What is the best time to visit the Southwest Silk Road?

The best time to travel along the Southwest Silk Road: pleasant climate all year round

When it comes to the Silk Road, people will think of the Gobi desert outside the Great Wall, where business travelers travel under the moonlight and stars, accompanied by A monotonous camel trek. Perhaps you still don’t know that long before the world-famous Northwest Silk Road was opened, there was already another private business road quietly carrying out economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. This is the Southwest Silk Road we are going to show you.

Southwestern Silk Road

The Southwest Silk Road consists of three major trunk lines in China, with a total length of more than 2,000 kilometers. One starts from Chengdu, Sichuan, and passes through Yibin, Zhaotong, Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong, Nanhua, and Yunnanyi to Dali; the other starts from the south of Chengdu and passes through Qionglai, Ya'an, Lingguan, Xichang, and Yao'an to Dali. It is also called Lingguan Road; thirdly, after the two above-mentioned roads converge, they go westward and leave Myanmar through Yangbi, Yongping, Baoshan and Tengchong. The section from Baoshan to Myanmar is called Yongchang Road. Chengdu is the starting point of the Southwest Silk Road, and Tengchong is the last stop of the Southwest Silk Road. After the Yuan Dynasty unified Yunnan, 78 post stations were established in the province. Among them, the route from Zhongqing (today's Kunming) to Dali passed through Lufeng, Ludian, Weichu, Shaque, Pupeng and Baishanshi stations. With the passage of time, The changes include names such as Tang, Pu, Shao, Guan, and Post.

This ancient road is a rare cultural heritage. Some of the stations have been listed as historical and cultural protection units. However, there is a lack of unified planning and protection for the entire route. It is recommended that the Southern Silk Road be listed as a cultural heritage, and the existing The road section was surveyed, protected by overall planning, and developed for tourism. The Hengduan Mountains, composed of a series of north-south alpine valleys, have a unique geographical structure, forming a colorful natural landscape, which contains a large number of precious and rare animals and plants. Since prehistoric times, this place has been a good passage for various ethnic groups in China to migrate back and forth. It is still inhabited by more than ten ethnic minorities, including Qiang, Yi, Tibetan, Hui, Bai, Dai, Lisu, Pumi, Achang, De'ang and Jingpo. The Southwest Silk Road, developed on the basis of this ancient ethnic corridor, starts from the fertile Chengdu Plain, passes through Yunnan, enters Myanmar and then India, and then reaches as far away as Central Asia and Europe. There are land Silk Road in the northwest, maritime Silk Road in the south and land Silk Road in the southwest. The Silk Road in the southwest developed earliest and was opened in the fourth century BC. This Silk Road was called "Shu Shendu Road" in the Han Dynasty. Shu is Sichuan, and Shendu is the ancient name of India. It refers to the trade route that starts from Sichuan and passes through Yunnan and Myanmar to India. The relics of the "Ancient Southwest Silk Road" in western Yunnan are mainly located in Shuizhai and Guanpo of Baoshan City and Bonan Mountain on the level of Dali Prefecture.

Relics of the Southwest Silk Road

In the summer of 1986, a large number of exquisite bronzes and artifacts from the warm seas of Myanmar and India were discovered at the Sanxingdui Cultural Site in Guanghan, not far from the northern suburbs of Chengdu. The tooth shells strongly prove the extremely high level of ancient Shu culture and that they had already had contacts with coastal areas as early as three thousand years ago.

Among the three Silk Roads in China (the Silk Road in the northwest, the Maritime Silk Road in the south and the Silk Road in the southwest), the Silk Road in the southwest developed earliest, in 4 BC It has been opened since the century. This Silk Road was called the Shu Shendu Road in the Han Dynasty. Shu is Sichuan and Shendu is the ancient name of India. It refers to the trade route starting from Sichuan and passing through Yunnan and Myanmar to India. This route is often called the Ancient Southwest Silk Road in Western Yunnan. Its relics are mainly located in Shuizhai and Guanpo of Baoshan City and Bonan Mountain on the level of Dali Prefecture.

