cant factor in the development of many ancient civilizations.
When the paths became eroded from use, travelers created
new paths by walking, riding, or hauling carts over untrod-
den terrain. Th us, archaeologists tend to prefer to call the Silk
Road a “route” or a collection of “routes,” rather than a road.
Rivers have functioned as highways for the Chinese ever
since the Shang Dynasty (1500–1045 b.c.e.), when the Chi-
nese culture was focused on the Huang River. During the
Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 b.c.e.) the capitals Xi’an and Luoy-
ang were far away from the most productive farms of the em-
pire, which were on the eastern reaches of the Huang River
and the Yangtze River. Th e rivers and their tributaries me-
andered in loops and turns, making shipping on them slow.
Food from the east could spoil by the time it reached the capi-
tal. Th e response to this problem was to build roads that were
as straight as possible from the lower rivers to the capital.
Oft en, soldiers were given the task of building roads,
but peasants were frequently draft ed also. Th ey were unpaid.
Convicted criminals might be sentenced to hard labor work-
ing on roads. Sometimes rich convicts paid poor people to
serve their sentences. Many road-building tasks required tens
of thousands of workers. Th e workers were expected to carry
all that they would need, including their own food.
Some roads were constructed following old trails. Oth-
ers were built to be as straight as possible, especially if they
were to connect with the capital city. Th ere were roads built
for use by the military to move troops and supplies. Others
were built for commerce, especially the transport of grain
from rural areas to city markets. Th ere were even roads built
for postal carriers. During the Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220
c.e.) roads were built for the use of the emperor and his of-
fi cials. Many roads had three lanes. Th e two outer lanes were
for the carts and carriages of commoners, allowing them to
pass oncoming traffi c without having to leave the roads. Th e
middle lane was higher and fl atter than the outer lanes and
was reserved for use by the emperor.
Among the most remarkable roads of China are those
built in the western mountains, beginning about 500 b.c.e.
Roads were oft en carved out of mountainsides and were of-
ten very narrow and dangerous to use. On some cliff sides,
wooden roads several miles long were built. Workers would
carve out deep holes in the rock and then fi t a large log into
each hole. Exactly how this was done is not known. Ancient
Chinese records tell of messengers and government offi cials
riding horses at a gallop across these wooden roadways, oft en
cantilevered out thousands of feet above a sheer drop.
Ancient Chinese bridges tended to be made of wood. Al-
though records occasionally mention stone bridges, it seems
that only a few from the Han and the Six Dynasties (220–589
c.e.) survive. For the ancient Chinese, bridges served two
purposes. One was practical, with bridges allowing traffi c
to move over a river or gorge without trouble. Th e other was
decorative. Practical bridges included ones made of stone
over the Wei and other rivers. Posts were sunk into riverbeds,
and long, heavy stones were laid across them to form road-
ways. Th ese stones oft en weighed several tons. Some wooden
bridges, which were built much the same way as stone bridges,
had roofs. Decorative bridges were oft en placed in gardens or
ponds. One popular form was the cross bridge. It was shaped
like a cross, with four bridges converging on a central point.
Th ese bridges were designed to give people good views of gar-
dens or ponds. Another form of bridge was the moon bridge,
which was a semicircle over a stream or moat. Its very high
arch made it diffi cult to use in a practical way, but it was usu-
ally intended for ceremonial use.
Th e ancient Indians built few bridges. Th ey reserved
their bridge construction for spanning the moats of cities
and perhaps they built rope bridges high in mountain ranges.
Whenever travelers met a stream they could either cross it at
a shallow ford, fell trees that spanned the water, or build raft s
from nearby trees.
By the time of the Maurya Empire (ca. 321–ca. 185 b.c.e.)
road building had become complex. A road was laid out by
an architect and, to help the road’s designers decide which
materials to use during construction, the soil was studied
along which the road would pass. Trees and bushes would
be cleared from the path of the road. Th e surface of the road
would be raised higher than the surrounding land and would
be fl at and level. Ditches were dug along each side of the road
to carry the runoff from rain. Local towns were oft en given
the responsibility of maintaining nearby roads. Some roads
were very important to the economy of India, and central
governments would take charge of maintaining those roads.
To pay for maintenance, the governments charged merchants
about 1/20th of their goods when they used a road.
Rest stops were built alongside roads, providing travelers
with protection from sun and rain. Th ey were maintained by
workers who kept them clean. Artifi cial ponds were built near
rest stops so that travelers could replenish their water supplies
and bathe. Wide-spreading banyan trees were planted about
every mile to provide shade.
Most historians date road building in Japan from about
576 c.e., because medieval records mention roads being built
on the island of Honshū at that time. Many archaeologists
do not look past that date. One of the problems archaeolo-
gists have is that Japan is densely populated and roads have
been built over or reconstructed many times as the nation’s
population has grown. Archaeologists have found evidence
for some ancient road building on Honshū, perhaps before
the 100s c.e. Th ese were roads running straight north-south;
they were imposed on the land to create straight lines in east-
ern Honshū. Th eir north-south orientation was probably
infl uenced by the Chinese custom of orienting structures
according to the points of the compass. Japanese of later
generations built palaces and even cities next to or between
these roads, indicating that they were spiritually important.
Th e purposes the ancient Japanese had for building the roads
was to make trade easier, to allow for the government to stay
in touch easily with its provinces, and to allow its armies to
move quickly.roads and bridges: Asia and the Pacific 887