丝绸之路 Silk Road:
The Framework of Early Conections
between Europe and China
Evolution of Connections over Eurasia
欧洲-亚洲联系网
Silk was the first mayor commodity
transported across Asia
 The name Silk road appeared only in 1877
invented by the German geographer
Ferdinand von Richthofen
 It was not one single road but a network
of paths and transport connections
 It included step land and desert caravan
routes as well as maritime routes
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The Idea of Silk Road is Wider
丝绸之路的观念更宽
Besides Silk it Encompasses:
 Trade with other commodities besides silk
 Transfer of knowledge and technologies
 Spreading of domesticated plants and
cultivation techniques
 Exchange of culture and customs of living
 Spreading of various concepts of ideas
and religious systems
Establishing the link between Roman and
Han Empires - Roman city Liqian 骊靬
Opening the Silk Road
張騫 开丝绸之路
Zhang Qian’s missions to Central Asia:
First 138-126 b.c.
Second 119-116 b.c.
 Han colonization of the corridor to Central
Asia
 Extension of the Great Wall to Dunhuang
and Yumen pass
 Merchant caravans – around 10 per year
were sent to Transoxania
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Jiayuguan fortifications嘉峪关
玉门关 Yumen pass: Entrance to China
Effects of the open trade route
Silk was carried by Persian, Indian, and
other merchants all the way to Rome
Well drilling was brought to Central Asia
Roman glass, wine, gold, and jade was
imported in China
New plants, animals, instruments, and
other products were brought to China
The route to India was opened
Budhism and Helenistic sculpture were
introduced to China
Chinese pipa and Greek lute
琵琶与希腊的对象
Roman glass excavated in China
中国土出的罗马玻璃
Buddha from Gandhara 1st-2nd AC
and Aphrodite from Greece 2nd-1st BC
佛与希腊爱神
First famous travellers between
China and India中国和印度的联系
 Kumarajiva
(344-423) came from India
to China to preach and translate
Buddhists texts
 About 200 Chinese monks went to
India between 3rd and 8th century
 The most famous Chinese monk was
Xuan Zang, went to India in 629 and
returned in 645
 Mahayana Buddhist texts are preserved
only in Chinese translations
Big Goose Pagoda in Xi’an where
Buddhist texts were translated 大雁塔
Early Tang Dynasty (618-755) 唐代
Re-established domination in Central Asia
The most open period in Chinese history
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Foreigners and foreign ideas are welcome
Several new religions came to China
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Budhism 佛教
Nestorianism 景教
Zoroastrianism 祆教
Manichaeism 摩尼教
Judaism 犹太教
Islam 伊斯兰教
Manichaeism 摩尼教
Consequences of the battle at Talas 751
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The only battle fought between Arab Abbasid
Caliphate and Chinese Empire: Arab victory
Conversion of Karluk Turks, which turned to
Arab side, triggered Islamisation of other Turks
Decline of Chinese influence in Central Asia
Chinese prisoners of war were ordered to make
paper in Samarkand
Samarkand
By the year 794 AD papermaking spread
to Baghdad, and then to Egypt, Morocco,
and Spain 造纸技术流传到欧洲
The Tanguts and the Xixia state
西夏(1032-1227)
Tomb of Xixia Emperor 西夏王坟墓
The Xixia script 西夏文字
Hand grenade fabricated in Xixia in
11th century 西夏手榴弹
The Mongol Conquest 蒙古人的侵
略
 In 1227 the Xixia state was annihilated
and the Tanguts exterminated
 In 1234 the Jin in north China was conquered
 In 1236 Russia was invaded and in 1241 Mongols
reached Poland, Hungary, and Adriatic sea.
 In 1258 Baghdad was conquered
 In 1260 Kublai Khan was proclaimed Emperor of
China, and from 1275 ruled over the whole China
 The attempts to invade Egypt, Japan, Vietnam,
and Java failed
Mongols were not just brutal
conquerors
1294)
 Established peace
across Asia
 Opened travel routes
and promoted trade
 Religious tolerance
 Enabled the flow of
knowledge
 Gunpowder, compass,
and printing have
eventually spread to the
west
Emperor Kublai (1260-
Many travellers went on route
across Asia 欧洲-亚洲早期旅游者
Odoric de Pordenone in China
 Franciscan Giovanni da Montecorvino
Mission in China 1294-1328, first
archbishop in Peking
 Marco Polo’s journey to China
1271-1291
 Odoric de Pordenone, Pope’s
messenger to China 1324-1331
 Raban Sauma an Uighur Nestorian,
went from Peking to Baghdad and in
1287 as Argun Khan’s messenger to
Constantinololis, Rome, and Paris
Ming and Qing Dynasty: The Jesuits
became the most important intellectual
link between Europe and China
明情耶稣会传教士
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They brought new knowledge of astronomy,
mathematics, and geography to China
They were serving as officials in the
Imperial Board of Astronomy
They introduced better knowledge about
China to Europe
They transferred new ideas about secular
state and rationalism from China to Europe
They influenced European thinkers Leibnitz
and Voltaire in their quest for Enlightment
Augustin Hallerstein 刘松龄, Famous Jesuit Scientist
and Cultural Link between Europe and China in the
period of Emperor Qianlong came to China in 1739
and was president of Imperial Board of Astronomy in
Beijing from 1746 until his death in 1774
The old Observatory
Armillary Sphere in Beijing Observatory