Introduction and Course Documents: "Classical" Asia and the Silk Road-2

This week we return to South and East Asia. As we move further into the Common Era and away from the ancient period, we'll explore continuities and changes overtime.  This week we'll be discussing the spread of cultural ideas and traditions throughout Asia. The major facilitator for the movement of ideas and religious beliefs was the tangible movement of goods along the Silk Road. 

While the Silk Road had existed for millennia (a continuity between the ancient and medieval periods) the apex of travel and trade along this route is usually consider by historians to have occurred under the Tang dynasty in the 8th century. Under the Song dynasty, commercialization accelerated in China and reached new heights. The ultimate benefactors of the increase in commodities, trade, and taxes were the Mongols who conquered the Song dynasty in the late 13th century. 

Course Documents: 

Our course documents this week pertain to the Silk Road. The video from Khan Academy provides background information into the foundations of the Silk Road (c. 200 BCE-300 CE). The primary source comes from the explorations of Chinese society by Marco Polo under the Khan dynasty (late 13th century). 

Secondary Source: Khan Academy video. Links to an external site.

Primary Source: Excerpts, The Travels of Marco Polo, or, A Description of the World. Download Excerpts, The Travels of Marco Polo, or, A Description of the World.