The Silk Road Route on the World Road

The Maritime Silk Road refers to the maritime traffic route between China and other parts of the world. China's silk is not only exported to countries in Central Asia, West Asia, Africa and Europe through transcontinental land transportation lines, but also exported to countries all over the world through maritime transportation lines. Therefore, after German geographer Richthofen named the land traffic route across the east and west as the Silk Road, some scholars further extended it and named the maritime traffic route between the east and the west as the Maritime Silk Road.

Later, China's famous ceramics were also sold to other countries through this maritime traffic route, and western incense medicines were also imported into China through this route, so some scholars also called this maritime traffic route the Ceramic Road or the Fragrant Porcelain Road. ? The Maritime Silk Road was formed in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Sailing westward from China, the South China Sea route is the main line of the Maritime Silk Road. At the same time, there is an East China Sea route from China to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, which occupies a secondary position in the Maritime Silk Road. ? With regard to the South China Sea route of the Silk Road in Han Dynasty, Geography of Han Dynasty recorded the voyage that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty sent envoys and businessmen to the sea for trade, saying that they started from Rinan (now central Vietnam) or Xuwen (now Guangdong) and Hepu (now Guangxi), went south along the east coast of Indo-China Peninsula, and arrived in Du Yuan (now Di City in southern Vietnam) for five months. After four months' voyage, it arrived in Lu Yi (now a Buddhist sect in Thailand) at the mouth of Chao Phraya River. After that, he went south along the east coast of Malay Peninsula and arrived in Li Zhan (now Bashu, Thailand) more than 20 days later. He abandoned the ship and landed here, crossed the isthmus, walked 10 for more than 0 days, and arrived in the capital Lu (now Dana Shalin, Myanmar). Then he boarded the ship and sailed west in the Indian Ocean. After more than two months, I arrived at Huang Zhiguo (now Kangchepland on the southeast coast of India). After returning home, I went down to Putrajaya (now Sri Lanka) from the south of the Yellow River, and then sailed directly to the east. Eight months later, I arrived in Malacca Strait, anchored in Pizong (now Pisan Island in western Singapore), and finally sailed for more than two months, from Pizong to Xianglin County in Rinan County (Chaqiao is located in the south of Weichuan County in Vietnam).

The Silk Road is a vivid and appropriate name. In the ancient world, only China was the first country to grow mulberry, raise silkworms and produce silk products. Archaeological discoveries in China in recent years show that silk production technology has developed to a fairly high level from Shang Dynasty to Warring States Period. China's silk products are still one of the most important products that China has dedicated to the people of the world. They spread widely, covering the contribution of China people to world civilization. Therefore, for many years, many researchers want to give this road another name, such as "Jade Road", "Gemstone Road", "Buddhist Road" and "Ceramic Road". However, they can only reflect a certain part of the Silk Road, but they can't replace the name "Silk Road" after all.

The basic trend of the Silk Road was formed in the Han Dynasty around AD. It starts from Chang 'an (Jin '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 (now Lanzhou), then passes through Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang counties in the Hexi Corridor, exits Yumenguan or Yangguan, and passes through Bailongdui to Loulan, Lop Nur. In the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions were divided into South Road and North Road, and the two roads diverged in Loulan. To the north, it passes through Quli (now Korla), Qiuci (now Kuqa) and Gu Mo (now Aksu) to Shule (now Kashgar). South Road starts from Shanshan (now Ruoqiang) and passes through Qiemo, Jingjue (now Minfeng Niya Site), Khotan (now Hotan), Pishan and shache to Shule. From Shule to the west, across Congling (now Pamir) to Dawan (now Fergana). From here, we can go west to Daxia (now Afghanistan), Sogdian (now Uzbekistan), Rest in Peace (now Iran), and as far as the plowshare in Daqin (the eastern part of the Roman Empire) (also known as Li Xuan, in Alexandria, Egypt). The other road runs from the southwest of Pishan, crossing the crossing (now Darier, Pakistan), passing through Cobin (now Kabul, Afghanistan) and Wuyishan (now Sistan), and heading southwest to Tiaozhi (now the head of Persian Gulf). If you go south from Bin to India (now Karachi, Pakistan), 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 in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In other words, the narrow Silk Road refers to the above-mentioned roads.

