The Ancient Tea-horse Road stemmed from the traditional Tea-Horse Trade by Barter between Han and Tibetan peoples in the Tang Dynasty(618-907) and the Song Dynasty(960-1279). That were mainly tea-for-horse or horse-for-tea trades at that time. There were more than one ancient Tea-horse Road in history. In addition to three major roads, namely Sichuan-Tibet Road, Yunnan-Tibet Road, and Qinghai-Tibet Road, there were numerous smaller branch roads. They formed a massive transportation network.
