Chapter 9 Section 2 The Development of Land Transportation between China and the West in the Tang Dynasty

Let's first look at China's land transportation to the West in the Tang Dynasty.The overland Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous.According to the textual research of Jia Dan, the prime minister during the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty (627-649 A.D.), two new routes were opened up in addition to the three routes of south, north and middle since the Han Dynasty.All the way from Kucha via Gumo, Wensu, Bodaling (now Bedeli Mountain Pass), the south bank of Rehai (now Issyk-Kul Lake), to Suiye (near Tokmak in northern Kyrgyzstan) and Taluosi (Kazakh Southeast Zhambyl).The other route is Tingzhou (today's north of Jimsar), via Qinghai Hai (today's east of Shawan), Heishuishouzhuo (today's Wusu), Gongyue City (today's Huocheng), to Suiye and Taluosi.After the two roads converge at Taluosi, go westward to reach the West Sea; go south through Shiguo (Tashkent) and Kangguo (Samarkand) to reach Persia and Dashi (Arabia).Tingzhou was the transportation hub at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain at that time.It is adjacent to Yizhou (now Hami) in the east, Xizhou (administrating Gaochang, southeast of Turpan today) in the south, and connected to Suiye in the west.In 702 A.D., the Tang Dynasty set up the Beiting Dadu Protectorate in this place, which became the political, economic and cultural center of northern Xinjiang.Kucha is the traffic key of Tianshan South Road.After 659 A.D., the Anxi Dadu Protectorate in the Tang Dynasty was established here, and it was the political, economic and cultural center of southern Xinjiang.

Out of the consideration of foreign political prestige and economic exchanges, the Tang Empire attached great importance to the operation of the overland Silk Road.At that time, the khanate established by the Turks, a nomadic nomadic people in the northern grasslands, had split into two parts, the eastern and the western.In the early years of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, the Tang army defeated the Eastern Turks who had been invading for years.However, the Western Turks active west of the Altai Mountains are still very strong.They cut off the Silk Road and supported Gaochang in plundering business travelers and envoys.In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 639), Tang Taizong determined to recover the Western Regions and sent troops to Gaochang.In the following year, he set up a capital guard in the area, and later moved to Qiuci, commanding the four towns of Qiuci, Suiye, Khotan, and Shule, known as the "Four Towns of Anxi" in history, ensuring the safety and prosperity of the Silk Road.

Along this Silk Road, business travelers and missions from China and Western countries came in an endless stream.The silk fabrics unearthed on this silk road are no longer purely Chinese, but often use patterns popular in Central Asia and West Asia, such as the brocade with the word "same" with beads paired with birds and lions, which is a Persian Sassanian. Dynasty pattern.The murals of the Western Regions found in the ancient Gaochang City, Mumugou, Boziberik and other places near Turpan, Xinjiang, reflect the influence of Roman painting styles, and there are also images of women wearing Greek-style clothes.From the murals, we can see the interpenetration of Gandhara style, Ajita style, Tang style and Roman style.The murals in the Dunhuang Art Treasure Caves show us the masterpieces of a combination of various cultural factors.Among the currencies unearthed in Xinjiang, there are not only Sasanian Persian silver coins, but also Byzantine gold coins.All of these show how busy this Silk Road was back then, and how strong the impact and integration of Chinese and Western cultures were through this Silk Road.

In the Tang Dynasty, a new channel appeared in the communication between China and the West - the Sino-India-Tibetan Road.This is a newly opened Sino-Indian transportation shortcut from Chang'an via Qinghai to Tubo and Nipala (today's Nepal) to India.The Tubo people are the ancestors of the Tibetan people. They lived a farming and nomadic life on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau very early on. In the early 7th century, Songtsan Gampo, the outstanding leader of Tubo, made Zanpu, unified many tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and established his capital in Luoxie (now Lhasa).In 639 AD, Princess Nipoluo Chizhen married Songtsen Gampo.In 641 A.D., the Tang Dynasty made peace with Tubo, and Princess Wencheng entered Tibet. Since then, the Sino-Indian Tibetan Road has become the main way for Chinese and Indian envoys to return.The famous envoy of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Xuance, traveled to China and India three times, which was exactly the path he followed. In 643, when Wang Xuance and Li Yiyi visited India for the first time, they visited Kathmandu along the road of Princess Chizhen to Tibet. They chiseled a stone in Lingjiu Mountain in the northeast of Rajgaha, India, and erected a stele in Mok Bodhi Temple as a memorial. In the second mission in 647, when King Jieri of Zhongtianzhu died and the country was in great chaos, Wang Xuance escaped wittily and quelled the war with the help of Tubo elite and Nibra cavalry ("Old Tang Book" Volume 198 "Tianzhu pass").The third mission was in 657, when he was ordered to print and deliver Buddhist cassocks.His three missions have contributed to the communication between China, India and Tibet, and the cultural exchanges between China and South Asian countries.

When the Arabs rose rapidly and expanded everywhere, the Sasanian Persia in the West and the Eastern Roman Empire felt threatened, so they tried their best to communicate with the Tang Empire, trying to use it as Austrian aid against the Arabs. In 643, Bodoli, king of Fufu (that is, the Byzantine Empire), sent envoys to Chang'an to meet Emperor Taizong of Tang, presenting red glass and other gifts.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty wrote back his greetings and gave silk fabrics such as silk in return.In fact, the Fusu envoys who came to China this time, as seen in the history books of our country, were not sent in the name of the Byzantine emperor.The so-called Fushi King Bodoli was Pope Diodorus at that time.This is because Byzantium's national power has been weakening under the oppression of the Arabs, so it wants to use the name of the Pope to make good deals in China in order to obtain the support of the Chinese emperor.Since then, Byzantium has sent envoys to China many times for the same purpose.The Tang Dynasty always treated him with courtesy, but never promised to help him.Byzantium finally begged for peace with the Arabs, settled in a corner, and lingered on.

China learned about Arabia through Sasanian Persia, so it called the Arabs Dashi according to the Persian pronunciation. In 651, the Arabs destroyed Sasanian Persia and incorporated it into the territory of the Arab Empire.The Persian prince Belus once went to the Tang Dynasty for help.The emperor of the Tang Dynasty successively named Belus as the governor, and Nihuangsi, the son of Belus, as the general of Zuowuwei, so that they lived in Chang'an in a wealthy environment and lived in China for the rest of their lives.But no troops were sent to aid. In the year when Persia was conquered, Arab envoys also arrived in Chang'an for the first time.Since then, the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire have continuously exchanged envoys, and the two sides have maintained a century of peace.In the Tang Dynasty, the Umayyad Dynasty was called the Dashi in White Clothes, and the Abbasid Dynasty, which replaced the Umayyad Dynasty, was called the Dashi in Black Clothes.The two sides have established frequent contacts.