In the debate on the starting point of the Silk Road, the "Xi starting point theory" occupies a traditional position. Some experts also believe that Luoyang was the capital as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was the famous eastern capital in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. This is a commercial and trade center. Judging from the development, formation and prosperity of the Silk Road, Luoyang is the starting point of the easternmost part of the Silk Road. Although there is a lot of evidence in historical records and archaeological excavations, due to the lack of strong evidence, this statement is inconclusive and has not been widely recognized around the world.
Dr. Chen, one of the excavation leaders and the captain of Luoyang Tang Cheng Team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview that according to literature records, it was the distribution center of silk, porcelain and other commodities during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the largest commercial center east of Guan (Tongguan), which occupied an important position in commercial trade at that time. If this record is confirmed in this archaeological excavation, then the location of the starting point of Luoyang Silk Road can also be confirmed.
According to historical records, there were huge markets in Luoyang during the Sui and Tang Dynasties: North Market, West Market and South Market. Heather mainly deals in daily commodities, and it is the largest of the three cities, with three or four thousand merchants at its peak. At that time, various important commodities such as gold, silver, jewelry, porcelain, fur, silk and so on. It was collected from all over the country to heather, and then sent to all parts of the country and even the western regions, Japan and other places.
Because heather played an important role in the commercial trade during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Silk Road was also packaged as a whole to declare the world cultural heritage. The excavation was strongly supported by National Cultural Heritage Administration, and a joint archaeological excavation team consisting of Luoyang Tang Cheng Team and Luoyang Cultural Relics Team from the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was conducted.
After the project started in September 2003, archaeologists first conducted a comprehensive archaeological drilling on the Heather site, and basically found out the layout of the Heather site, laying the foundation for formal excavation. After the official excavation began, three exploration teams have been deployed to excavate Jianchunmen Street (with a drilling width of 46 meters), Fangmen (the city gate on the south side of Heather) and a handicraft workshop site. All excavation work will last for three to five years.
The Silk Road in the traditional sense refers to the way that China silk was transported to the west during the Han and Tang Dynasties. According to expert research, as early as the 4th century BC, China's silk had spread to Indian and Mediterranean coastal city-states. However, as the formal formation of the Silk Road, it began in the 2nd century AD when Zhang Qian passed through the Western Regions, and then developed continuously, forming a traffic artery connecting Eurasia, starting from Luoyang (or Xi 'an), passing through Longxi and Lanzhou, passing through Hexi Corridor and Tarim Basin, passing through Central Asia, or going south to India, or going west to Iran and Syria, and reaching the east coast of the Mediterranean.