Each answer names its source. Where sources disagree, the answer says so instead of choosing one.
Who named the Silk Road, and what does UNESCO mean by it?
The German term Seidenstrasse is usually credited to the geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, but a 2019 study in The Silk Road journal found German books using it several decades earlier. UNESCO speaks of Silk Roads in the plural: a web of routes about 7,500 km across as the crow flies and more than 35,000 km along the actual routes. The Chang'an-Tianshan corridor, number 1442 on the World Heritage list, is a section of about 5,000 km.
Source: Mertens, The Silk Road 17 (2019); UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442
When did the Han court open the road west?
The Records of the Grand Historian say Zhang Qian set out for the Yuezhi in the Jianyuan years, was held by the Xiongnu for over ten years and came home after thirteen years with one companion. Usual dates are 138 BC out and 126 BC back, then a second mission to the Wusun from 119 to 115 BC. The History of the Han dates the Wuwei and Jiuquan commanderies to 121 BC and Zhangye and Dunhuang to 111 BC, while the Zizhi Tongjian dates Jiuquan to 115 BC. The Protectorate of the Western Regions came in 60 BC.
Source: Records of the Grand Historian ch. 123; History of the Han (Wudi annals, Western Regions); Zizhi Tongjian; People's Daily 2015; Guangming Daily 2020
Which routes ran through China?
The History of the Han describes two roads leaving the Yumen and Yangguan passes. The southern road ran from Shanshan along the southern mountains to Shache (Yarkand), and the northern road from Cheshi along the northern mountains to Shule (Kashgar). Both could go on west over the Pamirs. UNESCO adds the western stretch from Chang'an through the Hexi Corridor to Dunhuang, then from Loulan and Hami along the northern and southern flanks of the Tianshan.
Source: History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442
Where did the Chinese section begin and end?
UNESCO describes the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor as a section of about 5,000 km, with trade routes adding up to about 8,700 km, running from Chang'an and Luoyang, the Han and Tang capitals, to the Zhetysu region of Central Asia. It took shape between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, flourished from the 6th to the 14th century and stayed in use until the 16th century. China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan nominated it together.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442
What is the Silk Roads World Heritage property?
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor (number 1442) was inscribed in 2014. It has 33 components in three countries, and 22 are in China: seven in Shaanxi, four in Henan, five in Gansu and six in Xinjiang. The property covers 42,668.16 hectares. This page maps all 22 Chinese components.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442; UNESCO open data set whc001
Are Mogao, the Great Wall and Quanzhou part of it?
No. The Mogao Caves are a separate property, number 440, inscribed in 1987. Jiayuguan Pass belongs to the Great Wall property, number 438, also from 1987, with Badaling and Shanhaiguan. Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, number 1561 and inscribed in 2021, is a maritime property with 16 components. Yangguan Pass is not a component of any of these four properties.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, properties 440, 438, 1442 and 1561; UNESCO open data set whc001
What moved along the road?
UNESCO says China supplied Central Asia, the Subcontinent, West Asia and the Mediterranean world with silk. Going east, the Records of the Grand Historian say Han envoys took grape and alfalfa seed home from Ferghana (Dayuan), and the court planted both beside its palaces. The same source describes Ferghana horses, named Heavenly Horses at court, jade from Khotan, and large bird eggs and jugglers sent by Parthia (Anxi) and Lixuan.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442; Records of the Grand Historian ch. 123
How did Buddhism spread, and where are the cave temples?
UNESCO says the pagodas and cave temples from Kucha in the west to Luoyang in the east record the spread of Buddhism from India. Chinese sources date the start of the Kizil caves to the 3rd century, and UNESCO dates the Mogao Caves from 366. The national lists date the Maijishan and Bingling grottoes from the Northern Wei to the Ming.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, properties 1442 and 440; State Council lists of national protected sites; China News Service 2024
Which other religions left traces?
UNESCO's statement lists Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity and Islam along the corridor, with Manichaean and Nestorian remains at Qocho and Nestorian Christianity also in Chang'an. The Nestorian Stele in the Xi'an Beilin Museum was set up in 781 and records about 150 years of that church in China. Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar is a national protected site dated to the Ming.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442; China Social Sciences Net 2020; China News Service 2023; State Council list, batch 5
Where is Dunhuang, and when did the Han set it up?
Dunhuang lies at the western end of the Hexi Corridor. The History of the Han records that the Wuwei and Jiuquan commanderies were set up in 121 BC and that Zhangye and Dunhuang were cut from them in 111 BC, giving the four Hexi commanderies. Dunhuang commandery then had six counties: Dunhuang, Mingan, Xiaogu, Yuanquan, Guangzhi and Longle.
Source: History of the Han, Wudi annals and geography chapters; People's Daily 30 April 2024
What are the numbers for the Mogao Caves?
UNESCO dates the start to 366 and counts 492 preserved caves on five levels, with about 45,000 square metres of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. People's Daily and the Gansu government give 735 caves in all, 492 of them with murals and sculptures. Sculpture counts differ: more than 2,000 in the Gansu account, more than 2,400 in People's Daily. The Library Cave, Cave 17, opens off Cave 16 and was found in 1900.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 440; People's Daily 13 October 2024; Gansu Fabu 2023
Where are Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass?
