What does the Silk Road refer to specifically, and what historical records are there about it?
The "Silk Road" refers to the ancient overland commercial trade route that started in ancient China and connected Asia, Africa and Europe. The Silk Road in the narrow sense generally refers to the land Silk Road. Data expansion:
The Silk Road (German: Die seidenstra?e), often referred to as the Silk Road, was first coined by the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877. "China - meine Reise - Ergebnisse" (China - meine Reise - Ergebnisse) published in 2008.
The Silk Road usually refers to the trade routes in northern Europe and Asia, in contrast to the Ancient Tea-Horse Road in the south. Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty and Ban Chao in the Eastern Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions with Chang'an (today's Xi'an) and Luoyang as the It starts from Gansu and Xinjiang, reaches Central Asia and West Asia, and connects the land routes to the Mediterranean countries. This road is also known as the "Overland Silk Road" to distinguish it from two other transportation routes that will bear the name "Silk Road" in the future. It was named this because silk products had the greatest influence among the goods transported westward along this road. Its basic direction is set in the Han Dynasty, including three routes: the South Road, the Middle Road, and the North Road.
The Silk Road in a broad sense refers to the general name for long-distance commercial trade and cultural exchange routes that have been formed since ancient times and spanned Eurasia and even North and East Africa. In addition to the above-mentioned routes, it also includes the Prairie Silk Road, which was formed in about the 5th century BC, the Maritime Silk Road, which was formed in the early Middle Ages and played a huge role in the Song Dynasty, and the Northwest Silk Road, which appeared at the same time as the Northwest Silk Road and replaced the Northwest Silk Road in the early Song Dynasty. The Silk Road became the Southern Silk Road as a communication channel.
From princes and nobles to beggars and prisoners, they all left their footprints on this road. This east-west passage closely connects the Central Plains and Western Regions with Arabia and the Persian Gulf. After centuries of continuous efforts, the Silk Road stretched westward to the Mediterranean. In a broad sense, the eastern section of the Silk Road has reached North Korea and Japan, and the western section has reached France. Italy and Egypt can also be reached through sea routes, becoming a road of friendship for economic and cultural exchanges between Asian, European and African countries.
Route: Chang'an, Hexi Corridor. Today's Xinjiang region, West Asia, the Mediterranean, and Roman countries.