Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Maritime Traffic and Major Seaports in the Tang Dynasty

Since the Western Han Dynasty opened up the Maritime Silk Road, the maritime exchanges with various countries reached a period of comprehensive prosperity in the Tang Dynasty.Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, became an international city.Envoys, overseas students, monks, and businessmen from overseas countries came to China continuously to learn China's advanced culture, political rules and regulations, and conduct economic and trade exchanges.This is the inevitable result of the prosperity of the country, the abundance of products, the development of science and technology, and the leading culture in the Tang Dynasty.Chinese people are called "Tang people" overseas. "Tang people" also often travel overseas by boat.The Tang Dynasty opened up a number of sea routes and strengthened friendly exchanges with overseas economic and cultural exchanges.

At the same time as the prosperous Tang Dynasty, in the middle of the eighth century, the Arab empire that spanned Europe, Asia, and Africa rose in the West.Chinese history books call it the "big food" empire.The northern part of the eastern border is connected with the border of the Tang Dynasty.Arabs are accustomed to sailing and have extensive economic and cultural exchanges with the Chinese people. According to incomplete statistics, from the second year of Emperor Gaozong Yonghui of Tang Dynasty (AD 651) Osman, the third Arab caliph, first sent people to Tang Dynasty to the 14th year of Zhenyuan Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty. During the 148 years (AD 798), Arabia officially sent envoys to China 39 times.More than once every three years on average.Arab businessmen and Islamic clerics also traveled from Haidao to Tang Dynasty many times to do business and preach.From the mid-Tang Dynasty, the cultural trade along the Maritime Silk Road entered a new peak.

This route from Guangzhou to East Africa was recorded in the article "Guangzhou Tonghaiyi Road" written by Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty (785-805 AD) and geographer Jia Dan (730-805 AD).This route departs from Guangzhou, China, crosses the southeast of the South Island of Hainan, travels along the east coast of the Indochina Peninsula in the South China Sea, crosses the Gulf of Siam, goes south along the Malay Peninsula, and reaches the southeast of Sumatra Island before arriving at Java Island.Then go west to the Strait of Malacca, pass through the Nicobar Islands, cross the Bay of Bengal to Shizi Country (now Sri Lanka), then go along the west coast of the Indian Peninsula, cross the Arabian Sea, pass the Strait of Hormuz and arrive near Abadan, the head of the Persian Gulf, and then Tracing the Euphrates River to Basra, and traveling thousands of miles northwest to Baghdad, the capital of Arabia (on the banks of the Tigris River).From the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Hormuz, sail westward along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, pass Bahrain, Oman, Yemen to the Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, and go south to the coastal areas of East Africa.

According to Jia Dan, it took more than 90 days for the route from Guangzhou to Basra.Sailing west from Basra to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in East Africa takes 48 days.The ocean-going ships of the Tang Dynasty were able to sail in the waters of the Western Pacific Ocean and the North Indian Ocean, which shows the ability of Tang Dynasty ocean-going navigation.The Tang Dynasty bought ivory, rhino horn, pearls, gems, coral, colored glass, frankincense, ambergris and other spices and tortoise shells that were abundant in the places where the ships were berthed, and then exported them to China. And other specialty products are also exported to Asian and African countries.Overseas trade flourished unprecedentedly.

