The name ‘Silk Road’ is perhaps the most beautiful myth in history. First, there was no set route at all. Between Iran and China lay a chain of short trade routes, meandering through mountains and deserts, from city to city. Hardly anyone has ever traveled the entire stretch of the ‘Silk Road’; goods were sold along the way from one merchant to the next. Trading volume was also nothing, and Chinese silk only made up a very modest part of it. That is the stern message of Valerie Hansen in The Silk Road. To dispel the romantic myth, she delves deep into the fascinating artefacts of the past century and a half. But as modest as the ‘Silk Road’ was, the same traders in the meantime introduced China to Buddhism and glass production, while the West became acquainted with paper and many more inventions. That is why the trade route, which never really existed, has nevertheless been of immense cultural importance.
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