Lesson · Grade 7 · Social Studies
The Silk Road: How Goods and Ideas Travelled
- Grade 7
- Social Studies
- 1 min 20 s
- British Columbia
- BC7-SS-19
A map shows the Silk Road linking China, India, Persia and Rome from about 130 BCE, as silk passes from trader to trader and city to city, and camel caravans cross deserts and mountains. Silk and spices go west, horses, glass and gold go east, and Buddhism spreads from India to China, showing that trade carried both goods and ideas between civilizations.
Concept: The Silk Road and ancient trade
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In one sentence
The question this lesson answers
How did silk made in China reach the city of Rome, thousands of kilometres away?
It travelled along the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that began at Chang'an in China.
Transcript
What the lesson says
How did silk made in China reach the city of Rome, thousands of kilometres away?
It travelled along the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that began at Chang'an in China.
These routes linked the great civilizations of China, India, Persia and Rome.
Trade along them grew from about 130 BCE, under China's Han dynasty.
From end to end, the main route stretched about 6,400 kilometres.
Few traders made the whole trip, so goods were passed along from city to city.
Silk changed hands many times, and ships carried it the last part of the way to Rome.
Camel caravans carried goods across deserts and high mountains.
They stopped to rest and trade in oasis cities, such as Samarkand.
Silk from China and spices from India went west.
Horses, glass and gold travelled east in return.
Ideas travelled too: Buddhism spread from India to China along these routes.
The Silk Road linked faraway civilizations, carrying goods and ideas both ways.
Curriculum
Where this fits
- British Columbia, Grade 7
Social Studies, Ancient world to the 7th century: interactions and exchanges between past civilizations and culturesBC7-SS-19
Previous: Ancient Inventions We Still UseNext: How Ideas Spread Between Civilizations
The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.
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