As early as about 500,000 to 6.5438+0.7 million years ago, Yuanmou people, Lantian people, Beijingers and other primitive people lived in this ancient land of East Asia. In order to survive and multiply, our ancestors blazed the earliest road in China under the extremely harsh natural environment and extremely low productivity.
In the late Neolithic Age, 4,000 years ago, there were records of cattle and horses transporting human beings in China, and primitive temporary simple bridges appeared. According to legend, the ancestor of China, the Yellow Emperor, ordered Shu Hai to cross this road, hence the name of this road. Seeing the grass blowing with the wind, the Yellow Emperor invented the wheel, so he made a vehicle with "horizontal wood as the porch and straight wood as the axis", which made great contributions to transportation, so he was honored as "Xuanyuan". With the appearance of vehicles, there is a roadway, and a new situation has emerged in human land transportation. According to Textual Research on Ancient History, "The Yellow Emperor is a car, and its road is long. When it is a bull, when the rest is a horse, Xi Zhong rides. " There is a story in Shun Dian: Yao is old, and after repeated tests, he chose Shun as his successor and passed on the throne to him. After Shun ascended the throne, the first important thing he did was to "open four doors to achieve four wisdom" and "connect the eyes and ears of all directions". He visited Mount Tai in February, Hengshan in May, Huashan in August and Hengshan in November. [Difficult, all on the road] It can be seen that Shun Di attaches great importance to developing traffic and opening up roads. Yu Xia's career also began with "publishing wood with mountains and laying the foundation for mountains and rivers" (Shangshu Gong Yu). He took a bus by land, a boat by water, pried in the mud, and paddled in the mountains ("Historical Records of Xia Benji"), and [there are still many means of transportation] he also traveled several times on the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.
The Shang Dynasty (BC16th century ~ BC110th century) attached great importance to road traffic, and Shang Tang's ancestors "served cows and rode horses" for long-distance business, which opened the history of using animal power as transportation power. In ancient literature, there are records of merchants building and maintaining roads. At that time, people already knew how to ram soil to build roads and stabilize the soil with lime [ancient pavement technology seems to have never improved]. From the excavation of Yin Ruins in Shang Dynasty, it was found that there was a pavement paved with broken pottery pieces and gravel [in this way, the ability to resist rain erosion was improved], and a big wooden bridge appeared. After the long-term development of Xia and Shang Dynasties, from the Western Zhou Dynasty in 1066 BC to 77 1 year BC, it can be said that the road of China has begun to take shape.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty (1 1 century BC to 77 1 years ago), the scale and level of roads developed greatly, and a relatively systematic road administration appeared. After the demise of Shang Dynasty in Ji Fa, Zhou Wuwang, in addition to the capital city Haojiang (near Xi 'an today), also built the East Capital Luoyi (now Luoyang) at the suggestion of Duke Ji Dan, in order to control the newly acquired large territory in the east and deal with the remnants of Shang Dynasty. In order to effectively play the role of Beijing and Beijing's political, economic and cultural centers, a broad and flat avenue called "Zhoudao" was built between them, and different levels of radial roads were built to the east, north, south and southeast with Luoyi as the center. Zhou Dao is the lifeline of the royal family in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the central axis of national transportation. The Book of Songs Dadong says: "Zhou Dao is like a stone [stone? ], as straight as a vector; What a gentleman does, what a villain sees; Whatever, just sneak out! " It means that on this wide, flat and straight road, people can't help crying when they see princes and nobles taking away their hard fruits. The Book of Songs Dadong also said: "There is a dispute in the north of Victoria, and the west handle is exposed." There is a big dipper in the north of the sky, and the road around it is like a spoon handle facing west, connecting seven stars. In the history of ancient traffic development in China, the significance of building Zhoudao cannot be underestimated. Not only the political, economic and cultural centers of Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties were located on this axis, but also in the later Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, this traffic line was an artery [a horizontal line] that crossed the east and west. Zhou Dao plays a fundamental role in the history of China's economic and cultural development.
