Growing up, I was made aware of what was to be handed down to me after there was to be a death in the family, what family heirloom, so precious it was priceless would some day be mine.
Crystal is always given, jewellery perhaps or a pocket watch for the boys, but it was silk for the ladies that was always one of the most prized possessions. True, the silk handed down in my family probably was not the finest of Chinese silk but during the days of my ancestors it was. Wealthy aristocratic women from the Roman, Greek and English empires admired Chinese silk so much its beauty became legend.
“I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one’s decency, can be called clothes… Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife’s body”; Seneca the Younger (c. 3 BCE – 65 CE), Declamations Vol. I. Perhaps unsurprisingly therefore, the Roman Senate famously tried to ban all imports of luxury Chinese silk and commodities on economic and moral grounds.
Chinese legend states that (very similar to another Chinese legend talking of the origins of tea) silk was discovered by Xi Lingsui, Emperor Huang Di’s illustrious wife, when a silk cocoon dropped into her hot tea; fine threads unravelled and voila, silk was born. Silk became a precious commodity within China and was strictly enjoyed by royalty. It became a source of trade within China and not before long China began using it as a means of international currency on what was to become known as the Silk Road.
Initially as a means to transport only silk, but over thousands of years the Silk Road assisted in the development of some of the greatest civilizations on earth, that of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, the North of Africa and Arabia. Listed as a world heritage site and believed to be anywhere from 4-7,000 miles long, what we now know as the Silk Road began materialising as early as the 1st century BCE. Efforts made by the Chinese saw a expansion of it linking the Hexi Corridor (Gansu Corridor) to the Mediterranean around 130 BCE. By the end of the 1st century a maritime route was also up and running, connecting trading ports that included Java, Hanoi, Goa and as far as Zanzibar and Alexandra. Merchants along the Silk Road came primarily from Indonesia, China, India, Persia, Arabia, Somalia and Europe.
Dreadfully inhospitable deserts and mountain ranges was what surrounded a host of oases that provided refuge to the merchants. Caravans would eventually reach China having journeyed from the north. Traders would travel through the Hexi Corridor in order to finally reach the great capital of Changan (what is now Xi’an). The Hexi Corridor was the northern link of the Silk Road that ran northwest from the Yellow River.
As early as the 1st century BCE, silk started appearing in Siberia, after having journeyed through the Hexi Corridor. To the south lies the hostile Tibetan Plateau and to the north the Gobi desert and the savannahs of Outer Mongolia.
During the Han and Tang dynasties, Changan played a major role in events along the Silk Road. As the first point of entry into China via land, this city was a major source of international exchange and multiculturalism, thriving with the hustle and bustle of exotic trade as well as cultural and philosophical exchange. The ancient marketplace that was situated at Changan West Market was a meeting place for music, entertainment, trade along with cultural and language exchange. The Silk Road was reopened during the Tang dynasty and overseen by China’s only reigning Empress, Wu Zetian. When she died representatives from over 61 countries attended to her funeral.
Over the years, demand grew and grew until eventually jade, fine porcelain and silk were among some of the most popular luxury items sought after in aristocratic European circles. The Chinese understandably became outré protective of their products that the Great Wall was expanded in order to protect it. Anyone caught smuggling out silk worms was executed. “The art and civilization of the Silk Road achieved its highest point in the 8th century. Western civilization began to reach China in the late 6th century with the assistance of Arab middle men. In China, the Tang Dynasty had united the country and its capital, Changan…had a population of two million people and an estimated five thousand foreigners”; University of California at Irvine.
Aside from what was obviously traded and exchanged along this route, perhaps the biggest legacy of the Silk Road is its exchange and influence of culture, belief systems, philosophy, technology, foodstuffs and luxury items.
Among foods imported into China were walnuts, sesame seeds, alfalfa, string beans, onions, cucumbers, carrots and exotic fruits such as watermelons, peaches, pomegranates and figs. “Most popular food: raisins, nuts, dairy and fruit products in Xinjiang, Muslim beef noodle soup in Lanzhou, roujiamo (like hamburgers) and shish kabobs in Xi’an”; Seasdrams.org.
Central Asia exported camels to China along with, military equipment, gold and silver, semi-precious stones and glass items. Other goods included wool, cotton fabrics, gold embroidery, fat-tailed sheep and hunting dogs, leopards and lions. Roman glassware was even found in Nanjing tombs dating from 25-220 BCE.
Mediterranean rugs, carpets, curtains and blankets started to appear. Being unfamiliar with the methods of producing and processing wool, the Chinese greatly welcomed and well harnessed the future techniques of weaving. “Knowledge of winemaking passed eastwards from the Middle East to China, while the idea of noodles moved the opposite direction”; The Economist.
