Zhang Lianyin Li Yuxi
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Silk Road was once again connected, crisscrossing the lines and forming a network, showing a prosperous scene.
The transformation of the Sui and Tang Silk Roads
The main routes of the Silk Road from Sui to the early Tang Dynasty (618-755) were Longyouhe West Road, Tuguhun Road, and Huilu Road.
The ancient Silk Road was opened in the Han and Tang dynasties
(1) Longyou Hexi Road refers to the communication line starting from Tang Chang'an (or Luoyang) and leading to the Western Regions through the Longyou and Hexi Corridors. Longyouhe West Road is divided into two roads: north and south. The southern road starts from Chang'an and passes through Jincheng County to Liangzhou. The Northern Province runs northwest of Xianyang County and crosses the Yellow River to Liangzhou. The North Road is shorter than the South Road, but the North Road is steep and inconvenient, although the South Road is far, but the road is relatively flat and rich along the way, and pedestrians and merchants take the South Road. After the confluence of the south and north roads in Liangzhou, it runs west along the Hexi Corridor to Guazhou and Shazhou, and there are roads leading to the western region in Guazhou and Shazhou.
Starting from Dunhuang to the West Sea (Mediterranean Sea), there are Xiyu North Road, Xiyu Middle Road, and Xiyu South Road, which are interconnected by these three roads, and each route is crisscrossed to form a network pattern. Xiyu North Province refers to the passage from Shazhou to Yizhou, north to the Tianshan Mountains, west to Broken Leaves, Central Asia, and Europe. The Middle Road of the Western Regions refers to the road from Guazhou to Yizhou, along the northern edge of the Tarim Basin in the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, and passes through Xizhou and Guizi to the west. The Southern Route of the Western Regions refers to the road that passes through Khotan along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert and crosses the Green Ridge in the west.
(2) Tuguhun Road, the main passage of which is from Di Dao County on longyou south province to Hezhou Fenghan County, crossing the Yellow River, crossing the Yellow River, crossing the Man Tianling to Longzhi County, following the huangshui river to the northwest, passing through Yancheng County (present-day Xining) and Fenglin Pass, to Lanzhou, connecting Longyou South Province to Liangzhou, and west to the western region. From Yancheng to the north through Changsong County to Liangzhou. From Yancheng to Shazhou, or from Yancheng along the south bank of Qinghai Lake to the west to Yangtong (in the area of present-day Ali), Kangsiwa and other places, north to Khotan.
(3) Huiyi Road, starting from Chang'an, traveling north through Lingzhou to ZhongyiCheng, Yueyin Mountain, through the desert to Huiyiya Tent, from Huiyiya Tent westward along the northern foothills of Hangai Mountain, crossing the Altai Mountains, you can go west to Central Asia, you can also follow the southeast of the Junggar Basin, and then go west along the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains. After the Anshi Rebellion, most of Helong fell to Tubo, the LongyouHexi Road was blocked, and the route through the Uighurs became important.
In 840, the Uighurs were defeated by the Uighurs and moved west to the west of the Moraine and the helong area, and the Uighur Road gradually withered away. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's border defenses were weak, and Tubo gradually encroached on the Hexi prefectures, including Shazhou. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, Tubo went into decline. In the second year of Da Zhong (848), Zhang Yichao led the crowd to expel the Tubo town generals from Shazhou, sent envoys to the Tang court to bid victory, and successively recaptured Sha, Gua, Gan, and Su prefectures. The area east of the Yellow River was also restored to the Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Xiantong (861), the rebel army recaptured Liangzhou, and the east of Hexi to Chang'an Yilu resumed traffic. Starting from Chang'an, passing through Xiaoguan and entering Liangzhou, the westward route through the Hexi Corridor to the western region of Hexi old road resumed traffic. However, during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong, Wonju and Xiaoguan were once again captured by Tubo, and the Longyouhe West Road was again blocked. Since then, the Hexi Passage has been intermittent. At that time, the Lingzhou Road was formed north of the Hexi Corridor. From Chang'an to lingzhou, from Lingzhou to the yellow river, out of Helan Mountain west, through the Tengger Desert, south to Liangzhou, and then along the Hexi Corridor west to the western region. During this period, the Helong region was frequently conquered, the Silk Road was intermittent, and the routes were often changed, but the main vein was never interrupted, especially the Lingzhou Road played an irreplaceable role in the economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West during this period.
