Assignment for E Learning Day 27 July 2006

Instructions for submission

1) Read the Sources and answer all the questions.

2) Answers to be done on a Microsoft Word Document.

3) Save your document as your name and class, for example, tanlingling 1GR.

4) Send your answer as an attachment to an email to ang_wee_boon@moe.edu.sg

5) Your answer must be submitted on 27 July 2006 by 5pm.

Source A

Map of the Silk Road

Click on the map to see a clearer version.

Adapted from http://www.thebritishmuseum.net/thesilkroad/imageFiles/SilkRoadMap.gif

Source B

The Silk Road

The most significant commodity carried along this route was not silk, but religion. Buddhism came to China from India this way, along the northern branch of the route. The first influences came as the passes over the Karakorum were first explored. The Eastern Han emperor Mingdi is thought to have sent a representative to India to discover more about this strange faith, and further missions returned bearing scriptures, and bringing with them India priests
The art and civilisation of the Silk Road achieved its highest point in the Tang Dynasty. Changan, as the starting point of the route, as well as the capital of the dynasty, developed into one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities of the time. By 742 A.D., the population had reached almost two million, and the city itself covered almost the same area as present-day Xian, considerably more than within the present walls of the city. The 754 A.D. census showed that five thousand foreigners lived in the city; Turks, Iranians, Indians and others from along the Road, as well as Japanese, Koreans and Malays from the east. Many were missionaries, merchants or pilgrims, but every other occupation was also represented. Rare plants, medicines, spices and other goods from the west were to be found in the bazaars of the city.

Adapted from http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html

Source C

The Nature of the Route

The description of this route to the west as the "Silk Road" is somewhat misleading. Firstly, no single route was taken; crossing Central Asia several different branches developed, passing through different oasis settlements. The routes all started from the ancient capital in Xi'an, headed up the Gansu corridor, and reached Dunhuang on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert.
The northern route then passed through Yumen Guan (Jade Gate Pass) and crossed the neck of the Gobi desert to Hami (Kumul), before following the Tian Shan range around the northern fringes of the Taklimakan. It passed through the major oases of Turfan and Kuqa before arriving at Kashgar, at the foot of the Pamirs.
The southern route branched off at Dunhuang, passing through the Yang Guan and skirting the southern edges of the desert, via Miran, Hetian (Khotan) and Shache (Yarkand), finally turning north again to meet the other route at Kashgar.
Secondly, the Silk Road was not a trade route that existed solely for the purpose of trading in silk; many other commodities were also traded, from gold and ivory to exotic animals and plants. Of all the precious goods crossing this area, silk was perhaps the most remarkable for the people of the West.

Adapted from http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/silkroad.html

Questions

1a) Study Source A. What information can you infer from Source A about the reasons why the Silk Road is branched into so many routes? Explain your answer. (4m)

1b) Examine Source B. How useful is Source B in showing the factors that contribute to the Golden Age of China? Explain your answer. (5m)

1c) Compare Sources A and C. How similar are they in showing that the name of the Silk Road is misleading? Explain your answer. (6M)