The Merchant Empire of the Sogdians, Judith A. Lerner

The Merchant Empire of the Sogdians

-Judith A. Lerner

Judith’s opening quote, “Men of Sogdiana have gone wherever profit is to be found” outlines the consensus of her piece. I feel that every reference she makes in The Merchant Empire of the Sogdians agrees to this statement. The 4^th and 7^th centuries marked the activities of the merchants mainly from the Sogdian’s, Iranian people from Central Asia. The Sogdian’s were constantly exposed to domination factors through the leadership of princes, powerful leaders and the domination of the nomads, the Turks. It is questionable whether the Sogdian’s were embedded in a feudal system or not. Lerner states that the Sogdian’s followed the feudal system but Marshak clearly states that the system was not feudal. In, Sogdians and their Homeland, Marshak states that merchants were positioned between the nobility and the working class based on their social and political significance. This idea makes more sense to me because it provides an explanation to the drive of the people of Sogdiana to accumulate profit. The greater the success the higher they are ranked. If it were a feudal system that they were immersed in, than it would not matter how much wealth they accumulate because the feudal system is based on one’s inheritance. This would not spark a large interest in the act of achieving one’s own wealth. The Sogdian’s exposure to domination must therefore lead to their desire for power. The Sogdian’s sought power in the accumulation of profit and wealth. The main source of economy for the Sogdian’s was agriculture. When agricultural trade did not generate as much wealth as they desired, the Sogdian’s used their geographical location to their advantage and made use of the rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya which allowed them to travel along in Silk Road practicing trade. It was interesting to read that from a young age, more specifically at age 5, a young boy is expected to read books and as he understand them, study commerce. This proves that at a young age, men in Sogdiana are exposed to the world of trade and profit. Children are taught at an early age to desire potential earnings from trade. The Sogdian’s therefore held superiority on the Silk Road because their society was deeply embedded in reliance to profit and money. Since trade allowed the Sogdian’s to interact with many different peoples, societies and cultures, they were exposed to many different and unfamiliar languages. The language barrier interfered with trading goods which therefore affects the amount of profit being consumed. In order to eliminate this problem, the Sogdian’s learned the Buddhist language and were able to translate Buddhist texts. This gave rise to another source of income, the translation of Buddhist texts. Sogdian’s learned how to trade efficiently and broke down many barriers they faced in order to trade with every culture. I believe that their ability to override each obstacle proves they were intellectual people whom educated themselves in the field of commerce and trade. The Sogdian’s allows for many new ideas to spread along the Silk Road. Referencing back to the quote Lerner opened with, the basis of Sogdian society was to attain a sufficient amount of profit. The Sogdian’s travelled along the rivers; embedded commerce into the education of young boy’s and broke down language barriers all in aim of acquiring capital. Men of this culture oriented their lives in order to achieve this one goal. 

In search of Longevity and Good Karma: Chinese Diplomatic Missions to Middle India in the 17th Century

In search of Longevity and Good Karma: Chinese Diplomatic Missions to Middle India in the 17^th Century

-Tansen Sen

In his piece, In search of Longevity and Good Karma, Tansen Sen focuses on China’s diplomatic correlation with ancient Indian Kingdoms. Sen offers attention on these interactions because he feels China’s neighbours are rarely mentioned and are missing from pieces of China’s history. Focusing on the basis of the happenings between China and India, Sen examines the chain of Tang missions to Middle India, specifically in the seventeenth century.

Sen’s argues that the Buddhist monks residing in China facilitated the bond between both China and India. The Buddhist monks living in China visited courts of important Indian Kings which sustained the ties diplomatic ties. By examining the famous Buddhist pilgrim, Xuanzang, Sen argues that individuals and their own personal motives also helped sustain the ties between China and India. Xuanzang established a pilgrimage to India which leads to his meeting with the Indian King. The meeting inhibited the Indian King to send an envoy to tang Chins. Throughout his adventures, Xuanzang collected Buddhist texts from Indian monasteries and brought them back to China. Xuanzang’s actions suggest he looked to integrate both countries. Sen also focuses on the third Tang mission to Middle India which brought Indian-life prolonging technology, knowledge and expertise to China. It was from India that China gained the skill of healing and medicine. Sen’s final reference to proving the integration between China and India remains in the military alliance of China and the Indian Kingdoms. Receiving threats from the Tibetans and Turks, the borders of China and India became allies in order to have a strong military front and protect their people.

Ultimately, in his piece, Sen is uncovering the missing pieces in Chinese history, where the ancient Kingdoms of India are found. Sen gives credit to the Indian Kingdoms by revealing their ties and influences to China. Sen accomplishes this by looking at the most validating interactions between China and India. I believe that Sen is trying to give the ancient Kingdoms of India recognition for their influences. I feel that because many pieces of history did not reference the Indian Kingdoms, Sen went against the norm of what historians studied and brought something new to the field of religious studies. What Sen brings to the field of religious studies is a new way to look at Chinese history in the seventeenth century. Sen also brings the histories of the ancient Indian Kingdoms to the surface for scholars to indulge themselves in. Instead of looking for histories that have already been examined, Sen went against the norm in a quest to uncover something that was missing from historical accounts. 