Mohe is an ethnic minority in Northeast my country. It was called Sushen in the pre-Qin period, Yilou in the Han Dynasty, Wuji in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Mohe in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. They are the ancestors of the Manchus.Live in Heilongjiang, Songhua River, Ussuri River Basin to Sakhalin Island on the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and other vast areas, there are Heishuibu, Sumobu, etc. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu Wude of Tang Dynasty (618-626 A.D.), Mohe at the end of the millet joined them one after another.In the first year of Tang Wu Zetian's holy calendar (698 A.D.), the leader of Sumo Mohe, the leader of Sumo Mohe, who was conferred the title of Zhen Guogong by the Tang Dynasty, Da Zuorong, the son of Qi Zhongxiang, established himself as the King of Zhen, and was still called Mohe.In the first year of Zhongzong Shenlong (AD 705), Tang sent officials to Mohe to comfort him.Da Zuorong wants to make friends with Tang.In the first year of Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan (713 A.D.), Da Zuorong requested to establish a maritime and commercial relationship with Tang Dynasty. Tang Xuanzong sent his general Cui Xin to set off from Chang'an in the name of "Imperial Chijie Xuanlao Mohe Envoy" and passed through Dengzhou on the Shandong Peninsula. Cross the Miaodao Islands, cross the Bohai Strait to Qingnipu on the Liaodong Peninsula (now the Qingniwa Bridge in the center of Dalian, Liaoning), and then go back to the Yalu River by boat to the "Old Country" (now Aodong City, Dunhua, Jilin).Canonized Da Zuorong as General Zuo Xiaowei, King of Bohai County, established Huhan Prefecture in his jurisdiction, and granted Da Zuorong the governor of Huhan Prefecture, also known as Bohai Governor.From then on, "Go to Mohe and call it Bohai".Bohai learned from the Tang Dynasty, established political and economic systems according to the Tang system, and used Chinese.After Xuanzong, Bohai often sent people to travel by sea to pay tribute to Chang'an, please title him.Students have been sent to the capital to study at the Imperial College many times, and the culture has continued to develop.Close relationship with Don.Among them, Shangjing Longquan Mansion is in today's Tokyo town of Ning'an, Heilongjiang.That is, where Jia Danji went to Bohai Wangcheng.

a Route from Dengzhou to Koryo Bohai Sea: starting from Dengzhou, Shandong (now Penglai), crossing the Bohai Sea, sailing along the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula to the mouth of the Yalu River, and then divided into two routes, north and south. The north road goes up the Yalu River to Linjiang Town, Jilin, then turns overland to Longquan Mansion, Shangjing, Bohai King City.Da Zuorong sent envoys to pay tribute in the 13th year when he was canonized. Because the land route was blocked by Khitan, he took this route.It has become an important route between the Central Plains and the Northeast, and the port of Dengzhou often berths ships selling horses in the Bohai Sea.

The South Road is from the mouth of the Yalu River to Tang Enpu in North Korea, and then along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, sailing south through the Jeju Strait, passing Tsushima Island and Yiqi Island to Japan; or sailing to Busan and then turning to sail through Tsushima Island and Yiqi Island to Kyushu, Japan .This route sailed island by island. Although the voyage period was long, it was safe and stable. It was the traditional route for ships from China and Silla to Japan at that time. b Wendeng-Namba (today's Osaka) route: sailing from the mouth of Moyu (ya Ya) in Wendeng County, Dengzhou, Shandong, heading southeast, crossing the Yellow Sea, and reaching Baekje at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, and then going to Jingzhou Island, Tsushima Island, Ikido Island, Shika Island, Dajinpu (Fukuoka) in Chikushi (Kitakyushu), and then eastward to Namba. This is also the route that Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty sent Wenlin Lang Pei Shiqing to Japan. It is also the route from Yangzhou to Silla to Japan. route.

Enter the sea from Yangzhou to the mouth of the Yangtze River, or start from Mingzhou (now Ningbo, Zhejiang), cross the East China Sea to Amami Island in the south of the mainland of Japan, and then turn to the north, passing Yejiu Island (Yakushima) and Tami Island (Tanegashima) Then go north from the Satsuma coast to Hakata and Namba.This route was opened around the Tianbao period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty (742-756 A.D.).Because at that time, the air route from China to Japan via Silla was blocked (the relationship between Japan and Silla deteriorated).Jianzhen, an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty, made his sixth eastward journey to Japan in November of the twelfth year of Tianbao (753 A.D.), starting from Yangzhou and taking this route.Because it is newly opened, sometimes it even drifts to Okinawa.

