Fluent Essays

writing response and comment  Write a post reflecting on anything that is relevant to what we discussed in class that week. Relating what you learned in class to your own experience is a good way to go about this.                                   Qin Shihuang. A talented military commander and the first person ever to unify China. These titles sound impressive yet distant to my ears.    Coming from Hong Kong, students like me were required to learn about his contributions and demerits since primary school. Similar to what we learned in the lecture, we realized that Qin Shihuang was the pioneer of a standardized society in China. He established a central bureaucracy, standardized measuring systems, and laid out a lot of construction projects. Qin's absolute monarchy may sound horrible to people nowadays, as he was in control of every aspect of citizens' lives. However, we should be thankful to a certain extent. Due to the blueprint Qin created for the following dynasties (e.g. Han dynasty) to follow. It's safe to say that Qin is essentially the backbone of the modern Chinese society we have today.    Moving onto the impressive tomb and artifacts discovered in Xi'an. The methods and styles used in the mass production of terracotta warriors still amaze me after class. In 2012, I had the privilege to go to the terracotta warrior exhibition in the Hong Kong Museum of history, where 20 terracotta warriors were showcased along with interactive media elements. Back then, 10-year-old Anabel only set her eyes on the media aspect, which allowed me to design new armor for the terracotta warriors to wear.     With no prior knowledge of art history, I perceived the terracotta warriors simply as boring old clay statues. Now I appreciate and understand the amount of craftsmanship in making the burial mound happen. Despite the limited resources and technology people enjoyed in 221-206 BCE, artists created figures, war chariots, animals, and more with maximized varieties. Before class, I genuinely thought that all terracotta figures were identical. Turns out each figure is unique, with specially made body parts transported from different provinces. Not to mention the striking naturalism and great attention paid to detail to every figure in the tomb. One would think that in a mass production process of such investment the quantity would weigh over quality. But not Qin. Qin made sure what he owned when he was alive would accompany him to the necropolis when he dies. I especially adore the well-organized production process Qin ordered, in which the highly customized appearance contrasts with the uniform manufacturing.    Coming back to discussing the mastermind behind the tomb project, Qin. Many folklores have told the story of how Qin is terrified of death. He sent Taoist priests to search elixir of life so he could live forever and maintain his reign over China. Moreover, Qin Shihuang's road to becoming an emperor was filled with obstacles, causing him to be cautious and skeptical for self-defense purposes. Hence, I suspect that it may be possible that the workers were killed and placed in Tombs of Mausoleum Builders at Yaochitou Village to prevent people from spreading the exact location of Qin's necropolis, and to protect his grave goods from tomb raiders.    Furthermore, Qin emphasized the aspect of the military in his tomb for several reasons. Apart from flaunting the power and control he had and possibly use the military in the afterlife, I believe he wanted to replace the practice of burying people with the dead with terracotta inanimate objects. This practice would be more humane and cost-effective, as the Qin dynasty needed a labor force to recover from the battles and to facilitate the development of the country.   As fragile as terracotta is, it manages to preserve the history and artistic sense of our ancestors for us to study plus appreciate. To people who have never heard of terracotta warriors, one movie I suggest watching that included terracotta soldiers is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Yes, the content is unrealistic and cheesy. But I'm sure all of us can enjoy some glimpses of art history while watching this comedy.  P.S. The armor I designed for the terracotta figures was a purple checkered pattern with daisies all over it. Not sure if Qin would have liked it, but I most certainly did.             Respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts. Political Authority I ARTH120Z 8/30/21 1 Key points Why were so many terracotta soldiers made and buried in the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin? Why were they so life-like and individualized? How and by whom were the terracotta soldiers made? What does the necropolis of Qin Shihuangdi tell us about his vision of himself, his ruling, and his empire? Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) First unified state in China with centralized power Follows: Neolithic period Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050-221 BCE) Warring States Period (c. late 5th century -221BCE) Quickly collapsed after the death of the first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (r. 259–210BCE) 3 Established a central bureaucracy, an administrative system that was efficiently maintained by expanded networks of roads and canals Many construction projects including the first Great Wall Absolute monarchy with draconian laws controlling taxation, population, and ideas Standardized the Chinese life—weight, measurements, currency, writing system Qin Shihuangdi (r. 259-210BCE) 4 Burial mound of Qin Shihuangdi. Discovered in 1974, excavation still ongoing When did the construction begin? 5 Plan of Qin Shihuangdi’s necropolis 6 … more than 700,000 conscripts from all parts of country worked there. They dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten copper for the outer coffin, and the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices, as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities… all the country’s streams, the Yellow River and the Yangzi were reproduced in mercury and by some mechanical means made to flow into a miniature ocean. The heavenly constellations were shown above and the regions of the earth below. The candles were made of whale oil to ensure their burning for the longest possible time. -- Sima Qian (c. 145-186 BCE) , Records of the Grand Historian Terracotta figures representing officials War Chariot (first chariot) in bronze Bronze crane Terracotta “strongman” An ambitious diorama of the Qin Empire… 8 Terracotta soldiers in the Army pits 9 The Terracotta Army, Pit 1 6000+ soldiers, standing in military/battle position with real weapons 10 Pit 1: The largest; perhaps representing the emperor’s main army 12 2nd pit: ˜1300 figures, specialized forces—archers, chariots, cavalries 3rd: the headquarters? 68 soldiers Soldiers standing, facing each other—as if they are about to greet their commander Also includes a chariot painted with lacquer and covered by a canopy Emphasis on the military—Why? Horseman, 5th–3rd century BCE. Painted earthenware, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, H: 23.5 cm (11 inches) Disk (bi), Liangzhu culture (excavated 1936), ca. 2700–2500 BCE. Nephrite. Diam. 21.3 cm. Square Tube (cong) with masks, Liangzhu culture, China. ca. 3300-2250 BCE. Nephrite. H. 47.2cm Burying objects and figurines in tombs—a tradition in China 16 How are these two artifacts similar to and different from one another? Horseman, 5th–3rd century BCE. H: 23.5 cm Life-size terracotta representation of cavalryman and horse from Army Pit 2, c. 210 BCE 17 Sculpted in the round Striking naturalism. Notice the details! 18 Originally colored in lacquer colors—adding to the lifelike quality 19 Great attention to the face, the hairdo, and the torso—not so much with the legs Individual “portraits” of the emperor’s soldiers? 20 How was this emphasis on individuality achieved? 21 Types of Parts : Plinth (3) Legs under armor (2) Position of feet (2) Shoes & boots (7) Torso (8) Armor (2 x3) Arms (2?) Hands (2) Head (8) Modular Production 22 Body parts made in multiple molds—maximizing the variety of completed parts 23 Workshop stamps—what would they have been used for? 24 A strictly standardized production, a well-ordered and intentional arrangements of space and objects inside, a pronounced emphasis on the military… What does this monument say about Qin Shihuangdi’s vision of himself, his ruling, and his empire? 25 Political Authority I ARTH120Z 8/30/21 1 Key points Why were so many terracotta soldiers made and buried in the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin? Why were they so life-like and individualized? How and by whom were the terracotta soldiers made? What does the necropolis of Qin Shihuangdi tell us about his vision of himself, his ruling, and his empire? Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) First unified state in China with centralized power Follows: Neolithic period Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) Zhou Dynasty (c. 1050-221 BCE) Warring States Period (c. late 5th century -221BCE) Quickly collapsed after the death of the first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (r. 259–210BCE) 3 Established a central bureaucracy, an administrative system that was efficiently maintained by expanded networks of roads and canals Many construction projects including the first Great Wall Absolute monarchy with draconian laws controlling taxation, population, and ideas Standardized the Chinese life—weight, measurements, currency, writing system Qin Shihuangdi (r. 259-210BCE) 4 Burial mound of Qin Shihuangdi. Discovered in 1974, excavation still ongoing When did the construction begin? 5 Plan of Qin Shihuangdi’s necropolis 6 … more than 700,000 conscripts from all parts of country worked there. They dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten copper for the outer coffin, and the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices, as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities… all the country’s streams, the Yellow River and the Yangzi were reproduced in mercury and by some mechanical means made to flow into a miniature ocean. The heavenly constellations were shown above and the regions of the earth below. The candles were made of whale oil to ensure their burning for the longest possible time. -- Sima Qian (c. 145-186 BCE) , Records of the Grand Historian Terracotta figures representing officials War Chariot (first chariot) in bronze Bronze crane Terracotta “strongman” An ambitious diorama of the Qin Empire… 8 Terracotta soldiers in the Army pits 9 The Terracotta Army, Pit 1 6000+ soldiers, standing in military/battle position with real weapons 10 Pit 1: The largest; perhaps representing the emperor’s main army 12 2nd pit: ˜1300 figures, specialized forces—archers, chariots, cavalries 3rd: the headquarters? 68 soldiers Soldiers standing, facing each other—as if they are about to greet their commander Also includes a chariot painted with lacquer and covered by a canopy Emphasis on the military—Why? Horseman, 5th–3rd century BCE. Painted earthenware, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, H: 23.5 cm (11 inches) Disk (bi), Liangzhu culture (excavated 1936), ca. 2700–2500 BCE. Nephrite. Diam. 21.3 cm. Square Tube (cong) with masks, Liangzhu culture, China. ca. 3300-2250 BCE. Nephrite. H. 47.2cm Burying objects and figurines in tombs—a tradition in China 16 How are these two artifacts similar to and different from one another? Horseman, 5th–3rd century BCE. H: 23.5 cm Life-size terracotta representation of cavalryman and horse from Army Pit 2, c. 210 BCE 17 Sculpted in the round Striking naturalism. Notice the details! 18 Originally colored in lacquer colors—adding to the lifelike quality 19 Great attention to the face, the hairdo, and the torso—not so much with the legs Individual “portraits” of the emperor’s soldiers? 20 How was this emphasis on individuality achieved? 21 Types of Parts : Plinth (3) Legs under armor (2) Position of feet (2) Shoes & boots (7) Torso (8) Armor (2 x3) Arms (2?) Hands (2) Head (8) Modular Production 22 Body parts made in multiple molds—maximizing the variety of completed parts 23 Workshop stamps—what would they have been used for? 24 A strictly standardized production, a well-ordered and intentional arrangements of space and objects inside, a pronounced emphasis on the military… What does this monument say about Qin Shihuangdi’s vision of himself, his ruling, and his empire? 25 Early Civilizations 8/25/21 ARTH120Z 1 Key Points How do we know how advanced the Indus Valley Civilization has been, based on archeological evidences? How do we “read” prehistorical artworks? The material culture & technologies of prehistorical China, especially earthenware and jade. 2 The Indus Valley Civilization Thrived 2,600-1,900 BCE “Discovered” in the 1920s during archaeological excavations 3 Mohenjo-daro, aerial view & partial city plan, 2600-1900 BCE How does the city plan look like? Does it look planned, or does it look like it developed organically? 4 Mohenjo-daro. The Great Bath in the front, the granary mound in the background What does the significance of the granary mound in the city planning tell us? 5 The “Great Bath,” Mohenjo-Daro. 11.88 x 7 m, Depth 2.43m How do we know its primary function? What was this “Bath” used for? 6 Remains of arched roof for underground freshwater duct Household privy Chute outlets in wall for conveying bath water or rain runoff to municipal drainage conduits Large sewer lines Really good plumbing system… 7 Uniformly sized bricks made in organized workshops A standardized system of weights What do these tell us about the society at the time? 8 Stamp seals excavated from Mohenjo-daro Material: steatite What can these artifacts tell us about the society that made and used them? What can be their function? 9 Seal with “yogi”/Shiva-Pashupati. Mohenjo-daro, 2100-1750 B.C.E. Proto-Shiva? (Shiva as Mahesha, 10th century CE) Master of Animals? (pendant, 1700-1500 BCE) 10 Figurines of a mother goddess, c. 2600–1900 BCE Material: terracotta Likely a kind of votive offering to the goddess Certain physical features are exaggerated. Why? 11 Figurine of a “Dancing Girl.” Copper alloy, H: 10cm. 2600-1900 B.C.E. 12 Torso of a “Priest-King.” Steatite, H: 17.5cm. Mohenjo-daro, 2600-1900 B.C.E. 13 Neolithic period China c. 5000-2000 BCE Many distinctive cultures developed simultaneously, mostly along waterways 14 Conjectural drawing of Banpo Village (4700-3600 BCE, excavated in 1953), Shaanxi. Yangshao culture Why these materials? 15 Bowl with slip decoration of men’s heads and fish. Diam. 44.5cm. Banpo, Shaanxi. Yangshao culture Earthenware painted with slip 16 Deep vessel, Middle Jomon period (c. 3500-2500 BCE), Japan Comb-pattern pottery, Neolithic period, Korea Bowl with slip decoration of men’s heads and fish. Diam. 44.5cm. Banpo, Shaanxi. Yangshao culture Neolithic potteries—possible function? 17 Head/Mask, Hongshan culture, c. 4000-3000 BCE. Unbaked earthenware and jade. H: 22.5 cm Excavated with various jade artifacts in a tomb complex Naturalistic features, unclear function 18 Jadeite Nephrite Jade—”the fairest of stones” Most advanced jade-working technology in the Hongshan and Liangzhu cultures A luxury material. Why? 19 Disk (bi), Liangzhu culture (excavated 1936), ca. 2700–2500 BCE. Nephrite. Diam. 21.3 cm. Square Tube (cong) with masks, Liangzhu culture, China. ca. 3300-2250 BCE. Nephrite. H. 47.2cm “Pig-dragon.” Hongshan culture (excavated 1935). Nephrite. H: 11cm What can these jade artifacts tell us about the tombs in which they were excavated? 21 Animal Mask Pendant, Liangzhu culture, 3000-2000BCE Knife with mask motif, Longshan culture, 3000-1700BCE Jade was everywhere! At least for the wealthy… 22 Cong from tomb 12 of Fanshan, Zhejiang province, Liangzhu culture, 3600-2000 BCE 23 The impact of Zheng He’s expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions Tansen Sen Baruch College, The City University of New York [email protected] For them the sea is only the limit, the ceasing of the land; they have no positive relation to it. Hegel Abstract This article examines the consequences of the Ming maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1371–1433) in the early fifteenth century on Indian Ocean diplomacy, trade, and cross-cultural interactions. The pres- ence of the powerful Ming navy not only introduced an unprecedented militaristic aspect to the Indian Ocean region, but also led to the emer- gence of state-directed commercial activity in the maritime world that extended from Ming China to the Swahili coast of Africa. Additionally, these expeditions stimulated the movement of people and animals across the oceanic space and might eventually have facilitated the rapid entry of European commercial enterprises into the Indian Ocean region during the second half of the fifteenth century. Keywords: Indian Ocean, Zheng He, Ming Dynasty, Cross-cultural inter- actions, Chinese navy, Circulations of animals A major restructuring of long-standing Indian Ocean networks and exchanges is attributed to the European colonial enterprises and their hegemonic ambitions in the region during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Meanwhile, the seven maritime expeditions of the Ming (1368–1644) admiral Zheng He 鄭和 (1371– 1433) between 1405 and 1433 that covered almost the entirety of the Indian Ocean realm (Figure 1) are somehow considered irrelevant or worthy only of a cursory note. The role of these Ming voyages in the creation of new ports and chokepoints is only rarely examined (Beaujard 2012: 2, 394–808; Ptak 1991), as is their role in asserting naval supremacy over a vast maritime space, the reordering of long-distance commercial and diplomatic relationships, and the circulation of people, animals, ideas and cultural objects across the Indian Ocean. While traders and