27 October 2020

From Universals to Empire

Money
Qäwrighul burial
Tarim Mummies
Mandate of Heaven
Xiang-Nu
Emperor Wudi
Zhang Qian
Ferghana Valley
Bactrian Camel
Silk Road

In the Axial Age, empires grew exponentially because of the implementation of universal
thought
Religion – transcendental in orientation – universal truth
Law – literary and extra-local application – universal justice
Economic Matters – value relation and money – universal value
Money as an indicator of value
Value-relation – all economic worth is relative
Have to determine economic relationships
Needs are fully idiosyncratic (unique to the individual)
Items have no inherent value = value is changeable
Money = universal value = counter-intuitive
Money first appeared 650 BCE
Ephesus, Anatolia (modern Turkey)
Axial Age innovation
Money + religion at the same moment – not a coincidence
Ephesus = in the middle of territorial states
Lydian Lion = early coin
Money allows the state to enter into relational valuation
East Asia
When East Asia connects to trade networks
Geographically isolated
East = river plains, river valley civilizations – domestication of millet
South = hills, heavy rainfall – domestication of rice
North = grassland steppe and desert
West – mountains and huge plateau
Tibetan Plateau – 100,000 square miles
Ringed by mountains – Himalayas including Mt. Everest and K2
Virtually uncrossable
Extremely cold with temperatures dropping to -40 degrees Fahrenheit
The only precipitation is hail
 China never incorporated into another empire until the 19th century
Tarim Basin
Area just north of the Tibetan plateau
Where the Uighur people live today
Qäwrighul Culture burial sites – approximately 4000 years old
Wooden mound burials
Still exist because the area is exceptionally dry and cold
Tarim Mummies – naturally preserved bodies – no organ putrefaction
Oldest bodies date to 1800 BCE
Ying Pin Man
Later mummies wear European styles and textiles
Andranovan culture – migrated from Eurasian Steppe
Possibility of early contact between East and West
Yellow River and Shang Dynasty
1600 – 1046 BCE
Oracle Bones = origin of Chinese literate culture
Show continuity to modern written Chinese
Very little change for 3000 years
Testament to cultural isolation
Zhou Dynasty
1045 – 221 BCE
Expansion of the empire
Mandate of Heaven
Parallel between affairs in Heaven and affairs on Earth
Mechanism of legitimization of power
If the gods allowed the Zhous to overthrow the Shangs, then the gods intended
for the Zhous to be in power
Transcendental thought + political power
Han Dynasty
206 BCE – 9 CE
Empire grew but became more centralized in the person of the emperor
Emperor Wudi – 141 – 87 BCE
Adopted Confucianism as the religion of the state
Series of tests on Confucian classics to become a bureaucrat
Promotions based on Confucian ideal of filial piety
Opened Confucian universities and schools
Piety in the service of the state
Wudi had an expansive interest in what was going on across the Tibetan Plateau
Xiang-Nu
Pastoral nomads on the Mongolian Steppe Plateau
Lived in mobile yurts
In constant contact with East Asia
Warred with Wudi
Wudi sent a diplomat – Zhang Qian – to Central Asia in search of allies
 Fateful trip – first time someone from the bureaucracy ventured beyond the
plateau
Zhang was immediately captured by the Xiang-Nu and imprisoned for 10 years –
given a wife and had a family – he began his diplomatic mission immediately
upon his release
Ferghana Valley – Uzbekistan
Met Dayun tribe
Saw “Heavenly Horses”
Short legs, barrel-shaped bodies
Sweated blood – probably a parasite
Wudi sent more parties to gain access to these horses
Became known as Han Horses
Balkh – Afghanistan
Most vibrant commercial city in first century CE
Wudi found more there – bamboo cloth, spices from India
Formalized contact and ties
Gansu Great Wall
Westernmost fortifications
Created a pathway into Central Asia
Mogao Cave, Gansu
Cave art drawings of Bactrian camels
Bactria = Balkh
Perfect pack animals for the terrain
Different from dromedary camels
Can handle elevation changes
Can survive months without water
Can carry up to 1000 pounds 30 miles per day for 4 days,
then rest for 1 day before doing it again with that cycle
going indefinitely
Bactrian camel = tool that enables economic exchange
The Silk Road
Connects South India, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, and East Asia
Because of Wudi and Zhang
Pathway facilitated by the Chinese state
Silk = new textile for the Mediterranean and the Levant
Environmentally determined textile
Requires special environmental niche
Presence of mulberries and silkworms – natural ecology of southeast
China
Both indigenous
Roman Empire wanted silk as a status symbol
There are first century wall paintings of Roman women wearing silk
Silk even reached Britain
This shows the power of universalizing principles – now about integration