The Silk Road

During the first centuries of our era. The silk road was the most important link between China and Western World. The Road ran from the Chinese capital of ChangAn westwards along the zone of oases.

The main route: ChangAn - Mongolia - Bobi desert - Takla Makan desert - Pmir Mountains - Middle East - Rome. (later replaced by Byzantium). The caravan bore silk on the Silk Road (which China had a monopoly). There was an insatiable demand among the upper classes of the Mediterranean world. Even as late as the 6th century, the west had no idea of how silk was produced.

When silk first came to Rome it was considered as valuable as gold. Not only did merchandise and silk move along these long and lonely desert routes but also ideas and philosophies, religions and inventions. China also exported furs and iron and in exchange the west offer colored glassware,necklaces,slaves,dancing girls and very considerable amounts of silver moved from West to East.

In China, only members of the royal family and court were allowed to wear silk (Yellow was the color reserved to the emperor, his chief wife and his heir. The other wives had to wear violet-colored silk, as did the highest ranking officials, the second and the third ranks were red silk. ) However, by the 7th century China was producing so much sild that everyone was allowed to wear it. From the 10th century, weavers began to adding gold or colored strand to their looms to create patterns and designs: beasts, flowers, dragons and symbolic figures. Silk was exported ready-woven. It was forbidden, on pain of death to reveal the secret of silk worms or to let the cocoons out of the country, who took the secret out of China? there are two stories: One is Chinese princess. In the 5th century. Who went to be married to the king of Knotan, one of the oasis kingdoms along the silk road hid some silkworms' eggs in her hairdo. Another one is around 550 two monks brought with them the eggs of silkworm and secret processing technology to Byzantium in bamboo stick. Now, the west could make silk but did not mean that trade with China was at on end, for Chinese silk was always of the highest quality.

Porcelain & Pottery

They are made of different materials/clays and different manufacturing processes.

The three-color Tang Pottery was invented in the Tang Dynasty over 1,300 years ago. Only three glazes: red, green, white which were used in most cases.

The material of porcelain is white and semi-transparent clay.

Jing De Zhen porcelain which enjoy good reputation for their artistic workmanship beautiful patterns, fine designs and attractive color.

Choosing different kinds of glaze,coloring agent and regulating the oven temperature may bring all colors:
In high temperature, using a trace copper as coloring agent, the red color porcelain products may be produce. In favorable temperature, contain cobalt as coloring agent, the bright blue color may be fired. In low temperature, lead is used as the main solvent and other chemical elements are mixed in the solvent and can make all different colors.

Blue porcelain is the first kind, it is over 3,500 years old. Blue & White egg-shell porcelain for example,is as thin as an eggshell,as light as a feather and as white as snow.

This object give you the feeling of exquisite, peaceful, simple & primitive and also give you hints of the past.

The process of making glaze-ground colored porcelain is very complicated the glazed and fired porcelain product is decorated with color drawings then it is fired in the oven again.

Generally speaking ceramics can be classified into two categories:

One for practical use: tableware, tea sets, vase, flower pots...

The other for artistic taste: figures of persons and animals, Knick knacks...

The Great Wall
It runs all the way across the eastern half of China,length bout 6,000 kilometers and it is the only building that can be seen from outer space. The average height is 7.5 meters. If you look into the distance, the Great Wall looks like a giant dragon and the mountain ranges are like a vast sea; the dragon seems to rise and fall, twisting and turning in the waves.

During the Warring State Period (403- 221 BC) several kingdoms built the dikes as a defence against their neighbors or potential invasion from the non- Chinese peoples of the north. It was one of the achievements of the first Qi emperor to unify a number of these walls into a single coordinated system after he ruled the China and it is the best way to avoided the dangerous threat to Chinese security in ancient times. Since its construction by the Qin the Great Wall had been renovated repeatedly over the centuries. More than a million men are said to have been levied for the construction and a great number of laborers lost their lives.

Those towers on the wall spaced at equal distances from each other are beacon- fire towers. When people found enemy troops approaching, they would send smoke signals from the tower as an alarm, When the guards in the neighboring tower saw the signals, they would to do the same. In this manner the signals would be relayed to the capital (during the night the fire would be opened).