ships had previously sailed between the Persian Gulf and the Chinese coast, no polity exerted naval dominance over all sectors of the Indian Ocean prior to the expeditions led by Zheng He. Despite studies of several facets of the Zheng He expeditions undertaken dur- ing the past century (including Pelliot 1933; Duyvendak 1939; Levathes 1994; Dreyer 2007; Zhou 2013; for a comprehensive bibliography on Zheng He, see Bulletin of SOAS, 79, 3 (2016), 609–636. © SOAS, University of London, 2017. doi:10.1017/S0041977X16001038 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core mailto:[email protected] https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core Figure 1. The expeditions of Zheng He, 1405–33. Map drawn by Inspiration Design House, Hong Kong. © Tansen Sen 6 1 0 T A N S E N S E N term s o f u se, availab le at h ttp s://w w w .cam b rid g e.o rg /co re/term s. h ttp s://d o i.o rg /10.1017/S0041977X16001038 D o w n lo ad ed fro m h ttp s://w w w .cam b rid g e.o rg /co re. P en n sylvan ia State U n iversity, o n 21 M ay 2018 at 07:18:24, su b ject to th e C am b rid g e C o re https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core Liu et al. 2014), a number of critical issues remain unresolved and contentious. The paucity of primary sources, especially from the foreign polities the Chinese admiral visited, makes it difficult to ascertain the validity of Chinese records. The Chinese sources themselves are not exhaustive and offer partial and often biased perspectives on the expeditions. Thus, the unresolved issues range from the size of the so-called “treasure ships” that spearheaded the Ming armada (Church 2005) to the reasons for the military actions Zheng He took at several sites he visited (Wade 2005a). Also having an adverse impact on the study of these expeditions is the nationalistic and celebratory fervour Zheng He has attained in China from the beginning of the twentieth century. These have all prevented a detailed examination of the impact of the Zheng He expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions. This essay will argue that the Zheng He expeditions had a significant effect on diplomatic exchanges, commercial patterns, and the circulation of ideas and objects in the Indian Ocean. For the first time in the history of the Indian Ocean, the maritime space from coastal China to eastern Africa came under the domin- ance of a single imperial power, which intervened in local politics, instituted regime changes, and tried to monopolize all commercial activities related to China. These Ming expeditions may even have facilitated the spread of European colonial enterprises into the Indian Ocean region during the sixteenth century. Indeed, the colonial enterprises followed and eventually occupied many of the same conduits and the nodes that the Zheng He expeditions utilized or created. It is thus important to consider whether a new age in the history of the Indian Ocean should be recognized – if imperial control and the creation of cosmopolitan spaces are the main criteria for periodization – as beginning in the early 1400s (rather than in the 1500s), when the Ming armadas made repeated voyages across the full extent of the oceanic realm and dictated many of the interactions and exchanges within that space. Zheng He and the control of the Indian Ocean nodes In 1402, Zhu Di 朱棣 (r. 1402–24), Prince of Yan 燕王 and son of the founding Ming ruler Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 (also known as the Hongwu 洪武 emperor, r. 1368–98), usurped the throne and became the third emperor of the dynasty. Known commonly by the designation of his reign period Yongle 永樂, within a year of his accession the emperor ordered the construction of a large number of ocean-going ships and picked a close aid, the Muslim eunuch named Zheng He, to command these vessels on voyages far beyond the coasts of Ming China. The first expedition, which commenced in 1405, may have consisted of over 250 ships, including 60 large “treasure ships”, and over 27,000 personnel, of whom 26,000 were soldiers (Dreyer 2007: 51). The destination of the first three voyages was Calicut (Guli 古里, now Kozhikode) on the Malabar coast of India. It was during the fourth expedition, which left Ming China in late 1412 or early 1413, that the Zheng He-led armada sailed beyond South Asia into the port of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The fifth, sixth and seventh voyages travelled even further, reaching the Swahili coast of Africa. The seventh voyage, which set sail in 1431, came after a hiatus of almost a decade, a period that witnessed a temporary cessation of the maritime T H E I M P A C T O F Z H E N G H E ’ S E X P E D I T I O N S O N I N D I A N O C E A N I N T E R A C T I O N S 611 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core expeditions and the death of the Yongle emperor. In 1421, about a year before Zheng He returned from his sixth expedition, the imperial palace that was being constructed in Beijing, the new Ming capital, was partially destroyed by a fire. This event was interpreted as a bad omen and especially a potent sign against the expensive, eunuch-led maritime ventures. Influenced by these views, the Yongle emperor decided to discontinue the Indian Ocean expeditions. It was the Xuande 宣德 emperor (r. 1425–35), the grandson of Yongle and the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, who resumed the maritime voyages. He did so only after the death of Xia Yuanji 夏原吉 (1366–1430), a prominent minister in charge of finance and the leading critic of the maritime expeditions. This seventh exped- ition turned out to be the last trip for Zheng He, who died during the voyage, and also one that marked the end of the Ming court’s active engagement with the Indian Ocean world. It must be pointed out, however, that imperial ships dis- patched by the Ming court continued to visit polities in the South China Sea region during the 1450s (Wade 2008: 593). Several facets of the Zheng He expeditions were rooted in the policies and strategies pursued by the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) under Qubilai Khan (r. 1260–94). The demand for tributary missions from maritime polities was one of these aspects. Qubilai devised this policy, which was enforced through the dispatch of court officials and the use of naval forces, in order to portray himself as the legitimate “khan” in the fragmented Mongol Empire (Sen 2006a). The Yongle emperor also needed to legitimize his usurpation of the Ming throne, and the tributary missions from foreign lands to some extent served this purpose. Similar to Qubilai Khan, the Yongle emperor used court officials, especially eunuchs loyal to him, to demand submission by maritime polities and the sending of tribute missions to the court. While Qubilai was unsuccessful in his attempts to occupy regions in the South China Sea, the Yongle emperor tact- fully used his armada to install local allies or strengthen friendly regimes at sev- eral key nodes of the Indian Ocean world. Instead of committing troops to the foreign maritime polities, something his father, the Hongwu emperor, had warned against (Wang 1968), the Yongle emperor frequently sent his powerful naval fleets under the command of Zheng He and other eunuchs to assert Ming authority in the maritime realm. Many of the tribute missions that arrived at the Ming court during the reign of the Yongle emperor resulted from this flexing of naval power that no other polity in the Indian Ocean possessed. In other words, the Ming during the Zheng He expeditions was able to exert what some contem- porary maritime strategists call haiquan 海權, or “a state’s capacity to realize its goals (strategic, security, military and economic) at sea” (Dong and Xin 2012: 184). Zheng He’s first expedition most likely made a significant impression on various polities, merchant groups, and pirates in the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal region. In addition to the 26,000 soldiers, the ships led by Zheng He carried the most advanced weapons of the day, including cannons and other gunpowder-based firearms (Sun 2003). The arrival of the powerful Zheng He-led armada at foreign ports generated intense competition among con- tending local polities and rivals, each seeking alliance with the Ming court. This is evident, for instance, from the situation at Jiugang 舊港 (i.e. Palembang, in present-day Indonesia), where several groups of Chinese merchants lived and 612 T A N S E N S E N terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core wielded considerable influence over the maritime networks linking coastal China to the Indian Ocean world. Ming sources record several “chieftains” in Palembang, all of Chinese origin, who seem to have migrated there after the Hongwu emperor instituted a mari- time ban in 1371 (Li 2010). The three chieftains mentioned prominently at the time of Zheng He’s first expedition were Liang Daoming 梁道明, who