In order to protect their internal trade routes, the Han court sent General Zhang Qian (200–114 BC) as an envoy to build relationships with the Central Asian states and to find their former allies, the Yuezhi people, who had left Xinjiang and the Gansu Corridor after they were defeated by the Xiongnu in 176 BC. Originally, the people in the Han Empire (206 BC–220 AD) traded silk within the empire from the interior to the western borders, but the internal trade was stymied by the attacks of small nomadic tribes on the trade caravans. Silk Road trade commenced in a great fashion through the work mission of Zhang Qian (200–114 BC). The Han Empire (206 BC–220 AD): Trade Developedĭuring the Han Dynasty era, big caravans of hundreds of people traveled between Chang'an and the West. Many Sogdian documents were discovered in Turpan. The common lingua franca of the trade route was Sogdian. They established a trading network across 1,500 miles from Sogdia to the Chinese empires. They were the Silk Road's most prominent merchants and middlemen for more than 1,000 years. To reach western Asia and Europe, products were transported through the Sogdian territories west of Xinjiang in modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and from the second century BC until the 10th century, the Sogdians dominated the Silk Road trade. Recommended tour: 1-Day Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple Tour Sogdian Traders (200 BC–1000 AD): The Important Middlemen This corridor is a huge very long valley that extends from Luoyang to Xinjiang. Silk was found in a 6th century tomb in Germany.Īround 300 BC, civilizations active in the Silk Road trade included Ancient Greece, Persia, Yuezhi, and the Qin State that controlled the eastern part of the Hexi Corridor (or Gansu Corridor in Gansu Province). It is known that by around 600 BC, gold, jade, and silk was being traded between Europe and Western Asia and the advanced states of the Zhou Dynasty (1045–221 BC). Recommended tour: 7-Day Xinjiang Highlights Tour Zhou Dynasty (1045–221 BC): Early Silk Road Trade Silk was found in a tomb in Egypt that dates to about 1070 BC that suggests that even at this early time, silk was traded across Eurasia. In the Shang Kingdom (1600-1046 BC), jade was highly valued, and they imported jade from an area of Xinjiang.īy the 1st millennium BC, people carried silk to Siberia through the Gansu Corridor over the northern branch of the Silk Road. The prehistoric trade and travel across Eurasia is little known, but there is evidence of trade and travel to Xinjiang even 4,000 years ago. 5000–1300 BC)Ĭhinese silk fabrics were light to carry, easy to transport, and a very valuable export. The Silk Road's Prehistoric Beginnings (c. See more about What Was Traded on China's Silk Road and Why below.They paid with precious metals, animal skins, and some of their own manufactured products such as woolen goods, carpets, and glass products that were prized in the East. The products such as silk were very valuable to those in Central Asia and as far away as Europe. The other called the Tea Horse Road started from Yunnan and Sichuan and crosses Tibet. One land route passed through the Gansu Corridor, extended westwards to Xinjiang, and then split into several routes. However, the people of the Shang (1600–1046 BC), Zhou, and Han dynasties mastered producing several kinds of products that were important and unique such as silk, porcelain, and paper, and these were greatly prized in the West.īut to reach the West, there were only two overland routes. In between, nomadic people raided travelers and traders. The region of China was isolated from the civilizations of the West by the world's highest mountains, some of the largest and most severe deserts, and long distances. The Maritime Silk Road (1112 BC – 1912). The Southern Silk Road or Tea Horse Road (700–1930).Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368): Trade Reached Its Zenith.Song Empire (960–1279): Trade Ceased Once Again.Tang Dynasty (618–917): Trade Flourished.Three Kingdoms Period (220–581): Trade Ceased.The Han Empire (206 BC–220 AD): Trade Developed.Sogdian Traders (200 BC–1000 AD): The Important Middlemen.Zhou Dynasty (1045–221 BC): Early Silk Road Trade.The Silk Road's Prehistoric Beginnings (c.
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