Briefly describe the geographical significance of the Ancient Tea Horse Road to the development of the Han and Tibetan peoples

The Ancient Tea Horse Road refers to the private international trade channel that exists in the southwest and northwest of China, using horse caravans as the main means of transportation. It is a corridor for economic and cultural exchanges among ethnic groups in southwest China. The Ancient Tea Horse Road is a very special The regional name is a unique tourist route with the most spectacular natural scenery and the most mysterious culture in the world. It contains endless cultural heritage.

The Ancient Tea-Horse Road[1] originated from the tea-horse trade in the ancient southwest and northwest frontiers. It flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and was most prosperous in the middle and late World War II.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road is divided into Sichuan and Tibet and Yunnan and Tibet. It connects Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet, and extends[2] into Bhutan, Nepal, and India (this is the Yunnan-Vietnam Tea Horse Ancient Road), to West Asia, West African Red Sea coast.

Background

There are three ancient tea-horse roads in China:

The first is the Shaanxi-Gansu Tea-Horse Road, which is the main road for tea from mainland China to travel westward and exchange for horses. .

The second is the Shaanxi-Kangzang Ancient Tea Horse Road (ancient road), which was mainly opened by people from Shaanxi;

The third is the Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road.

[3]

The Shaanxi-Gansu Tea Horse Road is one of the main routes of the ancient Silk Road.

The main means of transportation is the camel.

Tea and horses refer to selling tea in exchange for horses (tea and horses here are both commodities).

The Shaanxi-Kangzang Ancient Tea-Horse Road - Tanggu Road [4] began in the Tang Dynasty and was formed by Shaanxi merchants and tea-horse trade in the ancient southwest frontier.

Since the government in the Ming and Qing Dynasties implemented government controls on tea selling, tea selling was divided into regions. The most prosperous tea and horse trading market was in Kangding, which was called the ancient road. Therefore, the Shaanxi-Kangzang Ancient Tea Horse Road is At that time, tea could be sold across the country on the Tea Horse Road.

The Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road is part of the Shaanxi-Kangshan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road. It starts from Ya'an, the origin of Yazhoubian tea, in the east, passes through Dajianlu (now Kangding), and ends in Lhasa, Tibet in the west, and finally leads to Bhutan and Nepal. and India, with a total length of nearly 4,000 kilometers and a history of more than 1,300 years. It has profound historical accumulation and cultural heritage and is an indispensable bridge and link between ancient Tibet and the mainland.

The Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road was formed around the late sixth century AD. It starts from Yiwu and Pu'er City in Xishuangbanna, the main tea-producing areas of Yunnan, in the south, and enters Tibet through today's Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Lijiang City, and Shangri-La. Directly to Lhasa.

Some were re-exported from Tibet to India and Nepal, which was an important trade channel between China and South Asia in ancient times.

Pu'er is a unique place of origin and transit distribution center for goods on the Tea-Horse Ancient Road, and has a long history.

Function editor

Tie function

The Ancient Tea Horse Road is a political and economic link.

It promotes the reunification of Tibet and the motherland and the close and inseparable close relationship between the Tibetan and Han people.

Through this ancient road, not only did the people in Tibetan areas obtain tea and other inland products that are indispensable in their lives, they also made up for the shortages in Tibetan areas and met the needs of the people in Tibetan areas.

Moreover, it has opened the door to Tibetan areas, which have been in a relatively closed environment for a long time, and introduced various local specialties from Tibetan areas to the mainland.

A lasting complementary and mutually beneficial economic relationship has been formed.

This complementary relationship makes the Tibetan and Han peoples economically dependent on each other and inseparable from each other.

This further promoted the unification of Tibetan areas and the motherland, and the unity of the Tibetan and Han nationalities.

In history, although the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty did not station a single soldier in Tibetan areas, they always maintained an inseparable relationship with Tibetan areas, making all the tribes in Tibetan areas submit and unite.

Among them, the Ancient Tea Horse Road played the most important role.

Economic Development

The Ancient Tea Horse Road has promoted the social and economic development of Tibetan areas.

