12 Property Messengers On The Silk Road

Jia+Shu

Silk

Silky touch， bright and beautiful

Silk played an important role among the products on the Silk Road， which can be seen from the name of the road. Silk is the product of the wisdom of ancient Chinese people. Chinese people draw the filaments out from the silkworm cocoons and incorporate the filaments to raw silk， then process into silk yarns， and interweave the silk yarns in accordance with certain rules， finally the silk fabric is made.

Compared with natural hide， or gunny products， which is common worldwide， silk has a great advantage， and has a more extensive use， though it is neither as warm as hide， nor as tough as gunny products， and even to some extent， is easy to wrinkle and stick to the body. It is characterized by thinness， smoothness， softness， brightness， and glossiness. What is commendable is that it has rich and colorful colors and patterns， providing space to show the aesthetic taste. When pursuing distinctive brilliance and personality， well-crafted silk clothes are needed.

Since the Tang Dynasty， silk was subdivided into numerous varieties depending on spinning and weaving methods due to the development of silk process and frequent East-West exchanges， and the new patterns were introduced. Exotic animals - peacocks and lions became figures of textiles， and were applied to the uniforms of the court and the government. With the improvement of silk weaving techniques， silk products of more different characteristics or tailored for foreign merchants were transported to foreign countries on the Silk Road， since then， the enthusiasm of people on the silk products almost never fade away.

Paper

Writing record and inheriting civilization

On the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty， as the product of the East， flourished. Hempen paper produced in the Tang Dynasty accounted for a large share in the trade on the Silk Road. ?Jute paper， specially treated， was the most popular with monks. Paper was dipped into sap extracted from Phellodendron amurense Rupr， then the paper had natural yellow color， was mothproof， and facilitated long-term preservation. Dunhuang Buddhism on the Silk Road flourished， while important Buddhist scriptures were volumes transcribed on jute paper， so as to be handed down for a long time. As the product on the Silk Road， the significance of paper was in that it greatly reduced the cost of cultural exchanges， and expanded the depth and breadth of cultural prosperity.

Jade

Exquisite and mild

Chinese people like jade， even related jade to mysterious "direct access to the highest authorities" in ancient times. Later， although people gave up the dream of "direct access to the highest authorities"， but still believed that jade had relations with mysterious power， and could bring virtue and good fortune， and protect evil and ominousness. Since the Qin and Han dynasties， jade from Xinjiang was the favorite goods by the people in the Central Plains. Khotan and Yarkand along the Silk Road， now Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， were rich in jade， including white jade， sapphire， jet， etc. The jade is mild and exquisite， and was very popular with people with very pleasant purity and glossiness after introduced to the Central Plains.

Porcelain

Like chime stone and jade， painted with phoenix and dragon figures

In the Tang Dynasty， porcelain making technique was mature， so a lot of delicate porcelains could be made.

Three-color glazed pottery is low-temperature glazed pottery burned after painted with yellow， green， and ocher on kaolin. This kind of pottery was mainly used to be buried with dead， and sometimes had more than three colors， and had vivid figures， including Hu merchant pulling a camel， Yueji singing and dancing， woman from the Western Regions riding on a ferghana horse...... It was impressive.

Secret color porcelain was a very delicate variety among porcelains in the Tang Dynasty， pea-green， crystal clear and glossy， reflecting a very high level of technique. porcelain with wide varieties and exquisite workmanship took the overland Silk Road as the main thoroughfare for transportation before An Lushan Rebellion， and took Maritime Silk Road as the main thoroughfare for transportation after An Lushan Rebellion. While it is unknown whether Hu merchants were aware that they were probably contributing to the design of the porcelain when they were wandering on the market.

Horse

Red bristle facing the wind，

silver hoof treading on the snow

Ancient China was a community dominated by farming civilization. Compared with nomadic people on the Silk Road， the people in the Central Plains were not very good at horse breeding and riding， which did not impede them longing and loving horses. As early as in the Han Dynasty， people already knew ferghana horse from Dayuan （the name of a Central Asian country in ancient times） which not only was vigorous， but also ran at lightning speed compared with Mongolian horse from the Central Plains.

Horse was not only a means of transport to travel and a symbol highlighting the status， but also an important military material in ancient times and the necessary partner to cavalry. In ancient Chinese society， ensuring the output of horses successfully had a great significance for military operations. The overall maneuverability could be enhanced if the army had a sufficient number of horses， so the army could grasp the initiative in war. Until now， many sculptures and paintings along the way outside Chang'an westward are telling various legends about horses repeatedly and slowly.

