Since Zhang Qian's voyage to the West, the commercial exchanges between China and Central Asia and Europe have increased rapidly. Through this avenue that runs through Asia and Europe, China's silk, silk, silk, satin, silk and other silk products are continuously transported to Central Asia and Europe. So the Greeks and Romans called China Ju Lushi and China Ju Lushi. The so-called "Cyrus" means "silk".
At the end of 19, German geologist Richthofen praised the east-west road opened by Zhang Qian as the "Silk Road". German Hurtsen wrote the monograph "Silk Road" on the basis of years of research. Since then, the name of the Silk Road [1] has been recognized by the world. Simply put, the Silk Road is the general name of this east-west traffic route that starts from East Asia, passes through Central Asia and West Asia, and then connects Europe and North Africa. The Silk Road is of great significance in world history. This is the traffic artery of the Eurasian continent, and it is a bridge between China, Indian and Greek cultures. The Silk Road in Xinjiang is divided into three routes: south, middle and north. The Silk Road was a commercial road connecting China and the West in ancient times. It was named after German geographer von Richthofen in 1877. But he was referring to "from BC 1 14 to AD 127, China was in Hejian, between China and India, and this western transportation route was based on silk trade". The so-called western regions generally refer to the vast areas from the west of Guyumen and Guyangguan to the Mediterranean coast. Later, historians collectively referred to the trade routes connecting China and the West as the Silk Road. Because it spans more than 2,000 years and involves land and sea, it can be divided into four periods according to history: Pre-Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, Song and Yuan Dynasties, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there are differences between the Silk Road on land and the Silk Road on the sea according to the route. Due to different geographical trends, the land Silk Road can be divided into "Northern Silk Road" and "Southern Silk Road". The geographical landscape of the Silk Road on land is very different. People divide it into grassland forest Silk Road, alpine valley Silk Road and desert oasis Silk Road. Silk is a representative commodity exported along the ancient trade routes in China. As the main commodity in exchange, it is also another name for the Silk Road, such as Fur Road, Jade Road, Jewelry Road and Spice Road. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties (589 ~ 896), the Silk Road flourished unprecedentedly. Hu gathered tens of thousands of settlers in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and Chang 'an, the western capital. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, wars were frequent and the Silk Road was blocked. Although it was restored later, the scale was far less than before, and the Maritime Silk Road gradually replaced it. The northern land silk road refers to the commercial road from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River to the western regions, including the grassland forest silk road and the desert oasis silk road. The former existed in the pre-Qin period, while the latter flourished in the Han and Tang dynasties. The Silk Road in the desert oasis has lasted for more than 1000 years, and there are many cultural relics along the way, which is the main road of the Silk Road. It is generally believed that its starting point is Chang 'an (now Xi City), but in fact it changed with the changes of political centers in past dynasties. Chang 'an, Mang-Luoyang, Pingcheng (now Datong), Bianliang (now Kaifeng) and Dadu-Yanjing-Beijing successively opened the Silk Road. The Silk Road of Grassland Forest runs from the middle reaches of the Yellow River to the north, crosses the Mongolian Plateau, crosses the South Siberian Plain to Central Asia, and divides into two branches, one of which goes southwest to Persia, turns west, and the other goes west through Lal Mountain and Volga River to reach the Black Sea. The two roads meet in West Asia and reach the Mediterranean countries. The Silk Road in Desert Oasis is the main road of the Northern Silk Road, with a total length of more than 7,000 kilometers, which is divided into three sections: east, middle and west. East side. From Chang 'an to Dunhuang. Relative to the central and western sections, it is relatively stable, but the west of Chang 'an is divided into three lines:
① The northern line runs from Chang 'an along Weihe River to Guo County (now Baoji), across Zhangxian County (now Longxian County), across Liupanshan Mountain, along Zuli River and across Jingyuan Yellow River to Guzang (now Wuwei), which is an early route with short journey and poor supply conditions along the way.
② The southern line runs from Chang 'an along Weihe River to Longguan, Shangguan (now water), Didao (now Lintao) and Bao Han (now Hezhou), from Yongjing to the Yellow River, passing through Xining, and the bigger the bucket, the more Guyue (now partial ferry) reaches Zhangye.