“Heavenly Horses” from the Greek kingdoms of central Asia were greatly sought after by the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and were brought along the Silk Road into western China; descendants of these horses are still around today. The game Polo was introduced to China over 1,000 years ago and, just as in the West, was thoroughly enjoyed by aristocrats.
During this time it was Indian missionaries who took Buddhism along the Silk Road where it later spread to Japan and Korea. Reaching China during a time of upheaval and struggle, Buddhism gave the Chinese something to put their faith in and it flourished. Various places and communities along the Silk Road added to and changed the original teachings, turning it into what we now know as Chinese Buddhism.
As much as the Silk Road became a vital means of culture and luxury trade for imports to China, in return what China handed down to the world turned out to be some of the most important inventions and commodities of all time.
To name but a few, China handed down to the world gun powder, papermaking, printing, the compass, porcelain, silk, tea, Chinese medicine, thin and delicate porcelain, bronze ornaments and mirrors, umbrellas, and perfumery. Along the Silk Road, merchants also carried tea and rice, corals, amber and asbestos. Additional products dug up from the Gobi desert also include turtle shells, spices, ceramics, cinnamon, ginger plus iron items and bronze weapons. That’s not all; then came the abacus, locks, clocks, crossbows, fireworks, the sail and rudder, the spinning wheel, stirrups, the umbrella, zero, kites, the seed drill, noodles, alcohol, acupuncture and toilet paper. Above all however, the most sort after amongst the European elite were fine silks, the thinnest of porcelain and tea.
The transportation of goods by land was not the only means of travel; maritime trade became widely and effectively used, later to become known as the Spice Routes. These routes supplied markets across the world with cinnamon, pepper, ginger, cloves and nutmeg mainly from the Moluccas islands in Indonesia (the Spice Islands). Technology, science and navigation, astronomy, and shipbuilding were exchanged. Dynamic coastal cities grew around frequented ports such as Alexandria, Muscat, Zanzibar and Goa.
Along with goods, foods, philosophies and religions, disease also ran along the Silk Road; there is evidence to suggest that the bubonic plague, anthrax and leprosy actually came from the Silk Road. However, “researchers [did] excavate 2,000-year-old feces from a latrine along the Silk Road in northwestern China, and found that it contained eggs from the Chinese liver fluke, a parasitic worm that is typically found at least 930 miles (1,500 kilometres) away”; LiveScience, Charles Q Choi.
In order to protect traders along the Silk Road from bandits, General Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty and his army were dispatched to the road in order to provide security for the roads and to establish trade relationships with other countries; a tradition that started almost 2,000 years ago and is now enjoying a revival thanks to China’s “One Belt, One Road” plan.
Essentially a restoration of the old Silk Road, the One Belt, One Road links China to the world again in order to create a thriving trading ground. The “New Silk Road” includes Dubai, Beijing, Mumbai, Chennai, Tokyo, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Riyadh.
“It will connect China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe…known as the Silk Road Initiative. Neither the belt nor the road follows any clear line geographically speaking; they serve more as a roadmap for how China wants to further integrate itself into the world economy and strengthen its influence in these regions. Many of the countries have traditionally had close trade and investment relations with China, which says they should deepen cooperation, especially in terms of building infrastructure and other development projects. The strategy underlines the government’s push to have a bigger say in global economic and political affairs, and to export China’s technologies and production capacity in oversupplied areas such as steel manufacturing”; Caixin.
However China’s new Silk Road plan has met some criticism; there are those who say it is merely a means of trade war over America’s domination of the Panama Canal, others suggest simply a plan hatched by Xi Jinping that was not carefully thought out or planned. “Simply put, China is trying to buy friendship and political influence by investing massive amounts of money on infrastructure in countries along the “One Belt, One Road…No matter how cash-flush Beijing is, it will be impossible for China to keep pumping cash into these regions like that”, claimed Willy Lam Wo-Lap of Ejinsight.
China has been implementing its One Belt, One Road plan since 2013; seven cities along it have already prospered from it, growth that includes economic and development prosperity; Lanzhou (China), Khorgos (China / Kazakhstan), Terespol (Poland), Alyat (Azerbaijan), Colombo and Hambantota (Sri Lanka) plus Anaklia (Georgia). “By striking up economic and cultural partnerships with other countries, China cements its status as a dominant player in world affairs”, commented Anna Bruce-Lockheart of the World Economic Forum.
New or old, the legend of the Silk Road and all the many types of goods passed down from East to West have inevitably facilitated the shaping of some of the greatest civilisations on Earth, in terms of increased multiculturalism as well as language, technological and scientific progress and ideas. The new Silk Road may only have economic intentions but there remains hope that it also continues to help break down barriers and assist in bridging more than one kind of gap between East and West.
This article was first published in The Nanjinger Magazine, November 2016 issue. If you would like to read the whole magazine, please follow this link.
