The Human Record: Sources of Global History: Volume I: To 1500 [8 ed.] 9781285870236, 1285870239

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The Human Record SOURCES

OF GLOBAL

HISTORY

VOLUME

1500

EIGHTH

EDITION

Alfred J. Andrea Emeritus

James Emeritus

Professor

of History, University

of Vermont

H. Overfield Professor

of History, University

of Vermont

ee CENGAGE *’ Learning’ Australia» Brazile Mexico»

Singapore» United Kingdoms

United States

|:TO

CENGAGE Learning: The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Vol. I: To 1500, Eighth Edition Alfred J. Andrea / James H. Overfield

| © 2016, 2012, 2009 Cengage Learning

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DEDICATION

As always, our love and thanks to Juanita B, Andrea and Susan L. Overfield.

CONTENTS GEOGRAPHIC

CONTENTS

TOPICAL

CONTENTS

PREFACE

XXX

Ecypt: THE Riven OF Two LANDs

XI

The Search for Eternal Life in Egypt 18

XIV

3. Three Mortuary Texts 18 The Search for Justice in Egypt 22 4, Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

Prologue: Primary Sources and How to Read Them

YOU AND THE Sources

BRONZE AGE SOCIETIES FROM THE AEGEAN TO THE INDUs VALLEY 24

P-1

EXAMINING PRIMARY SOURCES

Servants of the Gods in the Indus? 25

P-4

5. The Priest-King and the Dancer 25

P-6

ANALYZING SAMPLE SOURCES

Servants of the Gods in Crete? 26

P-7

6. The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

Everyone Meets in Calicut P-7 1.. Roteiro

17

CHINA: THE LAND OF THE YELLOW AND YANGZI Rivers 28

P-10

2. Ibn Battuta, A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travel P-10

The Mandate of Heaven

7. The Book of Documents 30 Zhou Viewed from Below

3. Ma Huan, The Overall Survey of the

Multiple Voices I: Art in the Service of the Monarchs of the Nile 34

1. Narmer Palette, Reverse Side 38 2. King Menkaure and Queen Kamerenebty II 39

P-I5

3. Queen Hatshepsut Holding Offerings of Wine and Milk 39 . The Family ofAkhenaten 39 . Seti I and the Goddess Hathor 40 . Isis, Seti I, and Horus 41

Part One

The Ancient World

|

A DW N . Horus

Chapter 1: The First Civilizations

and a Kushite King 41

5

Chapter 2: Newcomers: From Nomads to Settlers 42

MESOPOTAMIA: THE LAND OF TWO Rivers 6 Life and Death in Mesopotamia 8

THE INDO-EUROPEANS

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh 8

The Search for Justice in Mesopotamia 2. The Judgments of Hammurabi

32

8. The Book of Songs 32

Ocean’ Shores P-12 4, Abd al-Razzaq, The Dawn of Two Auspicious Planets and the Meeting of Two Seas P-13 5. The Catalan World Atlas P-14 INTERPRETING THE SOURCES

30

13

13

43

Life, Death, and the Gods in Aryan India 43 9. The Rig Veda 43

vi « Contents

A Journey to the Underworld

47

A New Covenant for All Peoples 83 19. The Book Of Isaiah 83

10. Homer, The Odyssey 47 The Evolution of Archaic Greek Art 51

11. The Anavysos Kouros and the Peplos Kore 51 THE ISRAELITES AND THEIR NeiGHBorS

Chapter 4: The Secular Made

53

Establishing a Covenant with Humanity 54

Sacred: Developing the Humanistic Traditions of China and Hellas: 600-200 B.c.£. 87

12. The Book of Genesis 54 CHINA:

THOUGHT AND ACTION IN SEARCH OF Harmony 88

Establishing a Covenant with a Chosen People 59

Daoism: The Way That Is and Is Not 89

13. The Book of Deuteronomy 59

20. Laozi, The Classic of the Way and

Multiple Voices II: The Transit of Images along Early Trade Routes 62

Virtue 89

Confucianism: The Moral Way of the Past 92

1. Mesopotamian Cylinder Seal 64 2. Indus Valley Stamp Seal 65

21, Confucius, The Analects 92

Legalism: The Way of the State 97

3. Indus Valley Terracotta Bull 65

22. Han Fei, The Writings of Master

4, Mycenaean Terracotta Bull 66 5. Mycenaean Young Man 66

Han Fei 97

The Dao of Good Health

Chapter 3: Transcendental Reality: Developing the Spiritual Traditions of India and Southwest Asia: 800-200 B.c.E.

THE EMERGENCE OF BRAHMINICAL HINDUISM

69

The Hindu Search for Divine Reality 70 14, The Upanishads 70

Dharma: The Imperative of Caste Law 73

15. The Bhagavad Gita 73

An Early Search for Enlightenment 76 76

The Path to Enlightenment 78 17. The Buddha, Setting in Motion the

Wheel of the Law 78 PERSIANS, ISRAELITES, AND THEIR Gops 80 The Struggle between Good and Evil 80 18. Zarathustra, Gathas 80

and The Stretching Book 99 HELLENIC CIVILIZATION:AN INQUIRY INTO Lire

102

24. Herodotus, Histories, and the Golden Comb with Battle Scene 102

The Healing Arts in Hellas

108

25. Testimonials at Epidauros and Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease 108 An Alienated Foreign Woman

A CHALLENGE TO Caste: THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA 75 16. The Ascetic Siddhartha

23. The Guiding and Stretching Chart

Scythians and the Greeks

67

99

26. Euripides, Medea

|||

111

A Defense of Philosophy

114

27. Plato, Apologia 114 Multiple Voices III: Art and the Human Form in Hellas and China 118 1. Riace Warrior

121 . Girl with Doves 121 . Parthenon Frieze 121 . Zhou Figurines 122 . Han Horseman 122 NY ww DW . Terracotta Soldiers 122

101

Contents

Chapter 5: Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange, 300 B.C.E.—500 C.E. 123 HAN CHINA

ne eee eee see ak ee Part Two

126

28. Huan Kuan, Debate on Salt and Tron

. A Miran Mural and a Romano-Coptic Funerary Effigy of a Woman 166 4, Five Buddhist Images 167 5. Faxian, Travels 169

Oo

125

Two Views on How to Deal with

Empire

« vii

126

Farth, Devotion, and Salvation: World

Religions to 1500

171

The Mother of Mencius:A Model Virtuous Woman 129

Chapter 6: Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World:

29. Liu Xiang, Lives ofExemplary Women

129

CENTRAL ASIA IN THE AGE OF Empires

The Treasures of Begram

132

30. A Painted Glass Goblet and Two Women under a Torana 134

137

32. The Laws ofManu

179

38. Tales Of Guanshiyin

139

180

180

Portraying Compassion

139

183 39. Four Images of Perceiver of the World’ Sounds

183

Two DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS VISIONS: THE Mystery

RELIGIONS AND RABBINICAL JUDAISM

146

Images of the Hellenistic World

147

34. Five Hellenistic Works ofArt 147

Isis: The Goddess Who Saves

35. Caesar Augustus, The Accomplishments ofthe Deified Augustus 152

156

36. Caesar Augustus as Pontifex Maximus

and a Cameo Portrait 156

Multiple Voices IV: Sea Routes and Silk Roads 158

1, Pliny the Elder, Natural History 162 2. Chronicle of the Western Regions 164

189 190

40. Lucius Apuleius, Metamorphoses

A Commentary on the Law

152

The Revered Emperor

|77

177

A Bodhisattva for All Emergencies

33. Faxian, Travels 144

The Roman Peace

37. Two Images of Shiva

Perceiver of the World’s Sounds:

Gupta India through Chinese Buddhist Eyes 144

THE GrEeco-ROMAN Woartb

Shiva,Auspicious Destroyer

CompPASSION

139

Sacred Law in Classical India

176

MAHAYANA BuDDHIsM:A RELIGION OF INFINITE

31. A Bactrian Ewer in Northern China 137

INDIA IN THE AGE OF Empires

175

BHAKTI: THE Way oF DEVOTION

134

Images of a Homeric Myth

1-600 c.zE.

