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0061 On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1
中央アジア踏査記 : vol.1
On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1 / 61 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000214
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internal consolidation which the reign of this capable and
energetic monarch assured, singularly favoured expansion.
The avowed aim of this policy at the outset was to open
the road leading through the Tarim basin to the large terri-
tories in the Oxus region. The hold of the Huns on the
northern slopes of the Nan-shan blocked access to this,
Nature's true highway from China to the settled lands of
Western Asia. So it was against them that the Chinese
effort was turned. And here the fortune of war soon re-
warded the Emperor Wu-ti's persistent endeavours. After
a series of successful campaigns the territories which corre-
spond to the present Liang-chou and Kan-chou were in
121 B.C. freed from Hun domination. Then the Huns were
finally forced to retreat to the north of the desert, and by
115 B.C. control of the newly secured border was united in
the command of Chiu-chuan or Su-chou.
This military advance along the great highway towards
Central Asia was accompanied by a rapid organization of
Chinese political missions to the different states both within
the Tarim basin and beyond, even as far as Bactria and
Persia. These were meant to impress the states with the
power of China and its industrial wealth. There can be no
doubt that among the Chinese industrial products carried
by these missions there prominently figured those fine silk
stuffs which then began to reach the Mediterranean through
Parthia and Syria, and soon carried the fame of the 'silk-
weaving Seres', i.e. the Chinese, to the great centres of
Greek and Roman civilization. It is easy to realize the
economic importance of this silk trade for China, since for
centuries the production of silk remained its jealously
guarded monopoly.