The Southern Silk Road was an ancient international passageway in ancient Southwest China running through Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, connecting Myanmar and India, and leading to Southeast Asia, West Asia, and European countries, and it was the main passageway for China's foreign transportation, trade, and cultural exchanges in ancient times, along with the Northwestern Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road.
From Chengdu, Sichuan Province through Yunnan to Myanmar, India and further to Central Asia, West Asia and the European Mediterranean region of the "Shushi Poison Road", is the earliest recorded in historical documents of the East-West transportation routes, but also the prestigious "Southern Silk Road"
Southern Silk Road
The middle route of the Southern Silk Road was the transportation route from Sichuan through Yunnan to Vietnam and the Central and Southern Peninsula, which was recorded in historical documents as the "Bitou Road" and the "Sansang Road". The eastern route of the Southern Silk Road was the Sheep Place Road, or Yelang Road, which ran from Sichuan to the South China Sea via Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong.
China is the origin of silk, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties silk weaving has reached a considerable level, Sichuan is the main origin of Chinese silk. Western Han Yang Xiong "Shu Du Fu" has been praised, Shu brocade colorful and gorgeous, many varieties, hair text Yang Cai, turn generation endless. "Shu Fu" said, Shu "yellow and fine cloth, a tube of gold", meaning that the silk of Shu to the yellow quality is particularly good. Indian archaeologist Joshi pointed out that the ancient Sanskrit literature in the Hindu gods like to wear Chinese silk, Lord Shiva especially like yellow cocoon silk fabrics. This yellow silk fabrics, should be what Yang Xiong said, "yellow moist fine cloth". From the Indian ancient documents, the emergence of Lord Shiva's time at least equivalent to China's Shang Dynasty. This shows that, probably in the Shang Dynasty, China has been with India silk trade relations.
In 1936, archaeological excavations north of Kabul, Afghanistan, unearthed a lot of Chinese silk, which may have been transported from Chengdu to the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent via Yunnan, Burma, India and Pakistan, and then changed hands to reach Central Asia. The Records of the Grand Historian repeatedly refers to "Shu cloth" and other "Shu products", in fact, is the Shu production of silk, by the Shu merchants and traders long-distance transportation to India to sell, and then re-export trade to Central Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean region of Europe.
The Records of the Grand Historian documented the economic and cultural exchanges between China, India and Afghanistan, and "Three Kingdoms" Pei Songzhi cited the Three Kingdoms fish豢's "Wei Liao - Xirong biography", also mentioned that the Roman Empire, "there is water through the Yizhou (Sichuan)".
As early as Zhang Qian has not yet opened the way to the Western Regions, opened up the northern Silk Road before, the Southwest ancestors have opened a from Chengdu, Sichuan Province to Yunnan Diandong area of the "five feet of the Road", the "Records of the Grand Historian", "the Qin often Jiao Tong five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road", "five feet of the Road". The "Five-Foot Road" started from Sichuan and traveled southeast through Bo Dao (Yibin), Nanguang (Yanjin), Zhuti (Zhaotong), Yelang Northwest (Weining area), Yixian (Qujing), to Dianchi (Kunming), and then continued westward to Yeyu (Dali). Sima Xiangru Liezhuan", "Qiong Liao, Ran Yan white people near Shu, the road is also easy to pass, when the Qin Dynasty tasted through for the county, to the Han Xing and strike." Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty Yuan Guang six years (129 years ago), Emperor Wu sent Sima Xiangru actively excavated through the Ya'an, Xichang and Yunnan Dayao Qiong, Board, well, black and other Western Barbarians in the region of the "Western Barbarians Road", so the road passed through the territory of the Yuexi "Lingguan", so it is also known as the "Lingguan Road". "Lingguan Road", from Shu south, through the Qionglai (Qionglai), Yan Dao (Xingjing), banner cattle (Hanyuan), Qiongdu (Xichang), will be no (Haili), across the Jinsha River to the Qingwing (Dayao), arriving in Yeyu. After opening up the Body Poison Road, the channel connecting Yunnan and Sichuan, the Shu Body Poison Road can be traveled freely. The above two in Dali after the convergence of westbound, through the Bonan (Yongping), Yongchang (Baoshan), by the Yue fine (Tengchong) exit into Phyo (Burma), known as the "Yongchang Road". This road covers about 3,000 kilometers in China. Some experts believe that this is China's earlier external land transportation line, but also southwest China and Western Europe, Africa, South Asia, countries in the shortest line of communication.
The Tang and Song dynasties tea and horse trade rose, become the southern Silk Road, the most important trading commodities, and stretches for thousands of years without decline, far-reaching impact, so it is also known as the tea and horse ancient road. Ming and Qing tea and horse market is the heyday of the development of the Southern Silk Road, respectively, from different ports and Burma, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and other countries have increasingly close relations, especially the Yunnan tea, Sichuan tea into the Tubo, but also a steady supply of war horses to the Central Plains. Frequent exchanges of materials with each other, but also through the ancient road will be a string of culture, to goods will be presented in pieces of cultural forms, inside and outside the circle of culture is hooked up, so the Southern Silk Road from the emergence of a variety of cultural collision has always existed since the dissemination of culture, spread, culmination, change, due to the depth of the Southwest of the two ends of the middle of the different types of cultures, the culture of collision here is not only exceptionally intense, but also tolerant and harmonious, and nowadays The phenomenon of multi-cultural coexistence has been presented.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Yunnan jumped from a border city to become a strategic strategic hub of supplies, and every day the scarce supplies, weapons and ammunition, and medical equipment were snatched from the Beacon Line and transported to the mainland, and at this time, the Southern Silk Road was the most prosperous since its opening, and its own role was also played to the extreme, and it played an important role for the whole of China's anti-Japanese War victory.
After the end of the war, the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Yunnan-Burma Highway resumed operation, and then with the increasing improvement of modern transportation conditions, the Southern Silk Road was replaced by 214, 317, 318 national highways, railroads, and even air routes. After the 1950s and 1960s, the Southern Silk Road gradually fell silent. However, as a witness of history, the Southern Silk Road has become a cultural genetic code that has been integrated into the economy, society, culture, and life at all levels, building a multifaceted and integrated cultural pattern.