In addition, the planning, standards, management, maintenance, greening and service facilities along the road network were also established in the Western Zhou Dynasty. First of all, roads are divided into urban areas and suburbs. The former is called "country" and the latter is called "wild", which are managed by officials named "craftsmen" and "old people" respectively, which can be said to be the first division of modern urban roads and highways. Urban roads are divided into four types: longitude, latitude, circular and wild. The north-south road is called longitude, and the east-west road is called latitude. The city has nine meridians and nine latitudes, forming a chessboard shape, with the city as a ring and the city as a wild place. The width of warp, weft, loop and field is different, and the unit is rail. Each rail is eight weeks wide and about 0.2 meters in circumference. 9 lanes (about 14.4m) are coated by warp and weft, 7 lanes (about 1 1.2m) are coated by ring, and 5 lanes (about 8m) are coated on site. Suburban roads are divided into five grades: Road, Road, Road, Road, Road and Road, and different widths are stipulated according to their functions, just like modern technical standards. The road can accommodate three tracks, the road can accommodate two tracks, the painting can accommodate one track, the pot can take an ox cart, and the road is a field path for horses to walk. In terms of road administration, the court has "Sikong" in charge of civil buildings and roads, stipulating that "Sikong should be inspected on schedule and repaired in time; For example, "after the rain clears, the road is removed, and the water dries up into a beam"; And "arranging trees to show the road and keeping the road on site" is the bud of road maintenance, greening and marking in the future. And "where the country is wild, there is land and food in ten miles; Accommodation has three miles, accommodation has a road house, and the road house has a Committee; There is a city in Wuli, the city is named after the pavilion, and the pavilion has goods "; The completeness of its road service facilities can be imagined. The above situation shows that the road of the Western Zhou Dynasty has reached a quite perfect level [amazing].
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 ~ 22 BC1), social productive forces developed unprecedentedly, and agriculture, handicrafts and commerce flourished. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States was the overlord, with frequent car wars and busy traffic. The role of roads became more and more important, and even the quality of a country's roads was a sign of its rise and fall. Mandarin contains a list of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. When it passed the state of Chen, it saw that the roads were in disrepair, the rivers had no bridges and the hotels were unattended. Some people predicted that the country would perish, and it really came true. Large-scale economic and cultural exchanges, military diplomatic activities and the gathering and dispersion of personnel and materials have greatly promoted road construction. Zhoudao not only continues to play an important role in its axis, but also further improves the crisscross land trunk lines and branch lines on both sides of the strait. Coupled with the development of water transport, it effectively connects the upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the banks of the Huaihe River and Jianghan Basin. [Water transportation is also an important part of road transportation]
At that time, digging holes in steep mountain walls, inserting wood as beams, laying boards and setting railings beside them were a major feature of ancient road construction in China. Especially the praise ramp built by Qin State is the most famous. During Qin Huiwang's reign, in order to overcome the barrier of Qinling Mountains and open the road from Shaanxi to Sichuan, he began to build a sloping plank road. This plank road starts from the inclined Shui Gu, southwest of Meixian County at the northern foot of Qinling Mountains 15km, and ends at Baoshui Valley, 5km north of Baocheng County at the southern foot of Qinling Mountains, so it is called Praise Inclined Road. This plank road, with a total length of more than 200 kilometers, is made by drilling holes in steep rocks and laying boards. In addition to praising the ramp, in the next few hundred years, plank roads such as Jinniu Road, Ziwu Road and Luo Luo Lu were successively dug. These projects are extremely arduous. First, the ancient and primitive method of "fire and water shock" was used to break the rocks, and then holes 30 cm square and 50 cm deep were cut on the cliff wall, which were divided into three rows, namely, upper, middle and lower rows, and all of them were inserted into wooden stakes. Then put a canopy on the upper row of piles, pave a road on the middle row of piles, and support wood as a frame on the lower row of piles. In this way, we can see the plank road from a distance, just like an attic in the air, which is spectacular. [It's a miracle] Up to now, there are still many clearly identifiable traces of plank roads in Taibai County, Shaanxi Province. Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi records: "Bashu is in the south of Guanzhong, with a long plank road, but everything is impassable, but the praise ramp is the hub of its mouth", which is strategically the "throat of Shu" and has always been a battleground for military strategists. For example, in 206 BC, there was a famous story of "building a plank road in the Ming Dynasty and crossing the old warehouse in secret".
