In 138 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian and more than 100 people from Chang 'an to look for each other in the west. Because of the long distance and bad nature, Zhang Qian walked on the road for 13 years before coming back. He gave a detailed report to Hanwu about the countries in the Western Regions, including Tianzhu. Hanwu also sent him as an emissary, and set out from Sichuan with gifts to make friends with Tianzhu, but he did not arrive because of difficulties. In BC 1 19, Hanwu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. Zhang Qian and several of his deputies held successive festivals in the Han Dynasty, taking 300 warriors, two horses each, more than 10,000 cattle and sheep, and gifts such as gold, coins, silks and satins to make friends with the western regions. A few years later, Zhang Qian died of illness, and the deputies sent to the western countries also returned to Chang 'an. Count the places you have been to, as many as 36 countries! Since then, Hanwu has sent envoys to the Western Regions every year, and the Han Dynasty has established friendly exchanges with countries in the Western Regions. The envoys and businessmen sent by the western regions are also in an endless stream. Especially later, the government of the Western Han Dynasty established the Capital Protection Department in the Western Regions, which made this road smoother and merchants, envoys and goods came and went more frequently. China's silk and silk products are transported to West Asia and then to Europe through the Western Regions. Later, people called this route the Silk Road.
The basic trend of the Silk Road was formed in the Han Dynasty around A.D., mainly in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It starts from Chang 'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, or Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, passes through Longxi or Guyuan westbound to Jincheng, passes through the four counties of Wu, Zhang, Jiu and Dun in Hexi Corridor, leaves Yumenguan or Yangguan, and passes through Bailongdui to Loulan in Lop Nur. In Han Dynasty, the western regions were divided into two roads, north and south, and the fork point was Loulan. Northbound and westbound, passing through Quli, Qiuci and Gu Mo to Shule; South Island passes Shanshan, Qiemo, Jingjue, Yutian, Pishan and shache to Shule. From Shule to the west, through the jungle to Dawan. Westbound from here, you can go to Daxia, Rest and Sogdian, and reach the plough of Daqin as far as possible. Or go southwest from Pishan, cross the bridge, leave via _ Bin and Wuyishan, go southwest, and arrive at Tiaozhi. If you go south from Bin to India, you can also reach Persia and Rome by sea. This is the basic trunk line of the Silk Road formed after Zhang Qian made two missions to the Western Regions.
The Silk Road is not static. With the change of geographical environment and the evolution of political and religious situation, new roads are constantly being opened up, and the original directions of some roads have changed or even been abandoned. Bailongdui between Dunhuang and Lop Nur is a Ya Dan terrain, which often disorients tourists. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the northern Xiongnu on the Mongolian plateau was defeated and forced to move westward. After the Central Plains Dynasty occupied Yiwu, it opened up a new road from Dunhuang to Yiwu. From Yiwu via Gaochang and Yanqi to Qiuci, we met the original Northern Silk Road. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the north and the south of China were antagonistic, and the east and the west in the north were also harmonious. As a result, most of the contacts between the Southern Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Qi Dynasty, the Liang Dynasty and the Chen Dynasty and the Western Regions went up along the Yangtze River to Yizhou, then to Longhai in the north, through the Tuguhun capital on the lake of Qinghai, to Dunhuang in the west, and joined the Silk Road. Or cross the mouth of Altun Mountain to the west, enter Shanshan in the western region, and join the Southern Silk Road, which is called Tuguhun Road or Henan Road, and people also call it Qinghai Road. From the Central Plains or the north of Hexi Corridor to the Mongolian Plateau, then to the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain in the west, across the Ili River to the broken leaves, and into Central Asia, this road, also known as Beixin Road, flourished in the Mongolian Khanate and Yuan Dynasty.
In addition to the Silk Road on land, China people have also opened a sea passage from Guangdong to India since the Han Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, with the further development of southern China and the southward movement of the economic center, the routes in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Hangzhou have become increasingly developed, going further and further, from Nanyang to the Arabian Sea and even as far as the east coast of Africa. People call these maritime trade routes the Maritime Silk Road.
The land transportation here refers to an important land transportation route from the Central Plains to the frontier and even abroad, which existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, with the strengthening of border management, the development of land transportation was promoted. At that time, there were four important land passages: starting from Yuji, passing through Yuyang in the northeast, visiting Beiping, western Liaoning and Liaodong, and reaching the Korean peninsula; Starting from Chang 'an and passing through Hexi Corridor to the west, today's Xinjiang, as far away as Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and even the eastern Mediterranean countries and southern Europe and North Africa, is the famous Silk Road; Depart from Bashu, cross the southwest of China, and reach today's Myanmar and India; Depart from the South China Sea, pass Cangwu and Yulin, and reach Jiaodong, Old Town and Rinan.
Overseas transportation is also very developed. There are two important routes, namely the Maritime Silk Road: from Qidong to the east, through the Bohai Sea, to the Korean Peninsula, and then around the peninsula, and eastward to Japan. From Xuwen and Hepu along the coast of Indo-China Peninsula to the south, to Southeast Asian countries; It crossed the Straits of Malacca, crossed the Indian Ocean to the west and reached Huang Zhiguo. The goods transported from these countries to the Han Dynasty include pearls, jade stones and other strange stones, while the Han people transported gold utensils and various silks. This is inseparable from the growing political and economic relations between countries and the increasing progress in navigation and shipbuilding technology.