41. The Babylonian Talmud CuristiANity

190

192 192

195

Becoming Spiritually Perfect

196

42. The Gospel of Saint Matthew

196

The Path to Righteousness: The Law or Faith? 199 43. Saint Paul, Epistle to the Romans 199

Establishing a Canon of Faith 201 44, The Creed of Nicaea 201

viti *« Contents Multiple Voices V: Christianity within and beyond the Roman World 203 I. The Alexamenos Graffito 208

2. Tertullian, A Defense of Christians against the Pagans 209 3. Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 210 4, The Barberini Ivory 212 5. Rufinus of Aquileia, Church History 213 6. Bishop Adam, The Christian Monument

214

_

Part Three ; Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 243

Chapter 8: Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

245

JAPAN: CREATING A DISTINCTIVE CIVILIZATION The Constitution of Prince Shotoku

246

247

50. Chronicles ofJapan 247 Lives and Loves at the Heian Court 249

Chapter 7: Islam: Universal Submission to God 217 THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAMIC Lire 218 The House of Imran

219

45. The Quran 219 The Tales of Tradition

223

46. Abu Abdullah ibn Ismail al-Bukhavi, The Authentic [Traditions] 223 VARIETY AND UNITY WITHIN IsLAM 225

God’s Martyrs: The Party of Ali 226 47. Ibn Babawayh al-Saduq, Creed Concerning the Imams 226

An African Pilgrim to Mecca 228

48. Mahmud Kati, The Chronicle of the Seeker 228 The Sufi Way 231

49. Bihzad, Sufis Performing Sama 231 Multiple Voices VI: Islam and Unbelievers 234 1. The Pact of lon Muslama 236 2. The Pact of Umar 237 3. Al-Nawawi, Manual of Islamic Law 238

. Benjamin ofTudela, Book of

Hy

Travels 239

5. The Deeds of Sultan Firuz Shah 240

51. Murasaki Shikibu, Diary 249 Art of the Kamakura Era 254 52. Removal of the Imperial Family to Rukuhara 254

CHINA: THE AGES OF TANG AND SONG

256

Imperial Greatness and Disaster in EighthCentury China 258 53. Du Fu, Poems 258

China and Its Neighbors

262

54. A Sogdian Wine Merchant, The Bezelik Musicians, and a Nomad Encampment 262 The Dao of Agriculture in Song China 266 55. Chen Pu, The Craft ofFarming and

a Mural Painting from the Mogao Caves ofDunhuang 266

SOUTHWEST ASIA: CROSSROAD OF AFRO-EurRASIA 268

The Arrival of Seljuk Turks and Latin Crusaders in Armenia 269 56. Matthew of Edessa, Chronicle 269 Muslims and Franks in the Crusader

States

275

57. Ibn Jubayr, Travels 275

Sinbad’s First Voyage 280 58. A Thousand and One Arabian

Nights 280

Contents INDIA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE

285

Islam and Hindu Civilization: Cultures in Conflict

286

59. Abul Raihan al-Birunni, Description of India 286 A Sati’s Sacrifice

64. Dictatus Papae; Henry IV, Letter to Hildebrand; John of Paris, A Treatise on Royal and Papal Power 318

A Byzantine Perspective on the Investiture Controversy 32]

288

60. Vikrama’s Adventures

Three Views of Right Order in Christian Society 318

288

65. Anna Comnena, Alexiad 321

Multiple Voices VII: Buddhism in China: Acceptance, Rejection, and Accommodation 29] 1. Shi Baochang, Lives ofthe Nuns 294 2. Han Yu, Memorial on Confronting

Multiple Voices VIII: Byzantium and the West in the Age of the Crusades: The Dividing of Christendom? 323 1. Baldric ofDol, The Jerusalem History 326 . Four Crusade Miniatures 329 . Anna Comnena, The Alexiad 329 dO Bo Hy, . Robert of Clari, The Capture of Constantinople 330

Buddhism 295 3. Proclamation Ordering the Destruction of the Buddhist _Monasteries

297

4. Confucius and the Buddha

5. Innocent III, Letters to the

299

Crusaders 331

Chapter 9: Two Christian Civilizations: Byzantium and Western Europe 300 THE IMAGE OF EMPIRE AND EMPERORS IN BYZANTIUM

AND THE West

302

Two Imperial Portraits: Justinian and Theodora 303

61. The Mosaics of San Vitale 303 Two Papal and Royal Portraits: Leo III and Charles the Great 307

62. The Mosaics ofthe Lateran Palace 307 BYZANTIUM AND THE WéEST IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES: A TALE OF AMBIVALENT RELATIONS 310

One Man, Two Views of Imperial Constantinople 311 63. Liudprand of Cremona, Retribution and the Report on the Embassy to Constantinople 311 SECULAR RULERS AND PRIESTS IN THE LATIN West

AND BYZANTIUM

318

Chapter 10: Africa and the Americas 333 ArricA

336

The Land of Ghana: Eleventh-Century Western Sudan

338

66. Abu Ubaydallah al-Bakri, The Book of Routes and Realms 338

Swahili Cities in the Early Fourteenth Century 341 67. lbn Battuta, A Gift to Those Who

Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travel 341 A Moroccan Visitor to Mali 346

68. [bn Battuta, A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travel 346

Ethiopia: The Land of Seyon 350

69. Two Icons of the Virgin Mary 350 Three Yoruba Stone Carvings 354 70. Three Seated Statues from Oyo 354

* ix

x © Contents THE Americas

357

TRAVEL IN THE AGE OF THE PAX MONGOLICA

Life-Giving Water and Life-Affirming Love 359 71. Two Mayan Sculptures 359 The Aztec Marketplace 362

The Election and Enthronement of a Great Khan 388 77. John of Plano Carpini, History of the Mongols Whom We Call Tartars 388

72. Bernardino de Sahagin, General History of the Things ofNew Spain 362

A Traveler to the West from Dadu 393 78. Rabban Sauma, History of the Patriarch Mar Yaballaha III and the

Governing the Inca Empire 365

Monk Rabban Sauma 393

73. Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas 365 Multiple Voices IX: Not-So-Silent Stone: Mound Culture Pipes and Taino Cemis 369 1, Adena Pipe Man 372 2. Beaver Effigy Pipe 373

Traveling the Silk Road 398 79. Marco Polo, The Million: A RES EARN TAL OI! A European Visitor to China 404 80. Odoric of Pordenone, Report 404

Advice for Merchants Traveling to Cathay 409

3. Macoupin Creek Figure Pipe 373 4, Taino Deity 374 5. Cohoba Inhaler 374

81. Francesco Pegolotti, The Practice of Commerce 409 LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL BEYOND THE MONGOL

Peace 411

Chapter 11: Adventurers,

Samarqand in the Age of Tamerlane 413

Merchants, D iplomats,

82. Ruy Gonzdlez de Clavijo, Embassy

Pilgrims, and Missionaries: A Half Millennium of Travel and

Encounter: 1000-1500 THe Wor-pb Perceived

375

83. Ma Huan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean’ Shores 416

377

A Chinese View of the World

378

74. Zhau Rugua, A Description of Foreign Peoples 378

A European View of the World

381

75. The Book ofJohn Mandeville 381 The Marvels of the World

to Tamerlane 413 Zheng He’s Western Voyages 416

386

76. Johann Béamler, Wondrous Fountains and Peoples 386

The Origins of Portugal’s Overseas Empire 419 84. Gomes Eannes de Azurara, Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea 419

With the Royal Standard Unfurled 422 85. Christopher Columbus, A Letter Concerning Recently Discovered Islands 422

387

GEOGRAPHIC Africa

CONTENTS Multiple Voices | 34

Odyssey 47

Roteiro P-7

“Three Mortuary Texts”

18

Anavysos Kouros and Peplos Kore 51

Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

Genesis 54

Multiple Voices | 34

Deuteronomy 59

Pliny 158

Multiple Voices Il 62

Romano-Coptic Funerary Effigy 158

Isaiah 83

Lucius Apuleius

Herodotus and Golden Comb

102

Tertullian 203

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

108

Mahmud Kati 228

Euripides

Al-Bakri

Plato

190

338

II

114

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Multiple Voices Ill 118

Our Lady Mary ofZion 350

Painted Glass Goblet 134

“Three Seated Statues from Oyo” 354

Bactrian Ewer 137

“Five Hellenistic Works of Art”

