brief introduction
The Silk Road is a historically trans-Eurasian trade transportation line, which historically promoted friendly exchanges between Europe, Asia, Africa and China. China is the hometown of silk. In the trade through this route, silk is the most representative commodity exported by China. /kloc-In the second half of the 9th century, German geographer Richthofen called this land transportation route "Silk Road". Since then, historians at home and abroad have agreed with this statement, which is still in use today. After Zhang Qian passed through the western regions, it officially opened the land passage from China to Europe and Africa. This road starts from Chang 'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, passes through the Hexi Corridor, and then divides into two routes: one starts from Yangguan, passes through Shanshan, goes west along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain, passes through shache, goes west through Qingji, leaves Dayuejia, goes to rest, goes west through the plough (jiān, now Alexandria, Egypt, annexed by the Roman Empire in 30 BC), or enters the body from the south of Da Yue. The other one goes out of Yumenguan, passes through the former Cheshi country, goes west along the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain, goes out of Shule, crosses Qingji in the west, crosses Daguan Bay, and reaches Kangju and Chae Yeon (nomadic in the northwest of Kangju in the Western Han Dynasty, that is, the grassland in the North Caspian Sea, and belongs to Kangju in the Eastern Han Dynasty). The Silk Road in a broad sense refers to the long-distance commercial, trade and cultural exchange routes that have been formed since ancient times and spread all over Eurasia, even including North Africa and East Africa. In addition to the above routes, it also includes the Maritime Silk Road, which was formed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and played a great role in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Southern Silk Road, which appeared at the same time as the Northwest Silk Road and replaced the Northwest Silk Road as a communication channel on the road at the end of Yuan Dynasty. The term "Silk Road" originated in China and was published by German geographer Ferdinand von richthofen in 1877, sometimes referred to as the Silk Road for short. Although the Silk Road is the product of the economic and trade development promoted by countries along the route, many people think that Zhang Qian in China has opened a new era of Sino-foreign exchanges twice. And successfully opened the last bead curtain between East and West. Since then, this route has been stepped out of the "national highway", and ambassadors and businessmen from all countries have poured in along the road opened by Zhang Qian. From princes and nobles to beggars and prisoners, they all left footprints on this road. This east-west passage closely links the Central Plains and the Western Regions with Arabia and the Persian Gulf. After centuries of continuous efforts, the Silk Road extended westward to the Mediterranean Sea. Broadly speaking, the eastern section of the Silk Road reached South Korea and Japan, and the western section reached France and the Netherlands. Italy and Egypt can also be reached by sea, becoming the road of friendship for economic and cultural exchanges between Asia, Europe and Africa.
routine
