The Southern Silk Road generally refers to the passages connecting Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and other southern regions of China in different periods in history, including the famous Shushendu Road and the ancient tea-horse road. How to open the early passage of the Southern Silk Road is difficult to verify at present. According to Harvey's History of Myanmar and Hall's History of Southeast Asia, from the 2nd century BC, China's silk arrived in Afghanistan from Myanmar via India, as far as Europe.
The Southern Silk Road, with a total length of about 2,000 kilometers, is one of the oldest international passages in China. Starting from Yibin, Sichuan, passing through Ya 'an, Lushan, Xichang and Panzhihua to Zhaotong, Qujing, Dali, Baoshan and Tengchong, Yunnan, Dehong. Enter Myanmar, Thailand, and finally reach India and the Middle East.
main line
There are two main routes of the Southern Silk Road: one is the West Road, namely "Niulu Road". Starting from Chengdu, it passes through Lin Qiong (Qiongzhou), Tsing Yi (famous mountain), Flue (Yingjing), Yaoniu (Hanyuan), Lanxian (Yuexi), Du Qiong (Xichang) and Yu Ye (Dali) to Yongchang (Baoshan), and then to Myitkyina or bhamo, and enters Myanmar and Southeast Asia. This road can reach the elephant country of "Yunnan and Vietnam" as far as possible, and may reach India and Bangladesh.
The other is the host country, which is called "Wuchi Road". It starts from Chengdu, goes to Bodao (Yibin), Nanguang (Gaoxian), Zhuti (Zhaotong), wei county (Qujing) and Guchang (Kunming), and then enters Vietnam all the way, overlapping with Yongniu Road. Judging from the documents available at present, the famous figure of the ancient Shu ancestors who took this route first was Wang Anyang, who moved south after Qin destroyed Shu. King Anyang led 30,000 people along this route into the Red River area in northern Vietnam, and established the Luo 'ou country, which is the "Shu country" in Vietnamese history.
The Southern Silk Road is an ancient international passage in the southwest of China, which runs through Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, connects Myanmar and India, and leads to Southeast Asia, West Asia and European countries. Together with the Northwest Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, it was the main channel for foreign trade and cultural exchanges in ancient China.
The "Shu Shen Du Road" from Chengdu, Sichuan, via Yunnan to Myanmar and India, and then to Central Asia, West Asia and the Mediterranean region of Europe is the earliest communication route between China and the West recorded in historical documents, and it is also the western line of the famous "Southern Silk Road". ?
The central line of the Southern Silk Road is the traffic line from Sichuan to Vietnam and Indochina Peninsula via Yunnan, and historical documents record it as "Butou Road" and "Jinsang Road". The eastern route of the Southern Silk Road is Yaoyou Road, or Yelang Road, from Sichuan to the South China Sea via Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong.
The Southern Silk Road was opened as early as Shang Dynasty. The contact and exchange between ancient China and the outside world in the southwest direction was carried out through the Southern Silk Road, which was an important carrier for the civilized exchange and interaction between the southwest region of ancient China and Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia and even the European Mediterranean region.
The origin of the name
As early as ancient times, history books recorded the economic and cultural exchanges between China, Indian and Afghan. In the reflection, when Pei Songzhi introduced the Three Kingdoms, he also mentioned that the Roman Empire "has water to benefit Yizhou (Sichuan)".
Professor Ji Xianlin's paper "A Preliminary Study on the Introduction of Silk from China to India" and German jacoby's report at the Prussian Scientific Research Conference quoted a book written by Chaudhrupta (from 320 BC to 3 15 BC) in India, which said that "zhina made silk and ties, and Jia people often sold them to India". The Sanskrit classic Mahabharata, written in the 4th century BC, and the Manu Code, written in the 2nd century BC, both have records of silk and have the name of knowing that. Scholars believe that these silks come from China and Sichuan.
