실크로드 (해양로, 북로, 중앙로, 남로, 기타)

MARITIME AND OVERLAND PASSAGES BETWEEN ASIA AND THE WEST, CA. 1430–1700

Western entry into Asia in about 1500 was preceded by centuries of contact over the Indian Ocean’s maritime passage and central Asia’s Silk Road, a series of highways that connected China to Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) and Europe.

In the early fifteenth century, Chinese fleets commanded by General Zheng sailed to Africa and Arabia, but Chinese merchants focused their activities on the sea routes connecting China to Southeast Asia and India. By the early sixteenth century, the Portuguese and the Spanish had established sea routes to Asia by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and through the Indian Ocean.

출처 : The Modern World - by Sarolta Takács, Ph.D. (2008) - Asia and the Pacific 편 44page