PACKAGE LEAFLET

Economic prosperity and travel are closely related in Chinese history. Economic prosperity creates opportunities for exchange with other nations for the purposes of trade and diplomatic contacts, which in turn creates a curiosity towards the outer world and the need for travel. Figure 2.3 has demonstrated this relationship between economic prosperity, social stability and travel development throughout the Chinese history. Table 2.1 is a brief summary of major dynasties in Chinese history. There is no doubt, according to FitzGerald (1969), that Chinese knowledge of the outer world increased enormously in the period from the first century BC to the early seventh century AD. It would seem that the Tang educated elite knew more about the Western world than their successors in the Qing Dynasty of the early nineteenth century.

The Tang Dynasty is regarded as the most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history (Nourse, 1944). It is also the longest dynasty (almost 300 years). Emperor T’ai Tsung of Tang set an example of living simply and not oppressing his people. His economic policy of not overtaxing the people produced economic growth and increased the wealth of peasants (Haw, 1995; Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958; Nourse, 1944). When the Tang Empire was in its full glory, China became the most powerful,

and the most economically and culturally developed empire in the world. It became the centre of economic and cultural intercourse for all Asian peoples, with the capital Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) rising as a cosmopolitan city (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958). During this period, many Chinese traveled overseas and many foreign travelers came to China.

Figure 2.3 The Key Development of Travel and Tourism in The Chinese History By

Table 2.1 Major Dynasties in Chinese History (Fessler, 1963:29) Shang

c.1700-1100 BC

An agricultural society, it flourished in the Yellow River valley, had a highly developed writing system, and used wheeled chariots in warfare.

Zhou c.1100-256 BC

Its kings extended China’s power to the Yangtze valley. Confucious and other sages flourished in the dynasty’s declining years.

Qin 221-206BC

A short-lived but dynamic dynasty, it rapidly succeeded in bringing all of eastern China under its domination.

Han 202BC-AD220

Vigorous and expansionist, this dynasty vastly expanded China’s borders and received tribute from kingdoms throughout Asia. So successful was the dynasty that to this day Chinese refer to themselves as “the sons of Han”

Sui 590-618 The Sui emperors recovered the territory lost after the fall of the Han and built a great transport network with millions of labourers.

Tang Dynasty 618-906 AD

In its early years, this dynasty expanded deep into Asia. Later less militaristic, it experienced a great cultural flowering.

Song Dynasty 960 - 1279

Its emperors reunified the country after a period of disunity. Fine porcelains and landscape paintings were produced.

Yuan Dynasty 1279 - 1368

The Mongols controlled China from Peking. The most famous of the Yuan emperors was Kublai Khan.

Ming Dynasty

1368 - 1644 Chinese culture flowered again under this native dynasty. Great fleets went abroad to obtain tribute and trade.

Qing Dynasty

1694 - 1911 Invaders from the north, the Manchus brought China again under alien rule. For 150 years they expanded and strengthened the empire only to topple before foreign encroachment.

By the seventh century AD, Chang’an was probably the largest city in the world with the exception of Constantinople and was the most advanced in technology, arts and culture. Chang’an, for example, boasted a population of nearly two million inhabitants, and its walls enclosed an area of thirty square miles. It had a large state academy, where Chinese students studied together with foreign students of different backgrounds. Foreign visitors to the cosmopolitan city enjoyed the same political rights as the local Chinese. Their customs and habits and religious beliefs were respected. Among the visitors, some were scientists and artists who introduced music and dance to China (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958). Foreign visitors played an important role in the propagation of Tang culture to the outer world.

The Japanese eagerly copied and learnt the arts of advanced civilisation from their great Tang neighbour. Eighteen groups of Japanese envoys were sent to China during that time. The advanced Tang culture continues to exert great influence in Japan today and many of the Tang customs and music are still preserved there (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958; Minami, 1994). The Japanese cities of Nara and Heian-kyo (Kyoto) were designed according to Tang’s Chang’an, and even today Kyoto retains some of the street names copied from Chang’an. As a natural part of their culture, Chinese monks (and Korean monks as well) brought Buddhism to Japan around the same time.

Commercial activities in Chang’an also reached a high level. The famous Tang scroll painting of “Life Along the River on the Eve of the Qing Ming Festival” is evidence of commercial development in Chang’an. Foreign merchants from the Western Regions, Central Asia, Persia and Arabia traveled to China to trade. Some came and went, but others settled. Some were prosperous merchants who traded in silks and jewels. Some were moneylenders. Others ran small shops, selling home-preserved fruit-wine and home-baked cakes (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958).

Chang’an was also probably the largest commercial centre in the old world and was a collection and distribution centre for silk and other merchandise. The famous Silk Road started at Chang’an. Merchants from abroad bundled up raw silk and bolts of satin wrapped in varnished sackcloth or animal skin before carrying them west. Then streams of caravans loaded with goods began to negotiate the Shaanxi-Gansu Plateau, passing Wushao Ridge, Wuwei in Gansu and crossing the Corridor to Dunhuang, the then communication hub between China and the West. Further west was the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Over the shimmering desert sands came the significant caravans of East silks, spices and ornaments of priceless jade. The Silk Road linked China with central and western Asia, and with the Greek and Roman civilisations. (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958)

During the Tang and Song periods, foreign traders from the outer world contributed greatly to China’s economic prosperity. China traded with nearby Japan and Korea, and with the distant lands of eastern Asia, India, and southeast Asia. No doubt, overseas trade played a very important role in Chinese economic development. Many Arabs stayed in China for long periods, with large colonies in the southern ports along with communities of Jews. The apparent monopoly of long-distance overseas travel made these foreign traders a crucial part of the Chinese economy in the Tang and Song periods. They played in China the economic role that Europeans were later to assume.

The economic prosperity of the Tang and Song Dynasties gave rise to great interest in Europe. According to Nourse (1944), curiosity about China, “from whence for centuries had come the mysterious silk, could no longer be restrained. Not only did the traders talk of China, but at the courts of Italian cities this great empire of Cathay, as they called it, which lay far to the east of them, was discussed.” They decided to appoint envoys to go to the court of China to carry official greetings to Cathay’s monarch. These envoys made the long journey along the “silken way” which led across the deserts of Turkestan around the western extremity of the Great Wall to the city of Sian.

The Chinese were also very advanced in technology. The Chinese were the first to develop knowledge of gunpowder and an early form of the cannon in the twelfth century. This advanced knowledge and skill helped many Chinese engineers and technicians find employment around the world. As they traveled, their knowledge and skills traveled with them to other parts of the world. For example, their skills were used by the Mongols to besiege cities in Persia and elsewhere in western Asia. It seems very probable that knowledge of gunpowder and artillery reached Europe as a result of the employment of Chinese gunners in western Asia. (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958)