Along this road, along with the tea-horse trade, not only a large number of industrial and agricultural products from the mainland were introduced to Tibetan areas, enriching the material life of Tibetan areas, but also advanced craftsmanship, technology and skilled craftsmen from the mainland were introduced. Tibetan areas have promoted the economic development of Tibetan areas.

For example, due to the need for tea transportation, the tanning technology of the mainland was introduced to Tibetan areas, which led to the development of the leather processing industry in Tibetan areas; another example is that due to the development of commerce, gold mining, vegetable growing, construction, and A large number of technologies and technicians such as gold and silver processing were imported through this channel, which promoted the development of farming technology, gold mining technology and handicraft industry in Tibetan areas.

At the same time, due to the expansion of trading items, medicinal materials such as Cordyceps, Fritillaria, rhubarb, and Qinxiang were developed in Tibetan areas, and the production of card mats, clams, and ethnic handicrafts was also promoted. Great development.

According to statistics, Sichuan produced 30 million kilograms of tea in the Song Dynasty, half of which was transported to Tibetan areas via the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

In the Ming Dynasty, 30,000 bottles of Sichuan tea were traded through Liya and Diaukou ports, accounting for more than 80% of the total tea imports in Sichuan.

In the Qing Dynasty, more than 14 million kilograms of Sichuan tea came out of customs through Dajian furnace every year.

At the same time, a large amount of local specialties from Tibetan areas are also exported through this road.

According to statistics in 1934, 4,000 kilograms of musk, 30,000 kilograms of cordyceps, 5,500,000 kilograms of wool, and more than 60,000 crocodiles were exported to the mainland from Kangding, with a total value of more than 4 million taels of silver.

This shows the scale of Sino-Tibetan trade.

Driven by this trade, commercial activities in Tibetan areas have risen rapidly, and a number of famous Tibetan merchants have emerged, such as "Bangdacang", "Sanduocang", "Rishengcang", etc. (Cang means home in Tibetan.

Here it is used as a business name); Guozhuang, a special economic institution that integrates inns, shops, and intermediaries, appeared.

Kham is located in the center of a major road. Influenced by this environment, it was the first to change the concept of focusing on agriculture and neglecting business, and developed the habit of doing business.

Kham businessmen are famous for their shrewdness and ability.

The rise of Tibetan areas

Promoted the rise and development of towns in Tibetan areas.

The many trading markets, distribution centers for pack teams, business travelers, and accommodation points on the Ancient Tea Horse Road have gradually formed towns with densely populated residents during the long-term commercial activities.

Promoted the urbanization development of Tibetan society.

For example, Dajianlu was still a desolate ravine in the Yuan Dynasty.

After the Diaomen and Yanzhou Tea Horse Road were opened in the Ming Dynasty, it gradually became a gathering place for the pack teams west of the Dadu River. In the Qing Dynasty, the Wasigou Road was opened, the Luding Bridge was built, and a tea pass was set up there. After that, it quickly became a commercial city with "Han territory and merchants gathered".

Carriage teams from Tibet and other places outside the customs come and go here in an endless stream, and businessmen from all over the country gather here.

It has formed a professional tea gang, a Jinxiang gang that specializes in gold and musk, a Qiongbu gang that specializes in cloth and hada, a yam gang that specializes in medicinal materials, a Fuhuo gang that specializes in silk, satin, and leather. Gancai Gang, which sells vegetables, and Yunnan Gang, which specializes in opium and groceries.

There have been 48 Guozhuang, 32 tea shops and dozens of shops selling different products.

Emerging industries such as tea sewing, tanning, catering, and hardware have emerged.

Residential houses, shops, hospitals, schools, government offices, and streets were built one after another, forming a prosperous and lively "Liu Liu City" famous at home and abroad.

Another example is Qamdo because it is the transportation hub and material distribution center of the three ancient Tea Horse Roads of Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet, and Qinghai-Tibet.

With the development of tea and horse trade, it became an important town in Kham District and another center of Sino-Tibetan trade.

Cultural exchange

It communicates the cultural exchanges between Tibetan people, Han people and other ethnic groups.

The rise of the tea-horse trade gave a large number of merchants and tribute envoys from Tibetan areas the opportunity to penetrate into the interior of the motherland; at the same time, it also enabled a large number of Han, Hui, Mongolian, Naxi and other ethnic merchants, craftsmen, and garrison troops to enter Tibetan areas .