Zhau Rugua 378

Caesar Augustus

Azurara 419

152

“The Revered Emperor” Multiple Voices IV 158

The Americas “Two Mayan Sculptures” 359

190

Gospel ofMatthew 196

Sahagun 362

Saint Paul

Mexica Merchants 362

199

Creed ofNicaea 201

Mexica Artisan 362

Multiple Voices V 203

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Multiple Voices IX 369 Columbus

Lucius Apuleius

422

Byzantium Creed ofNicaea 201

The Ancient Mediterranean “Three Mortuary Texts”

18

Multiple Voices V 203

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Tale ofthe Eloquent Peasant 22

Liudprand

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

Anna Comnena 321

311

156

147

xii * Geographic Contents Multiple Voices VIIl 323

Multiple Voices IV 158

Panagia Elousa 350

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

“Four Images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” 183

Central Asia

Bishop Adam

Zarathustra 80

Herodotus and Golden Comb

102

203

Du Fu 258

Bactrian Ewer 137

“China and Its Neighbors”

Multiple Voices IV 158

Chen Pu and Mogao Cave Painting 266

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Multiple Voices VII 291

Multiple Voices V 203

Zhau Rugua 378

Al-Bukhari

Polo 398

223

Bihzad 231

Odoric 404

Du Fu 258

Pegolotti 409

“China and Its Neighbors”

262

262

Ma Huan 416

Shi Baochang 291 Mandeville

Europe

381

John of Plano Carpini 388

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Rabban Sauma

Liudprand

393

311

Polo 398

“Three Views of Right Order”

Pegolotti 409

Anna Comnena

Clavijo 413

Multiple Voices VIII 323

318

321

Panagia Elousa 350

China

Zhau Rugua 378

Book ofDocuments 30

Mandeville

Book ofSongs 32

Bamler

Laozi 89

Rabban Sauma

Confucius

92

386 393

Azurara 419 Columbus

Han Fei 97

381

422

Guiding and Stretching 99 Multiple Voices Ill 118

Huan Kuan Liu Xiang

126 129

Bactrian Ewer 137

India “Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Priest King and Dancer 25

Rig Veda 43

Geographic Contents * xiii Multiple Voices Il 62

Faxian

Upanishads 70

Champa Shiva 177

Bhagavad Gita 73

Mandeville 381

Ascetic Siddhartha

The Buddha

76

Bamler

78

386

Ma Huan 416

Two Women under a Torana

134

Laws ofManu 139 Faxian

158

Southwest Asia

144

Ravenna

Caesar Augustus

152

Epic of Gileamesh 8

Multiple Voices IV 158

Judgments ofHammurabi

Shiva Nataraja 177

Genesis 54

Deeds ofSultan Firuz Shah 234

Deuteronomy 59

Al-Biruni 286

Mesopotamian Seal 62

Vikrama’s Adventures 288

Zarathustra 80

13

Isaiah 83

The Indian Ocean

Bacar

a7

“Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Multiple Voices IV 158

Multiple Voices IV 158

Babylonian Talmud 192

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 277

Gospel ofMatthew 196

Ibn Battuta 341

Creed of Nicaea 201

Zhau Rugua 378

Eusebius 203

Ma Huan 416

Rufinus 203 Quran 219

Japan Bato Kannon

Al-Saduq 226 183

Multiple Voices VI 234

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Matthew of Edessa 269

Murasaki Shikibu 249

Ibn Jubayr 275

Removal of the Imperial Family 254

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280 Multiple Voices VII] 323

Southeast Asia Roteiro P-7

Zhau Rugua 378 Ma Huan 416

TOPICAL Cities and Urban Life

CONTENTS Caesar Augustus 152

“Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Multiple Voices IV 158

Judgements ofHammurabi 13 Easiann 144 Gress Augusnietise

“Two Images of Shiva” Tales of Guanshiyin 180 oe ee

Perceiver of the World’s

ronicle Chronicle of thethe WeWestern Regions Regions 158 15.

ounds Lucius Apuleius

190

Multiple Voices VI 234

Saint Paul

Ibn Jubayr 275

Multiple Voices V 203

Al-Bakri

338

Quran

177

199

219

Ibn Battuta 341; 346

Al-Saduq 226

Sahagun 362

Multiple Voices VI 234

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Zhau Rugua 378

“China and Its Neighbors” 262

Polo 398

Matthew of Edessa 269

Odoric 404

Ibn Jubayr 275

Clavijo 413

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280

4

"

Cultural

ter, E Exchange, n Encounter,

and Conflict

Al-Biruni 286

Multiple Voices Vil 291 Liudprand 311

“Everyone Meets in Calicut”

P-7

Book of Songs 30

Al-Bakri 338

Deuteronomy 59

Ibn Battuta 341; 346

Multiple Voices Il 62

“Two Icons of the Virgin Mary” 350

saiah 83

Euripides

Huan Kuan

102

| 11

Mandeville 381 Bamler 386 John of Plano Carpini 388

126

“The Treasures of Begram”

Rabban Sauma 393 134

Polo 398

Bactrian Ewer 137

Odoric 404

Faxian

Pegolotti 409

144

321

Multiple Voices VII] 323

Multiple Voices | 34

Herodotus and Golden Comb

Anna Comnena

lopical Contents Clavijo 413

The Buddha 78

Ma Huan 416

Guiding and Stretching 99

Azurara 419

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

Columbus

Euripides

422

(See also Sea Routes and Silk Roads)

Faxian

| 11

144

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Death and the Beyond

Lucius Apuleius

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

190

Rufinus 203

“Three Mortuary Texts”

18

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

Rig Veda 43 Odyssey 46

Multiple Voices IX 369

Bamler 386

Economic Activity

Anavysos Kouros 51

Artisans

Upanishads 70

Judgements ofHammurabi 13

Bhagavad Gita 73

The Buddha 78

Pliny 158

Girl with Doves 118

Du Fu 258

Laws ofManu

139

Sahagin 362

Romano-Coptic Funerary Effigy 158

Clavijo 413

“Two Images of Shiva”

Commerce

177

“Everyone Meets in Calicut”

“Four Images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” 183

Judgments ofHammurabi

Lucius Apuleius

Laozi 89

Saint Paul

108

190

199

Huan Kuan

13

126

Creed ofNicaea 201

Liu Xiang

Alexamenos Graffito 203

“The Treasures of Begram”

Al-Saduq 226

Faxian

Du Fu 258

Pliny 158

Vikramas Adventures 288

Sogdian Wine Merchant 262

Han Yu 291

Ibn Jubayr 275

Disease, Psychosis, Healing, and Health Judgments ofHammurabi 13 Ascetic Siddhartha 76

P-7

129 134

144, 158

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280 Al-Bakri 338 Ibn Battuta 341, 346 Sahagin

362

* xv

xvi ° Topical Contents

Zhau Rugua 378

Pegolotti 409

Mandeville

Clavijo 413

381

Polo 398

Ma Huan 416

Pegolotti 409

Azurara 419

Clavijo 413

(See also Government: Taxes and Tribute)

Ma Huan 416

Mia

AS

Education and Instruction (Secular)

Farming and Mining

“Everyone Meets in Calicut”

Ma Huan

Book of Documents 30

P-7

Huan Kuan

126

Odyssey 47

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Laozi’ 89

Chen Pu and Mogao Cave Painting 266

Bet Han Fei 97

Ibn Jubayr 275 Al-Bakri

Guiding and Stretching 99

338

Ibn Battuta

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

346

Plato

Zhau Rugua 378

Liu Xiang

Clavijo 413

126 129

Pliny 158

Governmental Intervention and Regulation “Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Laozi 89

13

Chronicle ofthe Western Regions 158 Benjamin of Tudela

234

Chronicles ofJapan 247 Chen Pu 266

Huan Kuan 126

Al-Biruni 286

Multiple Voices VI 234

Han Yu 291

Chronicles ofJapan 247

John of Paris 318

Chen Pu 266

Al-Bakri 338

Ibn Jubayr 275

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Al-Bakri 338

Sahagtin 362

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Sahaguin 362

Zhau Rugua 378

Polo 398

Mandeville

Odoric

404

108

114

Huan Kuan

Polo 398

Judgements ofHammurabi

P-7

Bamler 386

38]

