Road map of the Silk Road. The route has been built: why the Silk Road from China to Europe is difficult to build without Russia. Where did the Great Silk Road go?

Perhaps every inhabitant of the planet knows or at least heard about the Silk Road, imagining long caravans, rich eastern merchants and priceless silks. However, this is only a bright and memorable part of a complex and, undoubtedly, very significant path that has linked many peoples and countries for hundreds of years. This complex of roads, in addition to trade relations, also solved many problems in the field of politics, culture, and technology development.

The formation of the Silk Road, which connected the two opposite ends of the continent, dates back to the 2nd century BC. It was then that the Chinese civilization established stable trade relations with the peoples who inhabited Central Asia. Thus, the scattered network of trade routes that existed by that time, uniting neighboring countries, became an integral, grandiose transport artery that moved cargo traffic across a vast territory from the Far East of Asia to the Mediterranean.

Depending on many factors, the Great Silk Road changed, on some roads of the entire network the traffic subsided, on others it became more intense. However, the general direction of the main routes remained unchanged for centuries. The starting point of all routes can be called Northern China. From there, caravans moved in several directions:

• southwest to India and Pakistan;
• through Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to the Middle East (Iraq, Iran, Syria);
• through Kazakhstan and the south of modern Russia to the Northern Black Sea region.

From the coastal trading cities of the Black and Mediterranean Seas, goods went by ships further west to Europe.

The whole route, the length of which was more than ten thousand kilometers, did not pass from end to end, not a single caravan. There were many parking places along the route of caravans, where one could rest and stock up on necessary food and water. These strongholds were, as a rule, at a distance of one or several days' journey from each other and were accordingly equipped and fortified. They could hide from bad weather and robbers. Often, settlements and cities with inns and markets appeared on the site of such sites, developing thanks to trade. In the same place, merchants from different countries sold or exchanged their goods, passing only part of the entire Great Silk Road, and set off on the return journey.

Representatives of different nationalities, carriers of different cultures and religions met in the shopping centers that arose on the Silk Road. In addition to goods, knowledge about crafts and technologies was also transferred. The demanded goods were resources and items that were not available completely or in the required quantity from the opponents of the merchant. In addition to the obvious silk that gave its name to the transcontinental road, horses, precious metals, semi-precious stones, porcelain, tea, spices and much more were in great demand.

The huge wealth moving along the Great Silk Road encouraged various states to gain control over these flows. Many rulers at different times and throughout the Silk Road levied a toll on caravans passing through their territory, giving security in return. For the successful existence of trade routes, political and military stability was important. However, internecine struggle was constantly going on between neighboring states for control over sections of the Great Silk Road. At the same time, caravan routes were often forced to change their direction.

The entire territory of the Silk Road was conquered by one of the states three times in history. These were: the Turkic Khaganate in the 6th century, the empire of Genghis Khan in the 13th century and Tamerlane in the 14th century. After Tamerlane's campaigns against the Golden Horde at the end of the 14th century, many key trading cities in the Black Sea region and in the Caspian Sea region were destroyed. The period of decline of the Great Silk Road has begun. Land roads were replaced by sea routes, which turned out to be more efficient and profitable. In the 16th century, the Silk Road ceased to exist.

For many years, the Silk Road was not only a source of enrichment, but also a link between civilizations. Thanks to this road, entire nations migrated across the continent, the largest cities appeared, crafts developed, and religious teachings spread. The Great Silk Road had an invaluable creative impact on world history and culture.

In addition, a video sketch about Bukhara - the ancient city of the times of the Silk Road, which preserved the traditions and spirit of that time.

THE GREAT SILK ROAD ON THE MAP OF CENTRAL ASIA
(notes of an inhabitant - not a historian and not an orientalist)

V. Logachev

And yet, where was the route of the Great Silk Road? Let's try to draw this line on the map of Eurasia.
It is clear that this line will not be alone. The change of eras, the emergence of new states and peoples, wars, scientific research and geographical discoveries led to the emergence of new trade routes and the disappearance of old ones. Thick, thin, and somewhere dotted lines on our map will constantly divide and bifurcate, break off and reappear.