The ancient Southwest Silk Road was formed in the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, more than 200 years earlier than the formation of the Northwest Silk Road in my country. Like the Northwest Silk Road, it once made great contributions to world civilization. According to historical records, in 122 BC, Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions (today's Afghanistan, Iran and other places). He saw Sichuan Shu cloth and Qiong bamboo sticks imported from India, and learned that Sichuan merchants had already traveled from Yunnan to India via Myanmar to engage in business. trade activities. Zhang Qian returned to the court and reported what he saw and heard to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who had great talent and great achievements, was very surprised after hearing this. He was determined to open up the official road from the southwest to India at all costs, let the official participate in commercial trade and expand the territory. Emperor Wu immediately named Zhang Qian the Marquis of Bowang, and ordered him to use Shu County (where the government is located in Chengdu) and Yuwei County (the government is located in the southwest of Yibin) as strongholds. He sent four secret envoys to separately explore the road to India, but they were all met with obstacles. The attempts by ethnic minorities in the southwest were unsuccessful. Emperor Wu also recruited soldiers from the interior and raised troops to attack the Southwest Yi, Yelang, Dian and other countries and many tribes.

However, due to the deep ethnic estrangement caused by the feudal rulers, and the desperate resistance of the chiefs of the Kunming, Jun and other ethnic groups in order to monopolize the lucrative transit trade, after more than ten years, only the road from Chengdu to the Erhai area was opened. The official The envoys could not go beyond the area from Dali to Baoshan, and could only trade indirectly with Indian merchants through various tribes as intermediaries. In the twelfth year of Emperor Yongping of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 69), the Ailao people invaded, and the Eastern Han Dynasty began to connect with the Bonan Mountains and cross the Lancang River. The Yunnan-Myanmar Passage was finally opened, and there was an economic and cultural relationship with the Shan people in Myanmar. came and went, and then entered India through Burma. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty worked hard to connect Shu, and the national highway was open to all directions.

Culture

The Sichuan-Yunnan section of the ancient Southwest Silk Road has two routes: one takes the ancient yak road (Lingguan Road), starting from Chengdu and passing through Shuangliu, Xinjin, and Lai , Mingshan, Ya'an, Rongjing, Hanyuan (narrow capital), Yuexi, Xide, Mianning, Xichang. After arriving at Huili, turn southwest, pass Panzhihua, cross the Jinsha River to Dayao, Yunnan, and finally reach Dali . The other route starts from Chengdu, passes through Pengshan, goes down the Minjiang River, passes through Leshan and Yibin, then goes south along the Wuchi Road dug in the Qin Dynasty, passes through Gaoxian and Junlian, turns westward into the Hengjiang River Valley, passes through Douchuan, Daguan, Zhaotong, Qujing, Kunming, and finally Dali. After the two roads meet in Dali, they pass through Baoshan, Tengchong and Yingjiang to reach Bhamo in Myanmar. Starting from Bhamo, there are two roads to India by land and water. From India, Central Asia and Europe can be connected. Through the ancient Southwest Silk Road, Chinese silk, Shu cloth, bamboo sticks, handicrafts, ironware, etc. were continuously exported, and foreign colored glaze, gems, jade, pearls, etc. were imported. In the Tang Dynasty, this silk road became more prosperous and enduring. It is the earliest link between the two ancient civilizations of China and India, and has made important contributions to social, economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. But later, due to the discovery and opening up of new roads, this ancient road gradually became less crowded.

The stars have changed, the sun and the moon have alternated. Most of the ancient Southwest Silk Road has been submerged in the wind and rain of time, but some dangerous passes, mules and horses’ hoofprints, and poems and inscriptions are still preserved today. Leave a deep historical imprint. The most typical examples include the Lanjin Ancient Ferry in Baoshan, Jihongqiao ruins and nearby cliff poems, words and inscriptions. Road sections such as Shuizhai and Guanzhuang in Baoshan were all built using artificial rock drilling and are still well preserved. The Shuizhai section is about 10 kilometers long from the Lancang River to Changwan. It originally had Pingpopu, Shandapu, Shuizhaipu and other postal stations. The remaining small street in Pingpopu is 3 meters wide and 50 meters long. There are street gates and other ruins at both ends. From Luoyang Mountain in the west of Pingpo to Shuizhai, the three to four kilometers long section of the mountainside with a large stone ridge was dug out of the cliff. The path is winding and steep, with more than 500 steps like a ladder to the sky. It was called Tiyun Road in history. There are still numerous hoof prints made by mules and horses on the stone steps, the deepest ones reaching 13 centimeters, which shows how difficult it was to climb this stretch of road back then! ?