Topical Contents i

John of Plano Carpini 388

Proclamation Ordering the Destruction 291

Polo 398

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Odoric 404

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Pegolotti 409

Liudprand of Cremona

Clavijo 413

“Secular Rulers and Priests” 318

Ma Huan 416

Al-Bakri 338

Azurara

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

419

Columbus

“Three Seated Statues from Oyo” 354

422

(See also Religion: Revelation and Doctrine)

Garcilaso de la Vega 365 Mandeville

Government

Judgments ofHammurabi

Ma Huan 416

Diplomacy

Priest-King 25

Herodotus

Book ofDocuments 30

102

Caesar Augustus

Multiple Voices | 34

Barberini Ivory 203

Isaiah 83

Rufinus 203

Laozi 89

Pacts oflon Muslama and Umar 234

92

Benjamin of Tudela 234

Terracotta Soldiers 118

Matthew of Edessa 269

126

Liudprand

144

Caesar Augustus

311

Gregory VII, Henry IV 318

152

“The Revered Emperor”

156

Multiple Voices V 203 Benjamin of Tudela 234

Deeds ofSultan Firuz Shah 234

Anna Comnena

321

Al-Bakri 338 Ibn Battuta 341, 346 John of Plano Carpini 388

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Rabban Sauma

Removal of the Imperial Family 254

Polo 398

Du Fu 258

Odoric 404

HanYu

Clavijo 413

29]

152

Chronicle of the Western Regions 158

Deuteronomy 59

Faxian

Polo 398 Clavijo 413

13

Tale ofthe Eloquent Peasant 22

Huan Kuan

381

John of Plano Carpini 388

Authority and Power: Origin and Exercise of

Confucius

311

393

© xvii

xviii * Topical Contents Ma Huan

416

Idealized Government

Empires and Empire-Building

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

Multiple Voices | 34

Judgments ofHammurabi 13

Venacaten Solent 1s

Tale ofthe Eloquent Peasant 22

Huan Kuan! 26

Priest-King 25 Book ofDocuments 30

Caesar Augustus 152 “The Revered Emperor”

[56

Chronicle of the Western Regions 158

Multiple Voices | 34 Isaiah 83

Laozi

Eusebius

203

Confucius

Barberini Ivory

20

ma

Bishop Adam

89

203

Mahmud Kati 228

Multiple Voices VI 234

92

Han Fei 97 Huan Kuan

126

Caesar Augustus

152

“The Revered Emperor”

156

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Eusebius 203

Removal of the Imperial Family 254

Multiple Voices VI 234

Du Fu 258

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Matthew of Edessa 269

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Multiple Voices Vil 29]

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Liudprand

“Three Views of Right Order”

31

318

Henry IV 318

Mandeville

Al-Bakri

Law, Jurisprudence, Trial, and Punishment

338

fey Pacuca 346 Sahagtin 362 Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Mandeville

381

John of Plano Carpini 388

38]

COE SONATE SL Negative Confession 18 Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

Herodotus and Golden Comb babar

44ni5a

Caesar Augustus

152

Polo 398

Tales of Guanshiyin 183

Odoric 404

Babylonian Talmud 192

Clavijo 413

Saint Paul

Ma Huan 416

Tertullian 203

Azurara 419

Quran 219

Columbus

Al-Bukhari

422

199

223

102

Topical Contents

Multiple Voices VI 234

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Pliny 158

Gregory VII, Henry IV 318

Tales ofGuanshiyin 180

Innocent III 323

Murasaki Shikibu 249

“Three Seated Statues from Oyo” 354

Du Fu 258

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Nomad Encampment 262

Clavijo 413

“The Dao of Agriculture in Song China” 266

Ma Huan

416

Huan Kuan

P-7

126

Multiple Voices VI 234

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Du Fu 258 Ibn Jubayr 275 Proclamation Ordering the Destruction 291

Al-Bakri

108

Chac 359

Taxes and Tribute “Everyone Meets in Calicut”

* xix

338

Multiple Voices IX 369

Mandeville

38]

Polo 398

(See also Economic Activity: Farming and Mining)

Philosophy Cosmology Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

John of Plano Carpini 388

Book ofDocuments 30

Odoric 404

Rig Veda 43

Pegolotti 409

Bhagavad Gita 73

Clavijo 413

Laozi 89

Ma Huan

Laws ofManu 139

P-7, 416

(See also Economic Activity: Governmental

“Two Images of Shiva”

Intervention and Regulation)

“Four Images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” 183

Nature and Humanity’s Place within It

Epic of Gizameh.8 Rig Veda 42 Genesis 54 Multiple Voices Il 62

Laozi 89 Guiding and Stretching 99

177

Barberini Ivory 203 Chronicles ofJapan 247

Han Yu 291 (See also Nature and Humanity’s Place within It)

Ethics and the Well-Lived Life

Epic of Gilgamesh 8 Negative Confession 18

xx © Topical Contents

Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

Al-Sadug 226

Book of Documents 30

Multiple Voices VI 234

Genesis 54

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Deuteronomy 59

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Bhagavad Gita 73

Liudprand of Cremona

The Buddha 78

“Three Views of Right Order”

Zarathustra

Anna Comnena

80

Laozi 89

318

321

Adena Pipe Man 369

Confucius

Plato

311

92

Mandeville

114

Rabban Sauma

Huan Kuan Liu Xiang

381

126

Buddhism

129

Laws ofManu

393

Ascetic Siddhartha 76 139

Lucius Apuleius

The Buddha 78 190

Faxian

144, 158

Baylonian Talmud 192

Multiple Voices IV 158

Gospel of Saint Matthew 196

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Saint Paul

“Four Images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” 183

Al-Bukhari

199 223

Deeds ofSultan Firuz Shah 234

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Murasaki Shikibu 249

Du Fu 258

Multiple Voices Vil 29]

HanYu

Christianity

291

Gospel ofMatthew 196 Saint Paul

Religion Authority and Power: Origin and Exercise of

Creed ofNicaea 201 Multiple Voices V 203

Priest-King 25

Quran

Multiple Voices | 34

Deuteronomy

199

219

Pacts ofIon Muslama and Umar 234

59

Matthew of Edessa 269

Isaiah 83

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus

156

Chapter 9 300

Multiple Voices V 203

“Two Icons of the Virgin Mary” 350

Quran

Mandeville

219

Al-Bukhari

223

381

John of Plano Carpini 388

Topical Contents Odoric

404

Azurara

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

419

Columbus

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

422

Lucius Apuleius

Conversion (see Missionaries and Conversion)

Rufinus

203

Al-Sadug

Hinduism

190

226

Vikrama’s Adventures 288

Priest-King and Dancer 25

Shi Baochang

Rig Veda 42

291

Indus Valley Bull 62

Missionaries and Conversion

Upanishads 70

Isaiah 83

Bhagavad Gita 73

Tales ofGuanshiyin 180

Laws ofManu

Lucius Apuleius 190

Faxian

139

Saint Paul

144

“Two Images of Shiva”

177

199

Rufinus 203

Deeds ofSultan Firuz Shah 234

Bishop Adam

Al-Biruni

Quran 219

286

203

Vikramas Adventures 288

Deeds ofSultan Firuz Shah 234

Islam

Multiple Voices VII 291

|

Chapter 7 217

Innocent Ill 323

Matthew of Edessa 269

Al-Bakri

Ibn Jubayr 275

Al-Bakri 338 Ibn Battuta 341, 346 Judaism Genesis 54 Deuteronomy 59

Isaiah 83

Babylonian Talmud 192 Gospel of Saint Matthew 196

338

Odoric 404 Azurara 419 Columbus

422

Pilgrimage and Relics Faxian

144, 158

Mahmud Kati 228 Benjamin of Tudela 234

Ibn Jubayr 275

Saint Paul 199

HanYu

291

Quran 219

Multiple Voices Vill 323

Benjamin of Tudela 234

Religious Art and Artifacts

Miracles, Visions, and Magic

Priest-King and Dancer 25

Odyssey 47

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

108

* xxi

xxii * Topical Contents Multiple Voices | 34

Rufinus 203

Indus Valley and Mycenaean Bulls 62

Quran 219

Ascetic Siddhartha 76

Al-Bukhari

Herodotus

Al-Saduq 226

102

Mahmud Kati 228

Drinking Contest 147 Augustus as Pontifex Maximus

156

Multiple Voices VI 234

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Multiple Voices IV 158 “Two Images of Shiva”

