Silk Road
Now, about 530 thousand people from China go to
America to study English and find job, and Americans go to China to learn
Chinese. People
travel around the world because they want to make their life better. In the ancient
time, people also traveled around the world for the new technology and products
that they didn’t have，such as paper, compass and spices. However,
the primary reason that people travel around the world is for the money. The
Silk Road started at Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 220). Emperor Wudi, the seventh emperor of the Han
Dynasty of China, sent the diplomat Zhang Qian to help Yuezhi tribe, who were
the enemies of the Xiongnu, against Xiongnu. Diplomatic Zhang Qian found the
route that connects West and East, and protected the only route connects east
and west became safer. It was about 7,00 kilometers long. It was a network of
trade and cultural transmission routes that connected West and East through
cities. People used these routes to trade silk, paper, spices and gunpowder
between Rome and Chang’an. People traveled on The Silk Road because they wanted to trade their products and
exchange products from different countries. Gradually, some scientific
knowledge and ideas spread by the Silk Road, and the Silk Road became important
because it was only way to connect the West and East. Furthermore, the legacy
of the Silk Road is that products and ideas traded on the Silk Road became the
basic knowledge and technology for modern society.
Kashgar was a very important city in the
central of China on the Silk Road and still is in modern times. The first
reason is Kashgar’s location. It is an oasis city and it is near the Taklimakan
desert. During the time of the Silk Road, It was the only city that connected
China, the Middle East, and Europe. Traders would replenish their water and food
in Kashgar, and get ready for their next journey. The Tien Shan and the Kunlun Mountain supplied
most of the water for Kashgar. The second reason is that Kashgar has a special
landform and climate, so the soil in this oasis is highly fertile. It grows
wheat, corn, barley, rice, beans, and a great deal of cotton, and it also grows
many kinds of fruits, like melons, grapes, peaches, apricots, and cherries. On
the Silk Road, because traders would have a long break in Kashgar after a long
journey in the desert, Kashgar’s water and fruits would be very important for
them.
Markets were one of the most important ways
for trade products and ideas in Kashgar in the ancient time and modern time.
Market in Kashgar called “Bazaar” which means market and trade place. In the
ancient time, because many of the traders and travelers entered Kashgar through
the Silk Road, the market of Kashgar gathered religions, ideas and products all
over the world. Bazaar in ancient Kashgar sold general products, like handicrafts, livestock and local specialties. At
present; there are more than 20 large scale bazaars in Kashgar. The
“International Trade Market of Central and Western Asia”, located in Kashgar,
the largest international trade bazaar in Northwest China. People from central
and western Asia can buy various things like local food and silk in bazaar now.
Furthermore, when they are buying and selling products, they will have conversation,
and the sellers will to learn new languages and customers will learn the local
etiquette custom, and it also appeared in ancient time. However, use market to
trade products and religions is one the most convenient ways for trade
products. Because it is very convenient, the country between East and West
still shapes these country’s economies today.
One of the most important and expensive products traded in the
ancient time was spice, and it is also a very important product in modern
world. In the ancient time, Spice Routes was a route to trade spice, that
included both travel by sea and overland travel on the Silk Road. They stretch
from the west coast of Japan, through the islands of Indonesia, around India to
the lands of the Middle East, and across the Mediterranean to Europe. The
distance of this route is over 15000 kilometers. Spice is the strongly flavored
dried flower, fruit, seed, bark or stem of a plant. Spice was as expensive as gold in the past, and the
word “spice” comes from the Latin species, which means an item is small
but very valuable. Spice was very valuable because many spices only grew in the
tropical East, from China south to Indonesia, southern India and Sri Lanka. On
the other hand, spice can use in
many ways, like the ingredients of oils, ointments, perfume-powders, cosmetics,
incense and medicine. Because spice was very valuable and it has a lot of application, the people
began to ship and trade spice for the money. When the Spice Route developed, the technology of ship was also improved.
Saffron is one of the most famous spices,
and it is also the most expensive spice
in the world, and a pound of
great Saffron is about 1500 dollars. It is made
from the stigmas inside the saffron crocus flowers, so it is very hard to
produce. Thousands of stigmas are needed from just a few grams. Now, Iran is the biggest country to produce Saffron,
and it also produce in China and Southern Europe.
Saffron is valuable in medicine. In the Middle Ages, Europeans used this for
cough, smallpox and cancer. Saffron is also very important in the Buddhism.
Believers of Buddhism will put Saffron in the water, and use this water to
clean beads and text of the Buddhism. In the ancient China, people thought
Saffron could let people feel happy and warm. They always putted Saffron in the wine and drank
it. Now, scientist found Saffron has Crocitin, Safranal, Crocin and
Protocrocin, which are anticarcinogen. Therefore, not only in the ancient time,
but also in modern time, more and more people want Saffron, so Saffron becomes
more and more expensive.
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