The Silk Road is not only a network of trade route connecting the East and West but also a channel
of political interaction and cultural exchange between China and other Asian and European countries.
The Western music, painting, architecture, and religion were introduced into China via the Silk Road
and exert a great influence over China. The Chinese textiles, the Four Great Inventions, and
Confucianism were also introduced to the West via the Silk Road and had great impact on the Western
World. As a symbol of friendship for interaction between the East and West, the Silk Road fostered
an embryonic form of world trade and made monumental contributions to the development of the world.