Looking at the maps of the GSR published in various sources, one can come to a simple conclusion: the routes, both before and now, were drawn, in general, freely, once - and we crossed the Hindu Kush, two - behind the Pamirs. In fact, some of these routes can be passed, but only in an airplane ...

We draw. We have point A. The generally accepted starting point is the ancient capital of China, Chang'an (modern Xi'an) and the final point B - let's say the ancient city of Tire on the Mediterranean coast. In a straight line - 10,000 km - a quarter of the length of the equator.
The shortest path from one point to another is a straight line, but caravans will not pass along such a route, as obstacles arise in their path. Mark them on our map - this is mountains, deserts, rivers. The fourth hurdle is, shall we say, geopolitical situation. In order to deal with it, one must at least know a little about the history of the development of the states and peoples of the Near and Middle East in the ancient and Middle Ages.

We will not look into the Internet, but we will take material from wonderful sources:
1. The monumental work of B.G. Gafurov "Tajiks"
2. The story of V.A. Obruchev "In the wilds of Central Asia",
3. Book V.I. Sarianidi "Bactria through the mists of time", and the book of the restless explorer of the Pamirs, the scientific secretary of the first Tajik-Pamir expeditions P.N. Luknitsky "Journey through the Pamirs".

The main stages of the medieval history of Central Asia:

Caravans were sometimes very large. So, for example, Ibn Fadlan, who in 921-922. as a secretary, he participated in the embassy of Caliph Muktadir to the kingdom of the Volga Bulgars, claims that the ambassador's caravan consisted of 5 thousand people and 3 thousand horses, not counting camels. Not only merchants often traveled with caravans, but also artisans, craftsmen, scientists, artists and travelers. Often the caravans were accompanied by armed detachments.
15. XIII-IX centuries - the conquest of Central Asia Tatar-Mongols. The guides of the troops of Genghis Khan were merchants from Khorezmshah. It was they who led the forward detachments of the sons of Genghis along the routes of the Great Silk Road. The troops gathered in Dzungaria and Inner Mongolia, dispersed along the Dzungarian corridor and through the Dzungarian gates broke out into the strategic expanse of the Chu-Ili valley. After the capture of Otrar (1219), Bukhara and the entire Bukhara oasis came to an end. Samarkand, Termez, Urgench…, dozens of other cities of Khorasan, Balkh and all of Maverannahr fell. As a result of robberies and fires, the cities of Central Asia turned into heaps of ruins, and their population was subjected to mass extermination. Agriculture and trade fell into disrepair.
At this time, the opening of new sea trade routes between East and West, the complex and geopolitical situation in the territory of Central Asia led to the closure of the main routes of the Great Silk Road.

16. The contradictions and enmity of Shiite Iran with its Sunni neighbors also, to some extent, influenced the closure of trade routes within Western and Central Asia.
………………………………………………………………………………………………..

We digress. It's time to draw the route.
The mountains on our map will be shown as Chinese - a series of cones along the strike of the main ridges (by the way, in most of the old Chinese maps, the top of the map is oriented to the south, not to the north). Deserts will be marked in yellow, rivers in blue.
From point A (Xian) straight to the west - the Nan Shan mountains. We go around them from the north through Xining to the city Dunhuang. Dunhuang was considered the gateway to China, here the route is divided into three parts. For convenience, let's designate them as follows: Northern (Chu-Ili), Central (Fergana) and Southern (Pamir) routes.

1. Northern route. From Dunhuang it goes northwest along the Dzhungar corridor, through Hami, Turfan, Manas before Kulji and then turns west into the valley of the Ili River.
Dzungarian valley is an accumulative desert of internal runoff with a hot, dry, sharply continental climate, bounded from the northeast by the Mongolian Altai ridge, and from the west by the Tien Shan mountains. Here is also the famous Turfan depression(150 meters below sea level).
The general global drying of Central Asia, the constant removal of material from the nearest mountains and its accumulation in the lower parts of the valley, led to the death of many ancient cities in this region. So famous Buddhist and Zoroastrian monuments disappeared under the eolian sands Khara-Khoto and Kara-Khodzhi.