(3) The central line and the southern line separate in Gao Shan, cross Longshan, reach Jincheng County (now Lanzhou), cross the Yellow River, return to Zhuanglang River, and turn Wushaoling to Guzang. Although the southern line has good supply conditions, the detour is long, so the central line later became the main line.
After the North-South Central Line meets, it goes from Zhangye to Dunhuang via Jiuquan and Guazhou. The middle part. Dunhuang to Congling (now Pamirs) or Pilars (now drepung monastery).
There are two routes from Yumenguan and Yangguan to the Western Regions: from Shanshan, north of Nanshan and west of Bohe, to South Road in shache, and from South Road to west of Congling, there is a big moon home, which has rested in peace. From Wang Ting (now Turpan) to Qianche Division, take Beishan and Bohe West to Shule (now Kashgar) as the north road. If the road in the north crosses the Green Ridge in the west, it will lead to Dawan, Kangju and Chae Yeon (between the Black Sea and Aral Sea). There are two important forks in the north road: one is from the southwest of Yanqi, crossing the Taklimakan desert to Yutian South Road; First, from Kuqa (now Kuqa) westbound via Gu Mo (Aksu) and Wensu (Wushi), over Daling (Bieliguan), via Chikou City (the capital of Wusun), westbound to Virote. Because the north-south road runs through Bailongdui, Halashun and Taklimakan Desert, the conditions are harsh and the road is difficult. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, another road was opened north of Beidao, which became an important passage in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and was called the New Beidao. The original Hanbei Road was renamed Middle Road. Xinbei Road extends from Dunhuang to the northwest, passing through Yiwu (Hami), Prehai (now Lake Barkol), Beiting (Jimsar), Luntai (Banquan), Gong Yue (Huocheng) and tokmak (tokmak) to Julos. West side. From the jungle to Rome. The western section of the Silk Road covers a wide range, including Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Europe. In history, there are many countries, complicated ethnic relations and frequent changes in routes, which can be roughly divided into three roads: south, middle and north:
(1) South Road is westbound from Lvling, and then divides into two roads from Kukushi Mountain in Vietnam to Kabul in Afghanistan. One goes west to Herat, where it joins the middle road from Cheng Lang, then goes west through Baghdad and Damascus, reaches Sidon or Beirut on the east coast of the Mediterranean, and then goes to Rome by sea. The other line goes south from Peshawar to South Asia.
② The Middle Road (Hanbei Road) runs through the Green Ridge in the northwest of Langcheng, one with Nandao Club and the other with Tehran and Nandao Club.
(3) Beixin Road is also divided into two branches. After passing (now Fergana), Kang (now Samarkand) and An (now Bukhara), we went west to Mulu and Zhongdao Society. After crossing the Ross River, it traveled northwest along the Syr Darya River, bypassing the Aral Sea and the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, reaching Tana on the east coast of the Azov Sea, and then turning to Kerch by waterway to reach Constantinople (now Istanbul).
The Maritime Silk Road originated in Qin and Han Dynasties, flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties, flourished in Song and Yuan Dynasties, reached its peak in the early Ming Dynasty, and declined in the middle of Ming Dynasty due to the maritime ban. The important starting points of the Maritime Silk Road are Panyu (later renamed Guangzhou), Dengzhou (now Yantai), Yangzhou, Mingzhou (now Ningbo), Quanzhou and Liujiagang. There may be two or more starting points of the Maritime Silk Road in the same dynasty. The biggest ports are Guangzhou and Quanzhou. From Qin and Han Dynasties to Tang and Song Dynasties, Guangzhou was the largest commercial port in China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the sea ban was implemented, and Guangzhou became the only port open to the outside world in China. Quanzhou originated in the Tang Dynasty and became the largest port in the East 1 during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The Maritime Silk Road in past dynasties can also be divided into three major routes:
(1) The eastern route from China coastal port to North Korea and Japan.
(2) Nanyang route from China coastal port to Southeast Asian countries.
(3) The western route from the coastal ports of China to the coastal countries of South Asia, Arabia and East Africa.