Sogdian's Influence Of Chinese Merchants In Tang Dynasty

Silk Road trade: A preliminary study on why Sogdian merchants dominate Chinese merchants in Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty was long regarded as the Golden age in the history of China. As the largest empire in the period, it enjoys a dominant role in many areas like military and economy. Despite the privilege, Tang merchants were not successful in the trading along silk road, which was dominated by the sogdian, a group of Iranian people living in the Central Asia. Sogdian occupied a key position along the Silk Road, playing a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia and dominating the East-West trade. This studies focus on investigating why Sogdian can dominate in Silk Road Trade in geographical, political and cultural perspective. Also, the disadvantage of Chinese in Silk Road Trade was also investigated.
Geographical
It was mainly centered around their main city of Samarkand(撒馬爾干). Though the exact limits of Sogdian region are poorly known, it lay north of Bactria(大夏), east of Khwarezm(花剌子模), and southeast of Kangju(康國) between the Oxus (Amu Darya阿姆河) and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya錫爾河), embracing the fertile valley of the Zarafshan (ancient Polytimetus). Sogdian region is highly accessible to a wide-range of countries, including China, India, Mongolia, Persian Empire, Byzantine Empire, etc. This characteristic contributed to the reason why Sogdian region was the center of Central Asian Trade, connecting to Mideterranean region, East Asia and