丝绸之路近来成了一个热门的话题。所谓丝绸之路,指的是古代起始于中国,向西延伸,连接中亚、西亚、欧洲,乃至于东非的商路。这些商路,最早主要是陆路,后来也包括海路,于是又被分别称为陆上丝绸之路和海上丝绸之路。不过,把这些商路统称为丝绸之路,其实很晚。19世纪70年代,德国的地理学家李希霍芬(Ferdinand von Richthofen)最早提出“丝绸之路”一名。这个名称一经提出,就被 The Silk Road has recently become a hot topic. The so-called Silk Road refers to the ancient business routes that originated in China, extended westward, connecting Central Asia, West Asia, Europe and even East Africa. These commercial routes, the earliest mainly land road, later also include the sea, so they are also known as the land on the Silk Road and sea Silk Road. However, it is actually too late to refer to these commercial routes as the Silk Road. In the 1870s, German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen first proposed “Silk Road”. Once this name is proposed, it is