The Silk Road in history is not static. With the change of geographical environment and the evolution of political and religious situation, some new roads are constantly opened up, and some roads have changed or even been abandoned. For example, Bailongdui between Dunhuang and Lop Nur is a Ya Dan terrain, which often disorients travelers. In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the northern Xiongnu on the Mongolian plateau was defeated and forced to move westward. After the Central Plains dynasty firmly occupied Yiwu (now Hami), it opened up a "new road to the north" from Dunhuang to Yiwu. From Yiwu via Gaochang (now Turpan) and Yanqi to Qiuci, it meets the former Silk Road North Road. Southern and Northern Dynasties? The north and south of China are opposites, and things in the north are harmonious. Under such circumstances, the exchanges between the Southern Dynasties, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty and the Western Regions were mostly along the Yangtze River to Yizhou (now Chengdu), then to Longhe (now Songpan) in the north, passing through Tuguhun Capital on the shore of Qinghai Lake, passing through Qaidam Basin to Dunhuang in the west, and meeting with the main road of the Silk Road. ? Or cross the Altun Mountain Pass to the west, enter the Shanshan area of the Western Region, and meet with Silu South Road. This road is called "Tugu Hundao" or "Henan Road", and today 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 (near tokmak today), and into Central Asia. This road was later called "Beixin Road", which was very prosperous during the Mongol Khanate and the Yuan Dynasty.

Apart from the Silk Road on land, from the Han Dynasty, China people opened a waterway from Guangdong to India. After the Song Dynasty? With the further development of southern China and the shift of economic center of gravity to the south, the sea routes from Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Hangzhou are 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 "Maritime Silk Road". ? Let's put it this way: The Silk Road refers to the land passage opened by Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty (202 -8 BC) from Chang 'an (Jin 'an) to Central Asia and West Asia via Gansu and Xinjiang, connecting Mediterranean countries (this road is also called "Northwest Silk Road" to distinguish it from the other two traffic routes later named "Silk Road"). Because silk products have the greatest influence on the goods transported to the west, it is named. Its basic trend was set in the Han Dynasty, including three routes: South Road, Middle Road and North Road. ? 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. ? Silk Road (German: die? Seidenstrasse) the first word is the German geographer Ferdinand von richthofen? Feng? China, published by Richthofen) 1877, sometimes called the Silk Road. ? 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, the most famous is that Ban Chao once again passed through the Western Regions and Xuanzang to learn from India. 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 has 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.

China's ancient dynasties managed the western regions and opened up the Silk Road, which was full of the political ideal of "going to the country in a gentle way", but it also reflected the strong national strength, cultural exchanges between the East and the West and the motivation of international trade. The so-called "Great Man, Prosperous Tang Dynasty" in history also refers to the social outlook and spiritual outlook in the period of rapid development of political, economic and cultural ideas driven by the development of the Silk Road and the prosperity of the Silk Road trade. The opening and development of the Silk Road is accompanied by the grand process of ethnic migration and integration in Eurasia. In this spectacular and turbulent background, the traffic and Silk Road trade between China and the West will inevitably suffer setbacks in a certain region, a certain period or an unexpected event. However, due to the urgent need of cultural exchanges and development between the East and the West, as well as the Eurasian trade pattern and huge commercial profits, the enthusiasm and efforts of the East and the West to open up new trade routes, find new trade partners and try new trade methods have never been reduced or interrupted, so that many adventurous and wealth-hungry peoples are willing to leave their hometowns and trudge in the desert. When you open this book, you will see the distant Silk Road, the oasis civilization buried by sand, the lost ancient city, the earliest Silk Road route, the travel to and from the Silk Road, the spread of species and the cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and other major events that affect the progress of human civilization.