Who coined the modern term “Silk Road” in 1877 for the network of routes linking China and Europe?

Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the modern term “Silk Road” in 1877 for the network of routes linking China and Europe.

Richthofen was a German geographer and geologist who studied the geography of China during expeditions in the 1860s and 1870s. He used the German expression “Seidenstraße” in his work to describe connected trade routes across Central Asia. The English form, “Silk Road,” became widely established later.

The term is convenient, but it can mislead. The Silk Road was not one road, and silk was only one of many commodities exchanged. Traders also moved horses, glassware, spices, metals, textiles, religions, technologies, artistic styles, and ideas across a changing network of land and sea routes.

Richthofen’s wording is therefore a modern label for ancient and medieval connections, not a name used by the merchants who traveled them. Historians often use the plural “Silk Roads” to emphasize the network’s diversity.