Depart from Yangzhou and Mingzhou, cross the East China Sea, fly directly to Shika Island (now Hirado Island and Goto Islands) in Japan, and then proceed to Chikushi (Kitakyushu) via Matsuura and Hakata.This is a new route opened up in the twelfth year of Zong Dali in the Tang Dynasty (777 A.D.).This route is shorter than the northern route and the South Island route, and there is no stopover on the way. It only takes six to seven days to reach Japan's Chika Island with a smooth journey, and it takes about 10 days to reach Koryo.Most of the ships on this route are large Chinese ships, which are highly skilled in ship construction and maneuvering, are resistant to wind and waves, and shipwrecks are rare.

Maokouwei is located a hundred miles southeast of Longyuan Mansion in Tokyo (now Balian City, Hunchun County, Jilin Province) in Bohai State.Kraskino in present-day Poshet Bay, Russia.In the more than 200 years since the founding of the Bohai Sea, 35 missions to Japan have been made through this waterway, and Japan has returned 13 times.The visits of the two sides include official visits and non-governmental cultural trade exchanges.Every time the Bohai Sea goes to Japan, the fleet is relatively large, some with thousands of people, and they go there in dozens of ships. One is the Bohai Nengdeng line.Depart from Maokouwei, and land in the southeast to the Noto Peninsula in central Honshu, Japan.The whole journey is 500 nautical miles (about 900 kilometers), and it is a main route between Bohai Sea and Japan.

