Reference: MA, Debin. “The Great Silk Exchange: How the World ...

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The Great Silk Exchange: How the World was Connected and Developed
Debin Ma
Students of the silk trade are blessed with the rare fortune to study an international trade
that is almost as ancient and as continuous as the records of human civilization. Silk, with
its appeal of lustrousness, elasticity and durability, has long been considered a symbol of
luxury, elegance and sacredness, and was rightfully dubbed the queen of fabrics, the thread
of gold. Even in the days of antiquity when transportation was primitive and treacherous,
silk, with its high value per weight and the ease with which it could be carried, stored and
packed, overcame what Braudel called the “tyranny of distance,” which precluded
long-distance trade of most commodities. Silk trade on a global scale has gone on for a
recorded period of about 3,000 years.
The history of the silk trade evokes images of another well-known historical entity:
the Silk Road, the famous overland route that traversed the heartland of the Eurasian
continent. The term Silk Road (die Seidenstrasse) was a term coined by the 19th century
German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen. Although silk was perhaps the most
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