From Gulja, the route line stretches along the northern spurs of the Tien Shan, along the southern coast of Issyk-Kul, to the city Balasagun. The route is very difficult and trade caravans spent up to two weeks on this segment of the journey.
From Balasagun we draw a line to the city Taraz and further to Otrar. Otrar- one of the largest cities in the Middle Ages. Logistic center, transshipment base. Here the line forks - one goes to Samarkand and Bukhara, the second stretches northwest along the Syrdarya to Yanykent on the Aral.
From Bukhara, one of the branches of the trade route went to the Amu Darya, then along the Amu Darya to kyat- the center of South Khorezm, then in Urgench, and from there through Embu to the Bulgarian kingdom.
Until the 10th century, the trade route from Baghdad and Iran to the Bulgar kingdom went through the Caucasus and the Khazar kingdom. However, at the beginning of the 10th c. Relations between the Baghdad caliphs and the Khazar kingdom deteriorated sharply, and trade routes began to pass through Maverannahr.

The intensity of trade relations between Central Asia and Russia is evidenced by a large number of Samanid dirhams found in various parts of Russia, up to the Baltic Sea. Furs, leather, bark for tanning leather, cattle, slaves, honey, nuts, and much more were exported from the Bulgar kingdom through Khorezm. Silk, rice, dried fruits, silver and gold coins were brought from Central Asia to Eastern Europe.
From Samarkand, trade routes turned south and went through Termez in Balkh. From Balkh, one of the highways through Khulm went to Kabul and further south to India.
From Bukhara the main trade highway went to Merv.
Merv- a supercity in the Middle Ages (however, like Samarkand, Bukhara, Balkh and Kashgar). All these cities were once the largest trade and cultural centers. Trade deals were concluded here, duties were removed, contraband was confiscated ...
AT Balkh(Baktr) gems were brought from Badakhshan - this is lapis lazuli (heavenly stone) and Badakhshan lal (noble spinel).
Mined in Badakhshan in the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli (lajuar) was extremely valued in the Middle Ages, both in the east and in the west. In India and ancient Iran, this stone was burned and ground into a fine powder. The powder was mixed with resin, wax and oil. The best artists bought this ultramarine. The Scythians wore beads made of lajuar. He was a favorite and expensive stone of China. China decorated them with bowls, caskets, made rings, amulets and figurines from it. In historical times, balls were made from lapis lazuli for mandarin headdresses, as an emblem of their power. Mongolian caravans delivered lajuar to Kyakhta and exchanged a pound of lapis lazuli for a pound of silver.
Europe until the 17th century almost did not know lapis lazuli. To this day, some tableware made of lapis lazuli has survived - these are goblets, bowls and vases of Francis I and Henry IV.
In the 19th century, the Peterhof lapidary factory lined the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral with lapis lazuli, and this work was done twice: Montferan rejected the columns made of Baltic lapis lazuli and placed them in his house on the Moika, and for Isaac, a lajuar from the "country of Bukhara" was issued - 78 pounds of Badakhshan blue stone.

The western branch stretched from Merv to the Mediterranean Sea and without significant changes crossed the modern territory of Iraq, Iran and Syria.

The large rivers of Western and Central Asia, such as the Tigris, Euphrates, Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were a serious obstacle for caravans. It is difficult to understand exactly how the crossings were carried out - after all, hundreds of tons of cargo, camels, horses had to be transported. Perhaps these were stationary ferries, perhaps hired ships were used.

