An Era of East-West Trade and Cultural Exchange
The Silk Road essentially came into being from the 1st century BCE, following the efforts of China to consolidate a road to the Western world, both through direct settlements in the area of the Tarim Basin and diplomatic relations with the countries of the Dayuan, Parthians and Bactrians further west.
Intense trade followed soon, confirmed by the Roman craze for Chinese silk (supplied by the Parthians) from the 1st century BC, to the point that the Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on economic and moral grounds. This is attested by at least three significant authors:
- Strabo (64/ 63 BCE–c. 24 CE).
- Seneca the Younger (c. 3 BCE–65 CE).
- Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE).
This is also the time when the Buddhist faith and the Greco-Buddhist culture started to travel along the Silk Road, penetrating China from around the 1st century BCE.
Read more about this topic: Dayuan
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