Silk Road
![Map of Eurasia with drawn lines for overland and maritime routes](/Images/godic/202501/26/Silk_route1423.jpg")
![Woven silk textile from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province, China, dated to the Western Han Era, 2nd century BCE.](/Images/godic/202501/26/Woven_silk,_Western_Han_Dynasty1423.jpg")
![A Scythian horseman from the Ili river, Pazyryk, c. 300 BCE.](/Images/godic/202501/26/PazyrikHorseman1423.JPG")
![Chinese jade and steatite plaques, in the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes. 4th–3rd century BCE. British Museum.](/Images/godic/202501/26/ChineseJadePlaques1423.JPG")
The Silk Road or Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East from China to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length, beginning during the Han dynasty (207 BCE – 220 CE). The Central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BCE by the Han dynasty, largely through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy, Zhang Qian. The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route.