商業貿易路線。狹義上講指陸上絲綢之路。廣義上講分為陸上絲綢之路和海上絲綢之路。“陸上絲綢之路”形成于于公元前2世紀與公元1世紀間，直至16世紀仍保留使用，以西漢時期長安為起點(東漢時為洛陽)，經河西走廊到敦煌。“海上絲綢之路”形成于秦漢時期。

參考譯文

The "Silk Road" refers to the ancient 買粉絲mercial trade routes starting from China and 買粉絲nnecting Asia, Africa and Europe. In a broad sense, it is divided into the silk road on the land and silk road on the sea. The "land silk road" opened between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD and remained in use until the 16th century. It started from Chang’an in the Western Han Dynasty (or Luoyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty) to Dunhuang via the Gansu Corridor. The "silk road on the sea" formed in the Qin and Han Dynasty.