cording to the government’s Confucian philosophy, and low-
ering taxes gave millions of Chinese the chance to improve
their lives by investing money left over aft er paying taxes and
purchasing their basic needs. Th is investing of money allowed
people to pull their cash to develop business ventures jointly,
which enabled those who could not have done so in the past
to engage in trade with the world outside China.
Th is expansion of the Chinese economy had an eff ect
on its neighbors, especially Japan. Th e merchants of the Han
Dynasty pioneered sea routes, venturing along Asia’s east
coast; Chinese pottery was in especially high demand in the
emerging civilizations to the south. To Japan, Han merchants
brought silk, rice, iron, and bronze. By 200 c.e. the Japanese
had become trading partners with China, exporting a high
grade of silk coveted by Chinese merchants. Chinese copper
coins became the only accepted money in Japan, aiding Ja-
pan’s slow development toward a cash economy. In exchange
for copper coins sent by China’s emperor, Japanese rulers sent
back tribute.
Foreign tribute was a complicated business in China;
nearby foreign governments were oft en happy to give it to
China because the Chinese government gave them valuable
prestige by formally recognizing them. Furthermore, the
Han custom was to send gift s back to those who sent tribute,
sometimes of greater value than the original tribute. Th ese
gift s not only showed off China’s economic prosperity but
also encouraged local rulers to open their lands to Chinese
traders. Th is began the great age of the Silk Road.
SILK ROAD
During the early Han Dynasty in northern China a no-
madic tribe called the Xiongnu constantly conducted raids.
Th e Xiongnu drove another tribe, the Yuezhi, westward
and settled on China’s main trade route to central Asia. In
about 138 b.c.e. the Chinese emissary Zhang Qian was sent
to sneak through Xiongnu territory to fi nd the Yuezhi and
form an alliance against the Xiongnu. He failed in this, but
he returned to China in 126 b.c.e. with information about
territories to the west. He also brought back grapevines and
alfalfa.
Trading through central Asia was an important way
to keep China’s economy growing and healthy, by provid-
ing markets for Chinese goods. Furthermore, consumers in
China were demanding foreign goods, putting pressure on the
government to make trade routes secure. Using Zhang Qian’s
information, the Hans attacked the Xiongnu and drove them
into central Asia. Th ey continued into central Asia, where the
local kingdoms were forced to agree to pay tribute to the Chi-
nese emperor. Th is secured China’s access to the Silk Road,
which was actually several diff erent routes that began in the
city of Chang’an (now called Xi’an) in western China. Th ese
routes went through Persia to the city of Baghdad; from there
the routes went to Syria and then to Mediterranean ports
from which Chinese goods were shipped to southern Europe
and North Africa. An important alternative route went down
the Indus River and then westward by sea. Th e fi rst major
Chinese caravan reached Persia in 106 b.c.e.
China imported wine, which was very popular, from
the Near East and Europe. Foods imported from the west in-
cluded fi gs and cucumbers, as well as sesame and saffl ower
oils, which were used in cooking. Roman technology went
east as well, including an improved potter’s wheel for the
manufacturing of ceramics. China exported peaches, apri-
cots, ginger, and basil. China also exported silk cloth, which
was held in high value; the Chinese carefully guarded the se-
cret of the making of silk. Chinese merchants brought home
piles of Roman coins, and Roman leaders worried that all
their gold was going to China and India.
Under the Han Dynasty ordinary Chinese prospered as
they had never done before. Not only could peasants and the
working poor aff ord metal pots and pans for their cooking,
they could also purchase a varied diet of foods. Wheat and
barley cakes became common. Peaches, plums, melons, on-
ions, turnips, yams, and beans were part of the everyday diet.
Spices such as basil and ginger were used in everyday cook-
ing. Th e middle class of merchants, craft speople, and shop
owners could aff ord to add meat, especially pork and chicken,
to their everyday diets.
On the Korean peninsula in 108 b.c.e., to boost China’s
economy by making trade with Southeast Asia more effi cient,
the Han government established four trading cities that
served as ports for commerce from Southeast Asia, as well as
from Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Th e governors of
the cities kept records of who came and went, taking special
note of tribute that was being sent to the emperor. By about
300 c.e. the Koreans and Japanese were imitating Chinese
customs and adopting the Chinese diet.THE HARAPPANS
Th e other great economic power of eastern Asia was India.
Unlike China, which had a unifi ed national identity for most
of its development, India saw the rise and fall of many king-
doms. Th e fi rst Indian civilization was the Harappan of about
2600–1500 b.c.e. It built cities and towns in the Indus val-
ley and surrounding areas, northward into modern south-
western China, eastward beyond New Delhi, and west and
south along the coast from the mouth of the Indus River.
Th e Harappans’ main crop was rice, probably grown on dry
ground rather than in rice paddies, and they built irrigation
canals to bring water to their crops.
Th eir major cities were Harappa and Mohenjo Daro,
both of which seem to have been designed from the ground
up, with each city laid out in a checkerboard pattern of
streets and having underground sewers that were accessible
through manholes. Each city had a huge granary. Some ar-
chaeologists characterize the granaries as banks, where the
wealth of the local community was stored. In hard economic
times Harappans could make withdrawals from these banks,
thus enabling the population to feed itself. Th e wealth the
grain represented also could be invested. Th is most oft eneconomy: Asia and the Pacific 357