The Spread of Silk Culture

Westerners first understood China from the knowledge of Chinese silk. They hailed China as “Seres”, which means silk in Greek. According to records of the time when Chinese silk was spread out in the 4th century BC, it was introduced to India and Western countries, and became famous all over the world. In a long historical period, the Silk Road blended Chinese culture, Indian culture, Persian culture, Arab culture, ancient Greek culture, and ancient Roman culture, and made great contributions to promoting the exchange and development of Eastern and Western civilizations.

The Silk Road and Eurasia

1. The charm of silk

In the 1st century AD, the Parthian state was located just between the East Asian countries and the Roman Empire, occupying the bottleneck position of the Eurasian continent. Its unique geographical location blocked the passage of exchanges between the East and the West. They looked forward to the past as a middleman. Of businessmen charge high fees. Before the opening of the Silk Road, the Parthian nation became the biggest beneficiary. In 54 BC, the Roman Empire declared war on the ancient Parthian nation. The war lasted for a long time. When the Romans were about to win, they discovered that the Parthian army had changed into a special way of fighting. They held up their brilliant and colorful silk banners. The Romans had never seen something so beautiful and elegant, and thought it was a new weapon. It turned out that this was the first time they saw silk and were conquered by the beauty of silk. When the war between the Roman Empire and the Parthian nation ended, and Zhang Sai’s envoy to the Western Regions later, the Silk Road was officially opened.

The Silk Road connected Eurasia together and greatly promoted the exchange and development of civilizations. Silk conquered Europe with its unique charm. Since the price of silk was equal to the price of gold, merchants rushed to China to traffic silk, and the Silk Road became more and more prosperous. Chinese silk became the most distant, largest, most valuable, and most profitable commodity in ancient trade. However, this Silk Road, which was very active during the Han and Tang dynasties, was gradually turned into a sea route because of its limitations in running by land.

2. Maritime trade of silk

The “Maritime Silk Road” began in the Qin and Han Dynasties, prospered in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and reached its peak in the early Ming Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the Northwest Silk Road gradually depressed, and maritime trade began to flourish. The “Maritime Silk Road” was originally the East China Sea route from China to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Islands. The main ports were Yangzhou and Ningbo. After the Song Dynasty, China’s economic center gradually shifted to the southern region, speeding up the development of sea routes. The sea routes starting from Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and other places became more and more developed, via the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea, and even as far as the east coast of Africa. From there, it will be transferred to European countries.

According to historical records, Marco Polo came to China through the “Maritime Silk Road” and returned to China via this route to his hometown of Venice in Quanzhou, Fujian. The Yuan and Ming dynasties were the heyday of the South China Sea Silk Road. The highly developed silk production and silk weaving technology directly provided abundant material resources for the prosperity of overseas trade. The Ming Dynasty sent Zheng He seven voyages to the West in 1405-1433. A huge merchant fleet was active in the vast areas from the Ryukyu, the Philippines and the Maluku Sea in the east to the Mozambique Strait and the South African coast in the west.

The use of silk fabrics in the West

According to records, there are two peaks in the widespread use of silk fabrics in the West: one is in ancient Greece and Rome, and the other is a historical period with the Renaissance as the central axis.

1. Ancient Greece and Rome

In ancient Greece and Rome, with the development of trade between the East and the West, Rome gradually became the largest export market for Chinese silk. Chinese silk became a popular fashion item at that time. The royal family and nobles of ancient Greece and Rome owned silk clothing. And proud. Since the 1st century, the Romans have been enthusiastically obsessed with Chinese silk obtained from the Parthians. Roman girls even wore translucent silk clothes to show off in the streets. The price of silk in the ancient Roman market had risen to a sky-high price of about 600 grams of gold per pound, causing a large outflow of gold from the Roman Empire, forcing the Senate to categorically enact a decree prohibiting people from wearing silk clothes. It can be seen from this that the influence of Chinese silk on the Roman Empire can be described as “a love-hate relationship” for Chinese silk. Emperor Caesar once wore a Chinese silk robe to the theater, which aroused the admiration of the audience, and the audience watched this gorgeous robe. After research, the material of the silk robe worn by Emperor Caesar at that time came from Chang’an, China. The silk clothing owned by Cleopatra also aroused the envy of many people.

2. The Renaissance

From the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century, Chinese silk was introduced to France, Britain, Italy and other countries. During this period, the use of silk in Western countries reached its peak. In fact, at that time, except for an important clothing accessory-the love collar could not be made of silk, other clothing and accessories were made of silk. The royal family, nobles, and the rich almost became obsessed with silk, and even their shoes were decorated with silk. In an oil portrait of Napoleon, the royal shoes worn on Napoleon’s feet are made of sea-blue silk.

A French auction house auctioned an iconic bicorne felt hat by Napoleon Bonaparte, the first emperor of France, in November 2014. This hat is well-preserved and is lined with gray-green silk. Austria had worn it during the war in Marengo, as well as white silk stockings, with a transaction price of up to more than half a million US dollars.

The intersection of culture and resources

Behind the silk exchange is the great convergence and integration of the entire world’s technology, culture, and product resources.

1. Spread of technology and culture

Western music, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts, science and technology knowledge such as astronomy, calendar calculation, medicine, Buddhism, Islam and other religions have been spread to China through the Silk Road; at the same time, Chinese papermaking, printing, Gunpowder, compass, textile, porcelain and other craftsmanship, painting and other artistic techniques, Confucianism and Taoism thoughts also spread to the West through this route.

Through the Silk Road, Chinese silk products, porcelain, ironware, silk, tea, iron smelting, gold and silver crafts, and other handicrafts have been continuously spread to West Asia and European countries through Persia and other countries; while products from Western countries , Technology and rare animals, plants, leather goods, medicinal materials, spices, jewellery, etc., were introduced into Eastern China through the “Silk Road”.

2. Plant dissemination

The plants introduced into China from the west mainly include sesame, walnuts, carrots, cucumbers, grapes, pomegranates, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts, onions, potato fragrant, and cabbage. In the Ming Dynasty, the corn and sweet potatoes entered China via the Silk Road, these two high-yield crops played an important role in the population outbreak in Qing Dynasty.