Silk Road and Its Spirit

"Silk Road", originally referring to the overland Silk Road, was an important passage connecting the Eastern and Western worlds in ancient times. Traditionally, the Silk Road is considered to have started from the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an (now Xi'an City in Shaanxi Province) or Luoyang (now in Henan Province), traversing the Hexi Corridor in today's Gansu Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, crossing the Pamir Plateau to reach Central Asia, Iran, and other areas, thus linking vast regions of Asia and Europe. In 1877, German geologist and geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen (1833-1905) first coined the term "Silk Road" in his book China, and the concept spread widely thereafter. As a location of strategic importance on the Silk Road, Dunhuang served as the gateway from Central China to the Western Regions, with landmarks such as Xuanquan Posthouse and Yangguan and Yumen passes remaining to testify to the specifics of this ancient trade route.

What is Silk Road Spirit? As a platform for cultural and social interaction, the Silk Road facilitated a convergence and integration of multiple ethnicities, races, religions, and cultures. Throughout a long process of interaction, various countries developed the Silk Road Spirit characterized by "unity and mutual trust, equality and mutual benefits, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and win-win cooperation". This spirit emphasizes that nations with different ethnic backgrounds, beliefs, and cultural heritages can share peace and pursue common development together.

In 2013, China proposed the significant initiative to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road to revive the ancient Silk Road and infuse it with new vitality. In new historical conditions, the aim is to inherit and revive the Silk Road Spirit characterized by peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and win-win collaboration. This initiative seeks to integrate China's development with the development of countries along the route and align the Chinese Dream with the aspirations of people from these nations, thus endowing the ancient Silk Road with fresh significance in the new era.

絲綢之路與絲路精神

絲綢之路，最初指陸上絲綢之路，是古代連接東西方世界的重要通道。傳統意義上的絲綢之路起始于古代中國的長安（今陜西省西安市）或洛陽（今河南省洛陽市），通過甘肅河西走廊和今天的新疆地區，越過帕爾米高原，進入中亞、伊朗等地，連接起亞洲和歐洲的廣大地區。1877年，德國地質地理學家李希霍芬在《中國》一書中第一次將這條道路命名為“絲綢之路”，這一概念從此廣泛傳播。作為絲綢之路的重鎮，敦煌是中國中原通往西域的門戶，其境內的懸泉置、陽關、玉門關都見證著這條道路的真實存在。

絲路精神即絲綢之路精神的簡稱。絲綢之路作為人文社會的交往平臺，多民族、多種族、多宗教、多文化在此交匯融合。在長期交往過程中，各個國家之間形成了“團結互信、平等互利、包容互鑒、合作共贏，不同種族、不同信仰、不同文化背景的國家可以共享和平，共同發展”的絲路精神。

2013年，中國提出共同建設“絲綢之路經濟帶”和“21世紀海上絲綢之路”的重大倡議，古老的絲綢之路被喚醒并煥發出新的生機。在新的歷史條件下，繼承和發揚以和平合作、開放包容、互學互鑒、互利共贏為特征的絲綢之路精神，把中國發展同沿線國家發展結合起來，將中國夢同沿線各國人民的夢想結合起來，賦予古代絲綢之路以全新的時代內涵。