Volume 3,Issue 7
Legacy of the Silk Road
From the opening of trade routes by the Han Dynasty in 130 BC to the Ottoman Empire cutting off trade with the West in 1453 AD "(Silk Road, National Geographic Society). However, the Silk Road was not formed overnight, its starting point can be traced back to one of the most famous emperors in Chinese history - Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han is known for his tough and effective strategy of resisting the Xiongnu, as well as his historical measures of combining Confucianism with the institutionalization of imperial power. The multiple political and economic policies of Emperor Wu of Han sparked a backlash due to their blatant violation of Confucian beliefs. However, the apparent contradiction of a Confucian government representing an authoritarian monarch in pursuing Legalist goals has become the standard structure of Chinese imperial government for two thousand years "(Robert Eno, 2010). The impact of these political changes even surpassed his own dynasty and the existence period of the Silk Road itself.
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