China expands China grew larger under the Han dynasty. In 138 BCE, Emperor Wudi sent Zhang Qian and 99 others to make friends with people in the west. After being captured and escaping twice, Zhang returned in 125 BCE with stories about new places. He went on two more missions to ýnd trade routes to Central Asia and India. By 102 BCE, the Han controlled much of southern and western China. In 109 BCE, they also reached northern Korea, spreading Chinese culture to Japan.
SkillBuilder discussion Continuity and change 1. What goods were commonly traded along the Silk Road, and how did they inþuence cultures along the route? 2. How did the Silk Road facilitate cultural exchanges between different regions and civilisations? 3. Discuss the challenges that traders would have faced while travelling the Silk Road, and how did they overcome them?
SOURCE2 The Silk Road — the world’s longest trade route in continuous use
Key
Route taken by Zhang Qian The Silk Road Great Wall of China
ARAL SEA
Huang (Yellow) River
BLACK SEA
CASPIAN SEA
Samarkand
KOREA
Antioch
Khotan
Baghdad
Luoyang
Tyre Damascus
Changan
EAST CHINA SEA
PERSIA
CHINA
INDIA
BAY OF BENGAL
SOUTH CHINA SEA
INDONESIA
JAVA SEA
0 1000
2000
kilometres
Source: Map drawn by Spatial Vision.
The Silk Road By the early ýrst century BCE, Chinese missions created the famous Silk Road. Camel trains carried valuable silk across deserts and mountains to India, Persia and the Roman Empire. Traders also brought jade, silver and Roman glassware to China along this route. 7.8.2 Growing discontent, rebellion and the fall of the Han The rich get richer and the poor get poorer To control new lands, the Han rulers deported many local people and settled Chinese there. While rich merchants and rulers gained, ordinary people suffered. The Han rulers raised taxes on peasants. Many had to sell their land or even their children into slavery. WangMang Peasants grew more desperate while powerful landlords got richer. Some rich people thought this was unfair. Wang Mang was an ofýcial who had support from Confucian scholars. In 9 CE, he took control of China from the baby Han emperor and started the Hsin dynasty. In his ýrst year, Wang Mang announced many changes. • All land was to become the property of the emperor so that the estates of big landlords could be given to the peasants. • The slave trade was to be banned. • Low-interest loans were to be given to peasants so that they did not have to borrow from money lenders.
TOPIC7 Ancient China 211
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