Silk Road predated by older route

While the ancient Silk Road is known throughout the world, another route — the Southern Silk Road that starts from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan province — remains little known.

The Southern Silk Road headed south from Chengdu, through Yunnan province, today’s Myanmar or Tibet, to reach India and beyond.

The Northern Silk Road, generally known as just “the Silk Road”, was opened by a diplomat named Zhang Qian during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24). It started from Chang’an, the then national capital now known as Xi’an in Shaanxi province, went through India, Iran and the Middle East to the Mediterranean sea.

When Zhang first arrived at the country named Daxia, or Tokhgra in Central Asia, however, he found Shu cloth and Qiong bamboo rods, which were produced in Sichuan, proving the existence of a path linking Sichuan and Central Asia before the Silk Road.

The latest archaeological discoveries provide more evidence about the existence of the Southern Silk Road, which might have been opened hundreds of years before its better-known northern counterpart.

The best-quality brocade unearthed along the Silk Road are mainly Shu brocade. Shu brocade became more famous during the Sui (581618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, and was one of the major silk products sold along the Silk Road.