Tea-Horse Trade

Tea-Horse Trade

Huangyuan County in Qinghai Province borders the Tibetan region to the west and was historically the westernmost edge of Han territory. This geographical location made it an ancient “trading post” for commerce between the Han and Tibetan peoples, and it is a renowned site of the historical “Tea-Horse Trade.” The Tea-Horse Trade was the primary form of commercial exchange between the Central Plains of ancient China and the ethnic minority regions of the northwest, and was actually a fiscal measure implemented by the imperial court in areas inhabited by western nomadic peoples where taxation systems had not yet been established.

The prototype of the Tea-Horse Trade originated around the 5th century during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. It gradually took shape during the Tang Dynasty, became more refined in the Song Dynasty, and even saw the establishment of specialized institutions such as the “Tea Horse Supervisory Office” to manage tea-horse trade. The Ming Dynasty largely continued the practices of the Song Dynasty, setting up “Tea-Horse Offices” at trading locations.