What is the name of the trade route that linked China to Europe via Central Asia? It was the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was not one paved road but a changing network of overland and maritime routes. Its land routes connected China through Central Asian hubs such as Kashgar, Samarkand, and Bukhara toward Persia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean world. Merchants commonly sold goods through multiple intermediaries rather than traveling the entire distance themselves.
The network expanded during the Han dynasty, especially after the missions of envoy Zhang Qian in the 2nd century BCE opened stronger contacts between China and Central Asia. It flourished at different times, including under the Tang dynasty and during the Mongol Empire. Silk gave the route its modern name, but traders also carried horses, spices, glassware, metals, paper, and porcelain.
A frequent misconception is that the Silk Road carried only Chinese silk or followed a single permanent path. Historians increasingly use “Silk Roads” to emphasize its many branches, including maritime routes. These connections transmitted religions, technologies, artistic styles, languages, and diseases as well as merchandise.