茶马互市茶馬互市
Term · History
tea-horse trade
Literal meaning
tea-horse + mutual market
Definition#
State-managed exchange of Chinese tea for horses (and other goods) with Tibetan, Mongol and other frontier peoples, from the Tang–Song to the Qing. The Song formalised it (in 1074 an official was sent to Sichuan to buy tea for horses); the Ming ran tea-horse offices in the northwest and Sichuan; the Qing abolished the tea-horse censor in 1668 and halted Gansu tea-horse exchange again in 1735.
Translation and usage#
| Language | Use | Alternatives & cautions |
|---|---|---|
| English | tea-horse trade state barter of tea for frontier horses translation |
Also acceptable
Avoid Tea Horse Road the road network, a 1990 coinage; the trade is older and institutional |
| Deutsch | Tee-gegen-Pferde-Handel staatlicher Tausch von Tee gegen Pferde translation |
Also acceptable
|
| Русский | меновая торговля чаем и лошадьми государственный обмен чая на коней translation |
Also acceptable
|
| 简体字 | 茶马互市 | |
| 繁體字 | 茶馬互市 | |
| 日本語 | 茶馬交易 |
Common confusions#
- Used interchangeably with 茶马古道; the first is an institution, the second a modern name for the routes.