In the long-term exchanges, the understanding and affinity of each other's different cultures have been enhanced, and a new cultural pattern of tolerance, respect and mutual integration has been formed.

In many towns along the Tea Horse Road, Tibetans live in close harmony with foreign ethnic groups such as Han and Hui. Tibetan culture goes hand in hand with different cultures such as Han culture, Islamic culture, and Naxi culture, and in some aspects they are mutually exclusive. Absorption, compounding and blending occur.

For example, in Kangding, Batang, Garze, Songpan, Qamdo and other places, there are not only splendid lamasery, but also buildings of Han culture such as Guandi Temple, Sichuan Palace, Tutu Temple, etc., and in some places there are also There are mosques and Taoist temples.

Businessmen from all over the city also established Qinjin Guild Hall, Huguang Guild Hall, Sichuan North Guild Hall and other organizations in the city, introducing Sichuan Opera, Qin Opera, Peking Opera and other dramas to Tibetan areas.

There has been cultural harmony in which festivals of different ethnic groups are celebrated together; different ethnic diets are absorbed into each other; and different ethnic customs are respected by each other.

The harmony of culture has promoted blood affinity, and a large number of Chinese-Tibetan families have emerged here.

The flower of national unity blooms on the Tea Horse Road.

Love Song of Shuhe Ancient Tea Horse Road

To enter Shuhe Ancient Village, the Qinglong Bridge at the entrance of the village is the only way to pass.

Although it has a history of more than 400 years, it is still wide and flat.

The clear blue Qinglong River flows under the bridge, and there are dense poplars and willows beside the river.

White pear blossoms, red begonia flowers and peach blossoms bloom every year, providing sweet fruits to the villagers.

The delicacies of this hometown are the eternal memories of Tibetans on ancient roads and Shuhe cobblers who travel far and wide.

Walking west along Qinglong Bridge, there is a five-flowered stone road, and the dark red lines on the stone can still be seen.

The old man said that it was built in the 1930s and 1940s by a group of businessmen from Shuhe who traveled on the Tea Horse Road all year round.

Because they often do business with Tibetans, the locals call them "Tibetans".

Shuhe Street is their concern, the starting point and ultimate expectation of their business travel career.

Shuhe is like a large garden in the middle of the street, with four lanes extending out from Shuhe Street in all directions.

The one to the east passes through the ancient city of Lijiang, the one to the south leads to Guji Administrative Village, the one to the north leads to Baisha Administrative Village, and the one to the northwest leads to the Tibetan area of ??Diqing The main road is the "Ancient Tea-Horse Road".

Along the river originating from Jiuding Longtan and Podi Xiaotan, Tibetans walked on two difficult and dangerous ancient business roads: one leads from Songyun Village to the ancient pass Huangshan Shao in the southwest, and the other leads from Lashi Arrive at Shigu, Judian and Ludian, cross Lidiping, pass Weixi Baohe Town, arrive at the Lancang River, go north along the river, pass the Yanziyan Plank Road, and then cross the zipline from the Liutong River to Tibet after arriving at Deqin; The second road passes by the Jiuding Longtan and Podi Xiaotan, and winds towards the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the west.

Go directly to Longpan, Lijiang through Wenhai Village, cross the Jinsha River, climb over the twelve railings, and arrive at Zhongdian County. Then cross the bridge, cross the river in a canoe from Benzilan, and cross the white snow-capped mountains to Germany. Qincheng, then cross the zipline from the Liotongjiang River and climb the Meili Snow Mountain into Tibet.

Each of the two ancient roads is 6,000 miles long, and it takes more than three months to travel there.

Plank roads, zip lines, snow-capped mountains, every dangerous path on the ancient road may be a destination for Tibetans.

In their brave and magnificent lives, they often need romantic care. Some Tibetans marry a hard-working and filial girl who is "clad in stars and moons" at home, and marry a gentle and virtuous "Dolma" in Tibetan areas.

Thousands of miles apart, many Naxi girls and Dolma have never met each other in their lives, but they will tolerate each other and even be grateful to each other in their hearts. thoughts.

This tradition no longer exists today, but Naxi and Tibetans who became relatives because of Tibetans often get together in Shuhe.