223

177

Vikramas Adventures 288 Shi Baochang 291

“Four Images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” 183

Anna Comnena

Alexamenos Graffito 203

Multiple Voices Vill 323

Barberini Ivory 203

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Bizad 231

Mandeville 381

Han Yu 291

Revelation, Doctrine, and Religious Law

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Rig Veda 43

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Genesis 54

Four Crusade Miniatures 323

Deuteronomy 59

“Two Icons of the Virgin Mary” 350

Upanishads 70

Chace 359

Bhagavad Gita 73

Multiple Voices IX 369

The Buddha

Religious Codes of Conduct

Zarathustra 80

Negative Confession 18

Isaiah 83

Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 22

Laws ofManu

Odyssey 47

Lucius Apuleius

Genesis 54

Babylonian Talmud 192

Deuteronomy 59

Gospel of Saint Matthew 196

Bhagavad Gita 66

Saint Paul

The Buddha

Creed of Nicaea 201

78

78

139 190

199

Zarathustra 80

Quran 219

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Al-Bukhari

Lucius Apuleius

Al-Sadug 226

190

321

223

Babylonian Talmud 192

Al-Nawawi

Gospel ofSaint Matthew 196

Liudprand

Saint Paul 199

Dictatus Papae 318

234 311

Topical Contents

Anna Comnena Mandeville

321

Al-Bakri 338

381

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Rabban Sauma 393

Multiple Voices IX 369

Ritual

Mandeville

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

Rabban Sauma

“Three Motuary Texts”

381 393

Sacred Books (sce Revelation and Doctrine)

18

Priest-King and Dancer 25

Toleration and Persecution; Amity

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

and Hostility in Religion

Multiple Voices | 34

Ma Huan

Odyssey 47

Deuteronomy 59

Genesis 54

Isaiah 83

Deuteronomy 59

Herodotus and Golden Comb

Herodotus

Faxian

102

“The Healing Arts in Hellas”

108

P-7, 416

Creed ofNicaea 201 Multiple Voices V 203

Laws ofManu

Quran

139

Old Woman

226

Multiple Voices VI 234

147

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus

219

Al-Sadug

144, 158

156

Matthew of Edessa 269

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Ibn Jubayr 275

Avalokitesvara 183

Al-Biruni 286

Gospel ofSaint Matthew 196

Multiple Voices VII 291

Saint Paul

Liudprand of Cremona

199

Rufinus of Aquileia 203

Multiple Voices VIII 323

Quran

Al-Bakri

219

Al-Bukhari

102

144, 158

Parthenon Frieze 118

Faxian

© xxiti

223

311

338

Mandeville

381

Multiple Voices VI 234

Rabban Sauma 393

Ibn Jubayr 275

Odoric 404

Shi Baochang 291

Azurara 419

Han Yu 291

Mosaics ofSan Vitale 303

Sea Routes

Mosaics ofthe Lateran Palace 307

“Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Four Crusade Miniatures 323

Odyssey 47

Robert of Clari 323

Pliny 158

xxiv ¢ Topical Contents

Chronicle of the Western Regions 158 Faxian

158

Ibn Jubayr 275

(See also Religion, Pilgrimage and Relics; Travel and Exploration)

Society and Social Groups

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280 Al-Bakri 338

Court Life and Ceremony Dancer 25

Ibn Battuta

341

Book ofDocuments 30

Zhau Rugua 378

Book of Songs 32

Mandeville

Multiple Voices | 34

381

Ma Huan 416

Two Women under a Torana 134

Azurara 419

Faxian

Columbus

Benjamin of Tudela

422

144 234

Murasaki Shikibu 249

Du Fu 258

The Silk Road Herodotus and Golden Comb Han Horseman

Huan Kuan

102

Nomad Encampment 262

118

Vikramas Adventures 288

126

“The Treasures of Begram”

134

Bactrian Ewer 137

Faxian

Mosaics of San Vitale 303 Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307 Liudprand

144

311

Al-Bakri 338

Multiple Voices IV 158

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Barberini Ivory 203 Bishop Adam

“Three Seated Statues from Oyo”

203

Rabban Sauma

“China and Its Neighbors”

Mogao Cave Painting 266 Multiple Voices VII 291

381

262

Odoric

393

404

Fringe Peoples and the Exotic “Other” “Everyone Meets in Calicut”

P-7

Odyssey 47

John of Plano Carpini 388

Deuteronomy 59

Rabban Sauma

Herodotus and Golden Comb

393

354

John of Plano Carpini 388

Du Fu 258

Mandeville

Removal ofthe Imperial Family 254

Polo 398

Euripides

Odoric 404

Huan Kuan

Pegolotti 409

“The Treasures of Begram”

Clavijo 413

Bactrian Ewer

102

|1|

126

137

134

Topical Contents Faxian

144

Family ofAkhenaten 34

Caesar Augustus

152

Odyssey 47

Multiple Voices IV 158

Genesis 54

Tales of Guanshiyin

Deuteronomy 59

180

Multiple Voices V 203

Confucius

92

Du Fu 258

Euripides

!1 |

“China and Its Neighbors”

262

Girl with Doves 118

Matthew of Edessa 269

Liu Xiang

Ibn Jubayr 275

Bactrian Ewer 137

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280

Laws ofManu

Al-Biruni

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

286

129

139

Multiple Voices VII 291

Avalokitesvara 183

Liudprand

Child-Giving Guanyin 183

311

Anna Comnena

Al-Bakri

S2),023

338

Rufinus 203 Murasaki Shikibu 249

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Sahagun 362

Du Fu 258

.

Ibn Jubayr 275

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Vikramas Adventures 288

Zhau Rugua 378

Shi Baochang 291

Mandeville

Al-Bakri 338

381

Bamler 386

Ibn Battuta 346

John of Plano Carpini 388

“Two Icons of the Virgin Mary” 350

Rabban Sauma

Embracing Couple 359

393

Polo 398

Mandeville

Odoric 404

Bamler 386

Pegolotti 409

Polo 398

Clavijo 413

Slaves and Forced Laborers

Ma Huan 416

Judements ofHammurabi 13

Azurara 419

Narmer Palette 34

Colmbus

Rig Veda 43

422

38]

Love, Marriage, and the Family

Genesis 54

Judgments ofHammurabi 13

Deuteronomy 59

King Menkaure and Queen 34

Painted Glass Goblet 134

+ xxv

xxvi * Topical Contents

Boxer 147

Faxian

Drinking Contest 147

Caesar Augustus

Gladiator 147

Pliny 158

Caesar Augustus

152

144, 158

Bishop Adam

152

203

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Mahmud Kati 228

Rufinus 203

Benjamin of Tudela 234

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Removal of the Imperial Family 254

Du Fu 258

Ibn Jubayr 275

Ibn Jubayr 275

Thousand and One Arabian Nights 280

Proclamation Ordering the Destruction 291

Liudprand 311

Baldric 323

Multiple Voices VIII 323

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Ibn Battuta 341, 346

Clavijo 413

Mandeville

Azurara 419

John of Plano Carpini 388

Columbus

Rabban Sauma

422

381

393

Polo 398

Sport, Exercise, Dance, and Music

Odoric 404

Ibn Battuta P-7

Pegolotti 409

Dancer 25

Clavijo 413

Guiding and Stretching 99

Ma Eitiania ls

“The Treasures of Begram”

134

Boxer 147 Gladiator

Aeuraret Al Columbus

147

422

(See also Religion: Pilgrimage and Relics; Sea

Caesar Augustus

152

Routes; The Silk Road)

