The ancient tea-horse road has profound historical and cultural connotations and is a historical witness of long-term friendship and mutual assistance between China and Tibet.
The tea-horse trade on the ancient tea-horse road began in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming Dynasty and declined in the Qing Dynasty.
For thousands of years, the ancient tea-horse road has promoted the blending and development of national politics, economy, culture and religion along the way, and played an inestimable historical role in the spread and promotion of Chinese civilization.
Key words: ancient tea-horse road; Mode; cause
First, the meaning of the ancient tea-horse road
Tea-horse Ancient Road, also known as "Tea-horse Mutual Market" and "Tea-horse Mutual Market", is a trade exchange between China and Tibet in ancient times.
The ancient tea-horse road has profound historical and cultural connotations, which can be divided into broad sense and narrow sense.
"The narrow tea-horse ancient road refers to the traditional tea-producing areas such as Yunnan and Sichuan, which originated today. In the traditional tea trade, caravans and other carriers are used to transport tea to Tibetan areas and other traditional tea markets in exchange for furs and other products in Tibetan areas.
Its scope includes not only Yunnan, Sichuan and * * * provinces, but also Qinghai and Gansu provinces.
The tea-horse ancient road in a broad sense is a traditional transportation route centering on Yunnan and Sichuan, connecting Yunnan, Sichuan, * *, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other provinces in southwest China, as well as neighboring provinces and cities such as Gansu, Shaanxi and Ningxia, and countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia such as Myanmar, India and Laos.
In terms of geographical scope, it not only covers the historical "Poisoned Road of Shu", "Cattle Road", "Cold Road Becomes Mulberry", "Yongchang Road" and "Tibetan and Yi Corridor", but also includes some contents of the "Southwest Silk Road" and "Grassland Silk Road" proposed by predecessors. "①
Second, the causes of the ancient tea-horse road and its trade model
(A), the premise of the formation of the ancient tea-horse road
The formation of tea-horse trade is not accidental. It has two preconditions: "First, the change of the route of Buddhism.
The rise of * * * religion in Central Asia made Buddhism spread to China from the southwest, which was the spiritual pillar for the continuation of the ancient tea-horse road. The second is the transportation of salt industry. The ancient salt industry created the material foundation of the ancient tea-horse road, and then tea entered Tibetan areas in the Tang Dynasty.
* * * The huge demand for tea has laid a solid foundation for the history of tea-horse trade stretching for thousands of years. "②
(B), the causes of the ancient tea-horse road
Kangzang area belongs to the alpine zone, with an altitude of more than three or four kilometers.
In this extremely cold living environment, the diet of * * * is mainly food containing a lot of calories.
These high-calorie foods are difficult to digest because of the lack of vegetables in * * *.
After tea was introduced into * * *, people found that drinking tea can not only promote the digestion of these high-calorie foods, but also prevent dryness and heat. Over time, tea has become an indispensable commodity, but tea is not produced in Tibetan areas.
In the mainland, you need to exchange the horses you need in the mainland for the tea you need.
Tea drinking was popular in the late Tang Dynasty, and it was introduced into the upper class.
"The early Tang emperor believed in Buddhism, which led to the prosperity of Zen.
With the close relationship between Tubo and Tang Dynasty, Zen monks also entered Tibet to spread Buddhism, which will naturally affect the lifestyle and eating habits of Tubo monks.
And "a monk who meditates can drink tea without rest or eating at night."
It is a custom for people to cook and drink everywhere behind their backs and then imitate each other. "
As a result, the three levels of princes, nobles, civilians and monks in Tubo society are inseparable from the situation of tea, and even love tea like life. If there is no tea for a day, society will not want it. "③
Since the Tang Dynasty, all dynasties have been faced with military pressure from frontier ethnic minorities. Faced with the threat of the neighboring ethnic minority regimes, the Central Plains regime organized a large number of cavalry, which required a large number of war horses.
The northern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in horses, which are excellent in variety, strong and fat, and adapt to the plateau climate environment, which can be described as a war product.
Therefore, the Central Plains regime exchanged silk and tea for horses needed by ethnic minority regimes.
Because of the constant war between the Central Plains regime and the ethnic minority regimes, the war requires a lot of military expenditure, which has caused the country's financial tension. With the continuous development of tea-horse trade, the collection of tea tax has become one of the important sources of national fiscal revenue.
At the same time, the court realized that controlling tea could restrict the surrounding ethnic minorities.
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(3) Ancient tea-horse exchange.
