Explain the Maritime Silk Road

The Maritime Silk Road was a conduit for trade and cultural exchange involving China's south-eastern coastal places and foreign nations. There had been two major routes: the East China Sea Silk Route as well as the South China Sea Silk Route. Get far more info about Maritime Silk Road

A visitor appears at Quanzhou-style lanterns for the duration of an exhibition on intangible cultural heritages along the ancient Maritime Silk Road in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Nov. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

Starting from Quanzhou Fujian Province, the Maritime Silk Road was the earliest voyage route that was formed inside the Qin and Han dynasties, developed from the 3 Kingdoms Period for the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and fell into decline inside the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Through the Maritime Silk Road, silks, china, tea, and brass and iron had been the four key categories exported to foreign countries; while spices, flowers and plants, and uncommon treasures for the court were brought to China. As a result, the Maritime Silk Road was also called "the Maritime China road" or "the Maritime spices road".

The Maritime Silk Road, like its overland counterpart, had its origins throughout the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD). Though vast seas separate the four corners in the Earth, with advances in shipbuilding and navigational technologies, maritime transport came to supply unprecedented access for the most distant destinations.

It truly is identified that the bulk of the raw and processed silk transported along the overland Silk Road throughout the Han Dynasty was produced mostly along China's southern coast and inside the coastal Wu, Wei, Qi, and Lu regions (present-day Shandong Province). Because ancient occasions, these locations have been thriving centers of shipbuilding as well as silk production. They had been thus in a position to supply both commodities for export and the implies to transport them across the sea. It was this combination that supplied the social and material situations needed for the development of maritime trade through the Han Dynasty.

The maritime routes opened by Emperor Han Wudi (reigned 140-87 BC) offered access for the Roman Empire through India, marking the first oceanic route also because the earliest maritime trading route inside the world. This enabled China to actively seek out overseas markets and establish foreign trade relations, and laid the foundation for the development in the Maritime Silk Road.

Han Shu Record (also called The History on the Han Dynasty) kept the very first complete vivid record on China's boats sailing into the Indian Ocean in the South Sea via the Malacca Strait in Southeast Asian waters. Han ships would leave from Xuwen in South China's Guangdong Province, or Hepu in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and through the South Sea, would arrive in India and Sri Lanka -- a transfer station, exactly where pearls, colored glazes, along with other exotic factors might be purchased. Chinese silk was transported to Rome hereafter. Such was the Maritime Silk Road.

In his book Nature History, Gaius Plinius Secundus, a knowledgeable scientist in ancient Rome, recorded, "four sailors from (today's Sri Lanka) left for Rome (during the Caesar Era). According to one with the sailors named Rutgers, both Rome and Sri Lanka had direct trade relations with China."

In 166 in the Han Dynasty, the Roman Emperor sent envoys to China, presenting various such gifts as ivory and hawksbill turtles for the imperial royal court, which marked the earliest friendly relations among China and European nations. A direct route from the East for the West was hence opened up.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), Chinese ships set sail from Guangzhou, bound across the South China Sea, thus pioneering the most vital routes with the maritime Silk Road. Moreover to transporting silk, the South China Sea routes stimulated each material and cultural exchange. Countries all through Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and even Europe dispatched emissaries to China via the new maritime routes to establish diplomatic relations, purchase silk, and engage of trade of all sorts. Silk, because the principal maritime trade commodity, flowed inside a steady stream from China to other nations.

Profits from the maritime trade were one of the Chinese government's significant sources of income during this time. The Tang, Song (960-1279), and Yuan (1279-1368) Dynasties all appointed specific Commissions of Maritime Affairs at coastal cities which includes Guangzhou (Canton), Mingzhou (present-day Ningbo), and Quanzhou. These offices have been accountable for overseeing maritime trade and delivering logistic support and preferential treatment for foreign merchants in China. The maritime Silk Road therefore became a conduit for promoting friendly relations and linking East and West.

