The Southern Silk Road generally refers to the passages connecting Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and other southern regions of China in different periods in history, including the famous Shushendu Road and the ancient tea-horse road. It is difficult to study how to open the early passage of the Southern Silk Road.
According to Harvey's History of Myanmar and Hall's History of Southeast Asia, from the 2nd century BC, China's silk arrived in Afghanistan from Myanmar via India, as far as Europe. Historical Records Biography of Southwest Yi Seventy Biographies: In the sixth year of Jianyuan (BC 135), Tang Meng went to South Vietnam; Worship for the corps commander Tong Yelang and Southwest Yi.
The eastern route of the Southern Silk Road is Yaoyou Road, or Yelang Road, from Sichuan to the South China Sea via Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong. According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Tang Meng was worshipped as a corps commander and the Lord of Yelang.
The central line of the Southern Silk Road is the traffic line from Sichuan to Vietnam and Indochina Peninsula via Yunnan, and historical documents record it as "Butou Road" and "Jinsang Road".
The western route of the Southern Silk Road is the "Shu Shen Du Road" from Chengdu, Sichuan via Yunnan to Myanmar and India, and then to Central Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean in Europe, which is the western route of the Southern Silk Road.
The South Silk Road stretches from the Central Plains in the east to India in the west. The cultures of the Central Plains and India communicate with each other through this road, and have a far-reaching impact on the culture of the southwest region through this road. The cultural characteristics of this road are as follows.
The Southern Silk Road is a folk commercial road, which was founded, prospered and spread by businessmen and finally abandoned. Strong commercial characteristics can be confirmed from several aspects.
First of all, merchants and caravans opened up ancient roads, and commodities from all over the country circulated on them. Through the "ancient road", iron, cloth and silver from Bashu in Qin and Han Dynasties, copper from Du Qiong were sold to Nanzhong, and horses and boys from Nanzhong were sold to the mainland.
During Nanzhao period in Tang Dynasty, the trade on the ancient road became more and more frequent, and the river in Nanzhao (near Dali today) became one of the important trade markets. At that time, the main commodities imported from India and Myanmar to China were felt, cloth, pearls, seashells and amber. China exports goods such as silk, satin, gold and silver.
During the hundreds of years since the opening of Yunnan in the Yuan Dynasty, jewelry, jade, agate and amber in northern Myanmar have become the commodities that mainland businessmen compete for, so the main commodity circulating on the ancient road is jade. In the Ming Dynasty, China exported salt to Myanmar through the ancient road, and Myanmar imported cotton to China.
/kloc-In the middle of the 0/9th century, cotton was the most needed Burmese commodity in China, and raw silk from China was the most needed in Myanmar. Commodities exported through the ancient road include raw silk, brass, realgar, shoes and medicinal materials.
Imported goods include cotton, ivory, bird's nest, velvet antler, jade, amber, precious stones, precious snake mosquito stones and so on. Commodities from all over the world first circulated on the ancient road, and the ancient road also existed mainly because of commerce and trade, becoming the carrier of commodities and giving play to its function of circulating commodities.
Secondly, there are many businessmen around the ancient road. There are many merchants along the ancient road because of the large circulation of goods, continuous flow and profitability.
During the Han and Jin Dynasties, foreign businessmen from China gathered in Yongchang (Baoshan), where many drug dealers and Sichuan craftsmen lived. Some people who were sent here by the Central Plains to be officials can make a fortune here for the tenth time. "Huayang national ambition. "Nanzhongzhi" says: "Xiyizhou is a treasure land, the tenth richest."
Then he said, "Yongchang County belongs to eight counties, with 60,000 households, and it goes to Luo6,900 Li. At the southwest end of Ningzhou, there are people from Fujian, Pu, Yu, Liao, Yue, Naked Pu and Poison. " The poisoned people are Indians, and those who have a good impression on Myanmar are probably the earliest Indian-Burmese business expatriates at that time.
Third, commerce and trade have reached a certain scale, and shopping malls along the way are prosperous. 1980, seashells were unearthed in the ancient tomb excavated at Aofeng Mountain in Jianchuan by Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, dating from the mid-Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period. 1979, Kunming Cultural Relics Management Committee unearthed more than 500 seashells 1500 in the middle of the Warring States Period at the base of Tian Zi Temple in Chenggong.
After liberation, more than 1.230 kilograms of shellfish were unearthed from the ancient tombs of Shizhai Mountain in Jinning and Lijiashan Mountain in Jiangchuan, accounting for more than 247,000 pieces. More than 1000 pieces of Chinese five baht were also unearthed in Tengchong Baofeng Carya Orchard.
Looking at the unearthed coins, it is not difficult to see that the places where ancient coins were found are often related to business ethics. The closer to the ancient road, the more coins unearthed, and the farther away from the ancient road, the less found.
These shells were imported from the western Pacific region of India and have been used as currency for more than 2000 years from the Warring States to the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. It is not only a witness to the exchanges between ethnic groups along the ancient road and overseas ethnic groups, but also a witness to the prosperity of trade along the ancient road.
The exchange of goods is bound to be accompanied by cultural exchanges, which will promote economic and cultural development and promote the formation and expansion of ancient towns. For example, Dali is one of the earliest cultural cradles in Yunnan. In the 4th century BC, a caravan from Sichuan drove horses and chariots through here.
In the 8th century, Nanzhao was established, and Dali became not only the political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan, but also the largest port for the solemn dynasty of the Central Plains to go south to Indo-China Peninsula and even European countries, the largest distribution center for materials exchange between China and China, India and Myanmar, and the largest trade hub of the Southern Silk Road. The commercial characteristics of the ancient road made it the economic and cultural center of southwest China in ancient times.
