Masterpieces of Chinese Civilisation

 Chapter 1

Introduction

The people of China have created great works of art and craft that have been a source of wonderment by the people of all other nations across the world. Four of these - Silk, Tea, Porcelain and Jade have been transformed into items of high intrinsic value that have required great skills. Two of these, Silk and Tea have a biological but different origin and are able to be produced in limitless quantities forever. Porcelain and Jade have a mineral origin and are thus fixed in quantity in the earth's crust; both are used by artisans to craft unique unrelated ware.  

Sericulture, the cultivation of mulberry trees, tending to the silk worms and gathering the threads from the cocoons and weaving silk, has been found in archaeological evidence in China in 3600 BCE. The legend of the discovery of Silk is dated at 2696 BCE and attributed to Empress Hsi-Ling-Shih  (also as Lei ZU). One day Empress Hsi-Ling-Shih sent her maids to gwt some fresh fruit from a grove of Mulberry trees. Theyt cam back with some tiny white fruits. While sampling them for taste they were found to be too tough and so the boiled them. As the fruits were bein g stirred with a stick they saw it was wrapped in long, fine, lustrous fibres. The Empress looked around the Mulberry grove and found the tiny fruits were cocoons spun by the silk worms. She then taught the local women how to breed silk worms and make clothes from the silk. In Chinese history books she has been described as the "Goddess of Silk" of the "Silk Worm Mother". Sericulture and the Silk cloth industry transformed the life on millions of people in the Chinese countryside as the cultivation of Mulberry trees spread and the production of silk fibre and the craft of weaving the cloth was disseminated. 

Trade Roads Across and Around Eurasia

 Maps of Trade Routes

The Indian Ocean World (IOW) is a vast area of the worlds oceans covering a 25%of the globe from the African East coast to Japan. The seas comprise the Indian Ocean, the Indonesian Sea and the South China Sea. This span of seas and the atmosphere above it is dominated by the land mass of Eurasia that warms and cools on the annual cycle of seasons. Across this part of the globe the seasons of the IOW dominated by the monsoons. In the summer the hot air above the land draws moisture from the seas and produces the south-west monsoons. In the northern winter the cold air flows south and produces the  north-east monsoon. The changing  patterns of winds had a dominating affect on sea transport across the Indian Ocean. Ships heading for Europe waited until the NE monsoon began to sail west across across the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. Ships leaving the Red Sea sailed east in the SW monsoon. The patterns of trade were controlled by these seasons. Wherever ships were located sailing across the Indian Ocean was governed by the seasonal winds and the crews were forced to live in the cities they found themselves until the season changed.          

Migration From Taiwan

The inhabitants of Taiwan were originally from the east coast of China and around 4000 ya 

 Trade Roads

Trade across the Eurasian countries and across the oceans linking Europe, India, SE Asia, and China had its origins in the people inhabiting the grasslands named the Steppe that extends from Hungary to Mongolia. These Steppe people flourished as horse and cattle owners. They developed a unique bow that had greater tension than pure wood when bent. They became skilled archers while riding at full gallop shooting in all directions. 

Tribal Confederations 

In the East of Eurasia tribes had groups of affiliated people, of particular note were the Xiangnu and the Yuezhi who were always in conflict. 

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 Trade Roads

Trade across the Eurasian countries and across the oceans linking Europe, India, SE Asia, and China had its origins in the people inhabiting the Steppe that spread from Hungary to Mongolia. These Steppe people flourished as horse and cattle owners. They developed a unique bow that had greater tension than pure wood when bent. They became skilled archers while riding at full gallop shooting in all directions. 

Tribal Confederations 

In the East of Eurasia tribes had groups of affiliated people, of particular note were the Xiangnu and the Yuezhi who were always in conflict.