In addition to land, ancient China's external traffic routes also had sea passages. Sea routes, or direct westward flights from Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and other ports in southern China; Or through the Yunnan-Myanmar channel, and then from southern Myanmar to the west by sea; Or transfer to ports in the Indian Peninsula via Central Asia and then transport by sea to the west. The most important one is the sea route from Quanzhou to Africa, Egypt, Kenya and other countries via Southeast Asia and West Asia, which is called the "Silk Road" at sea. Zheng He, a famous navigator in Ming Dynasty, once led his fleet to the Western Ocean for seven times, making great contributions to the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Although the Silk Road is named for transporting silk and silk fabrics, the goods transported through the Silk Road are far more than these items, as well as lacquerware, porcelain, iron, tea and so on. The items spread from this road to the east include western glass, precious stones, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, sesame seeds, cucurbits (cucumbers), garlic, carrots, etc., as well as Dawanma and figs. Four great inventions of ancient china (gunpowder, compass, papermaking and letterpress printing) also spread to the west through the land and sea Silk Road; Literature, art and religion from western countries have also spread to China. The Silk Road, like a gorgeous and tough silk tie, linked the ancient civilizations of mankind, communicated the wisdom and creativity of mankind, promoted the economic, cultural and technological exchanges between the East and the West in ancient times, strengthened the friendship and friendly exchanges between people of all countries, and played a huge historical role in the progress and development of human society.
The "Spice Road" was the main sea passage to communicate the trade between Asia, Africa and Europe in ancient times. In the 9th century AD, Venetian merchants bought cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper and other spices produced in Southeast Asian islands in Constantinople, and resold them to Europe, which made huge profits. After the Europeans discovered the new sea route in the 15th century, the Portuguese and Dutch invaded the spice producing areas successively, and transported a large number of spices into the European market through unequal exchange and direct plunder, making amazing profits. This sea route that transports spices from Southeast Asian islands to European markets is called "Spice Road".
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