History of the Silkroad

The technique of silk production and weaving was fully developed in the beginning bronze age of China (Shang period 商), and at the begin of Han the neighboring people of the northwestern steppe highly estimated silk fabrics. Peoples like the Wusun 烏孫, Yuezhi 月氏, and Xiongnu 匈奴 controlled the ways to Inner Asia and acted as intermediary traders. In the late 2nd century BC the belligerent emperor Han Wudi 漢武帝 conquered the territories of the northwest to get rid of the tributary pressure of the intruding and robbing Xiongnu tribes. He installed the commanderies Jiuquan 酒泉, Wuwei 武威, Zhangyi 張掖, and Dunhuang 敦煌 where Chinese soldiers were deployed and had to supply themselves with agrarian military colonies (tuntian 屯田). Additionally, forts and fortified walls (later known as the Great Wall, Changcheng 長城) were constructed to prevent the Xiongnu from plundering Chinese villages. To administer and to control these regions, a Protectorate of the Western Regions (Xiyu duhu 西域都護) was installed, and the Han court often interfered into the politics of the city states along the silkroad. Along the silkroad, China sent embassadors to kingdoms and empires in the west, one of them called Daqin 大秦 that some scholars identify with Rome.
After the political center of the unified empire collapsed with the end of Eastern Han, and during the three centuries of the division between north and south (Southern and Northern Dynasties, Nanbeichao 南北朝) trade and political and cultural exchange along the silkroad increased, and trade centers like the commandery Dunhuang developed a vivid cultural and religious life. With the foundation of the Sui 隋 and shortly after the Tang Dynasty 唐 the regular trade with the Central Asian kingdoms became crucial for the social and economic life of the capital Chang’an. The Tang government installed four garrisons (sizhen 四鎮) to administer the protectorate of the "Pacified West" (Anxi duhufu 安西都護府), Qiuci 龜茲 (Kucha), Yanqi 焉耆 (Karashar), Yutian 于闐 (Khotan), and Shule 疏勒 (Kashgar). After the end of Tang the Chinese government and economy of Song 宋 oriented more to the seashore and the trade with Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, and the trade routes along the silkroad were again controlled by Non-Chinese empires like the Khitan-Liao 遼, Jurchen-Jin 金 and Tangut-Xixia 西夏. The Mongols that controlled Asia from China to Eastern Europe again allowed a continuous passage from the Near East to the capital in modern Beijing. Marco Polo and many other traders and missionaries followed the silkroad to enter the realm of the mighty qaghan Khubilai.

Geography of the Silkroad

For more details see citystates of the silkroad. The silkroad started in the Han and Tang capitals Chang’an 長安 and Luoyang 洛陽 and lead through the Gansu corridor along the commanderies Wuwei 武威, Zhangyi 張掖, Jiuquan 酒泉 and Dunhuang 敦煌 to the Yumen Pass 玉門關 and the Yangguan Pass 陽關 from where the road first ended in Loulan 樓蘭 (northwest of Lop Nur Lake 羅布泊/Xinjiang, today buried under sand dunes). From there, the silkroad separated in a northern route and a southern route to by-pass the Taklamakan desert. The northern route passed Yiwu 伊吾, Cheshi 車師 , Gaochang 高昌, Yanqi 焉耆, Weixu 危須, Quli 渠犁, Wulei 烏壘, Luntai 輪台, Qiuci 龜茲, Gumo 姑墨 to Shule 疏勒. The southern route passed Shanshan 鄯善, Qiemo 且末, Yumi 扜彌, Yutian 于闐, Pishan 皮山, Shache 莎車, and met the northern route in Shule. Today, many cities of the southern route have been swallowed by the desert. A second northern route was opened in Later Han and lead along Yiwulu 伊吾廬 (modern Hami 哈密), Liuzhong 柳中, Gaochangbi 高昌壁, Cheshi 車師, Jiaohecheng 交河城 (near modern Turpan 吐魯番), crossed the Tianshan and ended in Yanqi 焉耆 and Qiuci. During the division in south and north, the Southern Dynasties (Nanchao 南朝) reached the silkroad via modern Sichuan and Qinghai that was dominated by the Tuyuhun 吐谷渾 realm. From Shule, the silkroad stretched on to the empire of Dayuan 大宛 and from there on divided into many sideroutes to Eastern Europe, Persia and India.

