Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
8.1
Building Cities on the Silk Road
Let us first of all look back on the prosperous stage of this area and start from the
world-famous epoch of the Silk Road. As is well known, the historic Silk Road was
a most important trade route which spanned the hinterlands of Asia. Its main line
started at the east end, from Chang-an, the greatest political centre of ancient China
and predecessor of the present Xi-an, and passed in a northwesterly direction
through the Gansu (or Hexi) Corridor where it forked into two routes at Dunhuang,
the ancient city which is well known to the world for the art treasures in its caves.
These two routes stretched along the southern and northern borders of the
Taklamakan Desert in the south part of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. They joined together again at the present Meru in Turkmen Soviet Socialist
Republic. Then a single road went on westward to the shores of the Mediterranean
Sea where finally it reached the dominions of Rome.
The part of the Silk Road in China was first opened up during the reign of
Emperor Wu in the Han Dynasty (140-87 B.C.) when Chang-an was made the capi-
tal. Besides being the political centre of the Han Dynasty, Chang-an was also the
greatest economic and cultural centre. The Silk Road, with Chang-an as its starting
point, was subject to attacks by the Huns from the Mongolian Plateau in the north,
at the narrow strip of the Gansu Corridor which was about 1,000 km in length and
varying from 10 to 100 km in width. This narrow belt was called the Gansu Corridor
because it was situated in Gansu Province; it was also called the Hexi Corridor
because it was situated in the westernmost upper reaches of the Yellow River
(Fig.
8.1
).
2
It ran along the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains at an average
elevation of 1,500 m.
The highlands of Qilian were on the northeastern border of the high Tibetan
Plateau, the so-called “roof of the world” with an elevation of 4,000 m in the eastern
part, gradually rising to 5,000 m and more in the west. The mountain tops were
covered with snow all the year round and when snow melted, small patches of oases
were formed at the foot of the mountains; and it was through these oases that
the Silk Road was directed. To the north lay the boundless Gobi and the desert. The
narrow belt through which the Silk Road passed ran between the mountains and
the desert, hence the name “corridor”.
This corridor formed part of the arid area in west China, receiving an average
annual rainfall below 100 mm in most places and lower than 50 mm in its western
part. Fortunately, patches of oases scattered here and there were richly endowed
with water and grass. The area was then occupied by Huns, a nomadic tribe in the
north, who still remained in an uncivilized state and presented a serious threat to the
Han Dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Wu in the Han Dynasty, China, being a powerful
country with a flourishing agriculture, industry and commerce as well as increased
2
The help of Mr. Alick Newman at University College London in redrawing the maps is gratefully
acknowledged.
