Economic and Cultural Exchange Brought by the Silk Road
In the Han Dynasty, Chang’an was the starting point for the transmission of Chinese civilization out of China and the end point for cultural input from western regions after the opening of the Silk Road. The cultural input from western regions was generally disseminated to Xi’an first and then spread all over the country. Naturally, Xi’an became the place which contacted the foreign cultures earliest and the leading city which opened to and exchanged with the outside world in ancient China.
After the opening of the Silk Road, rare animals and birds, and new species of plants were imported from western regions. These imports were most easily accepted since their direct benefits in terms of the substantial life and the improvement of the productivity. One of the most typical examples is the horse. There were horses in China, but they were unable to satisfy the demand for economic development and war because of inferior breeds and their short and small body. Since the western regions were rich in tall and fast steeds, Emperor Wudi of Han was determined to introduce fi ne horse breeds after Zhang Qian explored the path to the western regions. According to the historical records, to obtain the Ferghana horse, Emperor Wudi of Han did not spare the use of force and commanded Ershi General Li Guangli and his soldiers to attack Dayuan twice.
The introduction of such fine horses into the border of the Han Dynasty played an important role in improving horse breeds. From then on, there have been fine horses in China and the horse breeding developed quickly, thus having a profound influence on the ways of wars and putting forward the progress of historical development. In 1981, a gilded bronze horse was unearthed near the Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wudi of Han. The study shows that it has the basic features of a desert horse and it is probably the mold of a Ferghana horse introduced from Dayuan in the Western Han Dynasty.
Gilt Bronze Horse—physical material unearthed from Maoling Mausoleum and casted according to the prototype of Dayuan Ferghana horse from western regions, which reflects the economic and cultural exchange between the eastern and western countries in the Han Dynasty.
During horse breeding, the people of the Han Dynasty found that the horses of western regions were fine because of their food, alfalfa, so they grew this plant extensively. After the introduction of alfalfa, the fruits and vegetables such as pomegranate, grape, sesame, walnut, cucumber, broad bean, coriander, garlic, wine bowl rattan, and safflower melons, fruits, vegetables and other plants flowed into China and quickly became the daily necessities in the Han Dynasty. The most famous fruit was the pomegranate, as its blossoms are red like fire, beautiful for appreciation and its seeds are edible and its nodular seeds are glittering and translucent, so they have the meaning of “more children, more blessings” (as the word “seed” sounds the same as “son” in Chinese).
Emperor Wudi of Han was very interested in the pomegranate and ordered such plants to be grown all over Chang’an. The pomegranate grown in Lintong District of Xi’an City is well-known nationwide and its planting was in connection with Emperor Wudi of Han. The poem about Emperor Wudi written by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty describes: “The heavenly horses unearthed from the tomb of Emperor Wudi of Han are Pushao Horses and the alfalfa and pomegranate blossom all around the suburbs”. This reflects the tidal wave of economic and cultural exchange between the eastern and western countries from the period of Emperor Wudi of Han, with the introduction of heavenly horses and alfalfa. In particular, the “heavenly horse” has been a cultural symbol of historical progress in economic and cultural exchange between the eastern and western countries.
Besides plants, rare animals and birds, other commodities were imported into China through the Silk Road, such as coral, wool fabric, mercury and amber from Daqin (Rome); ten-color glass from Egypt; agate and crystal from Central Asia; diamond, tortoise-shell turtle, pearl, oysters and colored glass from India. Such foreign matters were rare treasures and were limited to be used by people from the upper class. However, they enriched the knowledge of people and broadened their outlook.