Therefore, it is not difficult to drink pure butter tea in Shuhe.

Traces of the Ancient Tea Horse Road traveled by Tibetans can be traced, but there has never been a trace of another ancient road originating from Shuhe. There is another group of people walking on this invisible road. They "just need a handful of With an awl and a piece of yarn, you can travel all over the world." They are Shuhe cobblers.

9 Religions

Three religions coexist harmoniously in Kangding

In southwest China, on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and in the middle of the Snowy Mountains of the Hengduan Mountains, there is a village with only 1.45 Kangding is a small town with an area of ????square kilometers.

Since the 1860s, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam have coexisted in the small town. During more than 100 years of missionary work, they have always lived in harmony and become a good talk.

The imam of the mosque is 38-year-old Ma Zezhi. He still remembers the lively scene when the new priest Li Lun of the Kangding Catholic Church ascended the throne in April 2003 and invited him and representatives of various religions to participate in the enthronement ceremony.

In 1646, some Hui people began to make a living in Kangding. There were more than 400 permanent Muslims in Kangding County. Next to the mosque, a specially built Hui primary school was built locally.

Chen Fengyun, a 72-year-old Hui aunt, is preparing for the upcoming "Eid al-Fitr" in the mosque. She has many Tibetan friends, some of whom believe in Tibetan Buddhism and some who believe in Catholicism. "We have a very close relationship." Okay, they are all very good friends," Aunt Chen said.

According to Zhang Jianquan, deputy director of the Religious Affairs Bureau of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, he has been engaged in religious work in Kangding for 15 years and has rarely encountered conflicts between various religions.

Kangding is the capital of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and was a prosperous commercial and trade center in history.

Over the past 700 years, Tibetan merchants have brought musk, cordyceps, gold, and horses from Tibet to Kangding, and traded them with tea and silk brought by mainland merchants.

It is this prosperity of inter-ethnic trade that has created the great integration of various ethnic groups in Kangding.

Less than 100 meters away from the mosque is the Catholic Church in Kangding.

In 1860, Ding Shengrong, a missionary of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, was ordered by the Holy See to go to Tibet to preach. He was blocked on the way and returned to Kangding. He set up a church in the northern suburbs of Kangding to preach, which opened the history of Catholic missionary work in Kangding.

Among the more than 300 Catholic believers in the county, 200 are Tibetan believers.

Li Lun, a Catholic priest, said: “Although the vast majority of the county’s more than 30,000 people believe in Tibetan Buddhism, the local government actively protects religions with fewer believers. A good religious environment.” About 150 meters away from Kangding Catholic Church is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in the area, Anjue Temple, with a history of more than 380 years.

10 Research

Mu Jihong, the name of the “Ancient Tea Horse Road”, and Zhou Chonglin, a researcher at the Institute of Tea Horse Road Culture of Yunnan University, jointly published an article, “Research Model of the Ancient Tea Horse Road and "Significance", they think:

Scenery of the Ancient Tea Horse Road (17 photos)

First, the Ancient Tea Horse Road is the highest trade channel in the world today.

Secondly, the Ancient Tea Horse Road has always been a way of national integration and harmony. It bears witness to the flesh-and-blood emotions forged over tea among various ethnic groups in China and even Asia for thousands of years.

The Tibetan epic "Gesar" says, "Goods from the Han area are transported to Tibetan areas. Is it because we do not produce these things here? No, it is just to connect the hearts of the people of Tibet and Han." Just together." This is the Tibetan people's most profound understanding of tea and the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

The same is true for the northwest nomads.

Third, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road is a corridor for ethnic migration, and it provides many evidences for mankind to find an eternal home.

The Lancang River originates in Qinghai, flows through Tibet, enters Yunnan, passes through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and finally runs south from Vietnam

The Ancient Tea Horse Road

Sea.

It was the expedition of Yunnan large-leaf tea produced in the Lancang River basin that linked the economic and cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign nations, from which we can find the origin of many cultures.

Although there are many ethnic groups on the Tea Horse Road in southwest and northwest China, the second language of these ethnic groups is unified under the southwest Mandarin. This is a rare example in the history of the spread of world civilization and is undoubtedly the Tea Horse Road. Another great contribution.

