Preface
In the mountains and rivers of southwestern China,a mysterious ancient road hovers-- horseshoe prints are embedded in the stone slabs on the edge of high mountain cliffs,turbulent rivers flow fast below the high hanging suspension bridges with iron ropes,onlythe slow movements of the caravans could be seen through the fog ...This is a channelstepped out by the horse caravans carrying goods.This is the Ancient Tea-horse Road.
Stepping on the ancient road,the horseshoe prints more than two inches deep onthe stone slabs are vivid,which have their stories to tell; Mani Stones that have wentthrough ages at the roadsides are carved with a variety of Gods and Buddhas and religiousaphorisms; Over the rivers are suspension bridges and wooden cantilever bridges built atthe cost of lives of horse caravans; in the deep mountain caves and under the steep rocks,there are always skeletons; many caves,tree caves and smoked up boulders by the road sideare recounting the legendary experiences of countless generations of horse caravans.Theold,drinking buttered tea,tell with a bleak voice the story of how tea has been transportedinto Tibet for the past thousands of years ...
The ancient road is engraved with hoof prints of the Pre-Qin period; salt and cloth ofthe Han and Tang Dynasty were carried on horses’ backs.All have made a mysteriousdestination of great beauty and an authentic road of the horse caravans.Being in southwestChina,the Tea-horse Ancient Road has been developed into a folk international trade routeand a corridor for economic and cultural exchanges among the ethnic groups of southwestChina.It has been the best tourist route with the world’s most spectacular natural sceneryand the most mysterious culture,which reserves inexhaustible cultural treasures.On March5,2013,the Tea-horse Ancient Road was listed as the 7th batch of key cultural relic sitesunder national protection by the State Council.
The Tea-horse Ancient Road originated from the tea-horse exchange trade on China’sancient southwest and northwest border,developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties,flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,and had its prime time in later periods of theWorld War II.China has three Tea-horse Ancient Roads.The first is the Shaanxi-Ganxi Teahorse Ancient Road,which is the main road people went west to exchange horses with tea;the second is the Shaanxi-Xikang-Tibet Tea-horse Ancient Road,mainly opened up by theShaanxi people; and the third is the Yunnan-Tibet Tea-horse Ancient Road which connectsSichuang,Yunnan and Tibet together and extends into the territory of Bhutan,Nepal,India,to WestAsia,West Africa Red Sea coast.
During the thousands of years of its existence,the Tea-horse Road developed its ownculture.Han people’s tea and horses of Tibetan-inhabited areas ,had gradually fused intothe ancient road in their exchange.Being soaked in sweat,blood and tears,the road isconsidered to have a life.
The Tea-Horse Road was“flourished in tea trade and born for horses ”.Horses till noware still the main means of transportation on the ancient road.The Tea Horse Road and theancient Chinese Silk Road are notjust trade channels,but also a large corridor of nationalcultural exchange with profound cultural connotations.
Since ancient times,the“ Tea-horse Ancient Road”has played a very important role as away to connect different regional cultures in the Southwest and opened up China’s foreignexchange channels.
As early as about one thousand years BC,Tibetan ancestors and various ethnic groups inthe Diqiang family have been distributed in the Yunnan-Tibet-Sichuan triangle.They cameand went through mountain valleys and accepted influence of the Yellow River civilization.Having already common cultural factors,the ancestors have shared a common culture,breaking through the limitations of the mountains and rivers.(https://www.daowen.com)
By the Tang Dynasty,the ancient Tibetan people gradually rose in the Yarlung ZangboRiver Basin,and one of its branches headed eastward,reaching the southern foothills ofthe Himalayas,western Sichuan and northwestern Yunnan.According to Tibetan literature,they had access to tea produced in Chinese mainland at that time.The tea introduced intoTibet has a special function to help digestion and relieve grease,which immediately madeit a necessity for Tibetans,who daily eat meat and drink milk.From princes and nobles toordinary people,drinking tea first became a fashion and then a hobby.Tea was widely wentafter.
One place produces tea,the other needs it,and an Tea-horse Ancient Road came intobeing,linking the two places.With the rise and spread of Chinese tea culture,this road hasbecome a veritable Tea-horse Ancient Road.
In the past,transportation of these roads,without exception,depended on horse caravansand yak gangs.The sound of bells and horseshoes are almost signs of the Tea-horse AncientRoad.There is perhaps no other business route in the world,which was full of caravansruns this way.Horse caravans’ living style,that is,long-term survival in the wild,gave theTea-Horse Road a romantic and legendary hint.For thousands of years,countless caravanshave been walking silently on this road,carrying tea and various mountain goods to andfro between Yunnan and snowy Tibet.Most of the time,the roads went straight up anddown edge of cliffs,allowing only one person to pass by sideways.During the journeythe caravans also had to cross many major rivers.One slight mistake can cause people,supplies and horses to fall into the canyons or the turbulent rivers.Because of the specialgeographical conditions in this area,shipping was a complete nightmare,and even vehiclescannot be used.Goods can only be carried by mules,horses,yaks and people.Slip ropesand suspension bridges were naturally the main tools to cross the river athwart the AncientTea-horse Road.
The exceptionally treacherous living conditions during the trip,and the thousands ofkilometers long trip that took four or five months or even more than half a year to finish hadendowed the horse caravans with the spirit of adventure.Their adventure was notjust totake life and property for a desperate bet,but one that needs extraordinary courage,tenacity,courageous spirit and excellent wisdom and intimate cooperation and a series of virtues.There was no lack of these qualities in these horse caravans.This is also what makesthe Tea-horse Ancient Road so fascinating.It is the tens of thousands of horse caravanmembers that left their families behind,living in the open,often coming and going withoutreturning for more than a year,travelling from one valley or village to another,step by step,treading out of a mountain road,and finally“flowed”into the artery of“life”of mutualcommunication between various places.The Tea-horse Road has become the link of thesouthwest and a channel of communication between China and the outside world.With thedevelopment of commodity trade,the transaction is far more than tea and mules and horses.This large-scale commodity transaction also promoted the economic and cultural exchangesalong the way.Those post stations where horse caravans gathered,collected and distributedgoods often became towns later.For example,the city of Pu’er has a long history as aunique place of origin and transit center for goods on the Tea-horse Ancient Road.
In this way,due to the needs of the masses coupled with advocacy of rulers,a largeamount of tea and mountain products were transported,thus creating the ancient road oftea and horses.The exchange of a large number of economic materials on the ancient roadinevitably brought about the corresponding spread and mutual influence of other cultures.Moreover,because that the horse caravans was a very special“carrier”marching on theancient road,it has gradually developed into a political,economic and cultural link betweenthe regions along it.
Camel bells rang,and horseshoes fell.The long ancient roads had seen thousands ofhorse caravans crossing the hazardous passes,red valleys and blue lakes.These men havemade it through summers and winters with the help of beancurd and salted tea,stepping away out to the foreign lands day by day and year by year.
The Tea-horse Ancient Road is the common wealth of mankind.It is waiting for peopleto explore its endless mysteries.