As long as it is a developing society, it cannot stop the pace of human civilization exchanges. As a result, there was also a clearly destined sexual encounter between Chang'an and Rome in history. In this affair one heard a Roman philosopher say almost helplessly: "I have seen clothes made of silk that neither conceal nor shame. Women can't really say they're not naked when they wear it. Why is this clothing imported from unknown countries at great expense through normal trade channels? In order to allow our women to receive their lovers naked in public places as they do in their private rooms. ”
Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), a place of long-term peace and stability, is the most brilliant city in the long river of Chinese cultural history. She stood there, graceful and luxurious, erudite and wise, magnificent and infinite, showing the Chinese spirit and the height of Chinese civilization. At the same time, she also conceals the negatives of Chinese history and shows the business card of Chinese culture to the world. Today, when people stand on the land of western China, with the landscapes and rivers of Chang'an in their chests, and examine that period of history on a beacon that inadvertently appears, everything comes alive. The ancient Silk Road crossed the desert Gobi, crossed plateaus, meadows, and lakes, and connected China in the east with the Roman Empire.
This company, which is more than 7,000 kilometers, is a road that is clear, intermittent, and full of infinite glory, making Eurasia shine.
According to the historical records, Xi'an (Chang'an), a place of long-term peace and stability, is "a golden city of thousands of miles, the country of heaven". The world's largest metropolis at that time had nine main streets, and in addition to allowing its officials and residents to live in the city, the Han dynasty government also opened up Artemisia Street in Chang'an as a residential area for foreigners, the so-called "barbarian residence". The city had a population of hundreds of thousands and an area of 36 square kilometers, four times the size of the city of Rome at the time.
The rulers of the Han Dynasty divided the famous "Nine Cities of Chang'an" into three cities in the East Market and six cities in the West Market, with the East Market gathering places and the West Market densely packed with various handicraft workshops. Merchants from all over the Acheng countries took out their rare treasures and exchanged silk and porcelain here. The history books also say that Xi'an (Chang'an) is not only lined with palaces, but also has abundant money and grain reserves. With the opening of the Silk Road, rare animals such as lions, peacocks, elephants, camels, and BMWs came to Chang'an one after another, appeared in the imperial forest garden of the Han Dynasty, and were used by the emperor for hunting and entertainment. At the same time, flax, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, garlic, and lemons were traded in the chang'an market, enriching the lives of the royal family and the people.
The ancient Silk Road was basically formed at this time. Between 1868 and 1872, the German geographer Richthofen conducted seven geological surveys in China, collected a large number of geological specimens, and in 1877, after returning to China, wrote and published "China: The Results of My Travels and the Research Based on Them". In this book, Li discusses the ancient transportation and trade routes between China and Central Asia, India and other countries. At the same time, he also noted the important value of silk in ancient China's interaction with the West, and in history, the Greek and Roman words related to China, such as seres and serica, are derived from the word silk. Hence the coinword "Silk Road".
Richthofen defined the Silk Road as the silk trade route between China and the river (between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers) and between China and India from 114 BC to 127 AD. According to the records of the historical record, he also set the opening of the Silk Road in 114 BC, that is, Zhang Qian's second mission to the Western Regions as the beginning. Therefore, when people talk about the Silk Road today, Zhang Qian is the first person mentioned, but the fact is that before Zhang Qian, the Greeks had access to silk through steppe nomads, but only in small numbers.
At that time, the Greeks called "Cyris" a country in the East that could be compared with India. Scholars believe that "Cerris" definitely does not refer to China at that time, it is a general term for silk-producing countries. From the point of view of communication, one seems to be sure that silk could not have spread so far at once—it had gone abroad around the middle of the Warring States period, taking the steppe road between Europe and Asia, and the Scythians and other nomadic peoples who were nomadic in the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Aral Sea were undoubtedly the pioneers of the Eurasian steppe road—at that time, the Silk Road actually existed, but it was folk, spontaneous, and unorganized.
The first time the Romans saw silk is said to have been in 53 BC. Although the government at the time forbade the flat-headed people to wear silk and kept the technology of silk making secret, silk was still transmitted to Rome by the people.
What is not easy to come by is mysterious and precious. The Romans of those days were the same for silk. When silk was first introduced to Rome, the Romans believed that its raw material came from a tree in the East that would comb something finer than wool. At this time, Zhang Qian had passed through the Western Regions, and a large amount of silk had entered Central Asia. The Roman governor, Crassus, the governor of Syria, fought the Anxi at Calais, and the Sabbaths displayed a colorful military flag made of silk with gold edges, and the Romans were defeated, and Clark was beheaded by the Sabbaths. Soon after, Caesar appeared in public in silk and went from being a dictator of the Roman Empire to a fashionista.
True fashion, rejoicing in oneself and pleasing others. With Caesar's "guidance" and the Romans' enthusiasm for the beauty of the body, the translucent object of silk soon became popular in the Roman upper class, and with its characteristics such as smoothness and softness, it soon became a luxury ornament in the life of the Romans.
"I have seen some clothes made of silk, which neither cover the body nor shame..." The Romans liked but were helpless. This is the influence of silk on the Roman Empire, it did not have the wildness of lions and elephants from the western region to the Central Plains, but it was more durable and fierce than lions and elephants.
Today, it is difficult to say how expensive silk was in Rome (it is said that when the price is high, a pound of silk can be exchanged for a pound of gold), but through the lament of the ancient Roman writer Pliny, it is clear that there is something real to be seen - the writer said that the Romans spent more than 100 million sestes (ancient Roman currency) on these luxury goods from China and India every year.
Perhaps, it was precisely because of the price that the Roman senate had forbidden male subjects to wear silk, and there were some restrictions on the use of silk for women. However, all this did not prevent Rome from becoming a great consumer of silk, and due to its large demand, high price, and complete dependence on imports, Rome even went to war with the Sabbath Empire and Sassanid Persia, which transited silk and monopolized at high prices.
Today, looking through the relevant historical materials of ancient Rome, it is not difficult for people to find that there are silk shadows in some customs treaties, peace treaties, and even the charters of trading houses. In order to increase revenue, the Roman government also introduced a "silk tax". In fact, the price of silk became the "barometer" of the Roman Empire's economy, acting as a function of money - the government hoarded silk to achieve the purpose of preserving and increasing value.