The New Nomad

Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies- Xinru Liu

When the term “nomad” is mentioned, the image that surfaces in my imagination is that of a barbaric, uncivilized being. The traditional vision of a nomad relates to my thought because from an early age we are taught to associate the word nomad to negative, inhumanly thoughts. Backing up this image of the nomad, television shows, movies and cartoons usually show a nomad character as a satirical and comical character. However, Xinru Liu attempts to shatter this tainted image of the nomad and brings about new positive characteristics. As an intellectual historian, Liu’s angle in this article is to show that those who were deemed nomadic actually had a significant influence on agricultural societies. Liu also attempts to prove that shockingly, there were more similarities than differences shared between these two groups of people.

Nomads were very helpful to agricultural societies in terms of their accessibilities. What startled me was the fact that nomads had better means of transportation and trading. The nomads urged to exchange goods and ideas with other peoples. Through interaction with agricultural neighbours, it is necessary to state that nomads played a significant role in the successes of the agricultural people. Liu states that both Indian and Chinese culture was established through the interactions of the nomads and the agricultural societies. Liu demonstrates her argument in the history of the Yuezhi- Kushan people whom first began as a tribe which later became the rulers of the agricultural trading empire. Liu states that the Kushan’s sculptures that were left behind after their regime did not differ in design, style or look from those of the Indian’s. The artworks that have been uncovered do not show many differences among the two categories of people. Using artwork as an example, she beings to diminish the fixed categories of nomad and sedentary. The nomads contributed greatly to the sedentary peoples. During the era of the Chariot Revolution, agricultural societies in need of horses obtained many from the nomads. So far we learned that nomads were than capable of interactions, suppliers of horses and trade, more accessible to transportation and beneficial to the needs of the sedentary people. Slowly the barbaric image starts to dissolve.

Liu’s final attempt to deconstruct the unpleasant position of the nomadic people concludes when she presents the idea that Yuezhi-Kushan culture was brought upon Chinese culture as a gradual penetration and not an invasion. This shakes the sour image of the nomad because it gives the impression that ancient peoples accepted nomads, when modern day people tend to scrutinize them. The fact that nomads had the ability to transform from a tribal group into ruling elite disregards every negative stereotype surrounding their people. In order to rule they must have been a group of determined, hard working, intelligent beings. Liu desired to show the nomad in a different realm of thinking. Through her article, Liu gave the nomad a history, a purpose and a freedom from corrupt views. 

Myth and the Construction of Foreign Ethnic Identity in the Early and Medieval China

After reflecting on the article, Myth and the Construction of Foreign Ethnic Identity in the Early and Medieval China, it is evident that ethnicity was the distinguishing factor among groups of people. The Chinese people specifically were preoccupied with establishing ethnic identities amongst marginal and foreign peoples. Using myths and tales, they mastered the manipulation of ethnic identities. What puzzled me was trying to understand the motives of the Chinese. Why did they want to define other groups of people? What was in it for them? Did they desire this for power, or for the good of people? Answering the questions that bewildered me, I learned that the Chinese had two contradicting motives in the desire for labelling others.

The first purpose of using myths was to incorporate foreign peoples into their culture. This thought struck me because if the Chinese were so protective of their culture, why did they want to share it with others? Accordingly, myths allowed the Chinese to turn others under their influence. By influencing stories and adding mystical, Chinese elements, they made other people relatable to their culture. For example, in the origin story of Chaoxian and Gaojuli, Chinese interaction influenced Korean trade but had no similarity in characteristic. When Chu-Mong took control, a myth of his existence surfaced. The myth stated that his mother was once locked up in a room by the King and got pregnant by the rays of sun. Knowing that the King wanted her child dead, the mother told him to run far away. As Chu-Mong’s escape was set back by a river, the turtles and fish created a bridge allowing him to get across. By adding mythical elements to Chu-Mong’s birth story, it legitimized Chinese expansion within Korea. This assembled a Chinese identity for the Korean people, as they were now under Chinese rule.

                The second purpose of using myths is contradictory to this thought. The Chinese also used stories to keep enemies at a distance feeling degraded. The Chinese promoted their identity by deeming foreigners exotic through mythical additions to their stories. In simplest terms, I understand this idea to be the Chinese’s way of scaring other opponents away. They belittled them to feel powerless against their reign. An example of this lies in Chinese accounts of the origin myths of Xiongnu. The first mythical version of the origin story stated the people were descended by wolves. There once were two daughters whom were put onto a platform by their father in order to be sent into heaven because of their grace. When a wolf guard took over at the platform, the younger sister was intrigued by him, became his wife and bared his children. The second myth stated that a boy fell in love with a wolf that eventually bared his ten children. Considering the fact that Chinese viewed wolves as violent, negative animals, this imposed insults to the people of Xiongnu. This act of degrading competition shows the importance of power when constructing ethnic identity. I believe that the Chinese in this medieval era were selfish for boosting their own pride by tearing others down.

