Trade is a vital activity, and the Sogdians played a major role in the trans-Asian trade. The Sogdians were of Iranian heritage and occupied the region of Transoxiana. The Sogdians location enabled them to excel at trading and play an important role along the Silk Road. The Sogdians were important in terms of the transferring of ideas, goods, languages etc. which illustrates the effect trade can have on a peoples. For example the Sogdians learned a number of different languages in order to communicate with consumers along the Silk Road. This illustrates that trade forces people to learn about different cultures and improves communication. Another outcome of trade is migration. In an article by Luo Fen it states that the Sogdians eventually inhabited northwest China. Luo Feng uses Sogdian immigrant burial tombs to show the effect Chinese culture had on the Sogdians. There is still much debate on how much the Sogdians were assimilated into Chinese culture however some of their burial practices reflect a Chinese influence. For example the Sogdians adopted the practice of burying their dead in ground, and “the Chinese Sogdians also followed the Han custom of burying objects such a mingqi, and ceramic vessels that are similar to those in “Chinese” tombs.” (Luo Feng, 243) Therefore the Sogdians changed some of their customs, in this case burial customs, to Chinese customs because of where trade lead them.

The Sogdians were not the only major players along the Silk Road trade route. The Sasanians also participated in the trade along the Silk Road. In Sasanian society different professions are ranked and merchants are among the lower professions. This is interesting because I would assume being a merchant and participating in trade would be considered a worthy profession, because the merchants control goods and goods equal wealth, as well as goods were not in abundance and easy to obtain therefore you would assume a merchant would be more powerful and be a sought after profession.

Travel and Religion

After reading chapters one through four in Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road, it can be concluded that travel is an important activity in terms of religion. These religious missions, that people like Xuanzang went on, had an impact on the religions they were trying to pursue. For example, as Xuanzang was traveling he encountered many kings with whom he formed relationships. Through these relationships, in this case a Buddhist monk and kings, the particular religion has a greater effect because it was supported by powerful rulers such as kings. Travel is extremely important and is a constant theme when speaking of religion. In chapter three, it states according to Xuanzang, two merchants, Trapusa and Bhallika brought Buddhism to Balkh. If not for these two merchants and their travels, who knows when Buddhism would have reached Balkh? Again, this reinforces the importance of travel in terms of religion. Buddhism is not the only religion to benefit from travel, Hinduism, Christianity, etc. have all benefited from travel, and the movement of people like Xuanzang. Travel adds and expands religions and all religions depend on it to spread that particular religion. Therefore using Xuanzang’s journey to India as an example, one can fully comprehend the importance of travel in terms of the spread of a religion and in terms of enhancing and learning more about a particular religion.