▲ The Silk Road can generally be divided into three sections, and each section can be divided into three lines: north, south and north. Eastern section: From Luoyang and Xi 'an to Yumenguan and Yangguan, the route selection of the eastern section should consider the safety and convenience of crossing Liupan Mountain and the Yellow River. The middle section (opened in Han Dynasty): from Yumenguan and Yangguan to Congling. Western section: from the green ridge to the west, through Central Asia and West Asia, until Europe. The following are the names of important cities in various sections of the Silk Road (ancient place names in brackets). The third line starts from Chang 'an, joins Wuwei and Zhangye, and then goes along Hexi Corridor to Dunhuang. Northern Line: Jingchuan, Guyuan and Jingyuan have the shortest routes to Wuwei, but it is not easy to pass water along the way. South Line: From Fengxiang, Tianshui, Longxi, Linxia, Ledu, Xining to Zhangye, but the road is long. Midline: Jingchuan to Pingliang, Huining, Lanzhou to Wuwei, with moderate distance and supply. Xi 'an (Chang 'an): Xumishan Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes, Bingling Temple Grottoes Wuwei (Liangzhou) Zhangye (Ganzhou) Jiuquan (Suzhou) Dunhuang (Shazhou): Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes 10 century, the Northern Song Dynasty government opened a "Qinghai Road" from Tianshui to the western regions, bypassing the territory of Xixia, which became one after the Song Dynasty. The caravan on the Silk Road is located in the middle of Solkuri Basin in Fucheng, Xining, Tianshui. The route of the central region is mainly the western region, which changes with the change of oasis and desert. There are many forks and branches in the middle of the third line, especially the fourth town Anxi (established in 640). South Road (also called Yutian Road): It starts from Yangguan in the east, along the southern edge of Taklimakan Desert, and passes through Ruoqiang (Shanshan), Hotan (Yutian), shache and other places. Jing Congling. Yang Guan Ruoqiang (Shanshan) and Qi Munnia (Jingjue) are one of the 36 Western Regions in the Western Han Dynasty. Hotan (Yutian) Middle Road: It starts from Yumenguan, along the northern edge of Taklimakan Desert, and passes through Lop Nur (Loulan), Turpan (Auto Market, Gaochang), Yanqi (Yuli), Kuqa (Kuqa), Aksu (Gu Mo) and Kashi (Shule) to Fergana Valley (Dawan). Yumenguan Loulan (merged from Shanshan and now belongs to Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang) Turpan (Gaochang): Gaochang Old Town, Yarhar Ancient Town, Baizixi Thousand-Buddha Cave Yanqi (Yuli) Kuche (Qiuci): Qizil Thousand-Buddha Cave, Kumutula Thousand-Buddha Cave Aksu (Gu Mo) Kashi (Shule) North Hami, and the waterway is rich in Hami melon Urumqi. From the jungle west to Europe, it is the western section of the Silk Road, and its north, south and middle lines are connected with the middle line respectively. The route from Caspian Sea to Constantinople was opened in the middle of Tang Dynasty. Northern line: along the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea and the northern shore of the Black Sea, Itil passes through broken leaves, Virote, astrakhan and other places to Istanbul (Constantinople). Urumqi Almaty (Kazakhstan) dzhambul (Virote, now Kazakhstan) tokmak (Broken Leaf, now Kyrgyzstan) Salai (Russia) Istanbul, Sark (Constantinople, now Turkey) Central Line: Starting from Kashgar, it joins the southern line via Fergana Valley, Samarkand, Bukhara and Mashhad (Iran). Kashgar or Peshawar, Kashgar: Khala Horin Avenue Kabul Bamiyan: The famous Bamiyan Buddha was destroyed by the Taliban in 200 1 year. South Line: Starting from Pamirs, you can enter Pakistan and India from Kashmir, and you can also travel to Europe from Peshawar, Kabul, Mashhad, Baghdad and Damascus. Mashhad (Iran) Sabze Valh Hecatompylos (Fandou and Xie) may be located between Iranda Mugan and Shahrud today. ) Tehran Hamadan Kerman sahan Bakubai (Iraq) Baghdad Abu Hareb Fallujah: Follow the Euphrates River to Aleppo. Ramadi Alibo (Syrian) Damascus adana (Turkish) konya Antioch bursa Constantinople (Istanbul). The route is simple: Chang 'an passes through Hexi Corridor (now Xinjiang), leads to Central Asia (rest in ancient Persia), West Asia, and reaches Europe (Daqin ancient Rome).
Edit the development of this section of the overland Silk Road.
