Download Han Contacts with Other Cultures

KEY Chapter 6: Ancient China Section 5: Han Contacts with Other Cultures Big Idea: Trade routes led to the exchange of new products and ideas among China, Rome, and other peoples. Farming and Manufacturing Vocabulary
1) Silk – a soft, light, highly valued fabric
2) Procedure – the way a task in accomplished
During the Han dynasty, productivity increased and the empire prospered, paving the way for
China to make contact with other cultures.
By the Han period, the Chinese became master ironworkers. They manufactured iron swords
and armor, which made the army more powerful.
Farmers gained from advances in iron. The wheelbarrow allowed farmers to carry larger loads
than before by themselves. The iron plow allowed the farmers to till more land and raise more
food.
Silk also increased in production. Silkworm cocoons were unwound; the silk thread was
prepared for dyeing and weaving, and then woven into fabric. They kept this procedure a
secret, so they could be the only people who knew how to make the valuable and expensive
fabric.
Trade Routes Vocabulary
1) Silk Road – a 4,000-mile-long network of routes stretched westward from China across
Asia’s deserts and mountain ranges, through the Middle East, until it reached the
Mediterranean Sea
Trade increased during the Han period. People in other lands valued Chinese goods like silk
and fine pottery.
Expansion of Trade
The Han armies conquered lands deep in Central Asia and were told that people farther west
wanted silk. During this time, Emperor Wudi wanted strong, sturdy Central Asian horses for
his army. China’s leaders saw an opportunity for trading cloth for horses, so the Central Asian
peoples took the silk west and traded it for other products they wanted.
The Silk Road
Traders used overland routes to take Chinese goods to distant buyers. The most famous was the
Silk Road, allowing trade between China and Southwest Asia. Most merchants only traveled a
small part of the Silk Road, selling their goods along the way to traders from distant lands.
Since traveling the Silk Road was difficult, men traveled together for protection. Armed guards
were also hired to protect traders from bandits who stole cargo and water. Traders also faced
dangerous weather conditions (blizzards, heat, and sandstorms).
People in both the east and west were able to buy luxury goods, and China grew wealthy.
Buddhism Comes to China Vocabulary
2) Diffusion – the spread of ideas from one culture to another
Buddhism spread from India to China along the Silk Road and other trade routes.
Arrival of a New Religion
As the Han government became less stable, people ignored laws and violence was common.
Hunger and violence became widespread. The Chinese embraced Buddhism, because it offered
rebirth and relief from suffering, and Daoism and Confucianism did not.
Impact on China
Indian Buddhists had a difficult time explaining their religion to the Chinese. They used ideas
found in Daoism to help teach Buddhist beliefs. Soon, Buddhism caught on in China, and by
AD 200, Buddhist altars stood in the emperor’s palace.
Buddhism’s spread into China is an example of diffusion, since it represents the spread of one
idea from one culture to another, and the resulting change in the culture. Scholars translated
Buddhist texts into Chinese, and many Chinese became Buddhist monks and nuns. Statues of
the Buddha were carved into mountain walls.