2. Central (Fergana) route. We return to the fork from the Chinese city of Dunhuang.
The central branch of the trade route ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert, through Karashahr and Uch-Turfan to Kashgar.
Kashgar is a transit base, the last Chinese (or first) outpost. Here again the route is divided into several components. One line stretches along the valley of the Karadarya River to Uzgenda and then goes to the Fergana valley, the second along the Kuzylsu valley to the Alay valley and further through the Taldyk pass to the city Osh. Now the fertile Ferghana Valley extends to the west to Samarkand and Bukhara.
From Kashgar there is another trade trail along the river valley Markans, along which, again, you can dump into the Alai Valley. This road is called the trail of smugglers. They rarely used it, mostly dubious elements who did not want to pay a fee at the border.
Markansu, or as it is called - the Valley of Death - is a deserted, waterless, flat valley like a table, covered with red-hot rubble and gruss. A strong wind constantly blows here, which, like a hair dryer, dries everything that gets in its way. The valley has preserved material evidence of the presence of an old caravan trail here - these are bones and mummified corpses of animals - horses and camels.
There was a funny incident described by Stanyukovich. In the 30s of the last century, the Moscow-Osh-Khorog rally took place. And the road foreman at the Kyzyl-Art pass (near Markansu) was a guy with humor. He collected several animal mummies and placed them along the road, and even hung signs - “hello to the participants of the rally” ...

3. Southern (Pamir) route.
From Dunhuang, the route leads west along the northern foothills of Nanshan, Altyntag and Kuen-Lun, skirting the Tibetan Plateau along the southern edge of the Takla-Makan Desert.
This path went through the cities Cherchen, Niya, Keriya, Khotan before Kashgar and Yarkand.
But then it's not entirely clear. The only logical route is to the south along the Kashgar mountains, further through Tashkurgan to the west, along the southern outskirts of the Pamirs.
Where exactly the route went, no one knows for sure. At the beginning of the 13th century, this segment of the path passed Marco Polo while traveling with his father and uncle from Italy to China. This trio were professional merchants and, it is clear that they did not travel on their own, but joined trade caravans. Since the records of Marco Polo have been preserved, it is possible to draw their route, and hence the caravan road along which the Venetians crossed Badakhshan.

It is authentically known that Marco Polo, going from west to east, first visited Shesmur (Kashmir), and then Badakhshan - a city not preserved even in ruins. Then, turning to the northeast, he crossed the Hindu Kush and went out to Badasian(Pyanj River).
It is not clear where he crossed the Panj. Luknitsky believes that somewhere not far from the modern city of Khorog, near the ruins of the fortress Kala-i-bar-Pyanj.
Let's look at the physical map of this area, or even better, "turn on" the satellite. Yes, there is a natural passage here through the Hindu Kush mountains - this is through Lake Shiva and further southwest to modern Faizabad.
This is how Marco Polo describes Badasian (r, Pyanj): “From Badasian you travel 12 days to the east and northeast along the river; it belongs to the brother of the Badasian ruler; there are many fortresses and settlements. The people are brave, revere Muhammad. Twelve days later - another region, not very large, in each direction three days of travel; it's called Wahan…”

But from Khorog to the east and northeast stretches the Rushan Range, and along the Pyanj from Khorog you can only go south to Ishkashim, or in the opposite direction to the north - to Rushan. The general direction to the border with China at Marco Polo is maintained, but these 200 km, which must be passed to the south, somehow freeze.
Maybe, after all, Marco Polo and his friends went to Pyanj through Zebak right to Ishkashim, and not across Lake Shiva to Khorog? The caravan road to the very Kashmir valley passed through Zibak.
Further from Ishkashim to Kashgar (where Marco Polo went), the most logical route is along the Pyanzh to the east to the confluence of the Pamir and Vakhan Darya rivers, then to the northeast across Lake Zorkul to Tashgurgan, Yarkend, or immediately to Kashgar.

Crossing Badakhshan, Marco Polo may have visited the ancient Kukhilal mines. At least gave them a brief description.
Noble spinel was mined at the Kuhilal deposit until the 15th century. Then the reserves were depleted and the field was closed. In the 80s of the 20th century, the development of the deposit was resumed by the Pamirkvartssamotsvety expedition. In 1985, geologist Ya. A. Gurevich found a unique, unusually large sample of Badakhshan lal in the bottom of an adit. A bright pink crystal weighing 6 kg was nicknamed the Miracle Stone.

