Cultural Significance Of The Silk Road

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Maythu Hnin World History II May 26th, 2009 What was the significance of the Silk Road? The Silk Road was an international and intercontinental network of trade routes that existed throughout the 2nd-15th century. Although initially started to serve for trade purposes, the Silk Road is more prominently remembered for its cultural significance and the cultural exchange that occurred across Eurasia. The Silk Road can be defined as the fundamental exchange of cultured that occurred through trade routes. One must note that although this cultural exchange was highly supported and encouraged, it was not always accepted willingly. Through the assessment of the arts and the religions of the Silk Road, one is able to see the intermingling and diffusion of different cultures across Eurasia, the development and production of new ideas, styles and techniques and understand the cultural significance and impact of the Silk Road. The arts of the Silk Road were a large part of the cultural exchange that occurred along the Silk Road. The arts in a larger context also served the travel of other cultural aspects. The arts encouraged expression of religious devotion which united and changed societies and would continue to do so even later. Many artistic styles, elements, techniques, motifs, and ideas underwent processes of adjustment, adaptation, and reinterpretation by a specialist of an area which resulted in new images with pronounced ethnic and stylistic variations on various degrees of intensity. Central Asia served as the melting pot of different cultured and served as the point from which different ideas departed. For Example: Gandhara art is a form of Buddhist art which combines classical, Afghanstani, Pakistani, Indian and Hellenistic features. Gandhara art was a combination of indigenous traditions and external forces of influence.The arts were a fusion of western

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