This Silk Road is still an important channel for communication between China and the West, and it still plays an important role in China's foreign economic and cultural exchanges today. We should make good use of it.
Conditions for opening: Zhang Qian sent a mission to the Western Regions and opened the Silk Road, a communication line to promote economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. It passes through Hexi Corridor from Chang 'an, and then divides into north and south roads. South Road starts from Yangguan (now southwest of Dunhuang, Gansu) to the west, passes through Shanshan (now near Robnor), along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain, and passes through Khotan (now Hotan), Dongsha and Dongsha. The North Road runs westward from Yumenguan (now northwest of Dunhuang), passes through Che's Guo Qian (now near Turpan), travels westward along the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain, passes through Yanqi and Shule, crosses Qingji and reaches Dawan.
Then go north and south to Kangju and Chae Yeon; Go southwest to Da Yue, rest in peace.
Silk is the most transported commodity on this trans-Eurasian road, so it is called "Silk Road" or "Silk Road".
The Silk Road didn't exist at first.
So let me talk about the opening, development and end of the Silk Road.
First of all, let's talk about the general situation of east-west traffic.
East-west traffic is in Central Asia. Now Stan's concept of Central Asia is that the former Soviet Union joined five republics, and now Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which we now call Central Asia.
This central Asian region was originally a corridor of Eurasia, a corridor of east, west, north and south.
In ancient Central Asia, it was very developed with the West Asia and South Asia subcontinent in the north, South Siberia and grassland areas.
However, before the Han Dynasty communicated with the western regions, the traffic in this Xinjiang region was closed, which was related to the local situation.
Everyone knows that Xinjiang is surrounded by mountains, and they are all very high.
In addition, the deserts and Gobi in Xinjiang are both large and there are many small countries, so they are relatively closed to each other.
So there was no large-scale traffic.
Judging from some historical records recorded in the west, we are not clear about Xinjiang now. At that time, it was the area north of Tianshan Mountain, and it was the migration route of nomadic people such as Wusun and Da Yue.
But it was later blocked by the Huns, saying that it was basically impassable.
So at that time, China and Central Asia and the West were separated by Xinjiang, which is now Xinjiang. This traffic line was impassable at that time.
Therefore, before the Han Dynasty, it was impossible for silk to be transported abroad in large quantities, and it was also impossible.
So this traffic line was opened in the Western Han Dynasty.
During the Western Han Dynasty, there was a well-known Zhang Qian and Zhang Qian, which had a lot to do with the opening of the western regions and the Silk Road.
At that time, Zhang Qian hollowed out, mainly twice. Why do you have to ask him to pass through the western regions? In other words, at that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to beat the Xiongnu, because Wusun and Yueshi were originally in Hexi Corridor of Gansu. After being expelled by the Huns, they moved to Central Asia. He wanted to fight Xiongnu with Wusun and Yueshi, that is, he was attacked from both sides. For this political purpose, he sent Zhang Qian to see Zhang Qian for the first time, and it didn't achieve much effect. Wu Sun and Yue Shi don't want to come back. Later, he said that Emperor Wu would not give up.
The second time, he was sent to Usun and neighboring countries. This time, he sent envoys to many small countries in ancient Xinjiang. After Zhang Qian came back, he made a detailed report on Korea * * *, that is, the surrounding traffic lines, the local conditions and customs of various countries, the products at the scene, and so on.
Therefore, this report is the later Biography of Historical Records in Dawan, mainly based on the report. This report is very important for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Han * * * to understand the situation west of the Western Han Dynasty, and played a very important role in Emperor Wu's determination to communicate with the western regions.
Therefore, the later Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to send troops to the Western Regions and finally unified them.
Everyone may know this western region, but this understanding is different. There are broad and narrow definitions now.
Broadly speaking, the area west of Yumenguan and Yangguan can be called the Western Regions. The narrow sense of the Western Regions refers to the west of Yumenguan and Yangguan, and Xinjiang includes the area before imperialism and Russia invaded our territory, collectively known as the Western Regions.
However, China had different views on the Western Regions.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to communicate with the Western Regions, because of the needs of military politics, he opened the closed communication lines at that time. As a whole, the communication lines between countries affected Central Asia, including Wusun and Da Yue, and were closely related to him.
That is to say, the traffic lines in Xinjiang are connected with those in Central Asia.
In this way, the Silk Road will be really smooth.
So it was the Han Dynasty in China that really opened up the Silk Road.
In the past, they all had their own traffic lines, and they were not really connected.
After the opening of the Silk Road, there was a development process.
The Silk Road was basically developed in the Han Dynasty, but by the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, China was in civil strife.
In 395, the Roman Empire also split and Persia declined.
So at this time, the Silk Road is a relatively short period.
In the Tang dynasty, it can be said that it was the most prosperous period for the Tang dynasty to govern the western regions. Not only did it directly rule the whole Xinjiang region, but it also established the 16 viceroy in Central Asia until the nominally controlled eastern border of Persia.
Therefore, in other words, their transportation lines and organizations in the Tang Dynasty were also the most complete, and they developed to a very high stage at this time.
However, it was in the Tang Dynasty that Rollos was defeated by the Empire. Later, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty withdrew from Xinjiang around 790 AD.
So at this stage, the Silk Road is in a period of slow decline, right?
By the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the overland Silk Road was replaced by the Maritime Silk Road, completing its historical mission. That is to say, by the end of the Five Dynasties and the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the overland Silk Road, as its main historical mission, had ended.
But in the Yuan Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, the whole Silk Road on land was connected again because it passed through various khanates. At this time, it was relatively developed, but it was a brilliant sunset, but it lost its function with the demise of the Yuan Dynasty.
So the Silk Road is a historical category.
Everyone is also very concerned about the current Silk Road traffic line. The current traffic lines of the Silk Road are relatively clear in Central Asia, West Asia and Rome, because they are well studied.
From Chang 'an to Hexi Corridor, it is generally clear, and the most unclear area now is Xinjiang.
Why do you say that? Because Xinjiang is mainly Gobi and desert, there is no fixed communication line between Gobi and desert. As long as the general direction is right, everyone will know this situation when they come to Xinjiang.