Bizad 231

PELE Ne

OGD

Violence, War, and Warriors

Neen eee

The Effects of War

Ibn Jubayr 275

Book of Songs 32

Polo 398

Narmer Palette 34 Deuteronomy

Travel and Exploration

59

Herodotus 102

“Everyone Meets in Calicut” P-7

Huan Kuan

126

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

Caesar Augustus

Odyssey 47

Barberini Ivory 203

152

Topical Contents

Pacts ofIbn Muslama and Umar 234

Deuteronomy 59

Removal of the Imperial Family 254

Bhagavad Gita 73

Du Fu 258

Isaiah 83

Matthew of Edessa

Eusebius 203

269

Ibn Jubayr 275

Barberini Ivory 203

Innocent III 323

Quran 219

John of Plano Carpini 388

Al-Bukhari

Clavijo 413

Deeds of Sultan Firuz Shah 234

Heroes and Warrior Cultures

Matthew of Edessa 269

Epic ofGilgamesh 8

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Rig Veda 43

Multiple Voices VIII 323

Odyssey 47

Ibn Battuta 341

Anavysos Kouros 51

Mandeville

Deuteronomy 59

Azurara 419

Mesopotamian and Indus Seals 62

Nonviolence, Peace, and Peace Making

Bhagavad Gita 73

The Buddha 78

Herodotus and Golden Comb Riace Warrior

102

223

381

Isaiah 83 Laozi 89

118

Terracotta Soldiers 118

Confucius

Painted Glass Goblet 134

Huan Kuan

Drinking Contest 147

Caesar Augustus

Gladiator 147

Avalokitesvara 183

Caesar Augustus

152

92 126 152

Gospel of Saint Matthew 196

Eusebius 203

Eusebius of Caesarea

Matthew of Edessa 269

Pacts oflon Muslama and Umar 234

Vikramas Adventures 288

Chronicles ofJapan 247

Mosaics of the Lateran Palace 307

Garcilaso de la Vega 365

Baldric 323

John of Plano Carpini 388

Robert of Clari 323

Rabban Sauma 393

203

Chaq 359

Clavijo 413

Women and Girls

Azurara 419

Cultural and Occupational Roles

Holy War

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

Narmer Palette 34

Judgements ofHammurabi 13

© xxvii

iii * Topical Contents

Dancer 25

Polo 398

Multiple Voices | 34

Pegolotti 409

Peplos Kore 51

Ma Huan 416

Euripides

Columbus

| 11

Girl with Doves 118 Liu Xiang

129

Two Women undera Torana 134 Bactrian Ewer 137

Laws ofManu

139

Multiple Voices IV 147

422

(See also Society and Social Groups: Love, Marriage, and the Family) Goddesses, Saints, Priestesses, and Pious Women

Epic of Gilgamesh 8

The Negative Confession 18 Dancer 25

Pliny 158

Hagia Triada Sarcophagus 26

Romano-Coptic Funerary Effigy 158

Multiple Voices | 34

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Deuteronomy 59

Babylonian Talmud 192 Saint Paul

199

Rufinus 203 Al-Bukhari

Euripides

111

Laws ofManu

Old Woman 223

Faxian

139

147

144, 158

Mahmud Kati 228

Tales of Guanshiyin 180

Du Fu 258

Child-Giving Guanyin 183

Mogao Cave Painting 266

Lucius Apuleius

Ibn Jubayr 275

Saint Paul

Vikrama’s Adventures 288

Rufinus 203

Shi Baochang 291

Al-Bukhari

Mosaic ofEmpress Theodora 303

Murasaki Shikibu 249

Four Crusade Miniatures 323

Vikrama’s Adventures 288

Al-Bakri 338

Shi Baochang 291

Ibn Battuta 346

Proclamation Ordering the Destruction 291

Yoruba Woman 354

Mosaic of Empress Theodora 303

Seated Figure with Sword 354

Four Crusade Miniatures 323

Embracing Couple 359

“Two Icons of the Virgin Mary” 350

Mandeville

Women of Authority, Power, and Influence

381

190

199

223

Bamler 386

Multiple Voices | 34

John of Plano Carpini 388

Euripides

I1

Topical Contents Liu Xiang

129

Laws ofManu Saint Paul

Murasaki Shikibu 249

139

199

Ibn Jubayr 275 Shi Baochang 291

Eusebius 203

Mosaic of Empress Theodora 303

Rufinus 203

Yoruba Woman 354

Al-Bukhari

223

John of Plano Carpini 388

* xxix

PREFACE The eighth edition of The Human Record: Sources of Global History follows the principles that have guided the book since its inception in 1990. Foremost is our commitment to the proposition that all students of history must meet the challenge of analyzing primary sources, thereby becoming active inquirers into the past. Working with primary source evidence enables students to see that historical scholarship is an intellectual process of drawing inferences and discovering patterns from clues yielded by the past, not of memorizing someone else’s judgments. Furthermore, such analysis motivates students to learn by stimulating their curiosity and imagination, and it helps them develop into critical thinkers who are equipped to deal with the complex intellectual challenges of life.

Themes

and Structure

We have compiled a source collection that traces the course of human history from the rise of the earliest civilizations to the present. Volume | follows the evolution of cultures that most significantly influenced the history of the world from around 3500 s.c.c. to 1500 c.£., with emphasis on the development of the major social, religious, intellectual, and political traditions of the societies that flourished in Eurasia and Africa. Although our focus in Volume | is on Afro-Eurasia, we do not neglect the Americas. Volume | concurrently develops the theme of the growing links and increasingly important exchanges among the world’s cultures down to the dawn of full globalization that began with the trans-oceanic travels of the Portuguese and Spaniards. Fittingly, its last two sources focus on some of the reasons behind and immediate consequences of these voyages. Volume II, which begins in the 1400s, picks up this theme of growing human interconnectedness by tracing the gradual establishment of Western global hegemony; simultaneous historical developments in other civilizations and societies around the world; the anti-Western, anticolonial movements of the twentieth century; and the emergence of the twenty-first century’s integrated but frequently divided world. To address these themes in the depth and breadth that they deserve, we have chosen primary sources that combine to present an overview of global history in mosaic form. Each source serves two functions: It presents an intimate glimpse into some meaningful aspect of the human past and simultaneously contributes to the creation of a single large picture—an integrated history of the world. In selecting and arranging the pieces of our mosaic, we have sought to create a balanced picture of human history that reflects many different perspectives and experiences. Believing that the study of history properly concerns every aspect of past human activity and thought, we have chosen sources that mirror the practices and concerns of as wide a variety of representative persons and groups as availability and space allow.

Preface «

Our pursuit of historical balance has also led us into the arena of artifactual evidence. Although most historians center their research on documents, the discipline of history requires us to consider all of the clues surrendered by the past, and these include its artifacts. Moreover, we have discovered that students enjoy analyzing artifacts, remember vividly the insights they draw from them, and are eager to discuss this evidence in class and among themselves. For these reasons, we have included works of art and other artifacts that users of this book can and should analyze as historical sources.

New to This Edition We have been gratified with the positive response by colleagues and especially students to the first seven editions of The Human Record. Many have taken the trouble to write or otherwise contact us to express their satisfaction. No textbook is perfect, however, and these correspondents have been equally generous in sharing their ideas of how we might improve our book and meet more fully the needs of its readers. Such suggestions, when combined with continuing advances in historical scholarship, our deeper reflections on a variety of issues, and the march of time in this new century, have mandated periodic revisions. In the current revision, as was true in the previous seven editions, our intent has been to craft a book that not only reflects the most up-to-date scholarship but is as interesting and useful as possible to students and instructors alike. In this continuing (and never-ending) pursuit of trying to find the best and most useful documents and artifacts, we have made several significant changes. First, we have introduced a large number of new sources. Inasmuch as many of the sources consist of two or more discrete elements, any number that we offer as an exact count is subject to debate, but the most conservative estimate is that, together, the two volumes contain well over one hundred new sources. Additionally, in a continuing effort to provide the most accurate and comprehensible versions of the sources that we have selected, the two volumes contain over twenty-seven new translations of sources from such languages as Chinese, Byzantine Greek, medieval Latin, Castilian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, and Tuscan. Needless to say, in order to keep these volumes within manageable boundaries, we have had to excise many “old” sources, most of which undoubtedly have their advocates, who will be disappointed at their excision. Persons who disagree with our judgments as to what to cut and what to add should feel free to contact us (see “Feedback” below) and to argue their case. There will be a ninth edition. Instructors who have used earlier editions of The Human Record will recognize immediately that we have, as in past editions, added a large number of new artifactual sources.As was the case with the seventh edition, they are in four-color reproduction, making it easy for student and instructor alike to identify details and allowing

