BuddhismOrder Description
4). To what degree did either Buddhism provide a basis for cultural exchange and trade along the Silk Road? Please At least 5 formal Academic references, no online sources allow unless it is a proper Academic journal.
The question asks you to view the believers’ religiosity and the active spread of religious beliefs as stimulating cultural exchange and facilitating commercial activities.
Sources

T.H. Barrett, “The religious meaning of Buddhist sculpture in its cultural setting: the Buddha images of Qingzhou in the light of recent scholarship”. Buddhist Studies Review 22, 2005: 44-69.
Tamara Talbot Rice, Ancient Arts of Central Asia. London: Thames & Hudson 1965.
Richard Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road. New York: St Martins Press 1999.
Susan Whitfield (ed.), The Silk Road. Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Hong Kong: Serindia Publications 2004.

Helen Wang, “How much for a camel? A New Understanding of Money on the Silk Road before AD 800”, in S. Whitfield (ed.), The Silk Road. Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Hong Kong: Serindia Publications 2004: 24-33.
Susan Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press 1999: 27-54.