Hexi Corridor Trade in the 1050s

Timeline

1. 1051–1053Liangzhou · Hexi CorridorWestern Xia controlled key corridor towns such as Liangzhou, Ganzhou, and Shazhou, setting up checkpoints to collect taxes and managing caravans. Despite intermittent Song-Xia conflicts, both private and official trade were never fully cut off, and the corridor remained an important route linking the Central Plains with the Western Regions.
2. 1054–1057Border markets (around present-day Guyuan, Ningxia) · NingxiaThe Northern Song established border markets for limited trade with Western Xia, chiefly exchanging tea for horses. Some goods passed through Western Xia into the Hexi Corridor and onward to regions further west. Western Xia collected customs duties from this traffic, creating a relationship of both competition and mutual dependence.
3. 1058–1060Ganzhou (present-day Zhangye, Gansu) · Hexi CorridorTowns such as Ganzhou and Suzhou drew Han, Tangut, Tibetan, and Uyghur merchants who exchanged silk, tea, horses, jade, and spices. The booming trade brought population and wealth to corridor towns and deepened economic interdependence among the various regimes.