In addition to the plank road in Qin State, other major road projects include: the important passage from Duying to Xinzheng operated by Chu State, the east-west tunnel across Taihang Mountain opened by Jin State, the Huanghuai traffic network extending in all directions built by Qilu and Yan State, and the traffic lines leading to the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Great Wall. At this point, the Central Plains people wearing long-sleeved robes, Rong Di people who are good at archery and horseback riding, Jingchu people who live in Yunmeng Jianghan, Wu Yue people who have long hair and play in water, and Bashu people who like to dance and dance, have become one, laying the foundation for the further reunification of the Chinese nation.
The Qin Dynasty (2265438 BC+0 ~ 206 BC) was the period when the national land transportation network was formed. As early as when Qin sent troops to wipe out the six countries, the king of Qin began to dismantle the high-wall barriers built privately in various places and remove the barriers that hindered traffic. [The State of Qin in the Overload Era] After Qin Shihuang unified China, he realized the "consistency of cars and tracks". Vehicles all over the country use the same width gauge (6 Qin feet wide, equivalent to 1.38 meters), which makes vehicle manufacturing and road construction have regulations. This means that the main parts of the car have a unified standard, and the replacement is fast and convenient. The requirements and methods of this "standardization" are very advanced, which meet the needs of civil engineering and long-distance transportation in the Qin Dynasty, and put forward higher requirements for road construction, which has great economic value and social benefits.
According to the requirement of "cars on the same track", Qin Shihuang began to devote himself to building a road network centered on Xianyang and leading to the whole country. The project lasted for ten years, and its scale was huge, which cost countless manpower and material resources, comparable to the road network in Rome. According to the biography of Han Jia Shan: "In order to pursue the way of the world, the poor in the east, Qi and Yan, Wu and Chu in the Antarctic are above the rivers and lakes, and the seaside scenery is complete." The road is fifty paces wide and the trees are three feet high. The outside is thick, hidden in the golden vertebra, and the tree is loose "; According to historical records, Qin Shihuang traveled all over the country from 220 BC to 2 1 1 year BC, and most of them traveled by car, which shows the wide road network. How far can the motorcade go in a day? How to solve the accommodation? ]
There is a unified quality standard for the chidao in Qin dynasty: the width of the pavement is 50 steps, about 70 meters, and the principle of alignment is to take it as straight as possible; Subgrade should be higher than the ground on both sides to facilitate drainage, and the pavement should be compacted by hammer to increase its compactness; [Road maintenance work is amazing, otherwise it will be bumpy and basically unable to drive] Plant a pine tree every three feet along the road and think it is a street tree; In addition to the three zhangs in the middle of the road for the emperor's exclusive use, sidewalks were also opened on both sides; Every 10 mile, a pavilion will be built as the public security management office, pedestrian greeting station and postal delivery hub of this section.
Let's take the defense project of Beizhi Road, which connects Beitong No.9 Hospital, as an example to see the actual situation of the equator in Qin Dynasty. According to ancient records, from 2 12 BC to 2 10 BC, Qin Shihuang ordered the construction of a straight road about 1400 km long, and ordered Meng Tian and Fu Su to command 200,000 troops to station at the border and build the straight road. This avenue passes through Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces, passes through 14 county, and reaches Jiuyuan County (now Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region). It took only two and a half years to build. After completion, the width of the straight road is generally about 60 meters, and 10- 12 trucks can run side by side. [What cars were running on these roads at that time? ] The widest part can even be used as a runway for modern medium-sized aircraft to take off and land. Along the way, branches are scattered, and the width of each branch can accommodate two to four trucks driving side by side. After this straight road was officially used, Qin Shihuang's cavalry set out from his military command center-Yunyang Guanglin Palace (now Liang Wudi Village, Chunhua County, Shaanxi Province) and arrived at the foot of Yinshan Mountain for three days and three nights to attack the Huns. According to archaeological findings, there are still 90-mile-long straight remains clearly visible in Dongsheng County, Inner Mongolia.
In addition to crossing the road and going straight, five-foot roads have been built in the southwest mountainous areas, and so-called "new roads" have also been built in Hunan, Jiangxi and other areas. These roads with different grades and characteristics constitute a road network with Xianyang as the center and reaching the whole country. In addition to building roads outside the city, there are also outstanding points in urban road construction. For example, in the building of Epang Palace, a "Pavilion Road" was built in the form of an elevated road, which extended from your Royal Highness to Zhong Nanshan in the south, forming a spectacular scene of "many empty places, no rainbow".
The Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) continued to expand and extend the original roads on the basis of the Qin Dynasty, forming a transportation network with the capital as the center and radiating in all directions. For example, from Chang 'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, to the east, out of Hanguguan (now northeast of Lingbao, Henan Province), through Luoyang, to Dingtao, to Linzi, which is the main line of the East Road; From Chang 'an to the north and directly to Jiuyuan County (Baotou City), it is the main line of North Road; From Chang 'an to Longxi County (now Lintao, Gansu Province), it is the northwest trunk line. Since the opening of Hexi and the Western Regions in the 2nd century BC, this trunk line can be extended to countries in the Western Regions through the Hexi Corridor. This is the world-famous "Silk Road"; Crossing the Yellow River from Pujin (now Yongji West, Shanxi Province), passing Pingyang (now northwest of Linfen) and Jinyang (now south of Taiyuan), taking Tongpingcheng (now east of Datong City) as the Hedong trunk line; From Chang 'an to the southwest through Hanzhong, it reaches the capital and as far away as Yunnan, which is the southwest trunk line; From Chang 'an to the southeast, out of Wuguan, across Nanyang, to Jiangling, and further south, is the main line of South Road. In addition, there are some feeder lines and water transport trunk lines leading to the whole country.
In terms of post and post management system, the Han dynasty also inherited the system of the Qin dynasty and made it more perfect. According to its size, the post station is divided into four categories: post station, pavilion station, post station and post station. Generally speaking, there is a post station in five miles, a newsstand in ten miles and a post station or post station in thirty miles, which is about a day's journey. According to the Han Shu Guanbai Gongqing Table, there were 29,635 pavilions in the Western Han Dynasty, so it was estimated that the trunk roads in the * * * at that time were nearly 1.5 million kilometers.
The world-famous Silk Road, connecting Eurasia, has formed a commercial route since 1 century BC, and is named after China's silk was transported across the desert to Europe. However, Zhang Qian was sent to the Western Regions twice by the Western Han Dynasty, mainly from 138 BC to 1 15 BC, which is recorded in the history books. The main route of the Silk Road starts from Chang 'an (now Xi) and reaches Dunhuang along the Hexi Corridor. From there, it is divided into two channels, north and south, crossing the Tarim River, and both channels reach Mulucheng (now Soviet territory) in the west. Then he crossed the entire resting place (in today's Iran) and arrived in Andu City (in today's antakya). It is divided into two ways, all the way to the east coast of the Mediterranean and spread to all parts of Rome; All the way to Sidon (now Lebanon) on the east coast of the Mediterranean, out of the Mediterranean. In the 3rd century, there was a shorter route to the north of Tianshan Mountain, which reached near the Black Sea along the westbound Ili River. The Silk Road not only connects China, the Middle East and European countries economically, but also culturally.
In the post-Han period, when Jitouguan in Baocheng, Shaanxi Province repaired the plank road, it passed through the stone wall standing on the south bank of Baohe River, which was called Baoping. A tunnel with a length of 14m, a width of 3.95 ~ 4.25m and a height of 4 ~ 4.75m was excavated by flint method, which is the famous Shimen, and there are stone carvings "Ode to Shimen" and "Ode to Shimen". The flint method is to burn the rock with firewood first, then smash it with thick vinegar, then remove it with tools and gradually dig it into a cave.
In the Sui Dynasty (58 1 ~ 6 18), craftsmen Li Chun and others built the first circular hollow stone arch bridge on the Weihe River in Zhao County (now Zhao County, Hebei Province), which was an outstanding achievement in bridge-building technology. In road construction, there are thousands of miles of imperial roads. "Zi Tongzhi Jane Sui Collection" said: "From Yulin in the north to Yuji in the east, it is 3,000 miles long and has a hundred paces, and the whole country is imperial." This shows the scale.
The Tang Dynasty (6 18 ~ 907) was the heyday of ancient road development in China. Shortly after Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he issued an imperial edict to keep the national roads open. There are also clear regulations on road maintenance. It is forbidden to destroy roads at will, occupy road land, and cut down trees on the roadside indiscriminately, and pay attention to maintenance at any time. The Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the management of post stations, and information was transmitted quickly. In an emergency, the post horse can travel more than 500 miles day and night. In the Tang Dynasty, mounds were set up along the road to record the mileage, which is the origin of today's milestone.