Rare animals

Rare birds and animals were

auspicious and festive

The Silk Road also brought some new species for us. In general， the way was full of difficulties and obstacles， business people would carry some strong and lightweight goods with high expected prices， while it was more difficult to transport live animals and keep them healthy on the road.

But there were special circumstances， aristocrats， the wealthy， and some officials were very interested in some rare birds and animals， so caravans from West Asia and Central Asia would spare no effort to transport rare animals to China to gain friendship or earn property.

Lion was one of them. Due to awe-inspiring appearance， lion was loved by the upper class since it came to China. Yu Shinan in Tang Dynasty called it as "mythical creature from foreign countries" in his poems. The figure of lion was often used in a variety of paintings， sculptures， and textiles. We can now easily see lions in the zoo， but we can still imagine the unique affection of people ever had for the lion from the majestic gesture of stone lions in front of the mansions.

Lute

Strumming the strings， the sound is like pearls falling into a jade plate

Lute has beautiful timbre， complicated playing techniques， and sound performance full of tension， is an unforgettable instrument after hearing its sound. Lute prototype had appeared in Qin Dynasty， and the lute we can see today is inextricably linked with the Silk Road. The Silk Road was not only a trade route， but also a platform for mutual spread and integration of cultures of various nations and countries.

In Tang Dynasty， Qiuci in the Western Regions famous for music and dance had a four-string curved-neck lute which integrated with the shapes and functions of original lutes after coming to China， finally a new lute came into being. On a high horse or on the camel with a lute in the arm， playing music and the listener dancing， which become a popular aesthetic image in Tang Dynasty. Lute and the dance music played by it were popular in royal court and among the people. Sound of lute， "like pearls falling into a jade plate" was handed down and became an ?indispensable element of Chinese traditional music.

Tea

Drinking tea， you can

forget the sad things

It were the countries of nomad in Xinjiang and Central Asia on the Silk Road that demand the most tea. But they took the tea as food instead of drink. Due to the lack of fresh vegetables， tea and rhubarb from the East were important ways for them to get the plant fibers. It was very simple why tea was more popular than rhubarb， it was because tea was suitable for long-term preservation， for example， baked brick tea was often edible even if it was stored for three to five years Tea traded on the Silk Road was mostly fermented tea， easy to transport and preserve. Unlike other natural products， tea had a profound impact on life and eating habits of nearby nations and regions， and became an indispensable daily necessity in their daily life.

Wine

Good wine with its color red in okho

The frontier fortress poem that "the solders were urged to prepare for fighting when they were drinking wine" tells us wine belonged to the western frontier. In Han Dynasty， grapes and brewing method were introduced to Western China via the Silk Road and took root in China.

Refined scholars especially loved the wine with bright color and left a lot of poetry. Interestingly， although the people in the Central Plains had learned to make wine， they still showed special preference to the wine introduced from the Silk Road.

Fruits and

vegetables

With human as the media， vegetables and fruits sending off fragrance

Except rare birds and animals for appreciation， novel species brought by the Silk Road included many crops.

Pomegranates， walnuts， cucumbers， coriander， sesame ...... entered China via the Silk Road. Zhang Qian serving as an envoy to the Western Regions made the Silk Road unimpeded， so these crops were introduced by Zhang Qian. In fact， the crops were not introduced by Zhang Qian alone， but by the traveling merchants and envoys coming and going to the Silk Road.

With charming Fragrance， they are curling up in the air like smoke

Spices could be used to fumigate and dye goods， and cook food. Whether the spices were used to fumigate and dye， smear or take， they always made people pleasant. They are widely used in the ancient people's life， everyday clothing， ritual bathing， and cooking food. Many spice using method in China was using the raw material instead of using it after refining. After the opening of the Silk Road， spices refined in the Western Regions were introduced into China when they were quite expensive luxury goods. Chinese people knew little about these spices at first， even until Tang Dynasty， some people treated storax as the feces of lion. As exchanges further deepened， Chinese people knew more and more of the spices， thus， the making and using methods were more diverse. Spices introduced via the Silk Road not only changed people's eating habits， but also stimulated the progress of Chinese spice processing technique.