듣기

These towns became fantastically wealthy.발음듣기

One, Palmyra, was particularly important because all of the incense and silk that traveled to Rome had to go through Palmyra.발음듣기

Silk was so popular among the Roman elite that the Roman Senate repeatedly tried to ban it, complaining about trade imbalances caused by the silk trade and also that silk was inadequately modest.발음듣기

To quote Seneca the Younger, "I see clothes of silk materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's "decency can be called clothes."발음듣기

He also said of the woman who wears silk, her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body.발음듣기

And yet, all attempts to ban silk failed, which speaks to how much even in the ancient world, wealth shaped governments.발음듣기

And with trade, there was a way to become wealthy without being a king or a lord who takes part of what your citizens produce.발음듣기

The emerging class that grew along with the Silk Road came to have a lot of political clout, and in some ways that began the tension that we still see today between wealth and politics.발음듣기

Whether it's corporations making large donations, or Vladimir Putin periodically jailing billionaires.발음듣기

Mr. Putin, I just want to state for the record I did not mean that in any way, I was...발음듣기

Stan wrote that joke.발음듣기

Oh, it's time for the open letter.발음듣기

An opened letter to billionaires.발음듣기

But first let's see what's in the secret compartment today.발음듣기

Oh, it's some fake silk, the stuff that put real silk out of business.발음듣기

Dear billionaires, I've wrapped myself in the finest of polyester so that you will take my message seriously.발음듣기

Here at Crash Course we've done a lot of research into our demographics, and our show is watched primarily by grammar Nazis, muggle quidditch players, people who have a test tomorrow, and billionaires.발음듣기

And I have a message for you billionaires.발음듣기

It will never be enough.발음듣기

Your relentless yearning is going to kill us all.발음듣기

Best wishes, John Green.발음듣기

Speaking of billionaires, the goods that traveled on the Silk Road really only changed the lives of rich people.발음듣기

Did the Silk Road affect the rest of us?발음듣기

Yes, for three reasons.발음듣기

First, wider economic impact.발음듣기

Relatively few people could afford silk, but a lot of people devoted their lives to making that silk.발음듣기

And as the market for silk grew, more and more people chose to go into silk production rather than doing something else with their lives.발음듣기

Second, the Silk Road didn't just trade luxury goods.발음듣기

In fact, arguably the most important thing traded along the silk road, ideas.발음듣기

For example, the Silk Road was the primary route for the spread of Buddhism.발음듣기

When we last saw the Buddha's eightfold path to escaping the cycle of suffering and desire that's inherent to humans, it was beginning to dwindle in India.발음듣기

But through contacts with other cultures and traditions, Buddhism grew and flourished and became one of the great religious traditions of the world.발음듣기

The variation of Buddhism that took root in China, Korea, Japan, and Central Asia is known as Mahayana Buddhism.발음듣기

And it differed from the teachings of the original Buddha in many ways, but one that was fundamental.발음듣기

For Mahayana Buddhists, the Buddha was divine.발음듣기

We can, and religious historians do, fight over the exact definition of divine, but in Mahayana Buddhism, there is no question that the Buddha is venerated to a greater degree.발음듣기

The idea of nirvana also transforms from a release from that cycle of suffering and desire to something much more heavenly, and frankly more fun.발음듣기

And in some versions of Mahayana Buddhism, there are lots of different heavens, each more awesome than the last.발음듣기

Rather than focusing on the fundamental fact of suffering, Mahayana Buddhism offered the hope that through worship of the Buddha or one of the many Bodhisattvas, holy people who could have achieved nirvana but chose to hang around on Earth with us because they're super nice, one could obtain a good afterlife.발음듣기

Many merchants on the Silk Road became strong supporters of monasteries, which in turn became convenient waystations for caravans.발음듣기

And by endowing the monasteries, rich merchants were buying a form of supernatural insurance.발음듣기

Monks who lived in the monasteries would pray for the success of trade missions and the health of their patrons.발음듣기

It was win-win, especially when you consider that one of the central materials used in Mahayana Buddhist rituals is silk.발음듣기

And a third reason the Silk Road changed all our lives, worldwide interconnectedness of populations lead to the spread of disease.발음듣기

Measles and smallpox traveled along it as did the Bubonic Plague, which came from the East to the West in 534, 750, and most devastatingly in 1346.발음듣기

This last plague, known as the Black Death, resulted in the largest population decimation in human history, with nearly half of Europeans dying in a four year period.발음듣기

A sizable majority of people living in Italy died as did 2/3 of Londoners.발음듣기

And it quite possibly wouldn't have happened without the Silk Road.발음듣기

If you were living in London in the 14th Century, you probably didn't blame the Silk Road trade for your community's devastation.발음듣기

But it played a role.발음듣기

If you look at it that way, the interconnectedness fostered by the Silk Road affected way way more people than just those rich enough to buy silk.발음듣기

Just as today's globalization offers both promise and threat to each of us.발음듣기

Next week we'll talk about Julius Caesar and in what situation, if any, it's OK to stab your friend in the gut.발음듣기

Until then, thanks for watching.발음듣기

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