is described as an “absconder” in the Ming shilu (10: 646; Wade 2005b, Entry 360); Chen Zuyi 陳祖義, noted as a “pirate” (Ming shilu 11: 834, 11: 987; Wade 2005b, Entry 460, 536); and Shi Jinqing 施進卿, a person whom the Ming court would eventually install as its representative in Palembang. In February 1405, several months before Zheng He embarked on this maiden voy- age, officials were dispatched to bring Liang Daoming to the Ming court to negotiate the “pacification” of the region. When Liang appeared at the Ming court, he offered tribute of horses to the Yongle emperor and was given in return paper money and silk products as gratitude (Ming shilu 10: 734; Wade 2005b, Entry 400). It seems that any issues the Ming court may have had with Liang were resolved through this mission. In August 1406, however, after Zheng He’s armada had passed through Palembang on its way to South Asia, two people from Palembang arrived at the Ming court to offer tribute: a representative of Liang Daoming and the son of another “chieftain” of Palembang named Chen Zuyi. This was followed by the arrival of Shi Jinqing, who alleged that Chen Zuyi had committed “acts of savagery” at the Sumatran port (Mills [1970] 1997: 100). On his way back to Ming China in October 1407, Zheng He stopped at Palembang and tried to negotiate the “pacification” of the region with Chen, who, according to Ming sources, not only refused the admiral’s terms, but also “secretly plotted to attack the Imperial army” (Ming shilu 11: 987; Wade 2005b, Entry 536). Zheng He then led his troops against the “attacking” forces of the “pirate”, killing 5,000 of them and capturing Chen Zuyi. When the prisoner was presented at the Ming court, the Yongle emperor promptly ordered his execution. Shi Jinqing, who seems to have been at the Ming capital at the time of Chen’s execution, was appointed the pacification superintendent of the Pacification Superintendency of Palembang. After Shi Jinqing’s death, the Ming court appointed his son to the same post. This selection and installation of an ally at Palembang gave the Ming court access to an important port in South-East Asia that was intimately linked to the wider Indian Ocean networks. During this first expedition, Zheng He also secured submission from a Javanese ruler. Like Palembang, Java, which at this time was divided and had various contending factions, was closely integrated with the Indian Ocean com- mercial networks. It was a hub for the export of commodities such as sapan- wood, nutmeg, and sandalwood that originated in various eastern Indonesian islands. A record dated 23 October 1407 in the Ming shilu (11: 997–8; Wade 2005b, Entry 553) states that the “Western king of Java” sent an envoy to the Ming court to “admit guilt” for mistakenly killing 170 Ming soldiers who accompanied Zheng He to the island. According to the report, these soldiers had gone “ashore to trade”. The Ming court demanded compensation of 60,000 liang of gold as atonement for this offence. It also warned the Javanese ruler that if he failed to comply, there would not be any option “but T H E I M P A C T O F Z H E N G H E ’ S E X P E D I T I O N S O N I N D I A N O C E A N I N T E R A C T I O N S 613 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core to dispatch an army to punish your crime. What happened in Annam can serve as an example”. The Annam reference was to Ming China’s successful invasion of Vietnam earlier that year (Wade 2005a: 49). The news of the Ming court’s intervention in Palembang and the warning communicated to Java seems to have quickly spread throughout the South China Sea region. In 1408, Boni 浡泥 (Brunei) sought help from the Ming court to end the Javanese demand for an annual tribute of 40 jin (about 44 pounds) of camphor. In response, the Yongle emperor ordered the king of Java to cease such demands immediately. A month later, the Western king of Java, who still had not paid the initial compensation for killing Zheng He’s men, sent an envoy with 10,000 liang of gold as offering to the Ming court (Ming shilu 11: 1137–8; Wade 2005b, Entry 648). The above pattern of installing friendly regimes in foreign lands, capturing or executing rivals, and threatening menacing rulers became common features of the subsequent Zheng He expeditions. In 1415, for example, Zheng He is credited with capturing the “leader” of a “bandit” group in Samudera called Suganla 蘇幹 剌 (Sekandar?). While Fei Xin 費信 (Mills 1996: 58), who accompanied Zheng He on several of the expeditions, describes Suganla as a “false king” who “robbed stole and usurped” the throne of Samudera, Ma Huan 馬歡 (Mills [1970] 1997: 116–7), who also accompanied some of the Ming voyages, portrays him as some- one who attempted to overthrow the reigning ruler. The Ming shilu (13: 1869–70; Wade 2005b, Entry 914) notes that he was the younger brother of the former king Figure 2. Ming government depot, Malacca 614 T A N S E N S E N terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core who was plotting to kill the ruler. When Zheng He arrived in Samudera to bestow gifts upon the reigning ruler, Suganla reportedly attacked the admiral’s contingent with “tens of thousands” of soldiers. Suganla was defeated, taken to the Ming cap- ital, and publicly decapitated. Scholars (Mills 1996: 58, n.132; Wade 2005a: 50) have pointed out that this was clearly a case of Ming intervention in the internal affairs of Samudera, most likely intended to exert influence over another key node in the maritime world. Promoting alternative nodes was also a strategy that Zheng He and the Ming court used to establish control over the maritime networks. This is apparent from the way in which the Ming court transformed Malacca into an important commercial hub and a base for Zheng He’s maritime activities further across the Indian Ocean. Both Ma Huan and Fei Xin point out that Malacca did not qualify as a polity prior to the Zheng He expeditions; it had no “king”, and existed only as a vassal region of Xianluo 暹羅 (Siam, present-day Thailand). In 1403, the Ming court dispatched a eunuch envoy named Yin Qing 尹慶 (active early fifteenth century) with an imperial proclamation to Malacca. The aim was perhaps to collect information about the region. Two years later, the court sent through Zheng He a stone tablet enfeoffing the Western mountain of Malacca as well as an imperial order elevating the status of the port to that of a “country”. Through the erection of this inscribed tablet and subsequently establishing a guanchang 官廠 (government depot) (Figure 2), which served as a fortified cantonment for Chinese soldiers, the Ming court asserted its claim over the port (Wade 2014: 31). “Thereafter”, Ma Huan reports (Mills [1970] 1997: 109), Siam “did not dare to invade it (i.e. Malacca)”. In fact, in 1431, when a representative from Malacca complained that Siam was obstructing tribute missions to the Ming court, the Xuande emperor dispatched Zheng He carrying a threatening message for the Siamese king saying, “You, king should respect my orders, develop good rela- tions with your neighbours, examine and instruct your subordinates and not act recklessly or aggressively” (Ming shilu 20: 1762–3; Wade 2005b, Entry 1548). Obligated to the Ming court, the rulers of Malacca paid tribute to the Chinese emperor in person. In 1411, for example, king Bailimisula 白里迷蘇剌 (Paramesvara?), with his wife and more than 540 persons, visited the Ming court to express his gratitude (Ming shilu 12: 1490–91; Wade 2005b, Entry 774). After Bailimisula, his son and grandson were also recognized as the kings of Malacca by the Ming court. Political and military interventions by the Ming court extended to maritime polities beyond the South China Sea region. The terminus of Zheng He’s first three expeditions was Calicut, the leading centre for intra-Indian Ocean com- merce and the main exporter of pepper from the Malabar coast (Figure 3). Prior to Zheng He’s arrival at the Malabar coast, Yin Qing, who went to Malacca, was also tasked to visit Cochin (Kezhi 柯枝, now Kochi) and confer various items, including “‘spangled-gold’ silk gauze drapes and parasols together with patterned fine silks and coloured silks as appropriate” (Ming shilu 10: 440; trans. Wade 2005b, Entry 311). Like Malacca, Cochin was still not a major port or commercial site when Yin Qing was sent. It is possible that, like Malacca, the Ming court had already identified Cochin as an alternative site for its future activities in the Indian Ocean. T H E I M P A C T O F Z H E N G H E ’ S E X P E D I T I O N S O N I N D I A N O C E A N I N T E R A C T I O N S 615 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core In 1405, when Yin Qing returned to the Ming court, the Cochin representative was conspicuously missing and instead the “ruler” of Calicut accompanied the Ming envoy. This seems to be an indication of the existing conflict between Calicut and Cochin in the early fifteenth century. Ming sources make it clear