La Ruta de la Seda: Una guía fascinante de la antigua red de rutas comerciales establecidas durante la dinastía Han de China y cómo conectaba el este y el oeste
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La Ruta de la Seda, que ha sido entendida como una ruta comercial generalizada entre Oriente y Occidente, es diferente de las rutas comerciales europeas, del Norte de África y del Cercano Oriente porque hasta hace poco se entendía que era únicamente una ruta terrestre; de hecho, se creía que era la ruta comercial terrestre más larga de la historia de la humanidad.
La historia de la Ruta de la Seda es extremadamente compleja. No puede ser contada como una narración cronológica singular. Diferentes culturas y sociedades se levantaron y desaparecieron a lo largo de la Ruta de la Seda, y los pueblos emigraron de una región a otra. En resumen, durante la mayor parte de su historia, hubo fluidez en cuanto a las culturas dominantes a lo largo de la ruta o rutas. Explicar el surgimiento y caída o desaparición de estas culturas implica detenerse en el camino para considerar la cronología de sus historias.
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Interesting information but very dry--not what I would call 'captivating'. The introduction started off OK and posed some intriguing questions, but the rest of the book was date after date, name after name, place after place, etc., so very hard to wade through. I don't understand histories that are written today, with a plethora of information, resources, and research at a writer's disposal, that do not include some maps and timelines to offer a nice contextual framework for readers. How hard would it have been to show where the Silk Road was believed to have been, or to give a timeline of the main events along with the names of primary leaders and persons of interest? Doing so would have done a lot to at least help the book not be as confusing and tedious.
The Silk Road is believed to be the longest overland trade route in human history. It was actually 4,350 miles of networking, connected routes that were navigated in short lengths by many traders. The routes were compounded by the rough terrain and the multiple cultures and peoples.
Westerners were enchanted with the spices, products, and cultures of the East. However, the Chinese were very self-content; they were not eager for the products or ideas of the West; they only looked at the wealth they could accumulate by trading with the West. It is very difficult to explain the Silk Route because cultures and societies rose, fell, and migrated to other regions. Then, there is the fact that silk came from two regions. The silk that was all the rage in Rome may have come from India, not China. They had differing methods of creating their fabrics and archeologists believe the Romans didn't meet the Chinese until much later than they met (and purchased silks from) India.
When the Europeans went east to battle against the Muslims in the Holy Lands, their first interest was in spreading Christianity. There was one throw-away line in this book that I appreciated: "Genghis Khan had a policy of protecting all religions and permitting all religious practices within his empire." (p. 37) I thought that was a remarkable attribute for someone who was responsible for so many deaths.
Khan was also responsible for the safety of the Silk Road, as well as expanding the length of the routes. By his death, the Mongols dominated a huge tract of land that stretched from China to the 'doorstep of Europe in Georgia and Ukraine."
This book outlines several envoys to the Khan, from the Catholic Church, that provided some information about the Eastern cultures and peoples. But it was the infamous Marco Polo who really publicized the riches of the East. During Kublai Khan's time, the Silk Road was at its busiest, before gradually being replaced by seaborne trade.
During the 1300s, the pope maintained an interest in the affairs of the Christian Church in China. However, when the Chinese rose up against the Mongol overlords, they formed the Ming dynasty and expelled all the Christians from China. This information seems to connect to the Silk Road, because how else did they travel between Rome and China? However, the next 20 pages are about wars, without tying it back to the Silk Road. I think the author got engrossed in the wars and lost sight of his topic: the Silk Road. By the time of the wars with Japan, I began to wonder what this had to do with the Silk Road. Then, on page 92, the main topic was reintroduced. It was nicely tied up in the last few pages. 3.5 stars
Every history book tends to be good. This one is good too, but I was expecting more about the Silk Road and its influence than the history of the empires and lands across it. The book is also average because focus on random figures in order to tell the history. Finally, and this is personal, I don’t like the use of BCE / CE instead of the correct BC / AD.
Bought this by mistake when I was trying for Frankopan's book. Reads kind of like a lot of Wikipedia articles strung together. There's some interesting info here, but it's rather slim for the topic, especially given that about half of it is about Ghengis and Kublai Khan. (Poor Timur/Tamerlane and Zheng He each get, like, a paragraph, in comparison.)
This was an intriguing book that gives a lot of history on the Han Dynasty and how it connected the East and West. I found it interesting and learned a few things from reading it. It is easy to read and makes for a great resource.