China and the Silk Roads World: 500-1500

Catalog description

This course introduces the rich and diverse world of trade, religions, and cultures that connected the two ends of the Eurasian world. It starts with survey of Han and Roman trade contacts, and Chinese connections with India via Buddhism, focusing on 7th-15 centuries CE. It examines global interactions produced by the land-based silk routes, including the coming of Islam and Nestorian Christians to China, and travelers to China during the vast Mongol Empire including Marco Polo, It also documents the opening of maritime silk routes through the voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He to Africa at the beginning of the 15th century. 001078