Hui Cuisine
The Hui ethnic group possesses the most Muslims. which influences the cuisine greatly and makes it the representative of the Chinese Muslim food. With a long history. Hui cuisine embodies the life habit – cleanness. Their diet never involves pig meat. the meat of non-ruminating animals. fierce animals and their blood. But those meats that are allowed and which have been prepared under the auspices of an imam can be made into delicious dishes. Muslims are not allowed to smoke or drink wines. but encouraged to enjoy teas. When there are guests come to visit. welcoming hosts will produce tea together with fruits and fried cakes. The tea cup can include there sugar. white sugar. Chinese wolfberry. sesame. red Chinese date. longan. and raisins. which are rich in nutrition.
There are four main characteristics of Hui Cuisine. Most of the staple food is made of flour rather than rice. and can have many forms. Sweeteners play an important role in the meals – these people tend to add honey or sugar to their dishes. Hui people like eating beef and mutton which also stimulate the appetite and are nourishing. One of the typical meals is roast mutton. They have also renovated and adapted aspects of Han cuisine – for example dumplings in a sour soup is one of their favorites.

The earliest image of the tiger was discovered iv an ancient tomb unearthed in central ChinasHenan Province iv 1987. A tiger made of shells was found lying on the left side of a body buried there. On the right side was the earliest image of a dragon ever found, also made of shells. These images are believed to be some 6,000 years old. Experts say that both tiger and dragon were totems in ancient times.

The Han people ps actually a mixture of may ancient tribes from all oner China. Tribes from the west,including the tribe of the Yellow Emperor, worshipped the tiger, while those along the eastern seashore worshipped the dragon.Of course, there were many other tribes with different totems. After many wars of Expansion, These tribes gradually mixed to form the Han nationality. Because tribes worshipping the tiger and dragon were more powerful, other totems disappeared while these two continued to exist.

Worship of the tiger came from the nomadic and hunting life style of our ancestors. On the grassland, a tiger was a powerful animal. People held a contradictory attitude towards it. They both respected and feared it. They took it as a symbol which could protect their descendants.

With the development of agriculture,people began to rely more on the climate and were concerned with its changes. Since the dragon is said to be in charge of weather, it replaced the tiger. Gradually, the dragon came to hold the dominant powition in the heavens and the tiger became one of his subordinates, the king of mountains.
Ever since the Qin Dynasty in the third centur bC,emperors have monopolized the right of using the dragon symbol.Qinshihuang proclaimed himself the son of the dragon and said his power to rule was given by Heaven. Later on, all the emperors in Chinese history followed wuit.The Emperors chair was called the dragon chair, his dress the dragon robe.Dragons appear everywhere in the imperial palace. Anyone else who dared to connect himself with the dragon symbol would be sentenced to death for a crime against the emperor.

The tiger,on the other hand, has always belonged to the people. It is loved
not merely as a totem, but has been secularized through the years. People love its
beauty and strength,find spiritual sustenance in it,and use it as a protector and symbol of good luck. For example, in new year prints, we can often see a picture called The Tiger guards the House.People will put it on the front door at the beginning of the year,so that the tiger will protect the family and let it have a peaceful life during the rest of the year.

A legend has it that on a mountain,there was a peach tree and under the tree stood two brothers.Whenever the two found any evil spirits,they fed them to a tiger.
Thus, the two found any evil spirits, they fed them to a tiger.Thus, the tiger has the power to expelevils. According to some researchers, the tiger also symbolizes marriage and reproduction. However, customs differ from one place to another.

In shaanxi Province,the bride will receive two dough tigers when she arrives at the gate of the bridegrooms home.There is a custom of hanging tiger ornaments on the bed of a newly wed couple. In Henan Province, a temple fair is held at fuxi in the third lunar month and tger toys made of various materials are sold. Many people go there to pray for a child and then bring a tiger toy home with them. One such toy is usually made op of two tigers to symbolize a man and a woman.

