G u i d e
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R e a d i n g
N o t e s
Section 2
1. The Han empire opened the Silk Road by
defeating the nomadic people in northwestern
China.
2. Three things Zhang Qian brought back to
China were more powerful horses, grapes, and
cultural knowledge of such places as Persia,
Syria, India, and Rome.
3. Silk was China’s most valuable trade good
because, at first, the Chinese were the only
people who knew how to make it. A Roman
trading product that was new to the Chinese
was glassware.
Trading Along the Silk Road
Classroom Experience
• Students were allowed to move to only one
trading center at a time.
• Students had to crawl, cover their eyes, climb
over desks, and hop over pictures.
• Students lost a turn if they did not complete a
task properly.
• Students started with one type of product token
and traded for others.
• Students in middle trading centers finished
sooner than students at trading centers at the ends.
• Most students did not travel to all the stations.
Rome to reach the opposite location.
• Traders used local trade routes rather than
using the entire Silk Road.
• Ideas, culture, and religion spread along the
Silk Road.
Section 3
Map Tasks:
1. “Warning signs” should reference two of the
following dangers of the Eastern Silk Road:
bandits, sandstorms, and mirages.
2. Near Dunhuang, students should draw and
label symbols for two of the following Chinese
trade products: silk, dishware, jewelry, castiron products, and decorative boxes.
3. Near Kucha, students should draw and label
symbols for two of the following Central Asian
trade products: horses, jade, furs, and gold.
4. Near Kashgar, students should draw and label
symbols for two of the following Indian trade
products: cotton, spices, pearls, and ivory.
Questions:
1. Traders survived desert travel by stopping at
oases, avoiding mirages, and forming caravans
of Bactrian camels.
2. Silk was the perfect trading good because it
was light and valuable.
• Students learned greetings in five different
languages.
Section 4
Historical Connection
1. “Warning signs” should reference two of the
following dangers of the Western Silk Road:
difficult passes and a lack of oxygen high in
the mountains, and the threat of animals and
insects in the desert.
• Traders had to travel long distances and then
rest for days or weeks.
• Traders faced many dangers such as bandits,
desert sandstorms, mountains, and threats
from animals.
• If traders were not carefully prepared, they
could lose their camels and goods, and possibly die.
• Products from different cultures were traded all
along the Silk Road.
• It took a long time for goods from China and
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Map Tasks:
2. Near Ctesiphon, students should draw
and label symbols for two of the following
Egyptian, Arabian, and Persian trade products:
perfumes, cosmetics, and carpets.
3. Near Antioch, students should draw and label
symbols for two of the following Roman trade
products: glassware, gold, and asbestos.
The Silk Road 1
G u i d e
t o
R e a d i n g
N o t e s
Questions:
1. After they reached Antioch, many goods
were transported by ship throughout the
Mediterranean world, including Rome.
2. The Roman emperor forbid men from wearing
silk because he wanted to reduce the amount of
gold lost to his empire.
Section 5
Map Tasks:
1. Near China, students should draw and label
symbols for two of the following plants China
learned about from trade along the Silk Road:
grapes, cucumbers, figs, pomegranates, walnuts, chives, sesame, and coriander.
2. Near Rome, students should draw and label
symbols for two of the following plants the
West learned about from trade along the Silk
Road: roses, azaleas, chrysanthemums, peonies, camellias, oranges, pears, and peaches.
3. Near India, students should draw a symbol for
Buddhism. To show the spread of Buddhism,
they should draw an arrow up to Kashgar and
then eastward along the Silk Road into China.
Question: Answers will vary but should concisely
respond to the Essential Question for the lesson.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
The Silk Road 2