Fourth, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road is the route for the spread of Buddhism eastward and the main channel for world civilization. On the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, diverse cultures began to merge.

Commodities carry culture, and the Tea Horse Road is also a religious road. Believers and merchants travel together, bringing different beliefs to these areas.

For example, the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in northwest Yunnan has further promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between the Naxi, Bai and Tibetans, and enhanced the friendship between several ethnic groups.

11 Cultural Tourism

The new pattern of cultural tourism industry development, focusing on the goal positioning of "World Tea Source, Chinese Tea City, Pu'er Tea Capital", Pu'er will highlight "tea culture tourism" "Theme, vigorously cultivate tourism products with the theme of tea culture and tea horse culture, make full use of and give full play to the advantages of the tea industry, and achieve a win-win interaction between the tea industry and the tourism industry.

Pu'er City is an important stop on the "Ancient Tea Horse Road". It is one of the important producing areas of the famous Pu'er tea and one of the largest tea-producing areas in China.

Pu'er City is also a rich place of tourism resources. It has many natural ecological resources, water scenery resources and humanistic tourism resources. It also has obvious advantages in tea culture, ethnic culture and port culture. The city's forest coverage rate exceeds 67. The tea garden reaches 3.18 million acres, and the conditions for tourism development are unique.

Pu'er City will be based on the culture and characteristics of Pu'er City's tourism resources, as well as the history and culture of the Tea Horse Road, and rely on the brand advantages of "Pu'er Tea City, China Tea City, and World Tea Source" to make good use of With its natural location advantages, we will be market-oriented and use the construction of key tourism projects as a carrier to strengthen the leading role of the government, comprehensively improve the quality and comprehensive competitiveness of Pu'er City's tourism industry, and build Pu'er City into an emerging tourism city in Yunnan Province.

At the same time, with the slogan of "Sightseeing Pu'er, Food Pu'er, Happy Pu'er, Healthy Pu'er", Pu'er City will be built into "the world's Pu'er tea leisure and health tourism destination".

Pu'er City plans to create a new tourism pattern of "one city, three districts and four lines".

"One City" means to build a world-renowned ecological health resort and tourism city with Simao District as the core; "Three Districts" means to plan to build Simao Happy Health Resort and Tourism Area with Simao District as the core and scenic spots. The original ecological tea culture leisure tourism area based on the Maishan alpine ecological tea garden, the Pu'er tea horse cultural adventure experience area mainly in Simao District and Ning'er County; the "fourth line" refers to the planning and creation of the western border style ethnic cultural tourism landscape line, There are magical exploration tourist landscapes of primitive forest style in the north, tea-horse cultural tourism landscapes in the east and exotic ethnic customs border tourist landscapes in the southeast.

Based on scientific argumentation, the "Top Ten Creative Design Projects for Tourist Landscape Attractions" were proposed: Pu'er City should firstly creatively build a Pu'er folk culture village and carry out happy Pu'er folk customs tours; secondly, it should plan and build an international level hot spring health resort, and carry out high-end vacation and leisure tourism in Pu'er City; the third is to plan and build the Shili National Food Corridor of Simao River in Pu'er City, and carry out ethnic food experience tours; the fourth is to plan and establish the Pu'er National Culture and Art Palace to carry out folk customs culture and art , tea culture experience tour; fifth, it is necessary to restore and build the Moonlight Temple in Pu'er City and guide the masses to carry out religious and cultural tourism; sixth, it is necessary to plan and restore the Wenwu Temple in Pu'er City and carry out historical and cultural tracing tours in Pu'er City; seventh, it is necessary to plan and guide the establishment of Ning'er City The Pu'er Prefecture of the county has launched a tea horse culture experience tour in Pu'er City; the eighth is to plan and renovate Zhushi Street in Simao District, Pu'er City, and carry out ancient street sightseeing and shopping tours; the ninth is to plan and build the tea culture landscape corridor "Tea Capital Avenue" in Pu'er City ", carry out Pu'er city sightseeing tour; tenth, we must integrate and transform Pu'er City's tea garden resources and tea-making enterprises, and carry out Pu'er City's modern tea industry sightseeing tour.