In Chinese legends,there are quite a few tales about how tigers saved human lives. One story says in the ancient state of Chu,a man had an illegitimate child which he abandoned in a desolate field. Afemale tiger found the child and fed him with her own milk .Later, the child grew up to become the prime minister of the state of Chu.
Maybe,the most famous man supposedly saved by a tiger is the great phi-losopher, Confucius. It is said that Confucius was so ugly when he was born that his parents decided to leave him on a mountain. Again, it was a tiger who saved his life. The theme of tiger-feeding man is, therefore, also popular in paper-cuts and embroidery.
Tigers were worshipped not only by the majority Han people,but also by more than a dozen minority etynic groups.One example is the Yi Nationality.Yi people have a tiger festival every year. On that day, all people dress up to look like tigers and hold all kinds of celebrations.

The worship of the tiger can be found in most pwrts of China.The tiger theme used to be so popular that you could find many kinds of tiger objects in one household.You might see a tiger head made of cloth hanging on the gate,tiger paper-cuts on the window, tiger pillows and quilts on the bed, a tiger cake on the table and tiger caps, shoes and toys for children.

In the past, folk art works of tigers were usually made by women in the coun-tryside. They made these for practical as well as aesthetic purposes. The skill was passed down from mother to daughter and a woman of talent would spread her skill to another village when she married to a man from that place. Most of these women were illiterate and spent their entire lives in one small area in the countryside. So it is a wonder how the original patterns could have been passed down for generations and spread from the isolated villages to all over China.

Cloth shoes are elaborately made. The soles of the shoes are made up of scores of cloth layer and are completely handmade. During the course of making shoes, more than 20 meters of thread are used, and there are more than 1000 stitches on the layer. What’s more, craftsman spends two or three days on making cloth shoes. People feel comfortable when they wear cloth shoes, especially when people are walking or traveling.

Among the Chinese cloth shoes, perhaps the most famous ones are Xiuhua shoes,namely embroidered shoes. Embroidered shoes are embodies of oriental aesthetics, with beautiful patterns in the shoe cover, toe and heel etc. The basic patterns of embroidered shoes are flowers, birds, animals, sceneries, and figures from the traditional Chinese dramas.

There are also some auspicious patterns such as lotus seeds (symbol of birth of a child), pomegranate (symbol of offspring multiplied), flying dragon and dancing phoenix (symbol of happy marriage).

However, nowadays, people in cities seldom wear cloth shoes. Most people wear sneakers or leather shoes. But cloth shoes is a part of Chinese culture with a long history, they are irreplaceable in Chinese culture together with Confucianism and Buddhism.

Mungbean Milk
Don’t belittle this homely milk. It is very popular with people born and bred in Beijing. As a matter of fact, it is a fermented drink made from mungbean. It is rich in protein, vitamin C and dietary fibre and was once listed in the imperial menus. It doesn’t taste well when you drink it for the first time, but you may get addicted to it after several brave tries.

Fried Bread Circle
It is beloved by all the people, male or female, old or young. When people in Beijing have clay oven rolls or mungbean milk, they generally like to enjoy them with the fried bread circle. The flour is made into a paste with added salt, alkali and alum. The paste strips are then fried in the hot cooking oil. It is crisp and yellow in color; which makes it irresistible. This snack can be preserved for up to ten days or so without going bad in taste.

Quickly-Boiled Tripe(bào dǔ)
As it’s a kind of Islamic snacks, only the tripe of sheep or cattle is used as the ingredient. The sliced tripe is put into the boiled water and is then dipped in the sesame sauce. A finely-boiled tripe is crisp and tender, really a nice dish!You may also season the sauce with vinegar, onion or mashed garlic according to your taste.

Filled Sausage (guàn cháng)
To make the sausage, flour or starch is firstly mixed with flavorings, and the paste is stuffed into prepared pigs’ intestine. The long sausage will then be boiled and be cut into cubes to be fried. After mashed garlic is poured on it, the delicious sausage is ready. Usually, diners may use little bamboo sticks for a better convenience.