# The Silk Road and Vietnam: How Silk Connected East and West

Published 4 November 2026 by Minh Sang Silk · [Đọc bằng tiếng Việt](https://minhsangsilk.com/con-duong-to-lua/index.md)

The Silk Road was never a single road. It was a web of caravan tracks and sea lanes that, for more than 1,500 years, carried silk, spices, ideas and religions between China and the Mediterranean. Vietnam sat on its maritime branch.

| | |
|---|---|
| Name | "Silk Road" (Seidenstraße), coined by geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877 |
| Active | About the 2nd century BCE to the 15th century CE |
| Overland | From Chang'an (today's Xi'an) across Central Asia and Persia to the Mediterranean |
| By sea | From southern China through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea |
| Goods | Silk, spices, ceramics, glass, horses, precious metals, paper |
| UNESCO | Chang'an–Tianshan corridor inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014 |
| Vietnam | Maritime routes: Óc Eo (Mekong Delta), Rinan (central Vietnam), Hội An |

## What was the Silk Road?

"Silk Road" is a modern name for very old routes. Goods passed from hand to hand through oasis towns, ports and markets. Silk gave the network its name because it was light, durable and valuable for its weight; in parts of Central Asia, bolts of silk were used as currency. Historians now often say *Silk Roads*, plural, to include the sea routes from southern China along the coast of today's Vietnam, through the Strait of Malacca and across the Indian Ocean.

## How the routes opened

Around 138 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han sent the envoy Zhang Qian west; his journeys, ending around 126 BCE, opened regular contact with Central Asia. Within two centuries Chinese silk reached Rome, where Pliny the Elder complained about the money flowing east for luxuries.

## Silk-making: the secret that travelled

China guarded sericulture for centuries. It spread to Korea, Japan and Khotan, and around 552 CE, according to Procopius, monks smuggled silkworm eggs to Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople. Silk industries later grew in the Islamic world, Italy and France.

## The maritime Silk Road and Vietnam

- **Óc Eo (1st–7th century CE):** a Funan port in today's An Giang. Louis Malleret's 1944 excavations found Roman gold medallions of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, Indian seals and Chinese bronze mirrors.
- **Rinan (166 CE):** the *Book of the Later Han* records a mission from "Andun, king of Da Qin" (usually identified with Marcus Aurelius) arriving through Rinan, a Han commandery in today's central Vietnam.
- **Hội An (15th–19th century):** the main port of Đàng Trong, visited by Chinese, Japanese and European merchants for silk, sugar, ceramics and aromatic woods; Japanese red-seal ships bought silk there in the early 17th century. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.

## Why the Silk Road ended

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 is the symbolic end date. In practice, after Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498, European ships traded with Asia directly, and silk was by then made in many countries.

## Silk in Vietnam today

Vietnamese silk has roots in weaving villages such as Vạn Phúc (Hà Nội), Nha Xá (Hà Nam) and Mã Châu (Quảng Nam). In the 20th century the centre of sericulture moved to the Lâm Đồng highlands around Bảo Lộc, today the heart of Vietnamese sericulture. Minh Sang Silk has supplied silk yarn and raw and woven silk fabric from Bảo Lộc since 2009. Inquiries: https://minhsangsilk.com/#inquire

## Questions about the Silk Road

### What was the Silk Road?
A network of overland caravan routes and sea lanes linking China with Central Asia, India, Persia, Arabia and the Mediterranean from about the 2nd century BCE to the 15th century CE.

### Who named the Silk Road?
Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877 (Seidenstraße).

### Was Vietnam part of the Silk Road?
Yes, through the maritime Silk Road: Óc Eo, Rinan (166 CE) and Hội An.

### How did silk-making spread outside China?
Slowly, to Korea, Japan and Khotan; around 552 CE monks smuggled silkworm eggs to Byzantium.

### Why did the Silk Road decline?
Direct European sea trade with Asia after 1498, and silk production in many countries.

### Where is silk produced in Vietnam today?
Mainly in the Lâm Đồng highlands around Bảo Lộc; traditional villages such as Vạn Phúc, Nha Xá and Mã Châu still weave silk.

## Sources

- UNESCO, Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1442/
- UNESCO, Hoi An Ancient Town, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/948/
- Fan Ye, *Book of the Later Han*, chapter 88, "Western Regions"
- Procopius, *History of the Wars*, book VIII
- Louis Malleret, *L'Archéologie du delta du Mékong* (1959–1963)