that Calicut was not only a leading trading hub in the Indian Ocean, but was also a place where Muslim merchants (some perhaps of Arab and Persian origin) exerted significant political and economic power (Sen 2011; Ptak 1989). Some of these merchants, especially those invested in foreign trade, funded the expan- sionist policies of the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. They may in fact have lob- bied the Zamorin to invade Cochin, which was quickly emerging as the main rival port on the Malabar coast. Sometime in the late fifteenth century, the Zamorin did in fact occupy Cochin and install his representative as the king of the port-city (Menon [1967] 1970; Malekandathil 2001: 35). Through the missions of Yin Qing and Zheng He the Ming court was probably aware of Figure 3. Coastal regions of south India and Ceylon. Map drawn by Inspiration Design House, Hong Kong. © Tansen Sen 616 T A N S E N S E N terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core this rivalry between Calicut and Cochin and decided to intervene in 1416–17 by granting special status to Cochin and its ruler Keyili 可亦里 (Sen 2011: 80, n. 96). As part of his fifth expedition, which sailed from China in 1417, Zheng He was instructed to confer a seal upon Keyili and enfeoff a mountain in his king- dom as the zhenguo zhi shan 鎮國之山 (“Mountain which protects the coun- try”). The Yongle emperor composed a proclamation that was inscribed on a stone tablet and carried to Cochin by Zheng He. Both of these were rare acts by the Ming court. Only three other polities, Malacca (in 1405), Japan (in 1406) and Brunei (in 1408), received similar privilege. This exceptional sta- tus must have been granted to Cochin because the Ming court decided to support an emerging port (i.e. Cochin) over Calicut, where Muslim officials seem to have developed a strong power base and monopolized foreign trade (Sen 2011). For the Ming court and the Zheng He expeditions, the Malabar coast was extremely important as a source for pepper and also as a staging point for westward exploration of the maritime world. It is also possible that the rulers of Cochin and the three other polities proactively requested the exceptional sta- tus from the Ming court as a means to defend themselves from local rivals. By conferring seals and proclamation tablets, the Ming may have offered what Roderich Ptak (1991: 27) has called “protection services” to the rulers of these polities against third parties. The alliance between Cochin and Ming seems to have averted a military offensive by the Zamorin of Calicut. After the cessation of the Zheng He expe- ditions, however, the Zamorin not only invaded Cochin, but also seem to have banned Chinese merchants from trading at the Malabar coast. The Christian trav- eller Joseph of Cranganore provides the following report about the absence of Chinese merchants in Calicut in the early sixteenth century: These people of Cathay are men of remarkable energy, and formerly drove a first-rate trade at the city of Calicut. But the King of Calicut having trea- ted them badly, they quitted that city, and returning shortly after inflicted no small slaughter on the people of Calicut, and after that returned no more. After that they began to frequent Mailapetam, a city subject to the king of Narsingha; a region towards the East, . . . and there they now drive their trade. (Yule 1875: 2. 391; Vallavanthara 2001: 249) The Ming court and members of the Zheng He expeditions also became involved in a local conflict between Bengal and the neighbouring Jaunpur Sultanate (Figure 4). In 1420, the king of Bengal complained to the Yongle emperor that Jaunpur forces had carried out several military raids on his territor- ies. In response to the complaint, the Ming court dispatched the eunuch Hou Xian 侯顯 (active 1403–27) and others “with Imperial orders of instruction for them [i.e. Bengal and Jaunpur], so that they would both cultivate good rela- tions with their neighbors and would each protect their own territory” (Ming shilu 14: 2226; trans. Wade 2005b, Entry 1092). The entourage led by Hou Xian arrived in Bengal in August or September 1420 and was welcomed with a grand reception. It was Hou Xian’s second visit to the region and this time he brought along several hundred Chinese soldiers, who were all presented T H E I M P A C T O F Z H E N G H E ’ S E X P E D I T I O N S O N I N D I A N O C E A N I N T E R A C T I O N S 617 terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core with silver coins by the ruler of Bengal. The entourage then proceeded to Jaunpur to convey the Yongle emperor’s message and tried to resolve the terri- torial dispute peacefully (Sen 2006b). The ruler of Bengal evidently knew about the Ming court’s naval capabilities and was aware of the interventions the Zheng He expeditions had already made in other maritime regions. In fact, Bengal had sent at least eight embassies to the Ming court before 1420, and traders from the region were actively engaged in Indian Ocean commerce (Bagchi [1945] 2012; Ray 1993). Hou Xian himself visited the region in 1415. Thus, by 1420, the rulers, officials and traders in Bengal must have been familiar with the Ming court’s willingness and capacity to intervene in local disputes. Some scholars (Zhou 2013: 241–9), albeit based on much later evidence, even believe that the Ming court had established a Figure 4. Jaunpur and Bengal. Map drawn by Inspiration Design House, Hong Kong. © Tansen Sen 618 T A N S E N S E N terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Pennsylvania State University, on 21 May 2018 at 07:18:24, subject to the Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X16001038 https://www.cambridge.org/core guanchang at the Chittagong port in Bengal. If true, it, as well as the Yongle emperor’s swift response to the request from the ruler in Bengal, demonstrates how the voyages associated with the Zheng He expeditions were used to patrol the maritime realm, including those regions that were not directly located at the chokepoints of the Indian Ocean. Although the possibilities of a reconnaissance mission on … THE SILK ROADS IN HISTORY BY DANIEL C. WAUGH T HERE IS AN ENDLESS popular fascination with the "Silk Roads," the historic routes of eco- nomic and cultural exchange across Eurasia. 'I'he phrase in our own time has been used as a metaphor for Central Asian oil pipelines, and it is common advertising copy for the romantic exoticism of expensive adventure travel. One would think that, in the cen- tury and a third since the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the term to describe what for him was a quite specific route of east-west trade some 2,000 years ago, there might be some consensus as to what and when the Silk Roads were. Yet, as the Penn Museum exhibition of Silk Road •lrtifacts demonstrates, we are still learning about that history, .Hid many aspects of it are subject to vigorous scholarly debate. Most today would agree that Richthofen's original concept was too limited in that he was concerned first of all about the movement of silk overland from east to west between the "great civilizations" of Han China and Rome. Should we extend his concept to encompass striking evidence from the Eurasian Bronze and Early Iron Ages, and trace it beyond the European Age of Discover)' (15th to 17th centuries) to the eve of the modern world? Is there in fact a definable starting point or conclu- sion? And can we confine our examination to exchange across Eurasia along a few land routes, given their interconnection with maritime trade? I ndeed, the routes of exchange and products were many, and the mix changed substantially over time. The history ofthe Silk Roads is a narrative about movement, resettlement, and interactions across ill-defined borders but not necessarily over long distances. It is also the story of artistic exchange and the spread and mixing of religions, all set against the background ofthe rise and fall of polities which encompassed a wide range of cultures and peoples, about whose identities we still know too little. Many of the exchanges documented by archaeological research were surely the result of contact between various ethnic or linguistic groups over time. The reader should keep these qualifications in mind in reviewing the highlights from the history which follows. THE BEGINNINGS Among the most exciting archaeological discoveries of the 20th century were the frozen tombs of the nomadic pastoral- ists who occupied the Altai mountain region around Pazyryk in southern Siberia in the middle ofthe 1st tnillenniuni BCE. These horsemen have been identified with the Sc"ythians who dominated the steppes from Eastern Europe to Mongolia. The recovered from Pazyryk Barrow 5 and dated 252-238 BCE, depicts an Achaemenid-style horseman www.PENN.MUSEUM/EXPEDITION 9 Pazyryk tombs clearly document connections with China: the deceased were buried with Chinese silk and bronze mirrors. The graves contain