We return to the northern segment of the GSR route to the city of Dunhuang. Obruchev V.A. A well-known geologist and explorer of Central Asia in his book “In the Wilds of Central Asia” indicates that trade routes connecting the Chinese Dzungaria and Fergana existed until the 20th century. Caravans were not as big as in the Middle Ages. Silk, Chinese souvenirs were brought to Ferghana, back - fabrics, various consumer goods (fish hooks, tools, etc.). Trade routes passed through cities - Nia, Keriya, Hotan, which allowed them to exist to this day, despite the destructive onslaught of the sands of the Takla Makan desert.
Along the Dzhungar corridor to the north, to Chuguchak, caravans went until the Dungar uprising (1862-1877). The Chinese brutally suppressed the uprising of the inhabitants of the western provinces of China - Muslims. As a result, hundreds of wells were filled up, stations and settlements along trade routes were destroyed.

The decline of the cities of ancient Bactria, such as Balkh, Khulm, Oxian Alexandria and others, located both on the right and on the left bank of the Amu Darya River, is associated both with general historical processes and with the activity of the Amu Darya River. Frequent change in the channel, deposition of alluvial sand from the ancient terraces above the floodplain, ultimately led to the death of these cities.
The super-city of Merv, a city with two thousand years of history, standing at the crossroads not only of trade routes, but also at the crossroads of migrations of peoples and religions, was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221. The Timurids tried to revive it, but in vain.

This is how the Great Silk Road ended its existence. Many of the cities it passed through fell into disrepair over time, and are now gently sloping sandy hills overgrown with camel thorn.

Well, everything I wanted - I wrote and drew. The principle that I used when laying routes is simple - we draw key cities, and connect them, bending around natural obstacles, maintaining the general direction. Everything is very simple.

Kyiv, Borshchagovka, January 2016

There has never been any single main highway on the Great Silk Road. If you look at the map of the Great Silk Road from above, you can see several parallel lines, each of which resembled a branched tree. The southernmost road went through Northern India and went further to Iran, and then to such major cities of the Middle East as Damascus and Baghdad, and then it went to the eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Malta, Greece), but there was also the Middle and Northern Great Silk Road .

History of the Great Silk Road

Where did the Great Silk Road go?

The middle route went to the northern coast of the Caspian Sea (the territory of today's Southern Urals, the Orenburg region, northern Kazakhstan), and further, skirting the Caspian Sea, went to the Lower and Middle Volga. Then, up the Volga and its tributaries, there was a large fork, and then the path went left down to the South (Northern Caucasus, Ciscaucasia, Transcaucasia), through the Greater Caucasus Range, entering the territory of Byzantium. Active trade was carried out on this part of the Great Silk Road, representatives of our region, merchants, warriors, politicians, and cultural figures had political, economic and cultural interests here.

The Great Silk Road on the territory of modern Donetsk region

The northern route passed next to the Middle route for about 6-8 thousand kilometers. It went to the level of the lower and middle Volga, but unlike the Middle Way, which then turned south, the Northern Way, crossing the Volga, forked and went straight to the west through the Don and Seversky Donets. A separate important and permanent branch, recorded already at the end of the 1st century AD, passed to Tanais, i.e. at the place where the Don flows into the Sea of ​​Azov. Then there were branches to almost all the largest city-states, trading posts of the Greeks on the coast of the Azov and Black Seas, such as Phanagoria, Tyra, Olbia, Sugdeya (Sudak), Kaffa (Feodosia), Sevastopol and a number of other cities. It was the southern branch of the northern branch. The central branch passed through the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Dniester, crossed the Danube and ended in the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire.

