Shanxi Provincial History Museum
 Located inside the Confucian Temple of Taiyuan City, is a local comprehensive museum of China. It was prepared in 1918 and opened to the public in 1919. Its initial name was the Educational Book Museum of Shanxi Province. Then it was changed successively into the People's Education Hall of Shanxi Province in 1933, the Book Museum of Shanxi Province in 1949, and was finalized as the Shanxi Provincial Museum when combined with the Relics Hall of Taiyuan City in 1953.The first Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) emperors built upon the foundations of the Qin and expanded their territory enormously. Unlike the Qin, however, they allowed the cultures of the new territories to remain intact and encouraged trade and commerce among the various parts of the empire. One envoy reached India, but the ruling king of India thought it impractical to form a defensive alliance at such a distance. Instead, a multinational trade agreement emerged, for when the envoy returned to Xian with detailed reports of the western states, he was sent back with a large delegation and items to trade. Silk was an immediate hit. (Over time, silk exports reached as far as Rome, where it was a highly valued commodity.) |
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