In 1960s and 1970s, Ren Naiqiang and Deng Shaoqin put forward the view that China silk originated from Bashu. In 1980s, Ren Naiqiang discussed "Shubu Road" connecting Indian and Afghan in the southwest of China, thinking that it was much earlier than the Silk Road in the north. Tong studied the general situation of Chengdu's trade routes to Central Asia via Yunnan, Myanmar, India and Pakistan, and thought that the Warring States period had been initially opened. Japanese scholar Yoshimi Fujisawa, Hong Kong and Taiwan scholars Sang, Tsung i Jao, Yunnan scholars Fang Guoyu, Chen Qian and Zhang Zengqi all studied this ancient trade route from Sichuan to India via Yunnan. Pelliot, a French sinologist, was the first person to study the Southern Silk Road. He wrote two articles, Correspondence with Guangdong and India, and made an in-depth study of the land and sea routes of the Southern Silk Road.
The proposal of "Southern Silk Road" is based on Bashu culture, which is distributed in Yunnan, Myanmar and India, and a large number of similar cultural factors have been unearthed. These cultural factors include not only Bashu culture, but also a large number of cultural factors in India and even West Asia, and their times are obviously earlier than the Silk Road which left the western regions through the northwest of China. Because the Silk Road, as a symbol of ancient cultural exchanges between China and the West, has been generally accepted by Chinese and foreign scholars, it is called the "Southern Silk Road" (hereinafter referred to as the "Southern Silk Road"), starting from Bashu and passing through Yunnan to Myanmar, India and Pakistan to Central and Western Asia.
formation time
China is the birthplace of silk. As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, silk weaving had reached a considerable level. Sichuan is the main producing area of China silk, and silk brocade has been amazing since ancient times. Yang Xiong's "Shu Du Fu" in the Western Han Dynasty once praised Shu Jin for its gorgeous variety, which was passed down from generation to generation. Can Cong, a descendant of Lei Zu, a prehistoric "silkworm god", taught people to raise silkworms in Chengdu Plain, which triggered the rise of Bashu silk. By the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the silk production in Chengdu had developed to a relatively mature stage. "Shu Du Fu" says that Shu is "yellow and fine, and a barrel of gold counts", which means that the silk in Shu is particularly good in yellow. Josh, an Indian archaeologist, pointed out that in ancient Sanskrit documents, all Hindu gods like to wear China silk, and Shiva especially likes silk fabrics made of yellow cocoons. This yellow silk should be what Yang Xiong called "yellow muslin". According to ancient Indian literature, Shiva appeared at least as early as the Shang Dynasty in China. This shows that China may have had a silk trade relationship with India in Shang Dynasty.
During 1936, many Indian silks were unearthed in the north of Kabul, Afghanistan. These silks may have been transported from Chengdu via Yunnan, Myanmar, India and Pakistan to the China-Pakistan subcontinent and then to Central Asia. Many times in Historical Records, "Shu cloth" and other "Shu things" are actually silk produced in Shu, which was trafficked to India by Shu merchants and then re-exported to the Mediterranean region of Central Asia, West Asia and Europe.
A large number of ivory from Myanmar and India were unearthed at Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan and Jinsha site in Chengdu, and thousands of shells from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea were also unearthed. These foreign cultural factors are concentrated in Sanxingdui, Chengdu Jinsha and other large capitals and regional centers, which shows that the Southern Silk Road in Shang Dynasty played a role in the trade between Southwest China and South Asia.
Since the 1980' s, the research atmosphere of the Southern Silk Road has gradually formed, and the published research works, a series of academic activities and publicity reports have exerted great influence at home and abroad. Especially after the excavation of Sanxingdui site, scholars have noticed the obvious cultural factors of Indian and Western Asian civilizations, so they put forward a new view that the Southern Silk Road was initially opened as early as Shang Dynasty. Duan Yu believes that its date can be traced back to14th and15th centuries BC, earlier than the communication between China and India mentioned by Ji Xianlin in 4th century BC, mentioned by Xiangda in 5th century BC and mentioned by Dingshan in 6th century BC.
The academic circles have reached a variety of understandings on the study of the South Silk Road, and think that the South Silk Road is a multi-functional road with Chengdu as the starting point and commerce as the main body in China and the pre-Qin period.
Shu Shen Du i.
