01: I've gotta Han it to you...
01: I've gotta Han it to you...
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The Han dynasty encouraged innovation
The Han dynasty encouraged innovation
During the Han dynasty, the Chinese government encouraged society to focus on Confucian ideas. From this renewed focus and attention, new inventions were developed. In addition, increased trade allowed other countries to learn about the rich culture of China.
02: Farming and Manufacturing
02: Farming and Manufacturing
Advances in manufacturing
Advances in manufacturing
A variety of advances occurred during the Han dynasty. As a result, productivity increased and the empire prospered. These changes allowed China to make contact with people of other cultures.
Through the Han period, the Chinese had become master ironworkers. They manufactured iron swords and armor that made the army more powerful.
Farmers benefit, as well
Farmers benefit, as well
Farmers also gained from advances in iron. The iron plow and the wheelbarrow, a single-wheeled cart, increased farm output. The wheelbarrow allowed a farmer to lift more than 300 pounds all by himself. With an iron plow, he could till more land and raise more food.
03: Silky smooth
03: Silky smooth
Silk was a game-changer
Silk was a game-changer
Another item that increased in production during the Han dynasty was silk. Silk was a soft, light, highly valued fabric. For centuries, Chinese women had known the complicated methods needed to raise silkworms, unwind the silk threads of their cocoons, and then prepare the threads for dyeing and weaving.
The Chinese were determined to keep their procedure for making silk a secret. Revealing these secrets was punishable by death. During the Han dynasty, furthering the innovations of the time, weavers used foot-powered looms to weave silk threads into beautiful fabric. Garments made from silk were very expensive.
04: Trade Routes
04: Trade Routes
They've got the goods
They've got the goods
Chinese goods, especially silk and fine pottery, were highly valued by people in other lands. During the Han dynasty, the value of these goods to people outside of China helped increase trade.
Expansion of Trade
Expansion of Trade
Due to the Han armies conquering lands deep in Central Asia, trade increased throughout the empire. Leaders in these regions told Han generals that people who lived even farther west wanted silk.
At this same point in history, the Emperor of the Han wanted strong, sturdy Central Asian horses for his army. Chinese leaders saw that they could make a profit by bringing silk to Central Asia and trading the cloth for the horses.
This also allowed the people of Central Asia to take the silk further west and trade it for other products they wanted.
The Silk Road
The Silk Road
Traders used a series of land routes to take Chinese goods to buyers in far away lands. The most famous trade route was known as the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was a 4,000-mile-long network of routes that stretched westward from China across Asia's deserts and mountain ranges, through the Middle East, until it reached the Mediterranean Sea.
05: On the road again
05: On the road again
If YOU were there...
If YOU were there...
You are a trader traveling along the Silk Road to China. This is your first journey, but you have heard many stories about the country. You know the trip will be hard, through mountains and deserts and terrible weather. While you expect to make a good profit from silk, you also are curious about China and its people.
What do you expect to find in China?
What do you expect to find in China?
06: The Silk Road, from West to East
06: The Silk Road, from West to East
The map includes the full expanse of the Silk Road, from West to East. Additional trade routes including the Spice "Road" also are present to show the trade routes once sea travel became more reliable and ports became the new trading hubs of later ancient times.
The map includes the full expanse of the Silk Road, from West to East. Additional trade routes including the Spice "Road" also are present to show the trade routes once sea travel became more reliable and ports became the new trading hubs of later ancient times.
07: Trade ya...
07: Trade ya...
Total Trip Time: approx. 40 days
Total Trip Time: approx. 40 days
Walking for 24 hours would bring you from Antioch to Ctesiphon (or vice versa) in 8 days, 4 hours. This does not include time for sleep or rest, nor does it include time for any difficulties along the way (animal issues, wildlife concerns, weather, etc.). If we double this time to include the rest, a one-way trip would take 16 days, 8 hours.
Once at a new trading location, traders would stay to conduct their business and resupply before venturing back home. Presuming that one would take advantage of his/her time in a new city that took over two weeks to reach, traders would spend at least one week in the new trading location before returning back home with money and goods. At this point, another 16 days, 8 hours would get you back home.
Total Trip Time: approx. 82 days
Total Trip Time: approx. 82 days
Walking for 24 hours would bring you from Dunhuang to Kashgar (or vice versa) in 16 days, 19 hours. This does not include time for sleep or rest, time for resupplying in Kucha, nor does it include time for any difficulties along the way (bandits/thieves, sandstorms, animal issues, weather, etc.). If we double this time to include the rest, a one-way trip would take 33 days, 14 hours.
Once at a new trading location, traders would stay to conduct their business and resupply before venturing back home. Presuming that one would take advantage of his/her time in a new city that took over two weeks to reach, traders would spend at least two (2) weeks in the new trading location before returning back home with money and goods. At this point, another 33 days, 14 hours would get you back home.
Total Trip Time: approx. 43 days
Total Trip Time: approx. 43 days
Walking for 24 hours would bring you from Dunhuang to Kucha (or vice versa) in 6 days, 8 hours. This does not include time for sleep or rest, nor does it include time for any difficulties along the way (bandits/thieves, sandstorms, animal issues, weather, etc.). If we double this time to include the rest, a one-way trip would take 12 days, 16 hours.
Once at a new trading location, traders would stay to conduct their business and resupply before venturing back home. Presuming that one would take advantage of his/her time in a new city that took over two weeks to reach, traders would spend at least one week in the new trading location before returning back home with money and goods. At this point, another 12 days, 16 hours would get you back home.
Total Trip Time: approx. 30 days
Total Trip Time: approx. 30 days
Walking for 24 hours would bring you from Kucha to Kashgar (or vice versa) in 10 days, 18 hours. This does not include time for sleep or rest, nor does it include time for any difficulties along the way (bandits/thieves, sandstorms, animal issues, weather, etc.). If we double this time to include the rest, a one-way trip would take 11 days, 12 hours.
Once at a new trading location, traders would stay to conduct their business and resupply before venturing back home. Presuming that one would take advantage of his/her time in a new city that took almost two weeks to reach, traders would spend at least one week in the new trading location before returning back home with money and goods. At this point, another 11 days, 12 hours would get you back home.
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