Ancient times before 1 century BC
As early as ancient times, although mankind faced unimaginable natural and dangerous challenges, things in Eurasia were not as isolated as many people imagined. On the grasslands in the northern part of the Nile, the Two Rivers, the Indus and the Yellow River basins, there is a grassland road, which is generally connected by many discontinuous small-scale trade routes. This has been confirmed by many archaeological discoveries along the way. This road is the prototype of the earliest Silk Road. In the early Silk Road, silk was not the main trade material. Around the 0/5th century BC/KLOC-,businessmen from China had already entered and exited the edge of Taklimakan Desert, bought Hetian jade stone produced in present Xinjiang, sold seashells and other coastal specialties, and conducted small-scale trade with Central Asia. Thoroughbred horses and other animals suitable for long-distance transportation are also used by people, making large-scale trade and cultural exchanges possible. For example, the dromedary camel often used in Arabia is thirsty, drought-tolerant and hungry. It was used for commercial transportation in 1 1 century BC. It is said that nomadic people scattered in Eurasia began to raise horses around 4 1 century BC. Camels with two humps will soon be used for business travel. In addition, the hinterland of Eurasia is a vast grassland and fertile land, which can be used for nomadic people and livestock transported by caravans to settle down anytime and anywhere, and to supplement water, food and fuel nearby. In this way, a caravan, caravan or army can travel long distances without making the great powers along the way notice their existence or arouse hostility. The initial development of nephrite in Xinjiang was discovered in the archaeological study of the spouse's tomb of Shang Emperor Wu Ding. This shows that at least in13rd century BC, China began to do business with the western regions and even beyond. According to Guo Pu's biography of Mu, in 963 AD, he took silk, gold and silver and other valuables west to the Caspian Sea and brought Hetian jade back to China. Although the truth of this statement is still inconclusive, some silk products from this period have indeed been unearthed in archaeology along the Silk Road. During the Warring States Period in China, there were considerable foreign economic exchanges in the Central Plains. A dialogue between Su Li and Zhao Haoqi was recorded in Historical Records Zhao Shijia: "If horses and dogs don't go east, the jade in Kunshan won't come out, and the three treasures won't belong to the king." Threatening Zhao Huiwen with the wealth obtained by Zhao Guo through foreign trade illustrates this point from the side: because people believe that "the jade of Kunshan" is nephrite produced at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, and Hu Gou is a dog breed produced in Central Asia and West Asia.
5th century BC
With the opening of the Hexi Corridor around the 5th century BC, the commercial exchanges between China and the West were promoted, and Shanshan, Qiuci and other western countries also gradually appeared during this period. At that time, "Seres" had appeared in European countries, which originated from the Greek word "Si" and evolved from the sound of "Si" in Chinese. )-China's name. This small-scale trade exchange shows that before the Han Dynasty, there had been long-term trade exchanges between the East and the West in various ways. Lapis lazuli is one of the important commodities on the early Silk Road, and it is also an important gem now. Not only silk, but also another famous commodity on the Silk Road, lapis lazuli from Badak Mountain in Afghanistan began to appear in China, India and Egypt as early as 3rd/kloc-0th century BC, which means that the commercial trade in Central Asia was earlier than the birth of some countries in this region. About 1000 years later, lapis lazuli trade began to spread to Harappa, India. Later, it became one of the seven treasures of Buddhism. As one of the earliest civilizations in the world, many archaeological discoveries prove that Egyptians began to trade in North Africa, the Mediterranean and West Asia a long time ago. It is believed that the Egyptians had built ships in the14th century. In Egypt, lapis lazuli, which was produced in Afghanistan more than 5,000 years ago, was found, indicating that Egyptians had begun to trade on a certain scale along the road then known as the Silk Road. Some people think that silk fragments were found around 1070, which means that Egypt may have had indirect trade with China at least before 1070. However, shortly thereafter, the status of silk in Egypt plummeted and disappeared in the history books for a long time. At the same time, it is a controversial topic whether these pre 1 1 century silks are silk with sericulture technology in China or "wild silks" from the Mediterranean coast or the Middle East. Under the rule of Darius I, the Achaemenid emperor who unified Babylon and Persia (52 1 to 485 BC), Persia, which was expanding everywhere, established regional power in Central Asia and West Asia. Historical records show that the emperor