It was not just goods that travelled along the Silk Road. Ideas were on the move, too. As communities and peoples came into contact with each other, culture, religious beliefs and technical developments were all soon passed on.

Religion and Philosophies

Not surprisingly, it was the proselytizing religions that travelled furthest. Flowing east were the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Persian religious traditions such as Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism found audiences, too. South Asian religions, including Buddhism and some aspects of Hindusim, cut off from China by the Tibetan plateau, passed east along the Silk Road, and reflected the Far East by sea. In the other direction, Daosim and Confucianism made no real progress west along the Silk Road, except when practiced by Chinese migrants – officials, troops and settlers – in the western regions. Daoism is a philosophical tradition based on more abstract concepts such as the Flow of the Universe, and Confucianism approximates more closely to a moral, ethical and philosophical social system. Neither offered a personal path to salvation in the way that Buddhism, Christianity and Islam did. Yet, perhaps because of the dominant cultural role played by China in East Asia, Daoism and Confucianism did spread east and south from the Middle Kingdom to the kingdoms of Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

Zoroastrianism

This is a late 19th-century term for the religion based on the teachings of the Persian prophet Zoroaster, who was active around the 5th century BC. Also known as Mazdaism, it acknowledged one universal and transcendental god called Ahura Mada. The best-known oroastrian symbol is fire, which is kept burning in Zoroastrian temples and represents radiance and purity. For this reason Zoroastrians have often been styled fire worshippers by proponents of other religions. At one time, this monotheistic belief dominated much of the greater Iranian world and had a significant impact on both Greek and Roman thought. Under the Sassanids, Zoroastrianism spread north to the Silk Road to Xinjiang and China. Zoroastrianism in the East centered on communities of Sogdian traders. Remains of their temples have been found in the Tarim Basin, notably at Dandan Uilik, and further to the east at Dunhuang, Kaifeng and Zhenjiang in China. Significantly, there were at least four Zoroasterian temples in Tang Dynasty Chang'an (Now Xian).

Silk Road is great. There are many ideas spread from this holy project. It aroused influenced impact to the modern life and religion ideas.