Tracing the Origin of the Ancient Tea Horse Road

 

Tracing the Origin of the Ancient Tea Horse Road

 

An ancient tea-horse road "prospered by tea and born for horses" has accumulated a rich history of thousands of years.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road was another transportation network in China that connected China to Asian and European countries before shipping became popular. The Ancient Tea Horse Road’s status in history is no less than that of the Silk Road. Based on its geographical location, it is also known as the "Silk Road of the South".

Lacuo told Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing: The reason why the "Tea-Horse Ancient Road" got its name is because the representative commodities of trade are tea and horses, as well as medicinal materials, salt, cloth and fur, etc., with horses mules and donkeys are the main modes of transportation.

Lacuo and Agudengba left Myanmar. On the way to Yunnan, Lacuo said:

Historians trace the origins of the "Ancient Tea Horse Road" to the Tang Dynasty, when tea was transported from Yunnan to Beijing, Tibet and other Southeast Asian countries. In the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, the "Ancient Tea Horse Road" became increasingly prosperous, and until the Qing Dynasty it was still the main trade route for Pu'er tea and other commodities. Like the "Silk Road", the "Tea-Horse Ancient Road" is not a "road", but a transportation network extending from Pu'er County, Yunnan. The route we are walking is the Yunnan-Tibet Tea Horse Ancient Road.

Lacuo said:

We can reach Lashihai by walking along the Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road. Lashihai is a charming place. There is the Ancient Tea Horse Road and the largest plateau lake in Lijiang. You can overlook the snow-capped mountains in the mist, enjoy the gentle wind and clear clouds, and feel the natural scenery.

"Lashi" is the ancient Naxi translation, "La" means barren dam, and "Shi" means new, which means new barren dam. About 30,000 waterbirds come here to spend the winter every year. No matter when you come, you will be surrounded by mountains and rivers, surrounded by greenery.

Although the place name Lashihai has the word "sea" in it, it actually refers to a pale blue freshwater lake and winding mountain roads. There is no public transportation to Lashihai, and our horse team can go directly.

When we set foot on this land, you will feel its thousands of years of history. It winds among the lofty mountains. It was once the main artery connecting Yunnan to the mainland and the world. It is called the Ancient Tea Horse Road, which allowed horses to carry Pu'er tea to all directions.

Lacuo and Agudengba were on the mountain road to Lashihai. The routes of each caravan were different, and the scenery was also different, but the general direction was the so-called Tea Horse Road route.

There are many horse farms in Lashihai. The horses in Yunnan are short-footed horses, which are the "Yunnan horses" known for their endurance in history. They are the most important means of transportation on the Tea-Horse Ancient Road. The characteristic of Yunnan horses is their stability and endurance, which makes them suitable for dangerous mountain roads. Although it is not a galloping horse, chasing grass in all directions, it is very effective. Listening to the leader's shouts and the sound of horse hooves trampling forward will give you a sense of traveling back in time.

About an hour and a half later, the horse team led by Lacuo came down the mountain and arrived at a horse farm.

The horse farms here are basically established by villagers and do not have their own direct sales channels. They rely on intermediate channels to attract caravans or tourists who stop by.

A tourist may experience the feeling of riding a horse for the first time. He was a little nervous at the beginning. He stepped on the stirrups with both feet and held the reins with both hands. He was so nervous that he did not dare to move. He was afraid of falling off the horse, and even more afraid that the horse would get angry and throw him off. Just like the breed of horse, this Yunnan horse really bounces when it walks, making people feel uncomfortable all over.

Agudengba said to Lacuo: I originally thought that the horseman was galloping on the prairie in a heroic manner. It was a beautiful scene, and I thought the horseman must also be very happy. I also wanted to have this feeling, but I saw that the environment here is completely different from the grassland. There is no vast land, only rolling mountains, and naturally the horses cannot gallop.

Lacuo said: In fact, the horse also wants to run, but the environment makes it unable to do so.

After coming out of the racecourse, we walked on a flat road for more than a hundred meters and entered a village. I saw a farmhouse building a courtyard wall. The houses in the village all had white walls and gray tiles, and the courtyards were not big, but they were very clean.

Lacuo told Agudengba: Most of the village is Naxi, and there are also other ethnic minorities, but the population is not large.

The Yunnan horses made a series of clattering hoofbeats on the cement road, echoing back and forth. People who want to come to the village have long been accustomed to and like this sound, because this sound brings vitality and wealth to the quiet village. After passing through the village, we went up the mountain behind the village.

The road is getting narrower and steeper, only more than one meter wide, and it is all dirt. On both sides of the road are mountains that are too high to be seen, and the mountains are covered with vegetation, including pine and bamboo. At the foot of the mountain, the flat land only 20 meters wide from the path is planted with apricot trees, plum trees, and peach trees. Occasionally, you can see a small cornfield only a few feet wide. Corn grows very short. The varieties of corn here are different from those in the north. The corn stalks are only half as tall as those in the north.

When passing by the village, Agudemba said: I can see that this place is not rich. I don't know how the people in the mountains here can get rich without much land resources.

As the horse walked through the deep mountains, the branches and leaves on the roadside would be scraped against him if he was not careful. Agudenba would dodge from time to time. Agudengba did not ride the Yunnan horse. He still led his favorite donkey Mahu.

The middle of the dirt road has long been formed into a stone slab, and on one side of the dirt road is a long rut-like groove that is 30 centimeters deep. This is the path for horses to walk. Wherever the horse passed, dust kicked up.

Donkey Mahu is not stupid. He is as smart as the Yunnan horse. He knows that his hooves will slip and become unstable when walking on the soil that has been crusted, so he chooses to walk where the soil is not crusted.

Along the way, the dust and smoke raised by the cavalry was like traveling through time, bringing Agudenba's mind to this place a long time ago. It was on this ancient Tea Horse Road that the caravans at that time transported salt, opium, tea, silk and Yunnan local specialties and other materials to Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Nepal, Myanmar and other places on horseback, and then exchanged them for tall Tibetan horses. , Mongolian horses, furs, medicines and other supplies. While they went through untold hardships to send out supplies and bring them back, they also brought back civilization and culture.

This long paved stone road is enough to prove how busy this place used to be.

Lacuo led the horse team from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. Along the way, you can see jungles, fruit trees, raised dust, villages and rolling mountains in front of you, which makes people smell the unique smell of trees and soil in the mountains. At this time, he was no longer nervous. Chu Sanxing straightened his back and rode on the Yunnan horse, while A Zhuo rode on the back of his own white-hoofed horse, feeling particularly comfortable.

Lacuo opened his throat and sang the Naxi tune "Footprints of the Caravan":

 

Oops, I'm here again

Ah Luo Luo, I can’t forget the past here

Looking up, I saw Jade Dragon Snow Mountain again

Go ahead, the horse bells jingle

 

Oops, I'm here again

Ah Luo Luo, I can’t forget the expectations of my ancestors

The sky is blue and white clouds wrap around the snow-capped peaks

In the ancient Dian Kingdom, the footprints of the caravan reached into the distance

 

Lijiang City is full of fragrant mountain flowers again

The sound of horse hooves echoed on the mountain road again

The Ancient Tea Horse Road brings hope along the way

The ancient and modern caravans traveled through countless time

 

Horseback carries the historical wind and frost of time

The caravan carries the hardships and vicissitudes of life

From ancient times to the present, people still come and go here.

The story of the caravan is still extending and heading forward