felts and woven wool textiles, but curi- ously little evidence that would point to local textile produc- tion. 1 he earliest known pile carpet, found in a Pazyryk tomb, has Achaemenid (ancient Persian) motifs; the dyes and tech- nology of dyeing wool fabrics seem to be of Middle Eastern origin. Other aspects of the burial goods suggest a connection with a yet somewhat vague northeast Asian cultural complex, extending along the forest-steppe boundaries all the way to Manchuria and north Korea. Discoveries from 1st millennium BCE sites in Xinjiang reinforce the evidence about active long- distance contacts well before Chinese political power extended that far west. While it is difficult to locate the Pazyryk pastoralists within any larger polity that might have controlled the center of Eurasia, the Xiongnu—the Huns—who emerged around the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, established what most con- sider to be the first of the great Inner Asian empires and in the process stimulated what, in the conventional telling, was the beginnings of the Silk Roads. Evidence about the Xiongnu supports a growing consensus that Inner Asian peoples for- merly thought of as purely nomadic in fact were mixed soci- eties, incorporating sedentary elements such as permancni settlement sites and agriculture into their way of life. Related to this fact was a substantial and regular interaction along the permeable boundaries between the northern steppe world and agricultural China. Substantial quantities of Clhine.se goods now made their way into Inner Asia and beyond to the Mediterranean world. This flow of goods included tribute the Han Dynasty paid to the nomad rulers, and trade, in return for which the Chinese received horses and camels. (Chinese missions to the "Western Regions" also resulted in tlie open- ing of direct trade with Central Asia and parts of the Middle East, although we have no evidence that Han merchants ever reached the Mediterranean or that Roman mercliants reached China. The cities of the Parthian Empire, which controlled routes leading to the Mediterranean, and the emergence of prosperous caravan emporia such as Palmyra in the eastern Syrian desert attest to tlie importance of interconnected over- land and maritime trade, whose products included not only silk but also spices, iron, olive oil, and much more. The Han Dynasty expanded ("hine.se dominion for the first time well into Central Asia, in the process extending the Great Wall and establishing the garrisons to man it. While one result of this was a shift in the balance of power between the Xiongnu 'iongnu tombs contained various types of grave goods. Objects in this late 1st century BCE to middle 1st century CE burial from Mongolia included a bronze cauldron containing the remains of a ritual meal, pottery, and a Han Dynasty lacquer bowl with metal rim. The Qizilqagha beacon tower, northwest of Kucha, Xinjiang, dates from the Han Dynasty. It is located near an Important Buddhist cave temple complex and stands approximately 15 m tall. and the Chinese in favor ofthe latter, Xiongnu tombs ofthe late 1st century BCE through the 1st century CE in north-central Mongolia contain abundant Chinese lacquerware, lacquered Chinese chariots, high-quality bronze mirrors, and stunning silk brocades.There is good reason to assume that much ofthe silk passing through Xiongnu hands was traded farther to the west. Although Richthofen felt that the Silk Road trade ceased to be important with the decline ofthe Han Dynasty in the 2nd century CE, there is ample evidence of very important interac- tions across Eurasia in the subsequent period when—both in China and the West—the great sedentary empires fragmented. THE SILK ROADS AND RELIGION During the 2nd century CE, Buddhism began to spread vigor- ously into Central Asia and China with the active support of local rulers. The earliest clearly documented Chinese transla- Right, the 19 m high Tang period statue of Maitreya. the Buddha of the Future, is located at Xumishan Grottoes, Ningxia Hui Antonomous Region, China. The cave temples here were first carved in the Northern Wei peri- od. Below, this map charts major routes and sites of the Silk Road. 12 VOLUME 52, NUMBER 3 EXPEDITION tions of Buddhist scriptures date from this period, although the proce.ss of expanding the Buddhist canon in China and adapting it to (Chinese religious traditions extended over sub- sequent centuries. Understandably, many ofthe key figures in the transmission ofthe faith were those from Central Asia who commanded a range of linguistic skills acquired in the multi- ethnic oasis towns such as Kucha. Buddhism also made its way east via the coastal routes. By the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 5th and early 6th centuries, there were major Buddhist cave temple sites in the Chinese north and extending across to the fringes ofthe CxMitral Asian deserts. Perhaps the best known and best preserved of these is the Mogao Caves at the commercial and garrison town of Dunhuang, where there is a continuous record of Buddhist art from the early 5th century down to the time ofthe Mongol Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century. One ofthe most famous travelers on the Silk Roads was the ('hiñese monk Xuanzang, whose rotite to the sources of Buddhist wisdom in India took him aUiiig the northern fringes ofthe Tarim Basin, through the mountains, and then south through today's Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. When he returned to China after some 15 years, stopping at Dunhuang along the way, he brought back a trove of scrip- tures and important images. Many of the sites that we connect with this spread of Buddhism are also those where there is evidence of the Sogdians: Iranian speakers who were the first great merchant diaspora ofthe Silk Roads. From their homeland in Samarkand and the Zerafshan River Valley (todavs Uzbekistan and www.PENN.MUSEUM/EXPEDITION 13 Tajikistan), the Sogdians extended their reach west to the Black Sea, south through the mountains of Kashmir, and to the ports of southeast Asia. Early 4th century Sogdian letters, found just west of Dunhuang, document a Sogdian network extending from Samarkand through Dunhuang, and along the Gansu Corridor into central China. Sogdians entered Chinese service and adopted some aspects of Chinese culture while retaining, it seems, their indigenous religious traditions (a form of Zoroastrianism). Their importance went well beyond commerce, as they served not only the Chinese but also some of the newly emerging regimes from the northern steppes, the Turks and the Uyghurs. The Turks for a time extended their control across much of Inner Asia and were influential in promoting trade into Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire. The Uyghurs received huge quantities of Chinese silk in exchange for horses. Sogdians played a role in the transmis- sion of Manichaeism—another of the major Middle Eastern religions—to the Uyghurs in the 8th century, by which time both Islam and Eastern Christianity had also made their way to China. With the final conquest of the Sogdian homeland by Arab armies in the early 8th century, Sogdian influence declined. Muslim merchants of various ethnicities would replace the Sogdians in key roles controlling Silk Road trade. Tombs ofthe 5th to 8th century, along the northern routes connecting China and Central Asia, contain abundant evi- dence of east-west interaction. There are numerous coins from Sasanian Iran, examples of Middle Eastern and Central Asian metalwork, glass from the eastern Mediterranean, and much more. By the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-906), which managed once again to extend Chinese control into Central Asia, foreign culture was all the rage among the Chinese elite: everything from makeup and hair styles to dance and music. Even women played polo, a game imported from Persia. THE IMPACT OF THE ARABS AND THE MONGOLS By the second half of the 8th century—with the consolida- tion of Arab control in Central Asia and the establisbment of the Abbassid Caliphate, with its capital at Baghdad—western Asia entered a new period of prosperity. Many threads made up the complex fabric of what we tend to designate simply as "Islamic civilization." Earlier Persian traditions continued, and the expertise of Eastern Christians contributed to the 14 VOLUME 52, NUMBER 3 EXPEDITION CHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED TRAVELERS 136-125,119-115 BCE. Zhang Qian, emissary sent by Han Dynasty Emperor Wu Di to the "Western Regions," who sup- plied important commercial and political intelligence. 629-643 CE. Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang), Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled through Inner Asia to India, studied there, and once back in the Chinese capital Chang'an (Xian) was an important translator of Buddhist texts. 