11 replies to this topic

[Yun]

Kudos to Warlordgeneral for finding this gem of Chinese historical geography online - a collection of English translations of written accounts of the cities and sights of the Silk Road by historians and travellers from both China and Europe: http://depts.washing...exts/texts.html

[snowybeagle]

Cool, so much materials ... I wish I could quit my day job and be a full-time writer ...

[Yun]

Well, here's more Silk Road treasure, this time from Japan's National Institute of Informatics... a digitization of 40 rare old books on the Silk Road, including the exploration classics by Aurel Stein and the Chinese dynastic history chapters on the Western Regions (in original Chinese):

http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko

Check out these beautiful Silk Road photos too: http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/photograph

[l0ckx]

http://idp.bl.uk/

contains a database with over 100,000 manuscripts, paintings, and artifacts from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites.

[Borjigin Ayurbarwada]

Thats a great site, the central Asian sources are especially precious.

[xinglai]

Is is possible to trace who is the first people to discover silk road?
Is it during the period of 'Han wu di'?

[Mei Houwang]

The Silk Road is a natural thing where no one can pinpoint just "who" started it. It's not a road where people from China travel all the way to the Middle East and vice versa(although it happened in certain instances). Instead it's a steady progress in which people would sell/buy things from neighboring merchants and these merchants would sell/buy things from other neighboring countries, and so on, until the goods are spread from one side of the world to the other.

[Yun]

I would say the Tocharians (e.g. the Yuezhi) were probably the first people to use the 'Silk Road' for trade, though probably not in silk. The route fell into disuse because the Xiongnu drove the Yuezhi out, and was reopened due to Western Han expansion into the area.

Do correct me if I'm wrong.

[Non-Han Nan Ban]

Great links, Yun! Thanks!

Eric

[lifezard]

Maybe the more precise question should be: when did the Silk Road got started for WHOM? The Han Empire found out about the western regions through Zhang Qian's travels, The Persians found out about China much earlier I think, etc. It would be interesting to know when the different countries/ region became first truly "aware" of each other.

i would say that before zhang qian s official journey to the 'West', there would have been some entrepreuneur people from both sides (businessmen, merchants) who would straddle down for the Silk Road for opportunities and $$$ (well not exactly $$$ but exotic stuff they can bring back home to make a fortune) ...

remember, zhang qian tried to embark on a trip southwest via the tibetan highlands to get to india when he discovered that goods from india are appearing in the south of china ... too bad he did not succeed, but i m sure some people could have... they just did not made the pages of history because they are not important people

[Charlotte]

Is is possible to trace who is the first people to discover silk road?
Is it during the period of 'Han wu di'?

The first recorded silk route traveller , General Zhang Qian during the Western Han dynasty. He was sent to the western region by Han Emperor Wu in 138 BC in search of Yuezhi to form an alliance against Xiongnu.

BOOK -SILK, SCENTS AND SPICE --RETRACING THE WORLD'S GREAT TRADE ROUTES
THE SILK ROAD/ THE SPICE ROUTE & THE INCENSE TRAIL. UNESCO 2004


The Silk Road was the longest overland trade route on earth. It streteched some 12,000 kilometres ( 7,500 miles ) across mountains, deserts and steppes of Central Asia, joining the markets of China with those of Europe and the Middle East.


THE SILK ROAD--Fewer names are more evocative of opulence and mystery than the Silk Road, but it's actual effect was to demystify. Trade along the route help created contacts among far-flung countries and culture and make things that had been distant and exotic less strange.

[madalibi]

Kudos to Warlordgeneral for finding this gem of Chinese historical geography online - a collection of English translations of written accounts of the cities and sights of the Silk Road by historians and travellers from both China and Europe: http://depts.washing...exts/texts.html

The new link for these texts is:

http://depts.washing...exts/texts.html

Precious information on the beginning of the silk trade between Han and Central Asia can be found in John Hill's translation of the difficult chapter on the Western Regions (Xiyu 西域) of the Hou Hanshu 後漢書/后汉书 and in the translation's six-fold appendix.

The appendices are:

Appendix A: The Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan in the 1st Century CE

Appendix B: The Story of "Sea Silk"

Appendix C: Wild Silks in Ancient Times

Appendix D: Gan Ying's Route to the Persian Gulf

Appendix E: Speculations on the Dates of the Early Kushans

Appendix F: Comments on the Names and Titles of Qiujiu Que 丘就卻 (Kujula Kadphises) and his son Yan Gaozhen 閻高珍 (Wema Taktu)