The ancient transportation methods can be seen from ancient poems. The following is a paper I compiled on ancient transportation from ancient poems. Welcome to read it!
Before we study, we must first understand what transportation is and what does transportation generally include?
Transportation refers to the general term for various transportation and postal and telecommunications services. Generally speaking, transportation includes: transportation forms, means of transportation, transportation facilities, traffic conditions, communication conditions and the main processes of development. Okay, then, we understand what our research study mainly includes. The main research content of our research study is: transportation forms, means of transportation, transportation facilities, traffic conditions, communication conditions and the main processes of development.
Li Bai, the famous poet of the Tang Dynasty in my country, once wrote a work about ancient transportation. This is "The Difficulties in the Road to Shu" written by Li Bai in the early years of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Our research begins with "The Road to Shu is Difficult".
Let’s first appreciate "The Difficult Road to Shu":
Ahem, how dangerous it is! The road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky! Silkworms and yufu, how confused the founding of the country is! You are forty-eight thousand years old, and you are not in the vicinity of Qin Sai. There is a bird path in Taibai, Xidang, which can cross the top of Emei Mountain. The earth collapsed and the mountains destroyed the strong men to death, and then the stone stacks of the ladder to heaven were connected. There is a high mark of six dragons returning to the sun on the top, and a rushing wave and turning back to Sichuan below. The yellow crane cannot fly past, and the ape clings to it to overcome its sorrow. There are piles of green mud, and there are nine twists and turns in a hundred steps, lingering on the rocks. Mon went to the Lijing Well and raised his head and breathed, and he sat with his hands on his back and sighed. I asked you when will you return from your journey to the west? Afraid of the unreachable rocks. But I saw a sad bird calling an ancient tree, the male flying around the forest from the female. I also heard Zigui crying about the moon at night and worrying about the empty mountains. The difficulty of the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the blue sky, which makes people wither their beauty. Even if the peaks are gone, the sky is not full, and withered pines hang upside down against the cliffs. The turbulent waterfalls are noisy, and the cliffs turn to rocks and thousands of valleys are thundered. The danger is just like this. People who have traveled far away have come here for nothing. The sword pavilion is majestic and Cui Wei. One man can guard the gate, but ten thousand men cannot open it. Those who were guarding or robbing relatives turned into wolves and jackals. Avoiding tigers in the morning and snakes at night, grinding teeth and sucking blood, killing people like numbness. Although Jincheng is happy, it is better to return home early. The road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the blue sky. I turned to the west and looked to the west, sighing.
This poem generally follows the clues from ancient times to the present, from Qin to Shu, and captures the characteristics of the mountains and rivers to describe the difficulties of the road to Shu. When we are still recalling the poetic beauty that Li Bai brought us, we will also be a little scared. The description of the Shu Road in Li Bai's work seems to be exaggerated, adding some literary and artistic recreation to the Shu Road in the article. So, we have to ask: "Is the Shu Road really that difficult?"
The answer is yes. This is because since ancient times, the relationship between Qin and Shu has been blocked by high mountains. From Qin to Shu, Taibai Peak has been the first to bear the brunt. Only high-flying birds can fly over the low places. Taibai Peak is southwest of Xianyang, the capital of Qin, and is the highest peak in Guanzhong. This was an insurmountable obstacle at the time. Qingni Ridge is even more dangerous. The ancients said, "There are thousands of cliffs and mountains full of rain clouds."
So, how can we pass such a difficult and dangerous road to Shu with bad weather? Let's look at this sentence in the article: "The earth collapsed and the mountains destroyed the strong men, and then the stone stacks of the ladder to the sky were connected." What can we discover from this sentence? The "ladder to heaven" is obviously a transportation facility in ancient my country, at least in the Tang Dynasty, for pedestrians to cross. Let's look at another sentence: "Jiange is majestic and Cuiwei. One man can guard the gate, but ten thousand people can't open it." This sentence refers to Jiange, the fortress in central Sichuan. We need to understand this: There is a thirty-mile long plank road between Dajian Mountain and Xiaojian Mountain. The peaks are like swords, the mountains are towering, and the cliffs are interrupted like doors, forming a natural fortress. Because of its dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are many people who claimed to be kings here in history. There is another transportation facility here: the plank road. The plank road is an ancient transportation facility. It is a narrow path formed by drilling holes in the cliff to support wooden piles and laying wooden boards. Transportation facilities such as plank roads were created in special terrain and special circumstances. The appearance of the plank road just illustrates the difficulty and danger of the Shu road. This is the same as what Li Bai said in his article. At that time, the traffic situation in the Tang Dynasty, especially at the border and fortresses, was not very good. There was also a poem written at that time about the dangers of the Shu Road.