Several branches of the Northern direction rose up to the north along the Seversky Donets, Don, Dnieper, along the rivers between the Dniester and Don, i.e. went far to the north and along this water system reached the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The largest number of branches of the Silk Road falls on the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Black Sea. Here there is an intersection with a long-standing path that runs from north to south - the path from Greece to the Varangian land. This crossroads is interesting because it is the only international crossroads along the entire Great Trade Route where the movement of goods, people and political interests took place not only from east to west or sometimes from west to east, but sometimes also in the meridian direction - from north to south and from south to north. Throughout the Great Silk Road, this is the busiest intersection, and at this intersection is the Donetsk region, today's Donetsk region, Rostov region, Luhansk region, Kharkov region, Odessa, Sevastopol, cities on the Danube. One of the directions rose directly along the Dnieper up to today's Kyiv. As a certain system of trade coordinates, Ukraine is completely covered both along the contours and along the internal section by this northern very branched segment of the trade route.

If we use the term "trade balance", then it could be called positive for the inhabitants of our region. The population of the Azov and Black Sea regions, in particular the Donetsk region, exported an impressive list of goods. First of all, these were mass-produced goods: grain, honey, hides, meat products. The products of iron-making crafts were also popular: pots, needles, tripods, items of horse harness requiring higher qualification, weapons, helmets, chain mail and shields. Amber products, carvings and caskets made of bone, horn and wood were also massively exported.

What goods were transported along the Great Silk Road

Not only goods were transported along the Great Silk Road, its role was much more important. A general trade turnover was formed, with the help of goods produced over 10-11 thousand kilometers, there was a constant exchange of national technical experience. Sometimes, along with a batch of goods, several craftsmen followed, who taught how to make this or that product. Our craftsmen in leather, ceramics, furs, and metals traveled to China to share their experience. Branded items with a notch and solder were taken out from here, that is, weapons and other things with a pattern etched with acids. The techniques of granulation (the pattern was made up of soldered tiny balls), filigree (wickered gold wire soldered on jewelry), cloisonné enamel (with a pattern filled with colored glass) were widely known and cruised along the Silk Road. Part of the goods was made of wood, the masters of this business have lived in the territory of modern Donbass for a long time. It was wooden utensils, pens, cases, barrels, baskets, which were bought with pleasure in other countries. There was an exchange of trading strategies, directions and fashions in the production of a particular product.

Role of the Great Silk Road

Perhaps the most important role of the Silk Road, although it is the least talked about, was the exchange of ideas and cultural achievements. Drawings and songs, plots of theatrical performances were transmitted along this path, artists roamed. Various areas of art, ideas, including religious ones, also flowed in the western direction. It is difficult even to list all points of contact. For example, botanists and specialists in the history of the national economy have shown that it was along the northern segment of the Great Silk Road around the 7th century that melons, as well as many species of other plants, came to the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. Various types of medicines were brought in, both curative and fatal to humans. During excavations on the Seversky Donets, large quantities of children's toys produced there were found, which are found in the Xi'an region in China, in northern India, in Zaragoza. Such toys are also an exchange of aesthetic and ethical images.

Parking lots and coachmen of the Great Silk Road

In China, already by the beginning of a new era, and in the Siberian, Mongolian, Caspian areas, somewhere by the 13th century, the distance of the path along which the caravans moved was divided into identical sections, approximately corresponding to the path that a caravan with cargo could pass (25-30 km). Approximately at such distances, postal and trading stations, as well as warehouses were made. By decree of Genghis Khan, whose possessions covered the entire territory of the Great Silk Road, these stations were called "pits". On them, the caravan could get a roof over its head, warm up, feed, water the cattle, and wait out the bad weather. Very often, starting from the 10th century, in order not to lose the rhythm of movement, the caravan left tired animals at the stations, and in return received fresh ones. These stations had permanent staff who helped to reload and repack the goods, unharness the draft force. It was possible to leave a message there, that is, it was an analogue of the post office. As a rule, such postal stations were not attacked. Translators worked at the stations, it was possible to change one currency for another, and the messengers could take a fresh horse or hire a carriage. Those people who worked at the stations were most often called "coachmen". There were many people of various beliefs, nationalities, anthropological types.