821. Tamim ibn Bahr, Arab emissary, who visited the impres- sive capital city of the Uyghurs in the Orkhon River valley in Mongolia. 1253-1255. William of Rubruck (Ruysbroeck), Franciscan missionary who traveled all the way to the Mongol Empire capital of Karakorum and wrote a remarkably detailed account about what he saw. 1271-1295. Marco Polo, Venetian who accompanied his father and uncle back to China and the court of Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan. Marco entered his service; after returning to Europe dictated a romanticized version of his travels while in a Genoese prison. Despite its many inaccuracies, his account is the best known and arguably most influential of the early European narratives about Asia. 1325-1354. Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, Moroccan whose travels even eclipsed Marco Polo's in their extent, as he roamed far and wide between West Africa and China, and once home dictated an often remarkably detailed description of what he saw. 1403-1406. Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, Spanish ambassador to Timur (Tamerlane), who carefully described his route through northern Iran and the flourishing capital city of Samarkand. 14131415, 1421-1422, 1431-1433. Ma Huan, Muslim interpreter who accompanied the famous Ming admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho) on his fourth, sixth, and seventh expeditions to the Indian Ocean and described the geography and com- mercial emporia along the way. 1664-1667, 1671-1677. John Chardin, a Erench Hugenot jeweler who spent significant time in the Caucasus, Persia, and India and wrote one of the major European accounts of Safavid Persia. SILK ROAD TIMELINE Mediterranean Northen India Pakistan Afghanistan j Central Asia East Asia www.PENN.MUSEUM/EXPEDITION I5 emergence of Baghdad as a major intellectual center. Even though Chinese silk continued to be imported, centers of silk production were established in Central Asia and north- ern Iran. Considerable evidence has been found regarding importation of Chinese ceramics into the Persian Gulf in the 8th through the 10th century. The importance of maritime trade for the transmission of Chinese goods would continue to grow as Muslim merchants established themselves in the ports of southeast China. The Chinese connection had a substantial impact on artistic production in the Middle Fast, where ceramicists devised new techniques in order to imitate Chinese wares. Conversely, the transmission of blue-and- white pottery decoration moved from the Middle East to China. The apogee ofthese developments came substantially later in the period ofthe Mongol Empire, when in the 13th and 14th centuries much of Eurasia came under the control ofthe most successful of all the Inner Asian dynasties whose homeland was in the steppes of Mongolia. i 6 VOLUME 52, NUMBER 3 EXPEDITION Under the Mongols, we can document for the first time the travel of Europeans all the way across Asia, the most famous examples being the Franciscan monks lohn of Plano CÀupini and William of Rubruck in the first half ofthe 13th century, and Marco Polo a few decades later. ( ienoese merchant families took up residence in Chinese port cities, and for a good many decades there was an active Roman Catholic missionary'church in China. The reign of Kublai Khan in China and the establishment of the Mongol Ilkhanid regime in Iran in the second half of the 13th century was a period of particularly extensive exchange of artisans (granted, most of them probably conscripted) and various kinds of technical specialists. \\ hile tlieir long-term impact may have been limited, the exchanges included the transmission of medical and astronomical knowledge. There is much here to temper the view that the impact of the Mongol conquests was primarily a destructive one. 1 )espite the rapid collapse of the Mongol Empire in the 14th century, under their Ming Dynasty successors in (>hina and the limurids in the Middle East, active commercial and artistic exchange between East and The Mongol Ilkhanid palace at Takht-i Suleyman in northwestern Iran (1270-1275) was probably the source of this lusterware tile with a Chinese dragon motif. From the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (no. C.1970-1910). This modern sculpture, shown with the Registan monuments, Samarkand, in the background, is evocative of the Silk Road. The buildings are the 15th century medrese (religious school) of Ulugh Beg and the 17th century Shir Dor medrese. West continued into the 16th century. Timurid Samarkand and Herat were centers of craft production and the caravan trade. The early Ming sponsored the sending of huge fleets through the Indian Ocean, which must have flooded the mar- kets in the West with Chinese goods, among them tbe increas- ingly popular celadon (pale green) and blue-and-white porce- lain. The centers of Chinese ceramic production clearly began to adapt to the tastes of foreign markets, whether in Southeast Asia or the Middle East. The legacy of this can be seen in the ceramics produced in northern Iran, which decorated palaces and shrines, and in the later collections of imported porcelain assembled by the Ottoman and Safavid rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries. Persian painting, which reached its apogee in the 15th and 16th centuries, was substantially influenced by C^hinese models. Conventional histories of the Silk Roads stop with the European Age of Discovery and the opening of maritime routes to the East in the late 15th century. Of course, there had already long been extensive maritime trade between the Middle East, South Asia, Southwest Asia, and East Asia. Undoubtedly the relative value of overland and sea trade now changed, as did the identity of those who controlled commerce. Yet, despite growing political disorders disrupting the overlatid routes, many of them continued to flourish down through the 17th century. New trading diasporas emerged, with Indian and Armenian merchants now playing important roles. Trade in traditional products such as horses and spices continued, as did the transmission of substantial amounts of silver to pay for the Eastern goods. Among the Chinese goods now much in demand was tea, whose export to the Inner Asian pastoral- ists had grown substantially during the period ofthe Yuan and early Ming dynasties. Trade along the Silk Roads continued, even if transformed in importance, into the 20th century. RE-DISCOVERY OE THE SILK ROADS An important chapter in the history of the Silk Roads is the story of their re-discovery in modern times. Over the ceiitu- On the left is a Ming porcelain dish created in the Jingdezhen kilns, dated 1403-1424. It was donated to the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din at Ardebil (northwestern Iran) by Safavid Shah Abbas I m 1611. On the right is a blue and white ceramic imitation of Chinese porcelain, probably from Samarkand, dated 1400-1450, which was produced by craftsmen conscripted in 1402 in Damascus. Both dishes from the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (no. 1712-1816; no. C.206-1984). i 8 VOLUME 5 2 , NUMBER 3 EXPEDITION MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS: MYTH OR FACT? N HIS OWN LIFETIME and even today, Marco Polo's account of his travels has been branded a falsification. A late medieval reader might have asked how it is .. that there could be such wonders about which we have never heard. Why is it, the modern critic muses, that Marco so often seems to get the facts wrong or fails to mention something we think he should have included such as the Great Wall or foot- binding? Of course in any age, the first descriptions ofthe previously unknown are likely to engender skepticism. Accuracy in reporting may be conditioned by precon- ceived notions, the degree to which the traveler actually saw something or perhaps only heard about it secondhand, and the purpose for which an account was set down. i Marco had his biases—he was an apologist for Kublai Khan and, it seems, really did I work for the Mongols. As an official in their administration, he would not necessarily I have mixed with ordinary Chinese. When he was in China, much ofthe Great Wall was in ruins and thus might simply not have seemed worthy of comment. Where he reports on Mongol customs and certain aspects ofthe court, he can be very precise. If his descriptions of cities seem stereotyped, the reason may have been that they indeed appeared equally large and prosperous when judged by European standards. In any event, to convey the wonders ofthe Great Khan's dominions required a certain amount of hyperbole. It seems unlikely that Marco took notes along the way. Mistakes can thus easily be attributed to faulty memory as well as the circumstances in which a professional weaver of romances, Rusticello of Pisa, recorded and embellished Marco's oral account while the two were in a Genoese prison. Even if Marco's account still challenges modern scholars, there can be no question about