The History of the Han says the Western Regions met the Han realm at the Yumen and Yangguan passes, and that two roads left them. The Yumen Pass site lies in Dunhuang and was listed nationally in 1988 as Yumen Pass and Great Wall Beacon Towers, including the Dafangpan and Xiaofangpan ruins. UNESCO inscribed it in 2014 as component 1442-022. Yangguan has no separate listing in the eight national lists and is not a World Heritage component.
Source: History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; State Council list, batch 3; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442
What is the Hexi Corridor?
People's Daily describes it as running about 1,000 km from Wushaoling in Wuwei to Yumen Pass in Dunhuang, between the Qilian Mountains and the Mazong, Heli and Longshou ranges. The cities along it include Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Jiayuguan and Jinchang. UNESCO's text calls the corridor 1,000 miles long, a different unit, and says it became an agricultural garrison region after the 1st century BC.
Source: People's Daily 30 April 2024; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442
What is notable about the Turpan Basin?
The basin's low point near Lake Aydingkol is 154.31 m below sea level, according to China News Service, and UNESCO gives 154 m for the lowest point on the route network. Karez counts differ: the Ministry of Water Resources figure reported in 2024 is over 1,200 karez, about 190 carrying water, with more than 3,200 km of tunnels, while Turpan city's 2023 figure is 997 karez, 214 with water, and nearly 3,500 km. The History of the Han names Jiaohe as a royal seat.
Source: China News Service 2021; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1442; Science and Technology Daily 2024; China Daily 2023
How big is the Taklamakan Desert?
People's Daily gives its area as 337,600 square km, while a 1981 paper by the Chinese Academy of Sciences gave about 330,000. Both place it in the middle of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.
Source: People's Daily 9 September 2024; Acta Geographica Sinica 1981
What do the records say about Kashgar?
Kashgar is the Shule of the Han dynasty. The History of the Han gives the kingdom's seat as Shule City, 9,350 li from Chang'an and 2,210 li from the Protectorate, with a market lane on the road toward the Greater Yuezhi, Dayuan and Kangju. Id Kah Mosque, a Ming-dated national protected site since 2001, stands in the city today.
Source: History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; State Council list, batch 5
What do the records say about Kucha?
The History of the Han gives the seat of the kingdom of Kucha as Yan City, 7,480 li from Chang'an and 350 li from the Protectorate at Wulei. Chinese sources date the start of the Kizil caves to the 3rd century. Kuqa has five national protected sites: Kumtura, Simsim, Subash, Kizilgaha and the ancient city of Kucha.
Source: History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; State Council lists of national protected sites; China News Service 2024
What do the records say about Khotan?
The History of the Han lists the kingdom of Khotan (Yutian) with its seat at Xi City, 9,670 li from Chang'an, and notes that it produced much jade. The Records of the Grand Historian say Han envoys traced the river to its source at Khotan, and the emperor named the mountains it came from Kunlun. Three national protected sites near Hotan are the Rawak Buddhist ruins, the Shampula tombs and Dandan-Oilik.
Source: History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; Records of the Grand Historian ch. 123; State Council lists, batches 5 and 6
What do the records say about Loulan and Lop Nur?
The Records of the Grand Historian say Loulan and Gushi had walled towns beside the Salt Marsh, on the road, and attacked Han envoys. The History of the Han says Loulan was renamed Shanshan, lay 1,600 li from Yangguan, and that the Salt Marsh, also called the Puchang Sea, was over 300 li from Yumen and Yangguan. The Loulan ancient city site is a national protected site dated Han to Jin, listed in 1988.
Source: Records of the Grand Historian ch. 123; History of the Han, Western Regions chapter; State Council list, batch 3
What route did Xuanzang take, and how is he tied to the Wild Goose Pagoda?
The Biography of the Master of the Three Baskets of Ci'en Temple says Xuanzang set out in 629, crossed Hexi to Guazhou, passed Yumen Pass and Yiwu, and reached Gaochang, where King Qu Wentai asked him to stay and teach for a month. He reached Chang'an in the spring of 645 after seventeen years away. In 652 he proposed a stone pagoda at Ci'en Temple for the scriptures and images he had brought back, and brick was used instead.
Source: Biography of the Master of the Three Baskets of Ci'en Temple; Xu Gaoseng zhuan; Xinhua 2023
Which intangible heritage entries belong to the road and its silk?
Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang was inscribed in 2008 on UNESCO's Representative List, having been proclaimed in 2005. Manas, an epic tradition of Xinjiang, and Hua'er, a song tradition of Gansu and Qinghai, were inscribed in 2009. Meshrep went on the Urgent Safeguarding List in 2010. Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China, listed in 2009, is based in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Sichuan, not on the road.
Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage lists
Does this page cover the Maritime Silk Road?
No. It covers the overland routes through China. The maritime side is represented on the World Heritage list by Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, number 1561, inscribed in 2021 with 16 components and placed by UNESCO in the 10th to 14th centuries.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, property 1561
