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A war led to the opening of Silk Road
Oct 24, 2007 04:34
  • JOHNNY512
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In 96AD,the Han Army fought War With Xiong Nu(the Huns) in the north of China.The Han Chinese won the war and the huns were drivern to the Middle Asia. In 350AD,the Huns arrived at Europe. This war actually led to the openning of silk road.

In search of allies against the Huns, the Hans were looking for the Yuezhi people, who left the Gansu after being forced out by the Hans. The Yuezhi is actually an Indo-European people, and they would settle somewhere in Pakistan and Afghanistan to create the Kushan Empire.

In the attempt to establish contact with Yuezhi, which succeeded by the way, the route to the West was discovered, and this led to the Silk Road. And through this road, the Parthians got rich playing in between selling Chinese silk to the Romans and selling the Hans the Persian horses in exchange.

Do you know this war? What is your view on this war?
Oct 24, 2007 06:50
#1  
  • DODGER
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My understanding has been formed from a Western point of this.
Alexander the great moved through Persia and Northern India and on through Afghanistan into eastern China before this period to open the first route.
But I am more than happy to be educated from a different perspective.
Dodger.
Nov 1, 2007 22:04
#2  
  • YVONNE
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Right, Dodger,

There are several different version about the openning of the Silk Road. It is really hard to tell which one is reliable .
Nov 7, 2007 04:00
#3  
  • ICEBLUE
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The openning of Silk Road is due to the development of the trade bvetween China and Middle Asia, not the war.
Nov 7, 2007 05:23
#4  
  • DODGER
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Iceblue,
you are correct. No one wants war, just trade and the best prices.
Dodger
Nov 9, 2007 20:57
#5  
  • ZOEY
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The Silk Road seems to have lost its significance. Just look at the present state of the Ancient towns along the Silk Road, many towns have been left into a dilapidated condition. The prosperity of the Silk Road has diminished.
Nov 10, 2007 22:55
#6  
GUEST24215 Around 00 BC then, there was no Silk Route. There was no free flow of human traffic from the West-East vice versa because the land mass in between them - ie western region of present day China, was occupied and dominated by the XiongNu Hun and the Han Chinese & those from the west were reluctant to move across this hostile region.
The XiongNu were stronger & were constantly making raids into Chinese territory to the annoyance of the Han Dynasty. Only when the 4th Emperor of Han Dynasty decided to settle this "irritation" once and for all, that he took the battles to the XiongNu and decisively defeated them and drove them out of the western region ( I believe presently Qinghai/XInJiang areas), that this landmass became peaceful and was opened to traffic flow between the east-west. Thereafter began the SIlk Route.
Of cos over the last 2000 yrs or so, transportation mode has improved so much that the Silk Route is now almost obsolete. Coupled with the weather conditions there, those ancient towns/cities have since been neglected and run-down. But in them lies great history - 1 of which involved the Parthians & the legendary Roman settlement Gangsu's LiJian.
Nov 12, 2007 22:24
#7  
  • SUNNYDREAM
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GUEST24215 ,
"Around 00 BC then, there was no Silk Route. There was no free flow of human traffic from the West-East vice versa "

Around when? Do you mean that human-trafficking started as early as the Han Dynasty? There are many stories along the Silk Road. Wang Zhaojun was married to the huns for the sake of peace in Han Dynasty. Women were taken advantage of by Warlords.
Nov 12, 2007 22:52
#8  
GUEST44103 Sunny, this is what I obtained from Wikipaedia :

Quote
After failing to strengthen their cause in the free elections held in South Korea during May 1950[15] and the refusal of South Korea to hold new elections per North Korean demands, the communist North Korean Army moved south on June 25, 1950 to attempt to reunite the Korean peninsula, which had been formally divided since 1948.
Unquote.

Cheers !
Nov 13, 2007 01:33
#9  
GUEST44103 O Dream, I have checked thru my records, The year was 12 AD on the equivalent of present day 12th Nov - Gregorian calendar ;)
I have no records of when the Silk Route actually started but it was the Han Dynasty's defeat of the XiongNu about 2000 yrs ago, that left the region open for human-traffic to pass through peacefully thereafter. So in my opinion, the author of this thread is correct that a war led to the Silk Route.
Yes, women in those days were commonly used as a tool for political negotiation. It was quite common throughout the rest of the world - incl Europe. It was the rule of those days.
See, how powerful and useful women were ;).
Nov 22, 2007 19:34
#10  
  • ICEBLUE
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Quote:
"Yes, women in those days were commonly used as a tool for political negotiation. It was quite common throughout the rest of the world - incl Europe. It was the rule of those days.
See, how powerful and useful women were"

GUEST44103,

It seems to me that your words sounds a little bit ironic. " See, how powerful and useful women were." This is your words?
From the context of your post, I am just thinking if you have some prejudices against women.
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