For example, Shu State in western Sichuan, Ba State in eastern Sichuan, Yelang State in northwest Guizhou, Dian State with Dianchi Lake as the center, Nanzhao State with Dali as its capital, etc. They are all built on the main road of the Southern Silk Road, forming a network of cities and towns along the direction of the ancient road, and spreading around with this as the center, forming a relatively developed regional economy. ?
"Shu Shen Du Road" consists of Lingguan Road, Wuchi Road Road and Yongchang Road. Lingguan Road has a long history and is very dangerous. Starting from Shu State, you will pass through Lingguan, Jean, Du, Lugu, Dengxiangyingbao, Yanyuan, Qingling, Lingguan, and arrive at the peak.
The unique mode of transportation is another regional feature of the ancient road. Facing the characteristics of rivers flowing and overlapping mountains in Hengduan mountain area in southwest China, the ancestors of all ethnic groups in southwest China created unique means of transportation: bridges, plank roads and caravans. "Ruxiang Bridge" is a cable bridge created by local Ruxiang people across the natural moat. Volume 32 of Yuan Dynasty: "Anyone who talks nonsense will build a rattan bridge on the river."
At first, it was made of locally produced rattan and twisted rattan, tied to both sides of the valley, and people and animals slid to the other side with the help of wooden chutes, leading to the future. The "plank road" has mounds of earth and stones. Mounds are built in primitive dense forests and mountains, paved with wood and mixed with earth and stone. Stone piles are made by drilling holes in the cliff, inserting wooden beams into the holes and spreading wooden boards.
Bridges and plank roads are traffic miracles created by ethnic minorities in southwest plateau with their unique talent and courage in this world restricted by natural environment. If the Northern Silk Road was opened by desert canoes, then the Southern Silk Road was opened by mountain canoes.
Horses are important materials for trade between the southwest of China and the mainland, and are also the most common and effective means of transportation and commerce on the flagstone road. On the rugged mountain road, there are endless caravans all year round, which bring commodities, culture, friendship and unique caravan culture.
Nationality is another embodiment of the regional characteristics of the ancient road. "Its price is like gold", with thick texture, smooth surface and luster. It has been unprecedented in China culture, especially in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with a larger scale and high quality, which made it famous all over the world and became a must in the East. It is through this commodity that westerners begin to understand China and oriental civilization.
The bronze drum is the most representative bronze culture in the Asia-Pacific region, which originated from Chuxiong in western Yunnan. According to the determination of the bronze drum unearthed from Wanjiaba, its age is equivalent to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. This is the oldest bronze drum in the world. Since its birth, it has entered all human activities, regardless of festivals, exploration, sowing and harvesting, people always take bronze drums as companions.
Because of the ancient road, craftsmen and production skills from the native, southwest and even southeast Asia were integrated. In the urban and rural areas of ancient Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, Malaya, Indonesia and other places, it flourished with its own Shan Ye charm and became a local culture with strong national characteristics.
The Southern Silk Road is a link of cultural exchange, connecting the Central Plains and communicating with China and India. It has created conditions for the mutual exchange and integration of Central Plains culture, Southwest culture, Indian culture and Myanmar culture. Chu culture, Bashu culture, bronze culture, and Buddhist culture have precipitated and accumulated in exchanges, forming a rich and unique ancient road culture with * * * * characteristics.
Buddhism was introduced into China, which was very popular on the ancient road, especially in Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake, where the culture was developed, especially in Dali and Song Shida's heyday. "Cangshan Erhai Lake is the Qilu of Buddhism" and "Dali 360 Temple, the bell rang in the middle of the night".
In the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Songnian said in the Biography of Dali: "The people of this state are close to Tianzhu in the west, and their custom is still pagoda law. There is a Buddhist temple at home, and people are not old and strong, so they can't put down a few pearls. Between the age of one, I fasted several and a half times. Before I finished fasting, I would never eat wine like Lao Qin. There are so many temples along the mountain that you can't meditate. "
With the introduction of Buddhism, Yunnan's sculpture and painting art have also been integrated into Buddhist culture. In order to attract more believers, people use primitive painting techniques and carving techniques to show the power of Buddhism and promote it.
So in Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake areas, a number of stone carvings with high artistic level appeared, such as Shi Zhongshan Grottoes in Jianchuan, Cliff Carvings on Jinhua Temple Mountain in Jianchuan, Cliff Carvings on Midala in Luquan, Cliff Carvings on Jinning, Hawke Grottoes in Anning and Black Line Carvings on Doctor Frog in Liangshan. These grotto statues with Buddhist culture have undoubtedly added a wonderful flower to the southwest.
The rest, such as the Indian custom of splashing water on each other, praying for blessings and worshipping houses, were introduced to Yunnan through ancient roads, which became the source of the Dai water-splashing festival and the wider custom of offering columns among ethnic groups in southwest China.
The Central Plains culture took root and sprouted along the ancient road, like a tripod. As we all know, it is a representative musical instrument of Central Plains culture, mostly made of copper. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the ancients living in Wei County also used Ding, which was different from that in the Central Plains, mostly pottery.
The rich dragon culture in the Central Plains is a symbol of the Chinese nation. According to Huayang records, before the sinicization, the Ailao Yi people tattooed dragons on their bodies, even in ancient Indian rock paintings, and some ethnic groups in Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos also had the custom of tattooing dragons.