Chang 'an, the capital at that time, was not only connected with the eastern region by waterways and canals, but also a hub of domestic and international land transportation, and has become one of the largest cities in the world. The scale of Chang 'an city wall in Tang Dynasty was unprecedented. The circumference is 36.7 kilometers, the length from north to south is 865 1 m, and the width from east to west is 972 1 m, which is roughly a square, and the area is equivalent to 10 times that of Xi 'an today. The road network in the city is checkerboard, with north-south streets 1 1 and east-west streets 14, which divides the whole city into more than 100 neat squares. [spectacular! The streets are busy, bustling and very lively. More trees, scattered streams, countless gardens and blooming peonies have been planted on both sides of the street, making the whole city very neat and beautiful. Suzaku Street, located on the central axis, is147m wide and divides Chang 'an into two parts. The west area of drug rehabilitation center is called Chang 'an County, and the east area of drug rehabilitation center is called Wannian County. Suzaku is paved with bricks on the road surface, and there are drains and trees on both sides of the road. Its layout is reasonable and magnificent, which not only sets an example for China's future urban road construction, but also has a far-reaching impact in Japan. Out of Chang 'an, a land transportation network extending in all directions is formed in the east, south, west and north. It not only leads to all parts of the country, but also has frequent traffic at home and abroad. In addition, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other cities, with the development of politics, economy and culture in the Tang Dynasty, have also become important transportation centers at home and abroad.
In the Song Dynasty (960 ~ 1279) and the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the road construction in China entered a new stage of development, especially in urban road construction and traffic management, which was obviously different from that in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The urban construction in this period realized the organic combination of street and city. On both sides of the city's main roads, it has become a gathering place for all walks of life for the first time. Urban residents walked out of the closed and isolated walls in Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties and devoted themselves to an unprecedented active urban life. Restaurant and tea shop Goulan tile house is open day and night, and artists and vendors crowded the streets and blocked the alleys. Bianjing (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was rebuilt and became a metropolis with a population of over one million, with more than 6,400 shops in the city. Bianjing Central Street is called Yujie Street, which is 200 steps wide and has royal cloisters on both sides of the road. The government of the Northern Song Dynasty changed the old rule that residents in Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties were not allowed to open the door to the street or engage in business activities outside the designated market, and allowed citizens to open shops and shops in the Imperial Gallery and do business along the street. In order to enliven the economic and cultural life, the curfew was relaxed, and the gates were closed late and opened early. On the Imperial Street, a military patrol shop is set up every 200 to 300 steps to patrol the corner of the shop during the day to maintain traffic order and divert people and cars; Guard official buildings and commercial buildings at night to prevent theft and fire and prevent accidents. This is probably the earliest patrol in history. There were buses in the Tang dynasty, which were called oil-walled cars at that time. By the Southern Song Dynasty, the oil tankers in Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), the capital, had been improved. The car body is very long, with carriages on it, windows on the wall and curtains on the windows, which are luxuriantly decorated. There is a satin mattress in the carriage, which is very exquisite and can be used for sightseeing for six people. This is the earliest bus, and Lin 'an is also the earliest city with buses in the world. [Is there a coach? ]
During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, a dense post road traffic network centered on Beijing was built. The postal trunk line radiates to all directions of our country. Especially in the Yuan Dynasty, the transportation network of the mainland since the Han and Tang Dynasties was expanded in an all-round way, further covering the vast areas of the Asian continent, including the Arabian Peninsula. Under the command of Genghis Khan and other promising leaders, Mongolian ministries entered the east and went out in the west, and there were many post stations in Enemy at the Gates, with roads connected and endless transportation. In the heyday of Mongolian military power, the road reached the Danube River in Eastern Europe. After the Jin regime and the Southern Song regime were destroyed in the south, the vast territory of southern China was also included in its own territory. Compared with the Silk Road in Han and Tang Dynasties, the road in Yuan and Ming Dynasties was larger, more efficient and played a more direct and important role. [awesome! It is hard to imagine]