loved the fresh fish produced in the Aegean Sea and the water in his hometown of Parthia. For this reason, Darius established a "Persian Imperial Road" connecting Susa, the capital of the rest empire (located in the lower reaches of the Tigris River) and Buddhist temples in Asia Minor and all over the country. This imperial road, which was only used by the royal family, set up post stations at various sections along the way. Everything the royal family needed was sent to the capital in the first time through this road, and then the emperor's instructions spread all over Persia. According to the efficiency of the imperial road, it takes only 9 days for a person to send an express mail to Darius to the capital, while the same distance takes 3 months for ordinary people. On the one hand, the use of such an ancient national highway across the country has strengthened the central government's rule over various places, on the other hand, it has directly promoted the commercial activities in this area. After Alexander established a great empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa, his successor Ptolemy I Soter finally took control of Egypt in the first 323 years. The Greeks began to actively promote the trade activities between Asia Minor, India and East Africa through the ports under the jurisdiction of Greece. On land, the Greeks were also very active in the trade field. The prosperity of Eurasian economy and trade in this period was not only the achievement of the Greeks, but also the Arabs in Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia, especially Nabatius (106 was destroyed by the Roman Empire) played an important role in the trade in Central Asia. The soldiers on this animal skin mural may be Greeks, but some people think that they are soldiers from the western regions who appeared after the influence of Greek culture. It is speculated that the painting date is from the 3rd century to the 2nd century. The first step of the Greeks was to use the expansion of the empire in Central Asia and even the East to open up and control the overland Silk Road between East and West. The eastern border of the empire may have reached Dayuan State (now Fergana, Kyrgyzstan)-now the western part of Xinjiang Province, China. Today, people have discovered Kuzhan City, which was established by Alexander the Great 329 years ago (the Greek people called it "the easternmost Alexandria", the farthest point of Alexander's eastward expedition). For the next 300 years, the Greeks maintained the rule of this huge empire in Asia. Seleuci General Oti Dehms became independent from the Sogdians. He and his son Dmitri (who died in 167 BC) extended their territory to the surrounding Serbian region, Rest and Dawan. Continue to expand westward along Alexander's past road. During the reign of King Oti Dehms (230-200 BC), the territory reached its acme: the land controlled by Daxia not only surpassed repeated negligence, but also had evidence that their reconnaissance team had arrived in Kashgar about 200 years ago, which was the earliest and well-documented activity connecting China and the West. The ancient Greek historian [[en:Strabo| strabo] once commented on this action: "They even extended the territory of their country to Seriese (China) and frini." However, this kind of communication is not exactly equivalent to the prosperous Silk Road in BC 1 century, and it did not last. With the continuous prosperity of nomadic people, there are constant struggles between them and the settled people, and they are also constantly splitting, colliding and merging, making the original cultural and trade exchanges only exist in local areas or between certain areas. However, with the constant counterattack and expansion of the settled nation-States, direct contact often occurs between these countries, such as Alexandria in West Asia and the crusade of Macedonia, the expansion of the rest dynasty and Rome along the coast of Central Asia and the Mediterranean, the rule of Daxia over northern Afghanistan and the Indus Valley, and the westward movement of the Da Yue family, which prompted Zhang Qian to go to the western regions. All these indicate that the elements of large-scale transportation between the above-mentioned areas are already available, and the roads between Hexi Corridor in China and mainland countries are well known to nomadic people. At the same time, along with the small countries in the western region between China and Europe, Central Asia is also at war. There are powerful Huns in the northwest of the Western Regions and the north of China, who control the countries in the Western Regions and fight against the neighboring nationalities and the Central Plains Dynasty in China. Economic and cultural exchanges can only be achieved in relatively stable areas. Therefore, there was no deep understanding between the East and the West at that time, and cultural exchanges were even more isolated from each other. Even the trade exchanges that existed in ancient times often turned into legends and myths and remained in the hearts of people in the East and the West.
Zhang Qian's Journey to the West from 1 century BC to the 7th century BC.
