LECTURE 2 / 15 OCTOBER 2009

I. Prelude
A. General Remarks
1. History is a function of geography; take China as an example
2. To understand history it is necessary to study not only the historical documents, which often record political events, military conflicts and diplomatic treaties, but also archeological findings, which provide material proof of the way a certain group lived. Historians also have to concern themselves with art and literature, linguistics and anthropology, trade and commerce, religious beliefs and social customs, technological development and economic conditions. Most importantly, it is necessary to examine the causality between different events and the circumstances that either strengthened or weakened the causality.
B. Consequences of Alexander’s Eastward Thrust
1. The Greeks in Bactria: Agents of East-West cultural exchange and fusion.
2.The Yue-chi (Tocharians):The exiles who became accidental conquerors and propagators of Buddhism to Central Asia and China.

II. The Use of Horses by Nomadic Peoples
Domestication of the horse gave the chariot and horse-riding warriors a huge advantage in battle. Shepherds on horseback could supervise much larger herds than on foot. Horse was until the train the fastest means of transport and communication.
Speed of the horse made long-distance trading easier.
The nomads thus had a great advantage over the settled farmers and the cities and towns supported by the farmers.
D. Nomadic tribes are generally not amenable to large centrally administered political organizations; the most common type of organization is a loose tribal alliance under the leadership of a strong leader who comes from a strong and large tribe. With horses, the rate of intermingle among nomadic tribes increased greatly, enabling the nomadic peoples on the Eurasian steppes to have frequent changes in genetic and linguistic characteristics, belief systems and social customs. Of course, they also traded more frequently both with other nomadic groups and with the settled societies.
III. The North-South Rivalry
Nomadic and farming societies either traded or engaged in wars
A pattern: Across the Eurasian continent, the peoples along the East-West axis mostly traded; the peoples along the North-South axis often had confrontations. This was because the nomadic people in the north needed goods produced by the farming societies in the south and possessed the military means to take what they needed by force.
In addition to satisfying their own needs, the nomadic people also re-sold goods they obtained from one farming society to another farming society for profit.
D. The settled population often resorted to bribing the nomadic raiders to gain peace, generally with an amount which would make looting unattractive.
E. Some farming societies responded to the threat posed by the nomadic people by adopting the costumes and horse-back fighting techniques of the nomadic people and/or by constructing walls along the perimeter of defense to stop the mounted raiders. (King Wu-ling of Zhao during the Warring States Period in China did this in about 350 BCE.)
IV. Confrontations between Han and Xiong-Nu (Huni)
A. Xiong-Nu (often referred to in Europe as Huns) gained recognition around 400 B.C.E. in the Yinshan region in today’s Inner Mongolia, to the north of Hohhot, and became a threat to the settled Han people during the last years of the Warring States Period. They took advantage of the strife between Han and Chu following the demise of Qin Empire in late 3rd century B.C.E., threatening Han Dynasty in its first century.
B. The early Han emperors resort to marrying Han princesses to Xiong-Nu chiefs, but this did not give them lasting peace as Xiong-Nu often raided Han cities despite the peace treaties.
V. The Strategy of the Han Emperors
To launch military offensive against the Huns
To find allies in the Western Region against the Huns in order to cut off the supply lines of the Huns from the West
To acquire superior horses for the Han cavalry
VI. The Missions of Zhang Qian
First mission (138-127 BCE)
Second mission (116-114 BCE)
VII. The Impact of Zhang Qian’s Missions on the East-West Exchange
A. From China to the Western Regions
• Silk, metallurgy, Chinese medicinal herbs (including ginger)
• Chinese writing and administrative system
B. From Western Regions to China
• Horses, clover, walnut, cucumber, onion, garlic, etc.
• Buddhism, music, dance, acrobatics, etc.
VIII. The Impact of Zhang Qian’s Missions on the East-West Exchange
VIII. Relations between Han China and Egypt, Rome, Persia
A. With Ptolemaic Egypt
• Trade developed both through the Silk Road and the Sea Route
• Some Alexandrian merchants lived in Central China
• Many archeological finds show the extent of Chinese imports from Egypt (e.g., glassware)
B.With Roman Empire
• China and Rome learned the existence of each other during Han Dynasty;
• Silk was the main Chinese export and Rome was the largest importer;
• Glass utensils and decorative glass beads were imported to China, so was woolen material and amber.
C. With Parthian Persia
• Lute (pipa) and harp (konghou), two important music instruments in Chinese music, were both imported from Persia via Central Asia;
• Archeological finds include winged-beasts; documents mentioned that ostrich and lions from Africa came to China through Persia and Central Asia
• Some Buddhist monks of Persian origin came to China and introduced Buddhism to China