In short, the Silk Road in the Sui and Tang dynasties was widely accessible and longitudinal and transverse. During this period, although the Silk Road also changed due to the Anshi Rebellion and the Tibet Barrier, it was never interrupted.
The Silk Roads interacted with East and West
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the national strength was strong, the economy was prosperous, and the culture was prosperous, which was the golden age of the development of the overland Silk Road, and the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West flourished. During the tang dynasty's strong and prosperous period, nearly 400 "four kingdoms" maintained diplomatic exchanges with the Tang Dynasty, and the Sui and Tang dynasties maintained friendly relations with the Sassanid Dynasty in Central Asia and South Asia. In the middle reaches of the Syr Darya River in Central Asia, the four towns of South Asia, an anxi, and the envoys, officials, protons, caravans, monks, poets, slaves, musicians and maiko of the Central Asian River flocked east and west through the Silk Road.
Road map of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty
After the Tang Dynasty unified Central Asia, commercial trade between the Tang Dynasty and Central Asia, as well as trade between the Sogdians and Western countries, flourished unprecedentedly. Sogdian merchants dominated the Tang Dynasty's trade with the Central Asian and Roman Empires. Sogdian merchants continued to come east, not only deep into Chang'an and Luoyang, but also in the east of the Onion Ridge Puchanghai (Lop Nur), Xizhou (Turpan), Hexi Corridor states and other Key Points of the Silk Road to form Sogdian settlements, establish trade transit stations, and use trade networks to monopolize the trade of the Silk Road in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Sogdians not only resold slaves from Central Asia's Sogdian region and the northern steppe nomadic areas to Gaochang, Dunhuang, and the Central Plains, but also cooperated with merchants of other ethnic groups such as the Han Chinese to distribute and re-distribute or transport western imports such as precious metals, spices, and medicinal materials to Hexi or the Central Plains through transit trade. Sogdian merchants traded silk, silk, gold, silver, silk, spices, lacquerware, ironware, tulip roots, ballast, copper, stone, medicinal herbs, stone honey, apricot, rhubarb, etc.
In addition to merchants trafficking in goods, the silk road tribute envoys and travel exchanges also promoted the exchange of goods. Livestock, birds and animals, plants, spices, wood, grapes, wine, vegetables, condiments, sugar, medicine, textiles, cotton, pigments, ores, gemstones, gold, purple gold, silver, brass, gold and silver coins, relics, Buddha statues and other items spread through the Silk Road. Chang'an is the most prosperous distribution center for imported products. Exotic products continued to come east, greatly enriching the material and cultural life of the Tang people. Tang Dynasty silk, gold and silverware, ironware, nitrate, rhubarb, apricots and other items were exported to Central Asia and Rome.
Tang Dynasty music and dance map of the south wall of Cave 220 of Mogao Caves
With the flow of people and goods, astronomy, music, painting, and foreign religions were introduced to the Tang Dynasty. Tianzhu and Persian astronomers transmitted the astronomical knowledge of India and Persia to the Tang Dynasty. The painting technique of concave and convex painting in the Western Regions had a profound influence on painters such as Wu Daoxuan in the Tang Dynasty, enriching the traditional Chinese painting art. Tianzhu, Kangguo, Anguo and other music species were introduced to Chang'an from the area west of the Onion Ridge, which influenced the court music of the Tang Dynasty, and the Guizi music, the Tuozhi Dance of the Shiguo, and the Huxuan Dance of the KangGuo were quickly integrated into the music and dance of the Tang Dynasty. Manichaeism, Jingjiao, Zoroastrianism and other foreign religions spread from the east of Persia, and Chang'an is an important area of spread. In short, the fusion of extraterritorial culture and Central Plains culture after the transmission of the east has formed the characteristics of Openness, Tolerance and Strong Color of Tang Culture.
As the Tang Dynasty's power reached Central Asia, the Tang Dynasty's grass-roots administrative systems such as the village system were established in Central Asia. Tang Dynasty handicraft techniques such as silk weaving, gold and silver craftsmanship, and iron smelting spread to Central Asia. Xuanzang, Hui Chao and a large number of dharma-seeking monks made important contributions to the sinification of Buddhism, and as the Tang Dynasty forces entered the Western Regions, Sinicized Buddhist monasteries were established in the Western Regions, and Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, Confucian Taoist cultural texts, and history books were transmitted to the Western Regions, spreading Chinese civilization far abroad.
Source: Learning Times (07/07/01/2022)