VVx7F

®

Preface

us greater latitude in selecting images. We do not need to reject an image because important elements would be lost in black and white. Instructors who have read and used a variety of world history textbooks will also note that many of the artifactual sources that we selected for inclusion and analysis are unique to this work. In other words, many are the fruit of our own research and do not come from the usual cast of world history images. In fact, three of the artifacts come from the private collection of one of the editors. By their very inclusion, the artifacts that we have discovered in our travels and research will expand the store of important images, illustrations, and sources available to colleagues and students alike. Each, however, was not chosen because we thought it offbeat or uncommon or were overcome with whimsy. It was selected because we deemed it telling and important to the story of world history. Multiple Voices, a feature that was new to the sixth edition, received nearuniversal acclaim from the instructors who used these exercises in the classroom. We retained and expanded this feature in the seventh edition and have further expanded it for the eighth edition, while also revising, in some cases radically so, several Multiple Voices exercises that appeared in the two previous editions. Whether new, revised, or recycled intact, a simple philosophy lies behind each Multiple Voices exercise. Two of the most important skills that every student of history must acquire and sharpen are an ability to identify, evaluate, and use evidence that reflects different perspectives and an ability to trace historical development over time. Together, the two volumes contain sixteen Multiple Voices units, with each containing four to seven sources and clearly set apart from other elements in the chapter. We believe that this enables instructors to use each unit as a coherent whole in the classroom and as a focal point for out-of-class essays. Beyond that, we are confident that each Multiple Voices unit will help students acquire and deepen habits of the mind that are necessary for not only their successful mastery of history but also, more important, their functioning in the world as educated individuals and citizens. These include, but are not limited to,a high degree of comfort with nuance and ambiguity; a sensitivity to the ways in which personality, time, place, culture, and other circumstances influence perspectives; an understanding that change and continuity are equally important elements in the dynamics of human history; a willingness to offer provisional answers to complex phenomena in which some or much of the desired evidence is not available; and an intellectual humility that allows one to modify and even radically change previous judgments once new evidence or insights become available. Beyond helping to stimulate these skills and habits of the mind, we also have an obligation to reflect in our work the most up-to-date scholarly discoveries and controversies. With that in mind, we have revised many of our introductions, commentaries, and notes. In several cases we have explicitly corrected statements made in previous editions that can no longer be held as valid in the

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light of new research.As with past editions, more than one-third of the pages dedicated to editorial commentary and notes are either new or have been rewritten. Each volume also has a few new topics, reflecting both new currents in scholarship and pedagogy and maybe even the perspectives of its author-editor (Andrea for Volume | and Overfield for Volume Il). The new topics in Volume | include expanded coverage of Mycenaean Greece, Mathuran. Buddhist sculpture, and the Mound and Taino cultures of pre-Columbian North America and the Caribbean. Mathura often is overlooked in world history textbooks, which tend to give all the credit for the transition to humanistic representations of the Buddha to Gandhara, and the cultures of Mesoamerica and South America often eclipse those of the Caribbean and America north of the Rio Grande in those same textbooks. The most significant change for Volume II is the addition of a new concluding chapter. Since the first edition of The Human Record, we have ended Volume II with a chapter titled “The Global Community since 1945.” As years passed and the world changed, trying to cover this ever-expanding time-span became increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible. Chapter 13 now covers the period from the end of World War Il to the late 1980s, and Chapter 14 covers the period from the end of the Cold War to the present. New topics covered in Chapter |4 include international relations since the end of the Cold War (speeches by George H.W. Bush and Vladimir Putin); neo-liberalism and its critics (an essay by a defender of free market capitalism and a critique of the same by the International Forum on Globalization); the Internet (exchanges between Secretary of State Clinton and the statecontrolled Chinese press over Internet censorship); and terrorism (a declaration by Osama bin Laden and excerpts from the so-called “torture memos” produced by the Bush White House). These are but some of many new sources and features that we hope will stimulate anew instructors who have used earlier editions and excite the imagination of their students. As for the many sources that are not new to this edition: Some treasures are too valuable to leave behind.

Learning Aids Source analysis can be a daunting challenge for any student. With this in mind, we have labored to make these sources as accessible as possible by providing the student-user with a variety of aids. As in previous editions, each volume has a Prologue, in which we explain, initially in a theoretical manner and then concretely, how a historian interprets written and artifactual sources. Because we consider this Prologue to be one of The Human Record’s distinguishing and strongest features (and The Human Record pioneered the

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inclusion of such an essay in a history source book), we take pride in this essay and have continuously revised it over the course of the past quarter century. The eighth edition is no exception in this regard. The book’s Multiple Voices units are probably its most challenging elements, and because of that fact the Prologue offers a sample Multiple Voices exercise followed by our explanation of what insights we gleaned from these five sources and how we arrived at them (and users of the seventh edition will note that we have significantly expanded this Multiple Voices lesson). It is our firm hope and belief that after studying our step-by-step analysis of this Multiple Voices module, the student-reader will realize that source analysis is largely common sense and care to detail and is well within her or his ability. Within the body of each volume, we offer part, chapter, sub-chapter, and individual source introductions, all to help the reader place each selection into a meaningful context and understand each source’s significance. Because we consider The Human Record to be an interpretive overview of global history and therefore a survey of the major patterns of global history that stands on its own as a text, our introductions are significantly fuller than what one normally encounters in a book of sources. Suggested Questions for Analysis precede each source; their purpose is to help the student make sense of each piece of evidence and wrest from it as much insight as possible. Ideally, and more often than not, the questions are presented in a threetiered format designed to resemble the historian’s approach to source analysis and to help students make historical comparisons on a global scale. The first several questions are usually quite specific and ask the reader to pick out important pieces of inforrnation. These initial questions require the student to address two issues: What does this document or artifact say, and what meaningful facts can | garner from it? Addressing concrete questions of this sort prepares the student researcher for the next, more significant, level of critical thinking and analysis: drawing inferences. Questions that demand inferential conclusions follow the fact-oriented ques-

tions. Finally, whenever possible, we offer a third tier of questions that challenge the student to compare the individual or society that produced a particular source with an individual, group, or culture encountered earlier in the volume. We believe such comparisons help students fix more firmly in their minds the distinguishing cultural characteristics of the various societies they encounter in their survey of world history. Beyond that, it underscores the fact that global history is, at least on one level, comparative history. Another form of help we offer is to gloss the sources, explaining words and allusions that students cannot reasonably be expected to know.To facilitate reading and to encourage reference, the notes appear at the bottom of the page on which they are cited.A few documents also contain interlinear notes that serve as transitions or provide needed information. Some instructors might use The Human Record as their sole textbook. Most, however, will use it as a supplement to a standard narrative textbook, and most of these will probably decide not to require their students to analyze every source. To assist

Preface

instructors (and students) in selecting sources that best suit their interests and needs, we have prepared two analytical tables of contents for each volume. The first lists readings and artifacts by geographic and cultural area, the second by topic. The two tables suggest to professor and student alike the rich variety of material available within these pages, particularly for essays in comparative history. In summary, our goal in crafting The Human Record has been to do our best to prepare the student-reader for success—success being defined as comfort with historical analysis, proficiency in critical thinking, learning to view history on a global scale, and a deepened awareness of the rich cultural varieties, as well as shared characteristics, of the human family.

Using The Human Record: Suggestions from the Editors We have also not forgotten our colleagues. Specific suggestions for assignments and classroom activities are provided in a PDF manual, accessible online. In it we explain why we have chosen the sources that appear in this book and what insights we believe students should be capable of drawing from them. We also describe classroom exercises for encouraging student thought and discussion on the various sources. The-advice we present is the fruit of our own use of these sources in the classroom.

