Tea Horse Road - Gongjing Old Street Salt Route

Tea Horse Road - Gongjing Old Street Salt Route

The Tea Horse Road - Gongjing Old Street Salt Route is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Gongjing Old Street Salt Route faces southwest to northeast. Built in the early Qing Dynasty, it stretches 166 meters in length and 4 meters in width, covering an area of 664 square meters. It was the main street constructed to support the development of the salt industry. The street is lined with shops that combine commercial and residential functions, with storefronts in the front and living quarters in the back, forming a continuous street front. The stone slabs paving the street have remained unchanged for centuries, though the architectural structures of some buildings have been significantly altered. Since its construction, the old street has served as a passage connecting He Street to Xiaoxi Street. It stands as an important witness to the rise and fall of Gongjing’s politics, economy, and salt industry, possessing significant historical value.

The Gongjing Old Street is about a hundred meters long and no more than 10 meters wide. The road surface is paved with diamond-shaped stone slabs, giving it a simple and dignified appearance. Most of the buildings along the street are two-story wooden structures with blue-tiled roofs. At the lower end of the street, there is a flight of fifty stone steps that connect to the oldest He Street. In the past, much of the salt produced on He Street was carried by people or pack horses up the fifty steps, then transported through the entire old street before heading westward. During the Qing Dynasty, a checkpoint was set up at the junction of the fifty steps and the old street. Officials stationed there would inspect and stamp the salt transport permits before allowing passage; otherwise, the salt would be confiscated as contraband. As a result, locals often say this place is the birthplace of ancient salt culture and the early Salt Horse Road.

The overland ancient salt route originated from Gongjing Old Street. A stone-paved path headed south, crossing Ping Bridge and Jiyuan Bridge toward Pitan and Fushun; eastward, it passed through Zhongqiao and the former Xiaqiao, traversed Xiejia Pine Forest and crossed Tudi Slope to reach Ziliujing; northward, it followed He Street to Weiyuan and Neijiang, extending to central and northern Sichuan; westward, it went through today’s Xuchuan Middle School, then via Aye and Rong County to Leshan. The western route was especially crucial, as it marked the starting point of the ancient salt route where Sichuan salt (Zigong salt) was transported by horse caravans to southwestern Sichuan, entering Ya’an and then Tibet, or via Xichang toward Yunnan and Guizhou. For centuries, the “Ba Salt” that sustained the borderland peoples and ethnic minorities in Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, and Guizhou was continuously delivered along this ancient salt route. Even today, the Yi people of Liangshan and the Tibetans of Tibet and Kham all know “Zigong,” and everyone speaks highly of Zigong’s “potash salt,” which is why salt is also called “yanba” (salt bar) in the southwest. The Salt Horse Road is thus ranked alongside the ancient Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road as one of the “Three Great Trade Routes” of ancient commerce.