East China Sea Route

Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, the beginning spot of Maritime Silk Road. The East China Sea Route enjoys a long history of about 3,000 years. It was through the Zhou Dynasty that Ji Zi, a court official, was sent on a journey east, setting off from Shangdong Peninsula's Bohai Gulf and navigating his way across the Yellow Sea, which led for the introduction of sericiculture (silkworm farming), filature and silk spinning into Korea.

When Emperor Qin Shi Huang united China, several Chinese fled to Korea and took with them silkworms and breeding technology. This sped up the development of silk spinning in Korea. These new expertise along with the technologies were subsequently introduced into Japan during the Han Dynasty. Since the Tang Dynasty, the silks produced by Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces were directly shipped to Japan. A lot of Japanese envoys and monks were also capable to travel to Chang'an (now Xi'an) along this sea route.

South China Sea Route

Guangzhou represented the starting-point on the South China Sea Route, which extended across the Indian Ocean and then on to various nations situated about the Persian Gulf. The sorts goods dispatched for trade consisted mainly of silk, china and tea, whilst imported merchandise included a range of spices, flowers and grasses - therefore it becoming frequently referred to as the sea's 'China Road' and also the sea's 'Flavor Road' .

The route was very first used in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and enhanced in reputation from the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) to the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Up till the Tang Dynasty Anshi Rebellions (755-762), this route was viewed as a secondary option to the Silk Road, On the other hand inside the latter half in the eighth century, owing for the scourge of wars in the vast Western Regions, trade volumes along the Maritime Silk Road boomed as those on its overland counterpart steadily declined.

Delicate Silk Technologic advances in shipbuilding and navigation led for the opening of new sea-lanes towards the Southeast Asia, Malacca, regions inside the Indian Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf. Guangzhou became the initial wonderful harbor in China around the time from the Tang and Song Dynasties, even though it was later substituted by Quanzhou within the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) because the most significant trade port.

The Naval Expedition towards the West by Zheng He in the early part from the Ming Dynasty demonstrated the wonderful importance of the Silk Road and was to represent the peak of its reputation. The governments with the Ming and Qing Dynasties issued a ban on maritime trade, contributing to massive decline in its use. Because the Opium War broke out in 1840, the Silk Road around the Sea totally disappeared.

As early as 2,000 years ago, the Maritime Silk Road began from China's south-east coastal regions, traversing a vast expanse of oceans and seas to nations in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

This trading route that connects the East plus the West, had enhanced the exchanges of commodities, people and culture amongst countries situated on the road.

As a way to revive the ancient Maritime Silk Road and bring much more benefits to the relevant nations and peoples, the initiative that China and nations along the ancient Maritime Silk Road would create together a new Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century was proposed by China.

Such an initiative draws inspiration each from history and from most recent developments inside the 21st century. The aim should be to inject sturdy impetus in enhancing political mutual trust, deepening economic cooperation, and advertising cultural also as people-to-people exchanges amongst relevant nations via joint cooperation, prevalent development and regional integration. All countries along the Maritime Silk Road are welcome to plan, create and benefit together from the initiative.

Since the initiative was first raised, a lot of countries have actively supported and engaged themselves in the development from the or the Silk Road Economic Belt (the "Belt and Road" for quick) or both.

On Oct. 24, 2014, twenty-first Asian countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, aiming to finance and facilitate infrastructure constructions for Asian nations along the "Belt and Road".

The MOU specifies that the authorized capital of AIIB is one hundred billion U.S. dollars and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around 50 billion dollars. The paid-in ratio will likely be 20 percent.

The 21 nations are Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

In the APEC Summit 2014 held in Beijing in November, 2014, China announced to contribute US$40 billion to setup a Silk Road Fund to provide investment and financial support to carry out infrastructure, resources, industrial and financial cooperation as well as other projects related to connectivity for nations along the "Belt and Road".

With additional support from other countries and wider coverage across the region, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has come to be an initiative not for one country but for all nations who welcome and support the initiative and are operating collectively closely with each other for financial and social advancement at the same time as for the welfare of their peoples. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has often been and can still be open to all nations along the road.