The Silk Roads

c. 200–900 CE

A vast trade network that connected people across Asia and helped to spread religions like Buddhism

The Han Dynasty

206 BCE–220 CE

Confucianism and Daoism are revived, Buddhism arrives, and trade along the Silk Roads flourishes

Important terms and concepts

Han dynasty

Xin Zhui (Lady Dai)

Silk

Lacquer

Archer Yì 後羿

Cháng’é 嫦娥

Nüwa

Sui Dynasty

581-618 CE

A short-lived period of unification before the golden age of the Tang dynasty 

Tang Dynasty

618–906 CE

A period marked by cosmopolitanism and a blossoming of arts and culture

Han Gan, Night-Shining White, c. 750, Tang dynasty, ink on paper, handscroll, Image: 12 1/8 x 13 3/8 in. (30.8 x 34 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Important terms and concepts

Silk Roads

Trade route

Sancai

Ink painting

Cultural diffusion

Buddhism

Tang dynasty Bactrian camel sculpture in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

Related Resources