According to Records of the Historian, in the first year of Jianyuan (BC 140), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions, hoping to unite with Da Yue to fight against the Huns. In the second year of Jianyuan, Zhang Qian went to Longxi, passing through the Xiongnu-controlled area, and was captured. Thirteen years later, in the third year of Yuanshuo (126), Zhang Qian went through hardships and returned to Chang 'an. Although he didn't achieve the goal of sending the Yue clan to fight against the Huns together, his practical influence and historical role were undoubtedly great and successful. Zhang Qian reported to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that in summer (now northern Afghanistan), he saw Shu's cloth and Joan's bamboo palm. According to the Xia people, they told him to buy poison himself (now India). Zhang Qian speculated that there was a road from Shu State to Poisonous State in the southwest, and turned to Xia State. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" contains that "one person in Tianzhu is poisoned, and the more people are thousands of miles southeast". Before that, the Han Dynasty did not know that there was a drug country in the southwest of China. Zhang Qian suggested to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that he send envoys to the south, marching from Shu to the southwest, and find another route through the Qiang and Xiongnu areas to avoid their danger. This is Shu's poison. At this time, this road is not an official road, but a private business road. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to expand his political influence through direct contacts with Dawan, Kangju, Yueshi and Shen Du, so as to completely isolate the Huns, so he readily adopted Zhang Qian's suggestion and sent people to Yunnan for many times, hoping to get through the channel to the summer. During the more than ten years since the Chinese ambassador arrived in Dianchi Lake, he has not been able to get through the road to the drug country and has been resisted by the tribes around Yunnan. In the second year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to forcibly clear the way. In the second year of Yuanfeng (before 109), General Guo Chang sent Bashu soldiers to destroy Laojin and Mimo, and soldiers came to Yunnan to force the king of Yunnan to "descend to the world" ... so he thought Yizhou County. "Give the king of Yunnan a seal to restore his people. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty painstakingly opened up the road of "body poison" and finally succeeded after setbacks. Since then, the history of the separatist regime in Yunnan has ended, and it has been incorporated into the territory of the central dynasty, and it has officially opened the passage to Myanmar and India. The Southern Silk Road thus entered the history books, thus opening the civilization process of the Silk Road.
In the 1950' s, some of the cultural relics unearthed by China from ancient tombs in Yunnan came from far away Afghanistan. This proves that the Southern Silk Road existed in that year.
Mr. Fang Guoyu inferred from the "two pieces of material beads" unearthed from the Chu Tomb of the Warring States Period that such items should come from India, and the ancient road was opened at the latest in the 4th century BC. Sima Qian's Historical Records records that in the third year of Yuan Shuo (BC 122), when Zhang Qian, the messenger of the Han Dynasty, reported to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he had already inferred the existence of poisonous roads in Shu. Mr. Ji Xianlin also talked about the "Poisonous Road of Shu God" in Notes on the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty: since the 2nd century BC, this road has coexisted with the road from Chang 'an to India, and it was the Sino-Indian passage with Yunnan as the hub from the Warring States Period to the Han and Jin Dynasties. According to the Indian ancient book On Politics, there were "bundles of silk from zhina" in the 4th century BC during the Peacock Dynasty in India, which Mr. Ji Xianlin interpreted as "bundles of silk from China". In his "Preliminary Study on the Introduction of China Silk into India", he thought: "Chinese mainland's silk products were first introduced into Yunnan-Guizhou region, and then introduced into India through the Yunnan-Myanmar channel."
The formation of a mature channel often takes decades or even hundreds of years. Before the large-scale passage is formed, the people must have some relatively convenient transportation networks all over the rural towns. Especially when there is necessary material exchange between the two ends, the road passage is produced. When it develops to a certain extent, the rural route network will evolve into a commercial road, especially with the input of the government. "Shu Dao" is not impossible, it originated in the fourth century BC. With the advancement of archaeological discoveries, time is still moving forward.