its impact in helping to transform a previously very limited European knowledge of Asia. ries, many of the historic cities along the Inner Asian routes declined and disappeared as a result of climate change (where water supplies dried up) or changes in the political map. Only episodically did the ancient sites attract the attention of local rulers; at best, oral tradition presen'ed legends which bore little relationship to the earlier history ofthe ruins. In Europe, it was travel accounts such as that of Marco Polo which helped to alert early explorers of Central Asia to the possibil- it)' of unearthing traces of Silk Road civilizations now buried beneath the desert sands. The foundation for modern Silk Road studies was laid between the late 1880s and the eve of World War I. Somewhat by accident, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin di.scovered sev- eral ofthe ruined towns along the southern Silk Road, includ- ing I )andaii L'iliq, north of Khotan, and Loulan, near the dried- up bed of Lake Lop Nur. Inspired by such information and the trickle of antiquities that was now coming out of Central Asia, the 1 lungarian born Aurel Stein, an employee of the British Indian government, inaugurated serious archaeologi- cal exploration ofthe sites in western China. His most lamous accomplishment was to purchase from the self-appointed keeper ofthe Mogao cave temples near Dunhuang in 1907 a significant part of a treasure trove of manuscripts and paint- ings discovered there only a few years earlier. A year later, the Erench sinologist Paul Pelliot shipped another major portion of this collection back to Europe. In the meantime, pursuing leads suggested by earlier Russian exploration, German expe- ditions had been active along the northern Silk Road. There they removed large chunks of murals from the most impor- tant Buddhist cave temples in the Turfan and Kucha regions and sent them back to Berlin. The Germans also found manu- script fragments and imagery from Christian and Manichaen temples. Such was the quantity and range of the textual and artistic materials obtained by these early expeditions that their analysis is still far from complete, l'art of the challenge was to decipher previously unknown languages and scripts. The WWW.PENN.MUSEUM/EXPKDITION 19 MERCHANT DIASPORAS AND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF SILK ROAD TRADE UR KNOWLEDGE OF THE mechanisms for commercial exchange along the Silk Roads is still limited. Most com- merce was "short-haul" between one oasis or town and the next, and probably never generated any written records. There were also long-distance caravans and merchant diasporas often located far from the "home office." The Sogdians were involved in long-distance trade, documented first in Sogdian letters written by members of that diaspora in the early 4th century, and later from documents unearthed in the Turfan oasis, among them a famous example of a contract for the purchase of a slave. Religious affilia- tion may have bound communities of entrepreneurs who were oth- erwise isolated minorities in larger population groups. Thus Eastern Christians (Nestorians) played important roles in trade from the Middle East to India and beyond. With the rise of Islam, it was not long before Muslim merchants were resident in the ports of south- east China and in the Chinese capital of Chang'an. A vast repository of Hebrew documents preserved in Cairo describes the activities of a far-flung Jewish community all across the Mediterranean world into Eastern Europe and through the Middle East. Italian merchants were active all along the Silk Roads, even sending their representatives to China in the time of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Although Middle Eastern silk production was by now very sub- stantial, imports of Chinese raw silk were significant in the emergence of Italy as a major center of silk weaving. One of the most valuable sources about products and prices is a commercial handbook com- piled by the Elorentine agent Pegalotti in Constantinople in the 14th century. In it, he reports that the routes to China are generally safe for travel. By the late 16th and 17th centuries, Armenian Christians were placed in charge of the Safavid (Persian) silk trade. One of the most remarkable documents from this late period in the history of the Silk Roads is an account book by an Armenian, Hohvannes, who started at the home office in a suburb of Isfahan, traveled south to Shiraz, then on to the Indian Ocean coast, where he boarded a ship to India. Once he arrived in the Mughal Empire, he continued his buying and selling, aided by a mechanism for cashing in letters of credit and for shipping goods back home even as he went on, ultimately spending time in Lhasa before returning to India. Surprisingly, Hohvannes used double-entry bookkeeping and thus has left us an invaluable, detailed account of goods and prices. belated Chinese response to what they came to characterize as a plundering of their antiquities finally put a stop to most foreign exploration by the mid-1930s. In recent decades, new excavations have added substantially to our knowledge of this part of Asia. One focus of Chinese archaeol- ogy has been on the very early cultures of Inner Asia, which antedate the traditional "begin- ning of the Silk Roads." The ongoing discover- ies from locations such as the Astana cemetery, dating from the lang period, are enabling us to now write a serious social and economic history of some of the flourishing oasis com- munities, in a time when silk was still a major currency that fueled commerce. Our knowledge of the cultures in the northern steppes commenced with the work ot Russian archaeologists beginning at the end of the 19th century. Russian expeditions organized by the famous Orientalist Wilhelm Radloff documented sites in .southern Siberia and northern Mongolia, providing some of the first evidence about "cities in the steppe" and helping to publicize the earliest texts in a Turkic language. Russian-Mongolian expeditions revealed the richness of Xiongnu elite burials at the site of Noyon uul (Noin Lila) in the moun- tains of north-central Mongolia, and were responsible for the first serious excavation of the 13th century capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum. Archaeology at sites throughout the Eurasian steppes has resulted in draiiiatic discoveries, and forced us to question many of our assumptions about when meaningful exchange across all of Eurasia began. Yet this is only part of the story, for equally dramatic discoveries have been made in recent years regarding maritime trade. Erom the East China Sea to the Mediterranean, naud- cal archaeology is documenting the cargoes of everything from scrap metal to fine porcelain. Excavations along the Red Sea and the East African coasts have expanded our knowledge 2 0 VOLUME 52, EXPEDITION of contacts with India and the Far East. Although long known from ("la.ssical texts, the archaeological evidence of Roman trade with India continues to grow. Overall there is now a much greater appreciation ofthe importance of long-distance trade through the Middle East starting in the Bron/e Age and continuing well into the era when first the Portuguese and then the Dutch and Hnglish began to dom- inate the Indian Ocean. Maritime trade throughout history has been an integral part of Eurasian exchange. So the "Silk Roads" did not begin when I Ian Emperor Wu Di .sent his emissary Zhang Oian t̂ > the West in the 2nd century BCE any more than they ended when Vasco Da (iania pioneered the route to India around the Cape of ( iood 1 lope. Our current "Age of Discovery" concern- ing the histor)' ofthe Silk Roads, employing sophisticated A mural brought back to Berlin by German archaeologists depicts Uyghur Buddhist devotees. It was found in Bezeklik. Temple 9. in the Turfan region, and dates to the 8th to 9th century CE. From the Collection of the Museum of Asian Art. Berlin (MIK III 6876a). f f'lf A mural of donors (Tocharian princes?) from 8 ("Cave of the Sixteen Swordbearers"). has to 432-538 CE. Note the red hair on the men and the intentional defacement of the mural. From the Collection of the Museum of Asian Art. Berlin (MIK III 8691). EUM/EXPEDITION 21 analytical tools such as DNA testing and remote sensing from satellites, at the very least should persuade us that the study of this history is still young. Who knows what secrets remain to be uncovered from the desert sands? f^ DANIEL c . WAUGH ÍS Professor Emeritus in History, International Studies, ami Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the current direc- tor ofthe Silk Road Seattle Project and editor of the journal ofthe Silkroad Eoumiation. For Further Reading Baumer, Christoph. Soutiiern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2000. Hulsewé, F. P., and M. A. N. Loewe. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 12S B.C.-A.D. 23. An Annotated Translation of …