ABSTRACT
The complicated landforms and climatic conditions limited the depth, breadth, and frequency of exchanges between the centres of ancient civilisation, especially exchanges between China and other centres of civilisation. During the ancient Greek period in the first century AD, these land-based trade routes between China and Central Asia, Western Asia, and even Europe and Africa had already appeared in the Western literatures. Silk fabrics in ancient China were introduced to Europe very early. Europe used to call China with the name of the country that originated from the word “silk”. However, some descriptions were close to the harsh climatic conditions and the social environment where banditries and robberies were rampant on the Silk Road from Central Asia to the Central Plains of China. Among the orientalists in the nineteenth century, the British geographer Henry Yule focused his study on the history of communications between China and the West.
