All roads lead to Empress Xi Lingshi & Bombyx Mori

Dr. Asher Hasan is guest blogging for the World Economic Forum. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NAYA JEEVAN a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to providing low-income families throughout the emerging world with affordable access to quality, healthcare. 

As I look further East towards Dalian, I feel somewhat like a modern day Marco Polo, leaving my western-oriented ‘not-so-comfort zone-these-days’ and entering the ‘Beta zone’ of exploration, discovery and experimentation. While preparing for this trip, I thought it would help if I delved into history and searched for clues along the Silk Road that would inform the rapid ascendance of China and the reorientation of the global economy. Perhaps a deeper dive into history would give me context for the themes and issues being tackled at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions this week.  Here is what I discovered along this fabled path:

As many of you are aware, the Silk Road is famous for intrepid souls who criss-crossed 5000 miles of rugged, unforgivable terrain – from the harsh deserts of Taklamakan in Xinjiang to the majestic mountains of the Pamirs cutting across the Central Asia steppes to reach the Eastern Mediterranean. For me their pioneer, outward-looking spirit is embodied in our modern day WEF social entrepreneurs and Young Global Leaders. But what exactly were the strategies these bravehearts used to achieve success? Here is some food for thought:

Embracing Disruptive Innovation, the wife of the Yellow Emperor Huang De (2697 BC – 2598BC) who was affectionately known as the Lady of the Silkworms made the game-changing discovery of silk. Her astute observation of the effects of hot liquid on a cocoon that had accidentally fallen from a Mulberry tree into her cup of tea[1] was no less significant than the apple that landed on Isaac Newton’s head.  The silkworm (Bombyx Mori) was to change the course of our history.

Pursuing New Frontiers of Growth, the pioneer Zhang Qian, Emperor Wu Du’s envoy went beyond the imposing Tianshan mountain frontier in 119 BC, traversing the Central Asian steppes, crossing the mighty Pamir massifs, ultimately connecting the eastern and western segments of Silk route. While the Han dynasty could have easily rested on its laurels and settled for a large, domestic market, it was the Emperor’s global vision that prompted Zhang Qian to look beyond his land to untapped markets.

Shaping New Industry Models & Policies, Venetian and Genoese merchants took to the seas to circumvent Central Asian middlemen and create sea links between Far East Asia and Europe during the 13^th and 14^th centuries. Their maritime circumnavigation model was subsequently improved upon by Portuguese (e.g. Magellan) and Spanish (e.g. Columbus) sailors who discovered transatlantic and Pacific routes to the Far East, bypassing the increasingly treacherous, pirate-infested Mediterranean/Red Sea. 

Sustaining a Creative & Entrepreneurial Culture is hard. The Silk Route is testament to a spectacular obituary of ancient empires – Persepolis, Nineveh, Babylon, Dura Europos, Palmyra and Nicaea to name just a few. These were one once great civilizations that failed to adapt to a rapidly changing world around them. Western European nations should pay particularly close attention to this.

From its eastern origin (Xi’an) to its western terminus (Istanbul), the Silk Route connected traders, merchants, mystics, saints and pilgrims across five millenia. In their wake, they left global trade links that are now being rejuvenated in the 21^st century, especially in oil, gas and mineral deposits (copper, etc). It is therefore NO coincidence that some of the fastest growing economies in 2011 and beyond lie along the Silk Route: China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. It is time to travel on this road once again. All aboard!