Historical records

1._Tao (1) The name of the ancient road. A road built by rulers during the Warring States, Qin and Han dynasties leading to places where the Han people gathered. Li Bing of the Qin State guarded the time for Shu (about 256 BC to 251 BC) and built a road along the Minjiang River to the center of the Yibin people's settlement, which is now Yibin City, opening a road between Shu and Yibin. Tao, known as Tao in history. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he sent General Chang? to connect Li Bing's road. It extended from the center of the country, which is now Yibin City, to the southwest, and built it directly to Qujing, Yunnan, with a total length of more than 2,000 miles. Because the road was built in the area where the _ people gathered, it was called _ Road; and because the road was five feet wide, it was called Wuchi Road in history. It was abandoned at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty. It was restored during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and was named Nanyi Road. (2) The name of the ancient county was placed in the Han Dynasty (the other is placed in the Qin Dynasty) (see _Dao County Article).

The name of the ancient road Wuchidao. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, in order to strengthen the connection between the Central Plains and the Southwest, an important road was built from the Sichuan Basin to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau based on the Li Bing Road. "Historical Records of the Southwest Yi Biography" records: The Qin Dynasty often had a brief introduction to the five-foot road, and the country had many officials. Because the road was five feet wide, it was called Wuchi Road in history; because the road was built where the Han people lived together, it was also called Wu Chi Road. The road starts from Yibin City in the north and ends in Qujing, Yunnan Province in the south, with a total length of more than 2,000 miles. "Kuo Di Zhi Jian Xiao" says: "Wuchi Road leads to Langzhou." It is the predecessor of the Nanyi Road in the Western Han Dynasty and the Shimen Road in the Tang and Song Dynasties, which is now the east road of the Southwest Silk Road.

The name of the ancient road of Shimen Road. It was an important road from the Sichuan Basin to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It was built over generations on the basis of the Five Feet Road opened by Qin Dynasty. It starts from present-day Yibin City, Sichuan Province, passes through Shimen Mountain in Gao County, Yibin, Sichuan Province, and reaches Kunming, Dali and other places in Yunnan Province in the south.

Most of the transportation between Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao passed through this road, which is now called the Southwest Silk Road.

2. According to historical records during the Warring States Period, due to the expansion of the Qin State, the ancient Qiang tribes were forced to follow the Hengduan Mountains southward and became the main ancestors of many ethnic groups such as Tibetan, Lisu, and Pumi and their branches. civil. The Five-foot Road opened by Chang An, the general of the Qin State, from Jia Road to the south was the development of the Southwest Silk Road managed by the central government. At the end of the 4th century BC, the remnants of the Shu Kingdom, which was destroyed by the Qin Kingdom, fled south along the ancient road and established the Wenlang Kingdom in what is now northern Vietnam, bringing the brilliant Bashu culture to the southwest. Glazed beads introduced from West Asia during this period were also found in ancient tombs in Sichuan and Yunnan.

In the 2nd century BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, on an envoy to the Western Regions. When he finally arrived in Afghanistan after going through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, he was surprised to find Sichuan specialty Shu cloth and Qiong bamboo sticks sold by merchants through India. Obviously, unknown pioneers have already opened the way for China to connect South Asia and West Asia. After that, the Han Dynasty made every effort to develop the southwest, established officials and built governance in various places, and built post roads, allowing the Han people with the civilization of the Central Plains to reach the border of Yunnan and Myanmar. Kong Ming's southern expedition during the Shu Han period further strengthened the flesh-and-blood ties between the various fraternal ethnic groups.

