... agree on exactly what city hewas referring to, they tend to agree that the people producing the silk were Chinese, thusmaking this one of the earliest references to the Chinese in Western accounts.Silk ... report. The Chinese began to send caravans carry-ing goods overland to the west, in this wayavoiding the circuitous sea route throughsoutheast Asia and then the middlemen in India. Soon there developed ... flourishing in easternChina.With the end of the Han dynasty in A.D.220, China entered into a long period ofunrest. Along the Silk Road, trading trafficdeclined somewhat because the Chinese...