Harvey's "History of Myanmar" and Hall's "History of Southeast Asia" recorded that since the 2nd century BC, China has passed through the commercial channel of Myanmar: "The Irrawaddy River is one; Follow salween like a person; There is also riding along the Chindun River through Manipo, which takes three months, even in Afghanistan. Businessmen exchanged China's silk and other famous products for Myanmar's gems, jadeite, kapok, Indian rhinoceros horn, ivory and European gold. " It shows that the passage at this time is very mature, the transportation varieties are mostly imported goods and treasures, and the trading terminals are as far away as Europe, which provides more convenient conditions for the development of trade and economy in the South. "The History of the Three Kingdoms" records: "Daqin Road, both from the sea northbound, but also up and down the coast. Compared with the territory of the seven counties, there are waterways leading to Yizhou and Yongchang, so Yongchang produces foreign bodies. " Yongchang is a county established in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, which is today's Baoshan area. "Huayang Guozhi Nanzhongzhi" contains: "Yongchang County, a country of ancient mourning." Its border with Myanmar is still Yunnan's gateway to the outside world. From the territorial point of view, the whole upper reaches of Irrawaddy River belonged to Ailao country at that time (the ancient Ailao was connected with China's Bashu and other countries' Myanmar and India, which was the economic and cultural connection zone between China and India), that is, the upper part of Myanmar was later under the jurisdiction of Yongchang. "Yongchang discovered foreign objects", indicating that there were foreign goods from Myanmar, India and even Daqin (ancient Rome) at that time, and the southwest trade route had appeared.
The Southern Silk Road is not only a private commercial road, but also a cultural channel for diplomatic envoys, tribute trade, cultural exchanges and religious communication, and a political channel for maintaining relations with the central dynasty.
Southwest China is one of the provinces with the largest number of neighboring countries and the longest border in China. The Southern Silk Road spans Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Tibet, with rivers and mountains along the way. Yunnan is 76.4 meters to 6740 meters above sea level, and it flows through six major water systems: Jinsha River, Lancang River, Nujiang River, Irrawaddy River, Yuanjiang River (Red River) and Nanpanjiang River (Pearl River). Climb over Wumeng Mountain, Gaoligong Mountain, Hengduan Mountain, Ailao Mountain, Wuliang Mountain and other mountain systems. The climate changes greatly. There are seven climate types in China. Due to the complex terrain and large vertical height difference, the vertical change of climate is obviously different. In the past, caravan transportation was the main way on this passage. Driving a horse in one day seems to be a decadent legend, but the physiological test of people has reached its limit. Without strong adaptability, it is impossible to cross mountains and deep streams.
After continuous development and improvement, the Southern Silk Road has become a big channel running through the east, west, north and south, and it has been continuously extended, such as the network spread all over the surrounding areas. Since ancient times, it has been an important trade channel between China and South Asia and Southeast Asia. Through caravan transportation, silk and tea from Sichuan and Yunnan can be traded with horses, medicinal materials from Tibet and materials from the mainland. The once prosperous Southern Silk Road also encountered irreversible challenges, and the road was diverted. The Southern Silk Road was gradually replaced by 2 14, 3 17, 3 18 national highways, railways and even air routes. After the 1950s and 1960s, the Southern Silk Road gradually fell silent, and only a few villages used it.
Han Dynasty
As early as 4,000 years ago, there were several passages leading from the south to the coast and to Myanmar and India in today's Sichuan Basin. Some important archaeological discoveries, such as seashells and ivory unearthed in Sanxingdui, conch and ivory unearthed in Daxi culture, and glass beads unearthed in Mao Wen and Tushan in Chongqing, are not locally produced, but come from the South China Sea in the North Indian Ocean, which fully proves that the ancestors of Bashu had communication and exchanges with the southern world.
In 126 BC, Zhang Qian, who had been wandering for 13 years, returned to Chang 'an and reported the information about the western regions to Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, prompting Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to break the Huns. At the same time, Zhang Qian also reported that there may be a secret passage in the southwest of the Han Empire, leading to Daxia (now Afghanistan and Pakistan). This news attracted the attention of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he sent four troops to explore, but was blocked by local tribes hiding in the mountains. One of them was lucky enough to come to Dianchi Lake. King Dian warmly entertained the visitors from afar and kept them for ten years. In the meantime, they helped them to travel westward, but they were stopped by Kunming people, and finally failed to complete the exploration of ptomaine.