                Although the Chinese had two opposing purposes for using myths, the fact remains that intentions always remained to better their own people. Regardless of the purpose, the Chinese projected their customs onto others. They were hungry to control every aspect of others identities whether it be destroying their pride or assimilating them under their rule. The purpose of this article was to demonstrate that stories of the past can easily be altered by people for passionate reasons. The mythic stories in this article were used as examples to show how Chinese thought lurked origin stories of the others. The myths are solid pieces of evidence that Chinese were able to influence their opponents. The problems of Chinese influence that I find is how are we to know which myths are authentic or altered by the Chinese. Ultimately, the Chinese have skewed our vision of truth when reading myths of others. 

Defining Ancient Cultures

I always thought culture was something that you are born with and born into. It’s easy to grow up and have all your values, meanings and ways of life already established by family and friends. After reading the topic, Defining Ancient Cultures, I thought it would be an easy and straight forward topic to tackle. Ancient means old and culture is something I personally know and experience. I thought how hard could this be? However, after reading the topic out loud, I began to wonder where to begin, where to start my thinking process of how to define these people. What troubled me was trying to grasp the idea that generation and generations ago, people were not born into anything. There was a time when these people were gradually creating civilization, when they were making it easier for us.

Following through with the readings of Crystal, I came to distinguish four entities that are necessary in the approach of defining ancient cultures. Ancient cultures can be defined by their distinct language, cultural progression, ethnicity and religion. A particular language or dialect can be used to define an ancient culture. It was astonishing to me to find out that there are 3,000-10,000 different languages. Off the top of my head, I can use my fingers to count how many languages I am fully aware of. Written language is also a great distinguisher when differentiating ancient cultures. The ancient peoples used writing to help store, protect and record their sacred knowledge. Each culture had its own unique and specific set of documents which allows for one to distinguish a culture based on its text. Sometimes one cannot fully rely on language to help define an ancient culture due to the fact that some cultures do not have a name for their culture and others have many. For example, some people in Africa refer to their language as “our language”, which clearly would be of no help while trying to define a specific culture by its language.

Reflecting on the readings of Levinson and Ember, the second entity that can be used as a guide specifically looks into cultural progression. By looking at culture in general, one could distinguish whether people had more culture or less culture. According to their progress, societies with less movement were seen as primitive societies. These primitive people could have adopted this label due to their poor geographic area. Surprisingly, the geography of people affected their culture. Sometimes it worked to their advantage and other times it halted growth because of its location, lack of resources and complexities it imposed on the use of technology. Sharing culture meant learning together, it meant functioning together as a unit of people. While looking to define an ancient culture, one could look at the cultural acts of the people. The activities and institutions of a particular culture help while differentiating cultures. Some ancient cultures may have created certain social institutions in which another had not. The activities among the people are unique to its culture. The rules, social groups and legends are based on its own people.

One could also use ethnicity to define an ancient culture. This is seen as the third entity. Ethnicity often labelled groups of peoples. An ethnic group would share the similarities of race, location, religion, class rank, etc. Those who were labelled “tribal” groups were often seen as lower class. Thus, one could identify a certain ancient culture as a tribal group. For the ancient cultures, their ethnic identities defined who they were. This shows how drastic society has changed because modern day society allows people to have many ethnicities, not just one.

The last entity one could use while defining an ancient culture is their religion. Religion provided explanation for the ancient cultures. It allowed them to find meaning and direction in everyday life. Religion unified the people which allowed for their culture to prosper. Religion was and is a cultural system. It was also used as an indicator of the progression level of society. Religion can be used to define how developed or advanced an ancient culture was. Religion entails many myths, deities and gods whom are different for each culture. These figures allowed for there to be a commonality between the people of a culture. It allowed them to embrace in the same beliefs. Religion instilled ethical values that may differ among cultures. For example, what was ethically correct in the eye's of one culture, might have been sinful to another. Religion helps to defined ancient cultures because each culture had its own variation of traditions.

I believe all these entities are useful when having to define an ancient culture. Setting aside the contents of the readings, I found an underlying message. I feel as if all the ancient cultures should be defined as the creators of civilization. I believe people in that era engaged in the world in order to provide exactly what they needed in order to survive. They gradually created and built civilization. They created language in order to communicate, culture in order to have structure, ethnicity in order to differentiate each other and religion in order to have belief in something larger than themselves. These people were the masters of civilization.