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Silk comes to Rome for the 1st time
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Chinese immigrants bring silk-making secret to Korea. (1st time secret leaves China).
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Trade in silk grew under the Han Dynasty ( 202 BC - AD 220)
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Alexander the Great's Empire reaches N. India and the Ferghana Valley (W. China).
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Xuan Zhang crossed the region on his way to obtain Buddhist scriptures from India. This is significant because he helped to further education about Buddhism in China.
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Islam (Muslim religion) spreads from Arabia to Central Asia.
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The Tang Dynasty conquered the Eastern Turks.
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To strengthen its military management and to protect the Silk Road, the Protectorate General to Pacify the West was installed with four garrisons: Qiuci (Kuqa), Yanqi (Qarashar), Yutian (Hetian or Khotan) and Shule (Kashgar)
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The famous Chinese monk Xuanzang (602–664) traveled the Silk Road during this period. He began his trip from Chang'an (today's Xi'an), passed through the Hexi Corridor (the area west of the Yellow River), Hami (Xinjiang Region), and Turpan (Xinjiang Region) and continued westward to India.
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Anshi Rebellion broke out and lasted for seven years. After the rebellion, the Silk Road began to decline.
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By 760 AD, the Tang Government had lost control of the Western Region and trade on the Silk Road ceased.
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Using clever diplomacy and military talent, Ban Yong stabilized the Western Regions and reopened the Silk Road in this remote area.
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It was at this time that Europeans first ventured towards the lands of the `Seres'. The earliest were probably Fransiscan friars who are reported to have visited the Mongolian city of Karakorum. The first Europeans to arrive at Kubilai's court were Northern European traders, who arrived in 1261. This is significant because Europeans were integrating with the Chinese.
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The Mongolian Empire was to be fairly short-lived. Splits between the different khans had erupted as early as 1262. This is significant because they succumbed to a resurgence of Chinese nationalism, and China grew.
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The most well known and best documented visitor was the Italian Marco Polo. Starting in 1271, at the age of only seventeen, his travels across Persia, and then along the southern branch of the Silk Road, via Khotan, finally ending at the court of Kubilai Khan at Khanbalik, the site of present-day Beijing, and the summer palace, better known as Xanadu.
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Trade on the Silk Road revived and reached its zenith during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. Genghis Khan conquered all the small states, unified China, and built a large empire under his rule.
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After Marco Polo's return to the West in 1295, he was captured as a prisoner of war in Genoa, when serving in the Venetian forces.
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The most popular religion in China at the time was Daoism, which at first the Mongols favoured. However, from the middle of the thirteenth century onwards, buddhist influence increased, and the early lamaist Buddhism from Tibet was particularly favoured. The two religions existed side by side for a long period during the Yuan dynasty. Christianity first made headway in China in this period, and the first arch-bishopric set up in Beijing in 1307. New religion was introduced, changing the culture.
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The Yuan dynasty was finally replaced by the Ming dynasty in 1368. This is significant because it was the end of an era.
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In the early Tang Dynasty (618–917) the Silk Road was controlled by the Tuque Tribe, allying with small states in the Western Region against the government, and disrupting trade.
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From 138 BC, Emperor Wu dispatched Zhang Qian twice as his envoy to the Western Regions, and in the process pioneered the route known as the Silk Road from Chang'an, through Xinjiang and Central Asia, and on to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.