From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, wars broke out frequently on the ancient roads, and the south of the Dadu River was under the rule of the Yunnan local governments Nanzhao and Dali for a long time. During the Tang Dynasty, the Northwest Silk Road reached its peak, and its reputation overshadowed the older Southwest Silk Road. In the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan led his army southward along the Hengduan Mountains and captured the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The Ming Dynasty was extremely successful in its management of the southwest frontier. In particular, the brave general Deng Zilong led his elite troops to the border and made great contributions to quelling the rebellion.

After the Song and Ming Dynasties, due to the boom of the Maritime Silk Road, the Southwest Silk Road gradually became silent. However, ethnic migration, commercial trade, religious dissemination and military activities along the ancient routes have never been interrupted, and they still play a role in foreign exchanges to this day. During the Second World War, the China-Burma-India Highway built along the ancient trunk lines became China's only international channel at that time and played an extremely important role in the fight against fascism.

The Southwest Silk Road starts from Sichuan and takes Wuequao Road in the southeast and Lingguan Road in the southwest. Finally, it converges in Dali, and then goes west from Dali, passing through Yangbi County and entering the Bonan Mountains. Bonan is the name of the county that has been used since the 1st century AD, and its administrative seat is in today's Yongping County. This mountain road was dug by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty around 105 BC (it was called Bonan Mountain Road at the time). The ancient road crosses the Lancang River to the west and enters the Baoshan area. Baoshan was the seat of Yongchang County and Yongchang Prefecture in ancient times, and was also the main area through which this Silk Road passed. Therefore, "Yongchang Road" is the name of this ancient road.

Through the "Ancient Southwest Silk Road", Chinese silk, Shu cloth, bamboo sticks, handicrafts, ironware, etc. were continuously exported, and foreign colored glaze, gems, jade, pearls, etc. were imported. In the Tang Dynasty, this silk road became more prosperous and enduring. But later, due to the discovery and opening up of new roads, this ancient road gradually became sparsely populated. As the stars change, the sun and the moon alternate, most of the ancient Southwest Silk Road has been submerged in the wind and rain of time, but some dangerous passes, mules and horses' hoofprints, and poetry couplets still leave deep historical marks. Road sections such as Shuizhai and Guanzhuang in Baoshan were all built using artificial rock drilling and are still well preserved. The Shuizhai section is about 10 kilometers long from the Lancang River to Changwan. It originally had Pingpopu, Shandapu, Shuizhaipu and other postal stations. The remaining small street in Pingpopu is 3 meters wide and 50 meters long. There are street gates and other ruins at both ends. From Luoyang Mountain in the west of Pingpo to Shuizhai, the three to four kilometers long section of the mountainside with a large stone ridge was dug out of the cliff. The path is winding and steep, with more than 500 steps like a ladder to the sky. It was called "Tiyun Road" in history. There are still numerous hoof prints of mules and horses on the stone steps, the deepest ones reaching 13 centimeters.

Introduction to the ancient Southwest Silk Road relics and attractions

The Southwest Silk Road was called Shu Shen Du Road in the Western Han Dynasty. It started from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province and ended in what is now India. Its route is composed of Lingguan Road, Wuchi Road and Yongchang Road.

Lingguan Road: Chengdu (ancient capital of Shu) Qionglai (ancient Linqiong) Ya'an (ancient Qingyi) Yingjing (ancient Yandao) Hanyuan (ancient narrow capital) Xichang (ancient Qiong capital) Yunnan University Yao (ancient Qingling) Dali (ancient Yeyu).

Five-foot Road: Chengdu Yibin (ancient road) Yunnan Zhaotong (ancient Zhuti) Guizhou Weining (ancient Yelang Kingdom) Yunnan Qujing (ancient Wei County) Kunming (ancient Dianchi Lake) Chuxiong Dali.

Yongchang Road: Dali Yongping (ancient Bonan) Baoshan (ancient Yongchang) Tengchong (ancient Tengyue) Myanmar and India.