Roads were repaired along the local, local direction of the Silk Road, bridges were built, roads were patrolled, especially dangerous places were guarded, and customs were established at the borders. This path had its own service system, internal structure. People who traded along this path made huge profits, they quickly became rich. Coach stations played an important role in the dissemination of geographical knowledge. There you could get a fairly detailed long-range description of the road if the guide was too expensive. Yamsky maps were cheaper, that is, a map of only that part of the road where the Yamskaya path follows and about a kilometer on both sides of it. They were easy enough to use, the advantage of these maps was that they indicated the distance from one settlement to another.

Pit-posts were placed on the road, indicating what verst it was. In the Middle Ages, descriptions and recommendations for those who traveled were published on the basis of these maps. It was indicated where you can spend the night, the cost of service and even the menu, and this menu can be ordered in advance. There was a veterinarian and a blacksmith at large stations, so new jobs were created, the infrastructure was improved. To prevent caravans from crossing, a mode of movement was established. For example, from the city of Luoyang (one of the five capitals of then China), caravans left in the first decade of each month with a difference of 7-8 days, and it was required that they go quite intensively. Already in Central Asia, several caravans could meet during the day, and in the Danube section one caravan often saw the back or vanguard of another caravan. Various loaders, packers and just random people from different nations and tribes, those who were out of work in their homeland, constantly moved along this caravan route.

Map of the Great Silk Road

The history of silk, like many other great inventions, originates in ancient China. There are many legends dedicated to sericulture, but one way or another, all these are just old fairy tales. And the facts are as follows: the Chinese mastered sericulture no later than 2600 BC, it is to this period that the oldest silkworm cocoons found in the cultural layers belong.

For a long time, silk fabric remained extremely expensive and rare, and only very noble people could afford it. But by 500 B.C. sericulture has already spread everywhere, and representatives of all segments of the population walked in silk clothes. But the extremely strong and elastic substance produced by the silkworm turned out to be suitable not only for weaving. Bowstrings, strings of musical instruments and much more were also made from silk. Nevertheless, silk was still highly valued. This is not surprising, because just one square meter of fabric consumes 3,000 silkworm cocoons and a huge amount of manual labor. Therefore, in China, it became a kind of currency for which you could buy anything.

A new stage in the history of silk began in the 2nd century BC. Thanks to the Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian, the Celestial Empire managed to establish trade relations with the countries of Central Asia. And caravans loaded with silk moved west. This is how the Great Silk Road appeared, which for many centuries connected the Far East with Europe. No, Chinese merchants did not visit Europe in person. At that time, a distance of thousands of kilometers was almost unimaginable. Throughout the Silk Road, transactions were made, goods passed from hand to hand, and thus, through many intermediaries, silk got to the markets of Ancient Rome - of course, at a price that was an order of magnitude higher than the original one. But despite the high cost, thin, soft, shiny fabric was in great demand. Today, silk products ( silk robes, tunics, sundresses, silk pajamas, shirts) can be bought, at a relatively cheap price, in the Elina online store.

The Chinese understood the wealth they had and sought to maintain a monopoly on silk production. Anyone who tried to take out cocoons, eggs or silkworm caterpillars faced the death penalty. Nevertheless, over time, the technological secret was revealed - in the VI century AD. two monks secretly took silkworm cocoons to Byzantium. Over time, sericulture was mastered in Byzantium itself, and in the cities of Italy, France and Spain. Nevertheless, China remained the main producer of valuable fabric on the world market, and the Silk Road retained its importance until the 15th century, when military conflicts in Central Asia put an end to the wanderings of merchant caravans. And it was this event that prompted the merchants to look for new sea routes to the East, becoming the beginning of a new era - the Age of Discovery.

Ancient China is the birthplace of silk.