This is the origin of the Southern Silk Road. In the 1950' s, some of the cultural relics unearthed by China from ancient tombs in Yunnan came from far away Afghanistan. This proves that the Southern Silk Road existed in that year.
the Tang Dynasty
Tang Xin has a book "Four Emperors of China" written by geographer Jia Dan, but the whole book has been lost. Only five of the original seven roads are left: Anxi enters the Western Regions, six are Antang Tianzhu Road and seven are Guangzhou Tonghai No.1 Road, which records in detail the passage from China to the Western Regions and India in the Tang Dynasty, as far as Baghdad;
1. Annan-Jiaozhi-Taiping-Fengzhou-Nantian-Zhongcheng-Duolizhou-Penny's Island-Dantangzhou-Gu Yongqiang-Tangquanzhou-Qujiang-Jiannan-Tonghai Town-Anning Old Town-Lingnan City-Baiya City-Mengshe City-Wei Long-Taihe City-Yongchang County-Zhuge Liang.
2. Zhuge Liangcheng-Tengchong City-Lishui City-Longquan Water-Anxi City-MINO River-Daqin Fanguo-Daling-
Pelliot, a French sinologist, was the first person to study the Southern Silk Road. He wrote two words, Communication with Guangdong and India, and made an in-depth study of the land and sea routes of the Southern Silk Road.
Tea-horse road
The Southern Silk Road, which is mainly used for commercial transactions, should be the earliest export of China silk. According to the Tang Yijing's Biography of the Buddhist monk Hui Lun in the Western Regions of Datang, the transported materials also include daily necessities such as sugar, cloth, thread and vermicelli from Sichuan and Yunnan, while horses, furs, gold, saffron, musk, Fritillaria, velvet antler and cordyceps from Kangzang area and neighboring countries also spread to Yunnan and Sichuan along this road.
With the transshipment of this material, from the earliest native products to the development of silk products, to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the share of tea trade increased, so the share of tea-horse trade gradually increased, and the tea-horse trade on the ancient road became the center of trade, and the tea-horse trade became a symbol of trade. China's tea was first exported overseas. According to historical records, it can be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, China merchants exported tea to Turkey by barter at the border with Mongolia. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the development of the border trade market and the prosperity of the Silk Road market, China tea was transported to West Asia, North Asia, Arabia and other countries in the form of tea-horse exchange, and finally reached Russian and European countries.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, tea was widely spread to the western regions, northern nomadic areas and Tibetan areas. Especially after tea was widely accepted by Tibetan compatriots, tea-horse trade became the main trade route in southwest China, and Yunnan border tea was named because it mainly supplied brothers in Kangzang area. In this way, mules, horses, furs, medicinal materials, tea, cloth, salt and daily utensils produced in Tibetan areas and the border areas of Sichuan and Yunnan, as well as tea, cloth, salt and daily utensils produced in Yunnan and the mainland, have become increasingly prosperous with the development of the times, forming a trade route represented by the tea-horse trade, that is, the "ancient tea-horse road" that continues to this day.
The so-called ancient tea-horse road is related to tea first and then to horses. Yunnan is rich in Yunnan horses, which have the characteristics of strong physique, short and pithy, flexible action, good climbing over mountains, long-distance and durable labor, rough feeding resistance and good adaptability, and are favored by strategic materials in the Central Plains. Song Fan Chengda's "Return to the Sea and Zhi Heng" records: "Full horses are out of the southwest ... Dali horses are the most in the southwest." Maman and Dali horses were nicknames of Yunnan horses at that time. Yongsheng county in the Ming dynasty set up a military horse farm. Yunnan horses have been exported to other provinces since the Song Dynasty. In fact, the tea-horse trade is the general name of the whole southwest trade. Tea and horses are symbolic substances of trade, and the ancient road is also called the tea-horse ancient road.