The Qing Dynasty (1644 ~1911) was the last feudal dynasty in China, which laid the basic map of modern China. Although there is no qualitative breakthrough in traffic, traffic facilities, traffic power and traffic management compared with previous dynasties, after repeated rectification by the Qing government, the national road layout is more reasonable and effective than before. In the Qing Dynasty, postal routes were divided into three grades. One is the "official road", which radiates from Beijing to all parties and mainly leads to provincial capitals. The second is the "main road", which leads from the provincial capital to important local cities; The third is the "path", which is a branch line from the main road or important cities around the country to the town. Guanma Road, a national first-class official road, is located outside Donghua Gate in Beijing. As the national transportation hub, it manages the main road systems such as North Road, West Road, South Road and East Road. The most important part of the Guanma North Road system is the trunk line leading to the northeast, that is, the official road extending from Beijing via Shanhaiguan and Shengjing (now Shenyang) to jaxa and Miaotun (the estuary of Heilongjiang) respectively, which is an international channel leading to the Korean Peninsula. Also belonging to the Guanma North Road system are the trunk lines leading to Hulun and Chaketu respectively, as well as the large cross passage blocked. These roads played an important strategic role in the struggle of developing and defending northern Xinjiang in Qing Dynasty. Guanma West Road system includes Lanzhou Lu Guan and Sichuan Lu Guan. The former goes from Beijing via Baoding, Taiyuan, Xi and Lanzhou to Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang respectively, and leads to countries in Central Asia and West Asia. The latter is the trunk line leading to the southwest, from Xi 'an to Yunguichuan, and extends westward to Lhasa, Tibet. In the process of the establishment and consolidation of the Qing Empire, this Guanma West Road system covering the whole western region of China played a very important role. Guanma South Road system includes three trunk lines: Lu Guan in Yunnan, Lu Guan in Guilin and Lu Guan in Guangdong. The first two trunk lines run from Taiyuan south across the Yellow River to Luoyang, then to Kunming or Guilin, and all the way to zhina Peninsula. The third main road, the main road in Lu Guan, Guangdong, starts from Beijing, passes through Economic South, Xuzhou, Hefei, Nanchang, Ganzhou and Shaoguan, and reaches Guangzhou directly. This is the main official road from Beijing to Guangzhou that runs through the north and south of China since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It has always been regarded as the "road of envoys". Guangzhou was once the only port for foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty, so the Qing government paid special attention to this trunk line. The only trunk line of Guanma East Road is Lu Guan, Fujian, which passes through important cities such as Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Fuzhou. It was an important way for the Qing government to survive economically. In addition, there is the Yangtze River official road that runs across the east and west, and so on. It was through these roads that the Qing government realized political control and economic exploitation of provinces, cities, counties, towns and even natural villages. In order to survive and develop, people of all ethnic groups in China have realized economic and cultural exchanges through this huge transportation network. [Is the road still poor? Heavy wagons haven't appeared yet]
In the Qing Dynasty, a "postal route" with a length of about 6.5438+0.5 million kilometers was built by using the original postal route. There have also been new improvements in road construction and maintenance, and the regulations are very specific. In low-lying areas, there are "overlapping roads" with high subgrade, while in soft soil areas, the method of paving roads with straw, like geotextiles today, has made many new contributions to road construction.
The tea road in Qing Dynasty took Shanxi and Hebei as hubs, crossed the Great Wall in the north, ran through Mongolia, and passed through Siberia to the hinterland of Europe. After the decline of the Silk Road, another land-based international trade road emerged in the Qing Dynasty. It began in the Han and Tang Dynasties and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the road construction in China was the end of the post road era, and it was replaced by the rising automobile highway. Since then, the focus of modern road development history has shifted from the East to the West.
In ancient China, roads were gravel or dirt roads, and there were no roads paved with asphalt or cement. It was not until the end of19th century that railways and highways appeared in China. 1876, British imperialism deceived the Manchu government and built the Wusong-Shanghai railway without authorization. This is the first railway in China. 188 1 The Tangshan-Xugezhuang railway is the first railway invested and preserved in China. The first highway in China is the Longzhou-Nakan highway built by Su Yuanchun when he was stationed on the southern border of Guangxi in 1908. Unfortunately, it's not all finished yet. 19 13, a 50-kilometer-long Changsha-Xiangtan expressway was built in Hunan province. With the rise of modern means of transportation, such as trains, ships and automobiles, and the continuous development of railways, highways and air routes, the ancient post road transportation system in China has finally completed its historical mission and gradually tends to collapse and abandon.