Before the 2nd century, the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty in China became stronger and stronger after the rule of Wenjing. Liu Che, the fourth emperor of the Han Dynasty, intended to unite with the western countries in order to attack the Huns, so he sent Zhang Qian to see Da Yue who was expelled from his native land by Modu Hayao. In the second year of Jianyuan (BC 139), Zhang Qian set out from Chang 'an with more than 100 followers and traveled westward day and night. Zhang Qian and his party were captured by Huns on the way and placed under house arrest for more than ten years. After they escaped, they went through hardships and continued westward, reaching Dawanguo, Da Yue and Daxia successively. In the summer market, Zhang Mo saw the felt of Dayue family, Haixi cloth of Qin State, especially Deng of Han Dynasty and Shu cloth of Sichuan. He deduced from this that there are antidote and summer-heat relieving methods in Shu. Before 126, Zhang Qian returned to Chang 'an after many twists and turns. When he set out, only Zhang Qian and a famous father were left. History books call Zhang Qian's first westward journey "hollowing out", which is an unprecedented adventure. This is the first time in history that the China government has sent a mission to the western region. Before 1 19, Zhang Qian was a corps commander and went to the western regions for the second time. Four years later, he and his envoys arrived in Wusunguo, Dawan, Kangju, Da Yue, Daxia, Rest in Peace, Body Poison and other countries. Since Zhang Qian made his first mission to the Western Regions and reported the details of the Western Regions to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the purpose of controlling the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty has changed from the earliest control of Xiongnu to the strong desire of "spreading Wan Li widely, emphasizing nine translations and eliminating weeds all over the world". In order to promote the communication between the Western Regions and Chang 'an, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recruited a large number of humble businessmen and used the goods rationed by the government to do business in various countries in the Western Regions. Most of these adventurous businessmen became wealthy businessmen, which attracted more people to engage in trade activities on the Silk Road, greatly promoted the material and cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the western regions, and at the same time, the Han Dynasty made rich profits in collecting tariffs. Considering the constant harassment of Huns and the rampant bandits along the Silk Road, and strengthening the control over the Western Regions, Xuan Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, established the Western Regions Duhu House in the second year (60 BC), which was directly under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty. Marked by the establishment of officials in the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, the Silk Road, which connected the East and the West, began to enter a prosperous era. After the Romans conquered Egypt in 30 BC, taking Zhang Qian's first mission to western countries as an opportunity, China in the Far East devoted itself to expanding westward, and developed rapidly among India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, China, the Middle East, Africa and Europe through the exchange and trade along the Silk Road. Countless novel goods, technologies and ideas come from various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Trade exchanges between the mainland have become regular and orderly. The Romans soon joined this trade route. From the 1 century, the Romans began to be fascinated by the China silk obtained from the Parthians-although the Romans at that time thought that the silk was picked from trees. "Seles people (China people) are famous for getting this kind of woolen goods from their Woods. They soaked the silk picked from the tree in water, and then combed off the white leaves one by one. The production of (silk) requires so much labor, and they come from the other side of the globe, which makes it possible for Roman girls to show off in mainland streets in translucent silk clothes. " At that time, silk became the object of Roman fanaticism. In the ancient Roman market, the price of silk rose to the sky-high price of about 12 gold per pound. Causing a large outflow of gold from the Roman Empire. This forced the Senate to make laws prohibiting people from wearing silk clothes on the grounds that silk fabrics were considered immoral except for the outflow of gold. "The silk clothes I see can also be called clothes if their materials can't cover people's bodies and make them look solemn." ..... Girls don't notice their wild behavior, so that adults can see her body through her thin silk clothes, and husbands, relatives and friends don't know more about women's bodies than those foreigners. "Historical records recorded Cleopatra, who was also a silk lover. It is not only the Romans who are interested in magical things from the East. Cleopatra, the famous Cleopatra in Egyptian history, was also recorded as wearing a silk coat to meet the envoys. She loved silk products. 1997, after re-establishing the dominance of the Han Dynasty in Central Asia, Ban Chao, a general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, sent Gan Ying to Tiaozhi (probably today's Antioch) with a large amount of silk goods, while the southern part of Antioch was occupied by Egypt and rested in peace. Therefore, the earliest official exchange between China and Egypt should be in this period. The official communication between China and other big countries seems to be more than that. According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Roman envoys came to China through the Silk Road in A.D. 166 and set up an embassy in China. However, after China entered the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the increasing domestic troubles and foreign invasion, the government after Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty gave up its control over the western regions, resulting in constant internal disputes in the western regions. The continuous war between the late history and the Huns made it more difficult for trade routes to enter and leave Taklimakan. At that time, the China government often closed Yumen Pass to prevent the unrest in the western regions from spreading to China. These factors eventually led to the semi-open and semi-stop state of traffic on the northern and southern Tianshan roads in the eastern section of the Silk Road.
The second prosperity was from the 7th century to12nd century.