According to modern data, the profit of tea-horse trade is not so considerable, but it is related to the special position of tea in Tibetan areas or northwest nomadic living areas at the other end. Tea is a scarce material in this area, and it is also an indispensable food in life, while horses are an important strategic material in the Central Plains. In order to obtain the horse, an important national strategic material, Tea and Horse Department was gradually established and improved from the Song Dynasty, and the tea horse became a material controlled by the state, thus restraining local forces and forming a "tea-horse mutual market" to achieve the goal of "governing the border with tea" and "controlling prosperity with tea" by the rulers. The central dynasty set up large-scale horse markets in southwest Chengdu, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, and implemented a tea monopoly system in tea areas to ensure the smooth control of these materials and realize the strategic intention of long-term stability of the country. Tea and Horse Department has also become a metaphor for the empire. As a merchant, you can profit from it without worrying about the sales of goods, which means that the trade of goods between the two places is fully guaranteed. Therefore, tea horse occupies a large proportion in the whole trade share, is the intermediary of trading, is the soul and has important symbolic significance. On the Southern Silk Road, tea-horse trade gradually became the main content, and caravan was the main mode of transportation. Thirdly, the Southern Silk Road is marked by the transportation of goods, also known as the ancient tea-horse road.
With the development of the times, the materials transported on the ancient road have been changing, from the original local products to the later silk. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, tea gradually entered the road. Of course, this period also included silk, cloth, horses, salt, local products, medicinal materials and other commodities, among which tea and horses were more important export and purchase materials. These materials connect the trade between the two ends and build a bridge of cultural exchange, which is a unique historical and cultural area in Southwest China.
Since the 1990s, the country has been committed to the identification of the ancient tea-horse road. Mu, Chen Baoya and other experts and scholars made an academic investigation on the ancient caravan routes of Yunnan-Tibet and Sichuan-Tibet. After all the exploration, the concept of the ancient tea-horse road was put forward, which was widely recognized in subsequent academic research and promotion, and the ancient tea-horse road was confirmed.
After 2000, the ancient tea-horse road rose and fell in a few years with the fame of Pu 'er tea. On 200 1, Changdu, Tibet, took the lead in launching the tourism brand of the ancient tea-horse road, and jointly held the "Academic Investigation Seminar on the Ancient Tea-horse Road" with Ganzi and Shangri-La on the ancient tea-horse road, inviting experts and scholars from well-known domestic universities and scientific research institutions to give lectures on ethnology, history, Tibetan studies, geology, zoology and botany, and tourism.
First of all, the ancient tea-horse road mainly passes through the Hengduan mountains in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan, as well as the Jinsha River, Lancang River and Nujiang River basins. It is an ancient trade route with caravan as the main mode of transportation and tea-horse exchange as the main content since Tang and Song Dynasties.
Second, the ancient tea-horse road is a historical witness that all ethnic groups in southwest China live in harmony, and it is an ironclad proof that Tibet has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times;
Third, the ancient tea-horse road is the highest and steepest post road in the world, and some sections are still in operation today;
Fourthly, along the ancient tea-horse road, there are unique mountain and canyon landforms with the richest biodiversity, which is the core area of East Asian flora;
Fifth, the research and tourism development of the ancient tea-horse road is of great practical significance to the coordinated development of economy, culture and ecology along the route. After this meeting, people have a comprehensive understanding of the ancient tea-horse road, and it is a good start to study it or develop tourism and leisure economy, which has attracted the attention of all walks of life.
In 2005, the Pu 'er tea craze began to take shape. With the rise of Pu 'er tea fever, the ancient tea-horse road has once again attracted people's attention. After 2007, in combination with the third national cultural relics survey, Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet and other provinces and regions set up special topics on the investigation and research of the ancient tea-horse road, which further clarified the direction, route, distribution, related cultural relics and surrounding environment of the ancient tea-horse road, laying the foundation for the next research on cultural protection.
Value at purchase price
Since its opening, the Southern Silk Road has been connected with the Central Plains inland and with South Asia and Southeast Asia externally. It is the intersection of Buddhism spreading to the south, Tibet and local religions. Its unique geographical location and mixed ethnic settlements constitute a unique regional culture, which is the product of the integration of Central Plains culture, Tibetan culture, Southeast Asian culture and local ethnic culture. As far as cultural lines are concerned, these areas are the "middle circle" between the "Tibetan-Yi Corridor" defined by Fei Xiaotong and Professor Wang Mingming's "Three Circles Theory".
