Ancient Chengdu and the Silk Road

Abstract

Chengdu has long been closely associated with the Silk Road. In ancient times, Chengdu was at the intersection of the Northern Silk Road, the Southern Silk Road and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The three corridors were of great economic and transport significance. Under the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Northern Silk Road was developed and Chengdu became an important supplier of silk, a major product exported along the Northern Silk Road. In particular, Sichuan brocade, a high-end silk product transported via the Silk Road, was the specialty of Chengdu. Significant amounts of Sichuan brocade have been unearthed at key archaeological sites along the Silk Road, providing strong evidence of Chengdu’s important connection with the Silk Road. During the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-581), the Hexi Corridor along the Silk Road was blocked by the war, resulting in the interruption of the Northern Silk Road from Chang’an (currently Xi’an). Under such circumstances, a new silk road came into being, which started in Chengdu and traversed the grasslands in northwestern Sichuan, Longnan in Gansu and Qinghai, to the Silk Road’s He Nan Section (Tuyuhun) in the Western Regions. This new Silk Road enabled uninterrupted trade and exchanges between the hinterland of China and regimes in northwestern China and many more kingdoms throughout Eurasia. Prior to the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-AD 220), the Southern Silk Road, also starting in Chengdu, had been developed, and was in service for over 2,000 years. It is a key corridor allowing the hinterland of China to conduct economic and cultural exchanges within regions now known as Yunnan and Myanmar, as well as other areas of Southeast Asia. As the political, economic and cultural center of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Chengdu had maintained close economic and cultural relationships with the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from the pre-Qin period, and had been linked to the Maritime Silk Road via key cities along the Yangtze River. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Chengdu has also been a center for external cultural exchanges and more importantly, a center for the popularization of Buddhist culture in the hinterland of China.

Keywords

• chengdu
• three economic belts
• hub
• rise