"Road to Raspberry Station"
The road to Qingni and Shu was once difficult, and the road was elevated into the cold clouds.
How to go to Badong, thirty-six disks outside the sky.
Therefore, Li Bai said: "The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the blue sky."
As long as we read it carefully, it is not difficult to find that there is a "station" in the title of the poem above. Character. So, what is "Yi"? Is it an ancient transportation facility?
We say: "Yes". Here, "驿" refers to the inn. In ancient times, inns were places where people delivering government documents or items could change their horses, rest, and stay. Let’s study it carefully in conjunction with the following poem.
"Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace" (Part 1) Du Mu
Looking back at Chang'an, there are piles of embroidery, and thousands of doors are opening on the top of the mountain.
Riding on the red dust concubine smiled, no one knew it was lychee.
This poem is mainly composed of the last two sentences. "Outside the palace, a special envoy rode a stage horse and rushed over like lightning, with clouds of red dust rising behind him; inside the palace, the concubine smiled happily. At first glance, these two shots seem to be unrelated to each other, but they are They all contain suspense carefully arranged by the poet.
Why are the "Thousand Doors" opened? Why did "Yi Qi" come? The poet deliberately did not rush to say it. It was not until the reader was so depressed that he had to know, that he revealed the answer implicitly and euphemistically: "No one knew it was a lychee." The word "lychee" revealed the whole story:. "The New Book of Tang Dynasty*The Biography of Concubine Yang" records: "The concubine was addicted to lychees and she wanted to give birth to them. So she rode on a horse and traveled thousands of miles without changing her taste, even to the capital." From this we know that she is Concubine Yang. There is a special delivery team for delivering lychees. Moreover, it was sent to the capital through the official post road. It is not difficult for us to eat lychees today. However, in the Tang Dynasty, if you wanted to eat fresh lychees, you had to transport them day and night. In order to speed up the journey, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the official post to be transported, and it would arrive in a few days. Naturally, the means of transportation here is: horses. The facilities are: post stations and post roads.
We are very familiar with Shanhaiguan. It is a level. A checkpoint is a guarded place set up at a dangerous traffic or border access point in ancient times. For example: Yangguan. Let's take a look at "Send Yuan Er Envoy to Anxi"
"Send Yuan Er Envoy to Anxi" ?Wang Wei
The morning rain in Weicheng is light and dusty, and the guest house is green and willow is new.
I advise you to have another glass of wine, and there will be no old friends when you leave Yangguan in the west.
Yangguan is mentioned in this poem. Yangguan is located in the southwest of today's Dunhuang County, Gansu Province. It was an important route to the Western Regions in ancient times. At the same time, Yangguan is also an important pass on the Silk Road. The Silk Road can be said to be the most developed trade route in ancient my country, stretching thousands of miles from Chang'an to Rome. On the Silk Road, the main means of transportation were camels and carts.
Now, we might as well sort out the above research:
Transportation form: land transportation
Main transportation means: (manpower), horses, carts, Camels, etc.
Transportation facilities: ladders, plank roads, post stations, post roads, checkpoints (Silk Road)
Transportation overview: long distances, difficult and dangerous roads, not very developed ( Live on dirt roads, mountain roads, and stone roads)
Above we have studied land transportation and made a brief summary. So, since there is land transportation, there is also water transportation. Let’s take a look at the situation of waterway transportation in ancient China.
Let’s first appreciate "Sending Secretary Chao Jian back to Japan"
"Sending Secretary Chao Jian back to Japan" by Wang Wei
The stagnant water cannot be extinguished. An knows the east of the sea.
How far is Kyushu? Ten thousand miles is like traveling by air.
Xiang Guowei looks at the sun, but the trade wind returns to the sail.