On the one hand, the Southern Silk Road is located on the edge of the central territory. On the one hand, it is a cross-border life, exchanging needed goods with local aborigines, and the language exchange is smooth. On the one hand, under the control of the central dynasty, the control of distant kingship is so far, and the decrees are smooth and effective. Confucian traditional culture spreads far here. Through the exchange of people and goods, in the integration order of the upper and lower circles, the cultures of the core, middle and overseas circles have appeared vertical and horizontal connections. Ethnic minorities in the "Central Circle" zone are the main body, but they have lived together with the Han nationality for a long time, and the end of trade extends to the "core circle" and "overseas circle", which constitutes the interaction between "edge" and "center"
The Southern Silk Road is the collision, integration, exclusion and absorption of multi-ethnic, multi-regional and multi-ethnic cultures, and it is a specialty of a mixture rather than a single nation. Instead of copying, transplanting or simply transforming foreign cultures, it is a composite culture in which local cultures collide with many foreign cultures, live in harmony, and are harmonious but different. Silk and tea horses transported in different time and space adapt and merge all the way, and finally transplant and take root, change in constant adaptation, constantly create and regenerate, and integrate the culture inside and outside the circle.
Archaeological evidence shows that the ancient civilization of China existed in the middle of the second millennium BC through the contact and exchange between the southwest and the near east civilizations, during which the exchange of cultural factors was mostly carried out through the Southern Silk Road. Stone marrow beads and colored glass beads from West Asia discovered in Sichuan and Yunnan archaeology prove the fact that the economic, trade and cultural relations between southwest China and West Asia have already occurred. The bronze statues, gold bars and Jin Mianju of Shang Dynasty unearthed from Sanxingdui site did not originate from Bashu or other parts of China. They are in line with the development direction of similar cultural forms of ancient civilizations in the world, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India, with the same style and function, and are in a relatively late position in time sequence. Therefore, they may have been re-created by absorbing the relevant cultural factors of the above-mentioned western civilized areas.
Western archaeology found that five different kinds of China plain silk were found in a cemetery in kerameikos, Athens, Greece in the 5th century BC, and the weaving method was the same as that of Sichuan silk. The archaeological discoveries of China silk in Egypt and Europe are consistent with those of Indian and Near East civilizations in China, and both coincide with the occurrence and development of exchanges and interactions between Chinese and Western civilizations.
China silk is the earliest known silk of ancient Greece and Rome in the western Mediterranean, and it is the product of ancient Shu. Therefore, from the southwest of China to India, and then from India to Afghanistan in Central Asia via Pakistan, and then to Iran and West Asia in the west, Europe and the Mediterranean region, and North Africa and Egypt, this route is the transportation line for China Silk to spread westward via the Southern Silk Road. The spread of ancient Bashu silk around the world enriched the contents of Indian, Central Asian, West Asian, North Asian and European civilizations. The route formed by the spread of silk not only greatly promoted the early economic and trade prosperity of southwest China, but also had a great impact on the economic and trade prosperity of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
Moreover, the Southern Silk Road has played an important role in the ethnic integration of southwest China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Archaeological data show that the Qiang people migrated to the southwest through the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (western Sichuan) from the Xia and Shang dynasties, and this kind of national migration continued all the time, and reached its climax again in the Warring States period because of fear of the influence of Qin State. These migrating nationalities not only reached the southwest of China, but also entered the east of Southeast Asia and South Asia. Ethnic migration has opened up communication channels between the North and the South and promoted cultural integration.
The Southern Silk Road has worldwide historical and value significance, and its cultural individuality and creative spirit are irreplaceable. This kind of creativity is the inevitable product of the opening spirit of the Southern Silk Road. The culture along the route is a concentrated expression of the essence of the national culture of all ethnic groups along the Southern Silk Road, a symbol of the national culture along the route and a symbol of honesty. In the long historical development, the culture of the Southern Silk Road has gradually transformed into a symbolic spirit, and the caravan will eventually disappear, but this does not mean that the culture will disappear completely. Tourism, museums and new markets for tea trading along the route are all based on the development of tea-horse culture. With the implementation of the "Belt and Road" strategy, these will continue to be inherited and developed.