The
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Maritime Silk Road Introduction
The Maritime Silk
Road was a conduit for trade and cultural exchange between China's
south-eastern coastal areas and foreign countries. There were two major routes:
the East China Sea Silk Route and the South China Sea Silk Route.
Starting from
Quanzhou Fujian Province, the Maritime Silk Road was the earliest voyage route
that was formed in the Qin and Han dynasties, developed from the Three Kingdoms
Period to the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and fell
into decline in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Through the
Maritime Silk Road, silks, china, tea, and brass and iron were the four main
categories exported to foreign countries; while spices, flowers and plants, and
rare treasures for the court were brought to China. Therefore, the Maritime
Silk Road was also known as "the Maritime China road" or "the
Maritime spices road".
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Maritime Silk Road History
The
Maritime Silk Road, like its overland counterpart, had its origins during the
Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD). Although vast seas separate the four corners of
the Earth, with advances in shipbuilding and navigational technologies,
maritime transport came to provide unprecedented access to the most distant
destinations.
It is known that
the bulk of the raw and processed silk transported along the overland Silk Road
during the Han Dynasty was produced primarily along China's southern coast and
in the coastal Wu, Wei, Qi, and Lu regions (present-day Shandong Province).
Since ancient times, these areas have been thriving centers of shipbuilding as
well as silk production. They were thus able to supply both commodities for
export and the means to transport them across the sea. It was this combination
that provided the social and material conditions necessary for the development
of maritime trade during the Han Dynasty.
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East China Sea Route
A
visitor looks at Quanzhou-style lanterns during 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)
Kaiyuan Temple in
Quanzhou, the starting place of Maritime Silk Road. The East China Sea Route
enjoys a long history of about 3,000 years. It was during 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
to the introduction of sericiculture (silkworm farming), filature and silk
spinning into Korea.
When Emperor Qin
Shi Huang united China, many Chinese fled to Korea and took with them silkworms
and breeding technology. This sped up the development of silk spinning in
Korea. These new skills and 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. Many Japanese
envoys and monks were also able to travel to Chang'an (now Xi'an) along this
sea route.
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South China Sea Route
Guangzhou represented
the starting-point of the South China Sea Route, which extended across the
Indian Ocean and then on to various countries situated around the Persian Gulf.
The types goods dispatched for trade consisted mainly of silk, china and tea,
while imported merchandise included a variety of spices, flowers and grasses –
hence it being commonly referred to as the sea's 'China Road' and the sea's
'Flavor Road' .
The route was first
used in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and increased in popularity from the Three
Kingdoms Period (220-280) to the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Up until the Tang
Dynasty Anshi Rebellions (755-762), this route was viewed as a secondary
alternative to the Silk Road, However in the latter half of the eighth century,
owing to 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 to the opening of new
sea-lanes to the Southeast Asia, Malacca, areas in the Indian Ocean and the
Persian Gulf. Guangzhou became the first great harbor in China around the time
of the Tang and Song Dynasties, although it was later substituted by Quanzhou
in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) as the most important trade port.
The Naval
Expedition to the West by Zheng He in the early part of the Ming Dynasty
demonstrated the great importance of the Silk Road and was to represent the
peak of its popularity. The governments of the Ming and Qing Dynasties issued a
ban on maritime trade, contributing to massive decline in its use. As the Opium
War broke out in 1840, the Silk Road on the Sea totally disappeared.
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21st Century Maritime Silk Road under Belt and Road
Aerial
photo taken on Sept. 1, 2019 shows the panoramic view of Male, capital of
Maldives. The 2-km-long China-Maldives Friendship Bridge is an iconic project
of the Maldives and China in co-building the 21st Century Maritime Silk
Road.(Xinhua/Wang Mingliang)
In order to revive
the ancient Maritime Silk Road and bring more benefits to the relevant
countries and peoples, the initiative that China and countries along the
ancient Maritime Silk Road would build together a new Maritime Silk Road of the
21st Century was proposed by China.
Such an initiative
draws inspiration both from history and from latest developments in the 21st
century. The aim is to inject strong impetus in enhancing political mutual
trust, deepening economic cooperation, and promoting cultural as well as
people-to-people exchanges among relevant countries through joint cooperation,
common development and regional integration. All countries along the Maritime
Silk Road are welcome to plan, develop and benefit together from the
initiative.
Since the
initiative was first raised, many countries have actively supported and engaged
themselves in the development of the or
the Silk Road Economic Belt (the "Belt and Road" for short) 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 countries
along the "Belt and Road".
The MOU specifies
that the authorized capital of AIIB is 100 billion U.S. dollars and the initial
subscribed capital is expected to be around 50 billion dollars. The paid-in
ratio will be 20 percent.
The 21 countries
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.
At the APEC Summit
2014 held in Beijing in November, 2014, China announced to contribute US$40
billion to set up a Silk Road Fund to provide investment and financial support
to carry out infrastructure, resources, industrial and financial cooperation
and other projects related to connectivity for countries along the "Belt
and Road".
With more support
from other countries and wider coverage across the region, the
About
Xinhua Silk Road
Xinhua Silk Road
(en.imsilkroad.com) is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) portal.China's silk
road economic belt and the 21st century maritime silk road website, includes
BRI Policy, BRI Trade,BRI Investment,Belt and Road weekly,Know Belt and
Road,and the integrated information services for the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI).
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