The second is to build the purple line in the Bohai Sea.Starting from Maokouwei, cross the Sea of ​​Japan in the southeast and go straight to Chikushi (Kitakyushu). Bohai Merchant Ships brought mink fur, bear skin, tiger skin, ginseng and exquisite handicrafts, dance and music to Japan.They also transported Japanese silk, silk, gold, gold lacquer and other items back to Bohai Sea.Japanese envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty, overseas students, and learned monks sometimes went back and forth between the Tang Dynasty and Japan via the Maokou Weihai Road. In the thirteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty (AD 725), Xue Tai, the governor of Anton, asked to build a Heishui army in Heishuimohe, with its largest tribe as Heishuifu, and its leader as the governor and dispatched the inland chief ( The governor's deputy) and other officials assisted the local ethnic minority leaders in the administration. In the 14th year of Kaiyuan, the Tang Dynasty set up the Heishui Dudu's Mansion here.In the 16th year of Kaiyuan, the governor was given the surname of Li and the name of Xiancheng, and implemented effective administrative jurisdiction over the Heishui Mohe area (now the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang).The seat of the government today is Khabarovsk (Khabarovsk), Russia.In the Tang Dynasty, the Heishui Mohe, an ethnic minority in Northeast my country, opened up a route to Kamchatka, that is, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk route between Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula.The starting point of the route is Sakhalin Island where Moyemohe (Moyejubu) is located. "New Book of Tang·Mohe Biography" records that there is Simu Department in the northwest of Heishui (Heilongjiang), go north for 10 days to Junli Department (now Temple Street in Haikou, Heilongjiang), and then go northeast for 10 days to Grotto Department (also The famous Grotto Shuobu, "Kushuo" is the pronunciation of "Kuye"), and then go southeast for 10 days to Moyedubu, that is, Moyemohe.The end point is Liugui Country (now the southwest coast of Kamchatka Peninsula). After starting from Sakhalin Island, this route sails southeast along the sea current and takes advantage of the northwest wind (northwest winds in this area for eight months in a year). After reaching Iturup Island, it turns northeast and then reaches the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. , with a total length of 918 nautical miles (more than 1700 kilometers), it took 15 days.It shows that the Mohe people of Sakhalin Island had mastered the counterclockwise current law of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the Tang Dynasty, and opened up this large arc route from northwest to southeast and then to northeast. In the Tang Dynasty, the economic and trade exchanges with the Arab Empire, Japan, Korea and other countries were very frequent. Coupled with the rapid economic development in the south of the Yangtze River, the center of navigation in my country gradually moved south, and the southeast ports were increasingly emerging.The main ones are: (1) Jiaozhou Port (Bijing Port).This is Vietnam.Located at the mouth of the Lingjiang River in Hue, it is a must pass in the South China Sea voyage.It can be reached by sailing from Guangzhou in four days.It connects to the Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean in the south, and reaches Guangdong and Fujian in the north.In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, due to the serious exploitation of officials in Guangzhou, Chinese and foreign sea-going ships traded goods in Jiaozhou Port, and Jiaozhou Port became more prosperous.It was not until the sixth year of Taiping Xingguo (981 A.D.) of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty that Li Huan established himself as the queen of Annan, and then he broke away from Chinese jurisdiction. (2) Guangzhou Port.It is located at the mouth of the Pearl River, on the brink of the South China Sea.With the increase of the volume of maritime trade in the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou Port developed into the largest port in China due to its water and land transportation conditions.Most of the Chinese and foreign sea-going ships traveling between East and West Asia start and end at Guangzhou Port.In the second year of Kaiyuan (AD 714), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty established the Shibo Department in Guangzhou as a management agency specializing in maritime trade, and appointed corresponding officials and Shibo Envoys.During the Yuanhe period of Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty (806-820 A.D.), because the original Shibo envoy was humble and powerless, he was not qualified for this important task, so Lingnan Shuai (Jiedu envoy) was appointed to supervise this post.Maritime envoys in the Tang Dynasty were in charge of import and export voyage trade, including collecting ship taxes ("ship feet"); boarding ships to inspect goods ("reading goods"); purchasing treasures and foreign objects on behalf of the government ("closing the market"); or local government gifts ("Jinfeng");After completing the formalities, Chinese and foreign ship merchants are allowed to do business, and they have to pay taxes to become officials.In the late Tang Dynasty, about 4,000 ships entered the port every year.There are businessmen and monks from Arabia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia and other places gathered here.There are more than 120,000 businessmen living in Guangzhou. (3) Quanzhou Port.It is located on the southeast coast of Fujian, within the Quanzhou Bay at the mouth of the Jinjiang River.In the Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Mingzhou, and Yangzhou were called the four major ports.The people who carry out trade and cultural exchanges here are mainly Arabs, Persians and Southeast Asians.Some of them are engaged in business, and some are engaged in Islamic missionary activities. (4) Fuzhou Port.Located at the mouth of the Minjiang River in Fujian.The history of opening a port in Fuzhou is older than Quanzhou.In the Tang Dynasty, its status was above Quanzhou.In the late Tang Dynasty, during the reign of Wenzong Yamato (827-835 A.D.), the Department of Shipbuilding was set up here to manage the collection of sea tax and other taxes. (5) Mingzhou Port.Mingzhou is now Ningbo, Zhejiang.Located in the lower reaches of Yongjiang River, it is the confluence of Fenghua River, Yuyao River and Yongjiang River, where the three rivers flow into the sea.It is one of the big southeast ports in ancient times.Since the opening of the South Line to Japan, it was the shortest port on the eastward route to Japan in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. (6) Yangzhou Port.Since the opening of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, Yangzhou is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the canal, and has become a distribution center for north-south materials in China.It is also a place for foreign merchants to trade in jewelry, silk and porcelain.Yangzhou in the Tang Dynasty was "rich and prosperous".Many Persians and Arabs settled here, forming "Persian Village" and "Persian Mansion".There are also many monks and laymen studying abroad in Korea and Japan also come in and out from Yangzhou.In Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou achieved unprecedented prosperity. (7) Dengzhou Port.That is, the two places of Huang and Yu in the pre-Qin period, and today's Penglai County, Yantai City, Shandong Province.It is on the verge of the Bohai Sea and faces the Liaodong Peninsula across the sea.In the Tang Dynasty, it was the main port for the Northeast region and Korea and Japan. It can also go south to the Grand Canal, or enter the Yangtze River estuary from the coast.Shandong has been the main producing area of ​​silk fabrics in my country since ancient times, and is rich in gold.The status of economy and navigation is extremely important, and it is the largest port in the north.