Tea-horse trade can be roughly divided into official trade, tribute trade and private tea trade.
(1), official trade
Officials and businessmen are a trade form of tea-horse trade dominated by * * *.
In Song Dynasty, * * * set up the Tea and Horse Department trade of "recruiting Tibetan merchants and putting away horses" at the border.
It was established in Asia during the Song Dynasty.
After the establishment of Tea and Horse Department, the purchase of tea horses was managed in a unified way and specific implementation measures were formulated, which effectively promoted the development of tea horse trade.
In the Song Dynasty, * * obtained a large number of horses from Gansu, Qinghai and * * * Naqu through tea-horse exchange. Some of these horses were used by the army, while others were planted in fertile fields to meet the needs of the military and civilians in the imperial court.
Another form of trade is horse matching system, which is a system of collecting horse tax from Tibetan areas and matching tea.
Horse delivery system is a unique system of tea-horse trade in Ming Dynasty.
(2) Tribute trade
Tribute trade is a way for Tibetan leaders to pay tribute to the central dynasty in order to obtain tea, silk and more precious gifts.
Tribute trade is linked by economy, which is a way for the central dynasty to effectively manage Tibetan areas.
In feudal society, the central government often adopted the policy of paying tribute from the thick to the thin, and gave economic benefits in exchange for the submission of senior officials to the feudal central dynasty.
The policy of doing more than one thing is better than doing less has attracted a large number of high-level officials to pay tribute to the central government.
"BaSi Luo and the Northern Song Dynasty * * * conducted a large-scale tea-horse trade in the name of tribute and gift.
(3) Private tea trade
Private tea trade is a kind of private tea-horse trade.
Private tea trade is a direct trade between Tibetan businessmen and mainland businessmen. The two sides exchange the needed goods, and the Tibetan merchants take advantage of the scissors difference in commodity trade to make profits.
Private tea trade has been banned since the Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, * * * set up a special organization to manage tea trading, and formulated relevant laws prohibiting private tea trading, which monopolized tea trading, but due to huge economic benefits, private tea trading was quite prosperous. ""Although the Ming Dynasty enacted strict laws to prohibit the private tea trade, the private tea trade in the Ming Dynasty has been relatively prosperous, especially after the abolition of the poor horse system in the later period, the private tea trade has mushroomed.
As the saying goes, "tea and horses are mutually beneficial, and everyone is eager." The more bans, the more smuggling. "
Third, the significance of the ancient tea-horse road.
The ancient tea-horse road is a famous ancient road in the history of China, and it is a witness to the friendly exchanges between the two ethnic groups in China.
For thousands of years, the ancient tea-horse road has made indelible contributions to the development of Sino-Tibetan economy, the spread of civilized culture and Buddhism, the consolidation of national defense and the promotion of national unity.
(1) Promote economic development
The ancient tea-horse road made the tea in this area famous at home and abroad.
The ancient tea-horse road promoted the rapid development of tea economy.
Famous green tea in Sichuan, Yunnan and other traditional tea-producing areas has been greatly developed, and Pu 'er tea in Simao, Yunnan is all the rage.
At the same time, the ancient tea-horse road is helpful to promote the export of tea, and the famous tea in southwest China is exported to South Korea, Russia and European countries in the name of the ancient tea-horse road.
The ancient tea-horse road changed the backward economic development mode and promoted the rapid development of the tertiary industry, thus fundamentally changing the relatively backward closed state of Tibetan economy and gradually changing the situation of blood transfusion economy.
(2) promoting national unity
The ancient tea-horse road witnessed the friendly exchanges between the two ethnic groups in China. For thousands of years, the two nations have not only realized their respective needs, but also promoted national unity. Through the ancient tea-horse road, the Han people established a profound friendship with the southwest ethnic minorities and promoted the development of the Chinese nation.
Through the long-term exchanges between various ethnic groups, Han residents have continuously entered the * * area to live with the Tibetan people. The two ethnic groups, Han and Tibetan, live in harmony, produce together and live together, which not only promotes the progress of the local society, but also promotes national unity.
The ancient tea-horse road is a huge net, which closely unites the southwest ethnic minorities and the Han nationality.
It has greatly promoted national unity and political, economic and cultural interaction, development and integration among ethnic groups.
The ancient tea-horse road has made indelible contributions to promoting national unity.
Precautions:
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4 Chen Guangguo. Tibetan history in Qinghai [M], Qinghai Nationalities Publishing House, 1997, p. 172.
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