The overland Silk Road originated in the Western Han Dynasty (202-8 years ago), starting from the capital Chang 'an (now Xi 'an), passing through Gansu and Xinjiang, reaching Central Asia and West Asia and connecting Mediterranean countries.
Its original function was to transport silk produced in ancient China. 1877, German geologist Richthofen named the "Silk Road" from BC 1 14 to AD 127 as "the traffic road between China and Central Asia, and between China and India", which was quickly accepted by the academic circles and the public.
The traditional Silk Road starts from Chang 'an, the ancient capital of China, passes through Central Asian countries, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria, reaches the Mediterranean Sea, and ends in Rome, with a total length of 6,440 kilometers.
This road is considered to be the intersection of ancient eastern and western civilizations connecting Asia and Europe, and silk is the most representative commodity. For thousands of years, nomads or tribes, businessmen, Christians, diplomats, soldiers and academic researchers have been moving around along the Silk Road.
With the development of the times, the Silk Road has become the general name of all political, economic and cultural exchanges between ancient China and the West. There is the "Northwest Silk Road", and Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty opened the official passage of the western regions; There is the "Prairie Silk Road" that goes north to the Mongolian Plateau, then west to the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain and enters Central Asia.
There is a rugged "Southwest Silk Road", from Chang 'an to Chengdu, and then to India. There is also a maritime trade "Maritime Silk Road" from coastal cities such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou, from Nanyang to the Arabian Sea, and even as far as the east coast of Africa.
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Maritime?Silk?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).
Baidu Encyclopedia-Silk Road