Tea-Horse Trading Route

Tea-Horse Trade Route

The “Silk Road” was the route that linked the ancient Chinese Empire to the West.

Around the same time, another great trading route meandered through the deep jungles of the eastern Tibet of Kham and Amdo, and the high passes of the central Tibet via Lhasa, Shigartse, Gyantse, Nylamu to Nepal, India, Sikkim, Bhutan, as well as West Asia and the Red Sea.

This route is called “Tea-Horse Trade Route”. It refers to the route taken by horse and tea traders between the hinterland of China and Tibet, and as far as India and west Asia.

The Tibetan Plateau has an average altitude of 4,000m. The staple foods of Tibet are mainly Tsampa, Yourghur, butter, beef and mutton. Vegetables were rarely supplied, because the Tibetan plateau was not suitable for planting vegetables in ancient time.

Tea is not only able to break down fats, but also helps prevent hot flushes. Since Tea was introduced to Tibet during the Tang Dynasty (618A.D-907A.D), Tibetans have enjoyed “Tea” as an indispensable part of their life.

Tea does not grow in high altitude area, but in low altitude areas, such as: Yunnan, Sichuan Province.

During the Song Dynasty (960A.D-1279A.D), the Chinese government decided to develop the Tea-horse Trade in the northwest of China to build the number of warhorses available for the Chinese Cavalry. Each year around 5,000 tons of tea were sold to Tibet. It was even being transported to Nepal, India, and as far as West Asia. More than 15,000 horses were transported into the hinterland of China. All those goods were transferred via the Amdo-Tibet road traditionally. By making this important military road a Tea-Horse Trade route, the exchange of tea and fabric for horses stimulated tea planting and expedited the development of Tea-Horse Trade.

During the Ming dynasty (1368A.D-1644A.D), the Tea-horse Trade Route via Kham officially formed, even though this trading route had existed since the early time of Song dynasty. Kangding, which also name Dartsedo was the main site for Tea-horse Trading in Kham.

Generally, the Tea-Horse Trade Route includes 2 major branches, which ran separately through Amdo and Kham to connect the hinterland of China and Tibet together. Since the Ming dynasty, the route via Kham became the main flow.

The major routes include:

Route 1: Departure the Tea-planting area of Ya’an (near Chengdu) to Kahngding, vis southern route leading to Lhasa and then onward to Nepal, India…
Route 2: Departure from Middle part of Yunnan via Lijiang, Zhongdian, Deqin onto Tibetan plateau to Lhasa, along Himalaya range into India continental.

Tea-Horse Trade Route formed in AD 6th century, ends in the end of Qing dynasty (1644-1911), however, it was in use again during the II World War when China was invaded by Japanese troops, This ancient Tea-Horse trading Route became the only one route that the horse caravans were on this route again to transport the military goods from India to mainland of China to supporting the Anti-Japanese War until the victory eventually arrived.

Important Events:

• Human and animal trails were naturally formed;
• Yunnan – Tibet horse Trading route formed in The late sixth century AD
• Tang dynasty (618A.D-907A.D), Tea-horse Trading largely developed via Amdo- Tibet route;
• In the seventh century, Tibetan Empire established, the army of Tibetan Empire southward to build bridges on Jinsha rive to connect Yunnan and Tibet together;
• Song Dynasty (960A.D-1279A.D), the major Tea-horse trading route was moved to the southwest of China, Sichuan and Yunnan were the two main provinces to develop Tea-horse trading;
• Yuan dynasty (1206A.D-1368A.D), Tea-horse Trading Route were well developed during this period;
• Ming dynasty (1368A.D-1644A.D), Kangding (Dartsedo) became the major site for tra-horse trading
• During the II World War, this route became the international business trading channel, as well as the Strategically route in the southwest of China;