The body of the turtle reflects the black sky, and the fish’s eyes reflect the red waves.
Outside the hibiscus trees, the owner is on an isolated island.
We are separated in a foreign land, but if the news remains the same.
This is a farewell poem. It was written by the author in the twelfth year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, when Chao Heng (Japanese envoy to China at that time) returned to Japan to say goodbye. Let's first think about it. If Chao Heng wants to return to Japan, he must go through the waterway. At that time, although there were waterway transportation and large ships and other means of transportation, taking the waterway was still very risky. Why? Let’s first take a look at what Wang Wei wrote in his poem. The poem begins with the sigh: "It is impossible to reach the end of the vast sea, so how do we know what the east side of the sea will look like?" The general idea of ??three or four sentences is: "Where is the farthest place outside of China? I'm afraid it's Japan, which is thousands of miles away. Going there now is as difficult as climbing to the sky." The next four sentences are about imagination. The scene of Chinese friends crossing the sea. Under the scientific level and technical conditions at that time, crossing the sea to Japan was an extremely risky and life-or-death matter. It usually depicts the sea scene from the front, such as the uncertainty of climate, the danger of wind and waves, etc., to express the worries and suspense of the voyagers. For example, Lin Kuan's "Send Someone Back to Japan"
"Send Someone Back to Japan" ? Lin Kuan
Looking to the west of the Cangming River, one glance will destroy you!
The earth is Tongzhengshuo, and the heavenly religion blocks communication.
The waves turn into lightning at night, and the whale roars into thunder during the day.
How many flowers will bloom on the ginseng path outside the door?
The third couplet is shocking and exciting. It should be said to be a very vigilant sentence. However, no matter how flamboyant the language is and how passionate the emotions are, it is impossible to describe all the numerous difficulties and obstacles that will be encountered during the sea voyage in a short poem. Therefore, Wang Wei adopted another unique approach: avoiding the real and seeking the imaginary, seeking the infinite from the finite. "When you go to the country, you only look at the sun, and when you return to the sails, you only see the trade wind." The meaning is only the beginning and is immediately grasped, allowing readers to think, associate, supplement, and enrich themselves.
In the 16th century, Italian explorer Marco Polo arrived in my country through water transportation. At that time, Marco Polo landed on our land from Chongwu Port in Quanzhou. In waterway transportation, the main tool is the ship and the main facility is the port. When we combine the above two poems, we can feel that although waterway transportation existed at that time, it was not particularly perfect. But by the Ming Dynasty, our waterway transportation was relatively mature. But it still cannot get rid of the main shortcomings such as long time, high risk and difficult long-distance voyage.
After reading these two poems, we can sort out the situation of ancient waterway transportation.
Mode of transportation: land and water transportation
Main means of transportation: boat
Transportation facilities: port
Transportation overview: high risk, dangerous Large, the development before the Ming Dynasty was incomplete and immature, and the voyage was long and arduous
Let’s review the definition of transportation again. Transportation refers to the general term for various transportation and postal and telecommunications services. So transportation is one aspect of transportation. Postal communications are another aspect. Let us now study the communication situation in ancient times. Let’s first enjoy a set of poems.
"Farewell to Friends on the Huai River"
The willow spring at the head of the Yangtze River, the Yang Hua Chou kills the people crossing the river.
Several bagpipes left the pavilion at night, you were heading towards Xiaoxiang and I was heading towards Qin.
"Farewell"
The willows are green and hanging on the ground, and the poplar flowers are flying in the sky.
When all the wicker branches are broken and the flowers fly away, I would like to ask the passers-by if they will return home?
The above set of poems are ancient Chinese farewell poems. Most of the emotions in farewell poems are desolate, and there will be a little bit of sad emotion revealed in the poems. Why does this happen? This is related to transportation and communications in ancient my country. As we know above, both water and land transportation have the characteristics of long time. This will bring difficulties to information exchanges between people. In severe cases, information isolation may occur. From this point of view, it would be very difficult for people in ancient my country to exchange information, especially through letters. Therefore, people will have thoughts and feelings like "When will we return after leaving?" This is why there were a lot of farewells in ancient China and the emotions during farewells were so desolate.
By studying ancient poems and integrating other literature, we made a simple schematic diagram of the development of transportation in ancient China.