Xian Silk Road Travel

The Xian Silk Road is famous as a route for trading between China in the East and Central Asian countries like India as well as Europe. Xian, at the start of the Silkroad was the capital of the Chinese Empire and then known as Changan. These days to travel the Silk Road remains the dream of many

Over 2000 years ago, the Emperor sent an envoy to make an alliance with some Chinese that lived farther to the West. These people were found after much difficulty in the northern part of India. While they were not interested in any kind of military agreement, the sending the mission there did have the effect of opening up the area to trading.

The Silk Road is actually a bit of a misnomer. This is because no single route was actually used, rather, there were several. However, all the routes did begin at Changan. Also, although silk was one of the major products traded along it, there were many other products that were sent back and forth as well.

One of the most important things traded in the very beginning were horses. These ended up being instrumental in helping the military of the Han dynasty to be successful. Other items such as silk soon followed. In addition were such commodities such as gold, ivory, glass, furs, ceramics, jade, bronze, lacquer, iron, plants and exotic animals.

At the beginning, trade was not the organized affair that it later became. At a later date, large amounts were sent via caravans which ended up becoming targets for thieves. This was actually one of the reasons for the building of the Great Wall of China. Several new communities sprang up along the way. Goods were often traded in these as one merchant rarely carried them from start to finish. Because of this, it could take products a long time to reach their ultimate destination.

Buddhism made its way from India to China along this route in the form of both priests and scriptures. Both the religion as well as related artwork were changed as a result of passing through various cultures. Christianity made its way to Xian via the Silk Road as well.

Both art and the many cultures that developed it continued to travel the Silk Road to Xian via the route until there were 5000 foreigners living in the city by 754 A. D. Among these were many that came from along the Silk Road. The markets there held many goods from the West such as medicines and spices.

After the Tang dynasty, the route became less traveled and, therefore, less important than before. Soon, the Sea Silk Route opened up and took the place of the land one to a large extent. The trade route was further influenced negatively by the warring between the Christians and Moslem armies which prevented many to travel the Silk Road.

The trade route was important for communication between the different parts of the Mongol Empire once they began taking over. However, it never reached the heights it had at the time of the Tang dynasty. When that Empire ended up falling apart, the route became further unused because of the rise of Islam and the isolationist policy of the Ming Dynasty.

Marco Polo traveled along the route in the 1200s and is well known for his description of the Xian Silk Road. His descriptive observations painted the picture we have today of this history route. He was instrumental in immortalizing it, although it was flourishing 600 years earlier.