Serica

Japanese: Serica

…However, after the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty (1662-1722), as British trade with China flourished, tea exports increased dramatically, replacing silk textiles. Then, as the silk textile industry in Japan and Western Europe developed, the amount of exports gradually decreased. [Taketoshi Sato]
[Spread across the world]
Just as the ancient Romans called China Serica (the country of silk), Chinese silk textiles were an important trade item and were exported far and wide to foreign countries via land routes on the Silk Road and sea routes in the South Seas since before the Han Dynasty. Silk embroidery from the Warring States period unearthed at Pazyryk in eastern Altai, Han brocade unearthed at Palmyra in Syria, and the large quantities of silk textiles from the Han to Tang dynasties unearthed at various points along the Silk Road tell us how this happened.

From "History of East-West Negotiations"

…
[Development of East-West relations]
Zhang Qian's westward travels in the 2nd century BCE and the Han's management of the Western Regions stimulated exchanges between the East and the West via the "Oasis Road." Western products such as Dayuan's famous horses, known as "blood-sweating horses," grapes, alfalfa, and pomegranates were imported to China during the Han dynasty, and Chinese products such as silk were transported to the Roman world in the west, leading to China becoming known to the Romans as "Serica, the Land of Silk" around the time of Christ. Fragments of Han-era brocade and brocade have also been unearthed from the ruins of Palmyra, an oasis city in the Syrian Desert located along this route, testifying that this route was indeed the "Silk Road."

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Serica" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…しかし清代康熙年間(1662‐1722)以後，イギリスの中国貿易が盛んになると絹織物にかわって茶の輸出が激増し，やがて日本，西欧の絹織物業が発達し，輸出額がしだいに減少することになった。【佐藤武敏】
［世界各地への伝播］
　古代ローマで中国を呼ぶのにセリカSerica(絹の国)の名が当てられたように，中国の絹織物は重要な交易品として，古く漢代以前からシルクロードの陸路を経て，また南海の海路によって遠く国外に輸出された。アルタイ東部のパジリクから出土した戦国時代の絹の刺繡や，シリアのパルミュラ出土の漢代錦，そしてシルクロードの各地点から出土した漢～唐代の多量の絹織物は，その経緯を伝えるものである。…

【東西交渉史】より

…
［東西交渉の発達］
　前2世紀の張騫の西方旅行と漢の西域経営は，〈オアシスの道〉を通じての東西の交流を活発にした。汗血馬と呼ばれる大宛の名馬や，ブドウ，ウマゴヤシ，ザクロなどの西方の物産が漢代の中国に輸入され，また中国の絹に代表される諸物産が西方のローマ人の世界へと運ばれ，中国は紀元前後のローマ人に〈絹の国Serica〉として知られるようになった。このルート上に位置するシリア砂漠のオアシス都市パルミュラの遺跡からも，漢代の綾や錦の断片が出土し，このルートがまさしく〈絹の道〉であったことを証言している。…

※「Serica」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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