What is the Maritime Silk Road?

The Maritime Silk Road (Ceramic Road) was a maritime passage for communication, trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in ancient times. This road is mainly centered on the South China Sea and starts from Quanzhou and Guangzhou, so it is also called the South China Sea Silk Road. The Maritime Silk Road was formed in the Qin and Han Dynasties, developed in the Three Kingdoms and Sui Dynasties, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and changed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is the oldest known sea route.

The Silk Road on Land, referred to as the Silk Road for short. It refers to the land passage opened by Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty (202- 8 years ago), starting from Chang 'an (Jin 'an) and starting from Luoyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and connecting Mediterranean countries through Gansu and Xinjiang (this road is also called "Northwest Silk Road" to distinguish it from the other two traffic routes named "Silk Road" in the future). Because silk products have the greatest influence on the goods transported to the west, it is named.

The main differences: well, the reasons for prosperity are different, the former is porcelain and the latter is silk; The countries contacted vary greatly. The former is the coastal countries of East Asia, South Asia and the West. The latter are mainly European countries on the roads of Central Asia and West Asia; Also, the starting point is different, the former is the south China coast; The latter mainly covers the Central Plains and Guanzhong area.