There are two routes in the Sichuan-Yunnan section of the ancient Southwest Silk Road: one takes the ancient yak route (Lingguan Road), starting from Chengdu and passing through Shuangliu, Xinjin, _Lai, Mingshan, Ya'an, Rongjing, After arriving at Huili, Hanyuan (Zhaidu), Yuexi, Xide, Mianning, and Xichang, turn southwest, pass through Panzhihua, cross the Jinsha River to Dayao, Yunnan, and finally reach Dali. The other route starts from Chengdu, passes through Pengshan, goes down the Minjiang River, passes through Leshan and Yibin, then goes south along the Wuchi Road dug in the Qin Dynasty, passes through Gaoxian and Junlian, turns westward into the Hengjiang River Valley, passes through Douchuan, Daguan, Zhaotong, Qujing, Kunming, and finally Dali. After the two roads meet in Dali, they pass through Baoshan, Tengchong and Yingjiang to reach Bhamo in Myanmar. Starting from Bhamo, there are two roads to India, by land and water. From India, Central Asia and Europe can be connected. Through the ancient Southwest Silk Road, Chinese silk, Shu cloth, bamboo sticks, handicrafts, ironware, etc. were continuously exported, and foreign colored glaze, gems, jade, pearls, etc. were imported. In the Tang Dynasty, this silk road became more prosperous and enduring. It is the earliest link between the two ancient civilizations of China and India, and has made important contributions to social, economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. But later, due to the discovery and opening up of new roads, this ancient road gradually became less crowded.

The stars have changed, the sun and the moon have alternated. Most of the ancient Southwest Silk Road has been submerged in the wind and rain of time, but some dangerous passes, mules and horses’ hoofprints, and poems and inscriptions are still preserved today. Leave a deep historical imprint. The most typical examples include the Lanjin Ancient Ferry in Baoshan, Jihongqiao ruins and nearby cliff poems, words and inscriptions. Road sections such as Shuizhai and Guanzhuang in Baoshan were all built using artificial rock drilling and are still well preserved. The Shuizhai section is about 10 kilometers long from the Lancang River to Changwan. It originally had Pingpopu, Shandapu, Shuizhaipu and other postal stations. The remaining small street in Pingpopu is 3 meters wide and 50 meters long. There are street gates and other ruins at both ends. From Luoyang Mountain in the west of Pingpo to Shuizhai, the three to four kilometers long section of the mountainside with a large stone ridge was excavated on the cliff. The path is winding and steep, with more than 500 steps like a ladder to the sky. It was called Tiyun Road in history. There are still numerous hoof prints made by mules and horses on the stone steps, the deepest ones reaching 13 centimeters, which shows how difficult it was to climb this stretch of road back then!

The Ancient Southwest Silk Road and the Mystery of Religion

According to historical records and research on ancient cultural relics, people have always believed that Buddhist images originated in India along the Western Regions The Silk Road started from the hinterland of the Asian continent with thousands of miles of quicksand, and entered the Central Plains on camels, a desert boat. Xinjiang is the only place that the Silk Road in the Western Regions must pass through. Cultural relics reflecting the content of Buddhism have been unearthed. The famous one is that in 1959, two pieces of white ground and blue wax were discovered in a couple's tomb next to the Beiniya ruins in Minfeng County, Xinjiang. One piece of valerian cotton cloth has a square frame 32 cm long and 32 cm wide printed on the lower left corner. There is a half-length Bodhisattva in the frame. However, a cliff carving located in the easternmost part of mainland China, near the Yellow Sea, has made some people question the above-mentioned overconfident view. That is the Kongwang Mountain cliff carving. This statue is a Buddhist image carved in the Eastern Han Dynasty, 200 years earlier than Dunhuang! Among these images, the images related to Buddhism that can be clearly identified include the standing Buddha, the sitting Buddha, the picture of Buddha's nirvana, the picture of the Jataka story of sacrificing one's life to feed the tiger, etc. The content of Buddhism on the cliffs of Kongwang Mountain that has been silent for more than 1,800 years has been interpreted. A huge historical mystery has been left to the historical community: Since Buddhism was introduced to China through the Silk Road in the Western Regions, why was early Buddhism spread in the Kongwang Mountain area on the east coast of China, which was not accessible by this Silk Road? Woolen cloth? Why do Buddhist images fly across the Western Regions, the Hexi Corridor and the Central Plains, and first appear in the easternmost corner of the mainland?