The Russian and Chinese sides discussed the draft of the new Silk Road during the visit of the President of the Russian Federation to China. A new high-speed highway with a length of more than 8.4 thousand km will connect Europe with western China through the territory of Russia. However, Russia does not have the infrastructure to participate in the Chinese project. /website/

The transport corridor Europe-Western China should pass through the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan, China and be built by 2023. The need for its construction is caused by an increase in trade between the EU countries and China, which in 2014 reached 467 billion euros.

Currently, cargo transportation between the EU and China is carried out through the Suez Canal. The length of the sea route is 24 thousand km, and the delivery time takes 40 – 50 days. The new route will reduce travel time to 10 days and ensure a high level of safety.

Overland Silk Road

On the territory of Russia, the length of the new highway will be more than 2.3 thousand km (the entire route - 8.4 thousand km). In Russia, the route will pass through 8 regions, which will give them an impetus to development (construction of industrial and logistics facilities, jobs, etc.). These include: Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvash Republic, Republic of Mordovia, Ulyanovsk, Samara regions, Republic of Tatarstan. Chinese investors are showing interest in the project and are ready to invest about 150 billion rubles in it, which is a third of the required investment.

A third of the Russian population lives in the construction zone of the transport corridor and over 40% of Russia's GDP is produced, Kommersant writes.

On the territory of Kazakhstan, the highway will pass through the entire country from north to south to the large industrial center Shymkent and further east along the southern border to China. The total length of the road will be 2.7 thousand km. It will pass through 5 regions of the country. At the same time, transit transport from Kazakhstan will be able to go to Russia, China, to the countries of South Asia through Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

On the territory of China, a new route is practically built. The road goes from the border with Kazakhstan through the cities of Urumqi, Lanzhou, Zhengzhou and comes to the port of Lianyungang on the east coast of China. The total length of the Chinese section is 3.4 thousand km.

What is the role of Russia in the project?

China claims leadership in Eurasia, Thomas Pulse, a transport expert at the Institute of German Economics, told DW. Russia is assigned a far from leading role in the project. “In a very distant future, the project will even bypass Russia. After all, we are talking about creating a transport highway to Europe through the Central Asian countries, Iran and Turkey. The classical Silk Road also passed south of the Caspian Sea,” Pulse explained.

China's goal is not so much the construction of a transport corridor, but "the creation of an integrated Eurasian economic space, the center of which, including the political one, will be China." By creating a corridor, China will be able to economically bind to itself the states located along the corridor: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.

The construction of a transport corridor will allow Chinese firms to be created along it in different countries, which will enhance the exchange of goods and help load the Chinese construction industry.

In this project, only China and Western Europe are in a win-win position, the rest of the countries will either become the railway "backbone" of the great trade route, or remain on the sidelines, writes politrussia.com. Moreover, there is no single "Silk Road" for China - through South Asia or Central Asia, through Istanbul or Moscow, or even Vladivostok. For Beijing, the more routes, the better. In addition, the possibility of participating in the project is determined by the readiness of countries for this, their political will and the availability of funds to implement large-scale projects.

Russian experts are full of optimism

Against the backdrop of Russian-Chinese cooperation and a common geopolitical competitor in the person of the West, there is no alternative to creating a new Eurasian economic space, experts from the Centero center and adviser to the President of the Russian Federation on regional economic integration Sergei Glazyev said at a round table discussion discussing the Silk Road Economic Belt project ". In their opinion, Russia and China have good prospects for completely restructuring the policy in the Eurasian space, writes mk.ru.

Sergei Glazyev emphasized that Russia has tools to protect its interests: "We are not yet talking about creating a free trade zone with China, because we are not ready for this." In addition, Russian development banks look like "dwarfs" compared to Chinese ones. The situation needs to be changed through participation in international development banks, Glazyev believes.

Russia can ensure the security of the implementation of the Silk Road project, which is key for it. Chinese resources will not be enough to eliminate the threat of international terrorism, since the militants of the Islamic State (the organization’s activities are banned in Russia) exist not only in Afghanistan, but also in other states in the construction zone of the transport corridor, writes mk.ru.