Besides the tangible cultural items, dances accompanied by music, acrobatics, and the fi ne arts were also introduced into China from Arsacid (Iran) and Rome. In people’s minds, the vertical konghou (an ancient plucked stringed musical instrument), four-stringed crooked neck lute, Tartar pipe, etc., which seemed to be the transitional Chinese musical instruments, were from Arsacid (Iran) and introduced into China in the Han Dynasty and they became the Chinese traditional musical instruments after the transformation. The fi ne arts of Arsacid (Iran) also greatly affected those of the Han Dynasty. This is proved by the fact that works of arts with the camel, winged animal and lion as the subjects and with a Persian style were unearthed throughout the country. The acrobatics from Rome were also transmitted to China through Arsacid (Iran) and other places, which significantly enriched the social life of the people of the Han Dynasty.
The cultural exchanges were always bidirectional and only the bidirectional exchange was considered healthy and normal. Many foreign civilizations were introduced to the Han Dynasty, and meanwhile Chinese civilization was transmitted into other places for the first time. Before the Han Dynasty, the transmission of Chinese civilization to foreign countries was unconscious and in a small scale, so its range of influence was limited and only covered the surrounding areas. The spreading of culture of the central plains in the Han Dynasty went far beyond the surrounding areas. According to the historical record, the envoys of the Han Dynasty went to Arsacid (Iran), Lixuan (ancient Rome), Shendu (India), Aorsoi (now the northeast of Black Sea), Antiochia (now the northeast of Persian Gulf), etc. They not only extended the influence of the Han Dynasty, but also transmitted the Chinese civilization to these places naturally. Actually, according to archaeological discoveries, the transmission of material civilization and cultural and ideological progress in the Han Dynasty were greatly beyond above scope. Of the civilizations transmitted to the foreign countries in the Han Dynasty, the silk, iron and steel, metallurgy and irrigation techniques had the greatest influence on the western world.
Colored wooden or earthen figures (acrobat)
The records of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus state that “the Greek has known China which is famous for silk”. Actually, a great quantity of silk was exported into the western countries in the Han Dynasty. The fact that a considerable amount of silk was discovered on the Silk Road by archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century proved the prosperity of the silk trade at that time.
Chinese metallurgy was spread to the western world during the Han Dynasty over the Silk Road. The relevant records show that the capital Merv of Antiochia in the Parthian Empire was the distributive centre of Chinese high-quality iron and steel and famous for the “Merv weapon” (margiana). In Rome, Chinese ironware and silk were equally famous. The Natural History of Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) writes “of all metals, the iron from Seres (China) ranks the top and Seres exports not only cloth and furs but also iron”. This shows that the ironware had been spread throughout Rome and it enjoyed a high reputation for high quality. Han-style iron tripods (a three-legged ancient Chinese cooking vessel) unearthed from the Meroe Relics of the ancient capital of Sudan in the east of Africa shows that metallurgy and alchemy were possibly transmitted to Africa under the rule of Rome.
Apart from metallurgy, irrigation technology and well and canal technology of the Han Dynasty were also transmitted to Central Asia. Hanshu—Story of Li Guangli writes: Li Guangli fought with Dayuan under the order of Emperor Wudi of Han in 103BC “Since there was no well in the city of Dayuan, their water was from the river outside the city”. Li Guangli sent people to cut off their underground water which successfully defeat the Dayuan. The people of Dayuan knew that the Hans knew how to drill wells and this helped them solve the problem with drinking water. The so-called Hans were people from inland China. This is a reliable example that the well drilling technology of the central plains of China was spread into Central Asia. Moreover, Chinese plants, such as the peach, pear and lacquer trees, were transmitted into western countries together with the silk and metallurgy and jointly promoted the local social and economic development.
As the Chinese civilization of the Han Dynasty was transmitted to foreign countries, its influence extended continuously. The Chinese people are called the Hans in many countries of the world because of the influence of the Han Dynasty. In addition, the study of Chinese history and culture is called “Sinology” by foreigners. The cultural circle of East Asia was called the “Han (Chinese) cultural circle”. The “traditional Chinese medicine” is called “Han (Chinese) prescription” in Japanese. All of those show the core position of China in the cultural circles.
