Location: China, Oasis in the Taklamakan Desert
Also known as the "City of the Sands," because it sits at the intersection between the Gobi and Taklamakan Desert, on a crossroads of two major trade routes within the Silk Road network -- a southern route that skirts the south of the Taklamakan Desert, and a northern route that is longer, but possesses more valuable goods. Therefore, Dunhuang was at a point of vital strategic and logistical importance. Although Dunhuang was originally a military outpost on the western edge of the Chinese cultural sphere, it soon became one of the first trading cities encountered by merchants arriving in China. Merchants travelling through the regions in all directions, would use it as a resting site. |
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As mentioned above, Dunhuang was established as a garrison (group of troops stationed in a fortress) in 111 BCE, during the Han Dynasty, by Emperor Wu (picture on the right). Its original purpose was for the extension of military power. When the imperial court began to move people from the city for settlements, and merchants from Central Asia brought exotic imports, Dunhuang gradually took on the role as a commercial city. Consequently, the trade brought huge wealth to China, and a ceaseless struggle ensued between the Chinese and others for control of this area. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period(366CE - 439CE), after the Tang Dynasty (907CE), and during the Yuan dynasty (1271CE - 1368CE), it was even under the rule of nomadic peoples -- Khitan, Tanguts, Uyghurs, and Mongols.
Trade
Recorded in a 'library cave' of up to 40,000 scrolls, the range of imported goods seemed to have included brocade and silk from Persia, metal-ware, fragrances, incense and a variety of precious stones, such as the deep blue colored lapis lazuli (from north eastern Afghanistan), agate (from India), amber (from north east Europe), coral (from the ocean) and pearl (usually from Sri Lanka). They exported silks of many varieties, cotton, wool, fur, tea, ceramics, medicine, fragrances, jade, camels, sheep, dye, dried fruits, tools, and embroidery.
Others
Not only was Dunhuang a resting place for merchants, it was also a popular destination for Buddhist pilgrims. This was because early entry into China was through this city, thus monks and other travellers from India stored their original Buddhist texts there. Talking about storing, this is where the man-made caves come into play. Since they needed somewhere safe and dry to keep the, they created something called the Mogao caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes. It was painted with Buddhist imagery, and their construction would have been an intensely religious process, involving prayers, incense and ritual fasting.