During the Tang period, many exotic goods were reaching
Chinese cities such as silver from Annam, dyes from Indonesia, and
aloeswood, patchouls, and cloves from the South Seas. Many travelers
confronted the dangers of journeying to far off lands and brought
back to China reliable information about distant countries. The
most famous explorer from the Golden Age was Hsuang-tsang who traveled
to India in 7th century AD. He was later made a saint and his many
experiences were turned into fables.
Trade flourished along the Silk Road and resulted
in the exchange of goods, knowledge, and ideas. Receiving its name
from the vast amount of silk transported transcontinental, the Silk
Road was 4,400 miles of dry deserts and tall mountains that spanned
the continent from Chang-an to Antioch in Tyre, which was located
on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to silk, caravans
brought Chinese ceramics, lacquer objects, furs, and iron to foreign
nations. Europe's demand for Chinese rhubarb and cinnamon also found
its way to the Silk Road. Merchants traveled along this route by
camel or ox drawn carts, though never traveling the whole distance.
The high amount of middlemen made prices extremely high when the
goods were sold to the final consumer.
The Silk Road also had a sea route to India, The Gulf,
Egypt and the east coast of Africa. The trade route was especially
well known for its aid in fostering the spread of Buddhism to China
and other surrounding countries. One devout monk from China, Xuanzang,
is famous for his fifteen- year journey beginning in 629 A.D. to
India to retrieve an original collection of sutra. Upon his return
to China, he began the translation of sutras to the Chinese language,
which he would continue to do for the rest of his life.
[quote] Before the Tang dynasty, China used metal
coins as money, but by the Tang period, metal was becoming scarce
so paper money came into existence. China was the first country
in the world to use paper currency.
[quote] Silk was first made around 3,000 B.C.
