Abbasid Caliphate and Tang Dynasty in the ninth and tenth centuries CE: Trade, acculturation, and transformation

After discussing what aspects of human interaction can be used to define the Silk Road, this chapter explores the most populous and cosmopolitan cities on the silk roads during the Tang Dynasty and Abbasid caliphate, Chang’an (modern Xi’an) and Baghdad. It compares their layout, the ethnicities of inhabitants, and the trade and interaction that connected them to the rest of the Eurasian Silk Road. Discussion of the Famen Temple in Tang China reveals its importance for relic veneration (a finger bone of the Buddha) and associated material culture of the highest quality including imported glass from western Asia. The ninth-century Belitung shipwreck-an Arab dhow that sank in Indonesian waters-provides evidence for exchange between China and western Asia. Its cargo consisted mainly of large numbers of glazed ceramics as well as ‘trial’ blue and white wares, which show not only West Asian demand for Chinese products but the exchange of people, designs, and technologies across Eurasia via the maritime routes of the day.