Feedback As already suggested, we want to receive comments tors and students who use this book. Comments should be addressed to A. J. Andrea, whose e-mail comments on Volume II should be addressed to J. H. uvm.edu.

and suggestions from instrucon the Prologue and Volume | address is [email protected]; Overfield at James.Overfield@

Acknowledgments We are in debt to the many professionals who offered their expert advice and assistance during the various incarnations of The Human Record. Scholars and friends at The University of Vermont who generously shared their expertise with us over the years as we crafted these eight editions include Abbas Alnasrawi, Doris Bergen, Holly-Lynn Busier, Ernesto Capello, RobertV.Daniels, Carolyn Elliott, Bogac Ergene, Erik Esselstrom, Shirley Gedeon, Erik Gilbert, William Haviland, Walter Hawthorn, Dennis Herron, Richard Horowitz, Abigail McGowan, Wolfgang Mieder, William Mierse, George Moyser, Francis Nicosia, Sarah M. Paige, Kristin M. Peterson-Ishaq,

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Abubaker Saad, Wolfe W. Schmokel, Peter Seybolt, John W. Seyller, Sean Stilwell, Mark Stoler, Marshall True, Diane Villemaire, Janet Whatley, and Denise Youngblood. Additionally, Ms. Tara Coram of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution deserves special thanks for the assistance she rendered A. J.Andrea in his exploration of the Asian art holdings of the two museums. He also extends his appreciation to the Silkroad Foundation of Saratoga, California, and especially its executive director, Adela Lee. Participation in three summer seminars in China on the artifacts of the Silk Road enabled him to identify and study several of the sources that appear in Volume I. He also thanks Dr. Sun Yue,of Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, for translation assistance in our photo research efforts, and Mr. Liu Xu (Lancelot), also of Capital Normal University, for his graceful translations of five key sources. Finally, he must single out an act of great collegiality: John E. Hill shared his translation of the Chronicle of the Western Regions, inclusion of which has added immeasurably to the value of Chapter 5 of Volume |. Professor Overfield gratefully acknowledges the help of Professor Timon Screech of the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies for his insights into Shiba Kokan’s A Meeting ofJapan, China, and the West in Chapter 7 of Volume Il, and to James Cahill, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of California at Berkeley, for his help in locating Zhang Hong’s landscape in Chapter 4 of that same volume. We wish also to acknowledge the following instructors whose comments on the seventh edition helped guide our revision: Joseph Avitable, Quinnipiac University; David Bovee, Fort Hays State University; Richard Brabander, Bridgewater State University; Katherine Clark, SUNY College at Brockport; Andria Crosson, University of Texas at San Antonio; Paula De Vos, San Diego State University; Cheryl Golden, Newman University. Finally, our debt to our spouses is beyond payment, but the dedication to them of each edition reflects in some small way how deeply we appreciate their support and good-humored tolerance.

A.J.A./ J.H.O.

PROLOGUE

Primary Sources and How to Read Them Imagine a course in chemistry in which you never set foot in a laboratory or a course on the history of jazz in which you never listen to a note of music. You undoubtedly would consider such courses deficient and might even complain to your academic advisor or college dean about flawed teaching methods and wasted tuition. And you would be right. No one can understand chemistry without doing experiments; no one can understand music without listening to performances. In much the same way, no one can understand history without reading and analyzing primary sources. Simply defined, in most instances, primary sources are historical records produced at the same time the event or period that is being studied took place or soon thereafter. They are distinct from secondary sources—books, articles, televi-

sion documentaries, and even historical films produced well after the events they describe and analyze. Secondary sources—“histories” in the conventional sense of the term—organize the jumble of past events into understandable narratives. They provide interpretations, sometimes make comparisons, and almost always discuss motive and causation. When done well, they provide insight and pleasure. But such works, no matter how well done, are still secondary in that they are written after the fact and derive their evidence and information from primary sources. History is an ambitious discipline that deals with all aspects of past human activity and belief. This means that the primary sources historians use to recreate the past are equally wide-ranging and diverse. Most primary sources are written—government records, law codes, private correspondence, literary works, religious texts, merchants’ account books, memoirs, and the list goes on. So important are written records to the study of history that some historians refer to societies and cultures with no system of writing as “prehistoric.” This does not mean they lack a history; it means there is no way to construct a detailed narrative of their histories due to the lack of written records. Of course, even so-called prehistoric societies leave behind evidence of their experiences, creativity, and belief systems in their oral traditions and their artifacts. Let us look first at oral traditions, which can include legends, religious beliefs and rituals, proverbs, genealogies, and a variety of other forms of wisdom and knowledge. Simply put, they constitute a society’s remembered past as passed down by word of mouth. Reconstructing an accurate picture of the past from such sources presents significant difficulties for the historian. You are aware of how stories change as they are transmitted from person to person. Imagine how difficult it is to use such stories as historical evidence. Yet, despite the challenge they offer, these sources cannot be overlooked.

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Many of the oral traditions of ancient societies were eventually set down in writing, but in most cases they were recorded long after they were first articulated. Regardless of this shortcoming, they are often the only documented evidence that we have of a far-distant society or event, and thus they are indispensable to the historian. One consequence of this fact is that the farther back in history we go, the more we see the inadequacy of the definition of primary sources that we offered above (“historical records produced at the same time the event or period that is being studied took place or soon thereafter”). The early chapters of Volume | contain quite a few primary sources based on oral traditions; in some cases, they were written down many centuries after the events and people they deal with. We will inform you when this is the case and offer information and suggestions as to what kinds of questions you can validly ask of them to enable you to use them effectively. Artifacts—anything, other than a document, that was crafted by hand or machine—can help us place oral traditions into a clearer context by producing tangible evidence that supports or calls into question this form of testimony. Artifacts can also tell us something about prehistoric societies whose oral traditions are lost to us. They also serve as primary sources for historians who study literate cultures. Written records, no matter how extensive and diverse, never allow us to draw a complete picture of the past, and we can fill at least some of those gaps by studying what human hands have fashioned. Everyday objects—such as fabrics, tools, kitchen implements, weapons, farm equipment, jewelry, pieces of furniture, and family photographs—provide windows into the ways that people lived. Grander cultural products—paintings, sculpture, buildings, musical compositions, and, more recently, film—are equally important because they also reflect the values, attitudes, and styles of living of their creators and those for whom they were created. To be a historian is to work with primary sources in all their diverse forms. But to do so effectively demands thoroughness and attention to detail. Each source provides only one glimpse of reality,and no single source by itself gives us the whole picture of past events and developments. Many sources are difficult to understand and can be interpreted only after the precise meaning of their words has been deciphered and the contexts of the documents have been thoroughly investigated. Many sources contain distortions and errors that can be discovered only by rigorous internal analysis and comparison with evidence from other sources. Only after all these source-related difficulties have been overcome can a historian hope to achieve a coherent and reasonably accurate understanding of the past. To illustrate some of the challenges of working with primary sources, let us imagine a time in the future when a historian decides to write a history of your college class in connection with its fiftieth reunion. Since no one has written a book or article about your class, our historian has no secondary sources to consult and must rely entirely on primary sources.What primary sources might he or she use? Possible sources include the school catalogue or bulletin, class lists, academic transcripts, yearbooks, college rules and regulations, course syllabi, and similar official documents, most of which are now exclusively on-line and might or might not be recoverable fifty years from

Prologue

now. Some sources that might still exist in printed or handwritten form could include lecture notes (assuming not everyone takes notes on a personal device and then deletes them at semester's end), examinations, term papers, and textbooks (assuming that e-books do not totally replace printed books); diaries and private letters; articles from the campus newspaper; programs for sporting events, concerts, and plays; and posters and leaflets. Another potential source for the inquiring historian would be recollections written down or otherwise recorded by some of your classmates long after they graduated. With a bit of thought, you could add other items to the list, among them some artifacts, such as souvenirs sold in the campus store, recordings of music popular at the time, and photographs and videos of student life and activity. Clearly, all the sources available to our future historian will be fortunate survivors. They will represent only a small percentage of the material generated by you and your classmates, professors, and administrators over a two- or four-year period. Wastebaskets and recycling bins will have claimed much written material; the “delete” function on computers and smart phones, inevitable changes in the technology of electronic communication, and old websites dumped as “obsolete” wil] make it impossible to retrieve some basic sources, such as your college’s website, the electronic “blackboards” that you and your course instructors used for communication, e-mail, and a vast amount of other on-line materials, as we suggested above: It is also probable that certain groups within your class will present the historian with additional challenges when it comes to finding information about them. The past always has its so-called silent groups of people. Of course, they were never truly silent, but often their voices were muted by choice or circumstance. It is the historian’s task to find whatever evidence exists that gives them a voice, but often that evidence is tantalizingly slim. For these reasons, the evidence available to our future historian will be fragmentary at best. This is always the case when doing historical research. The records of the past cannot be retained in their totality, not even records that pertain to the recent past. How will our future historian use the many individual pieces of surviving evidence about your class? As he or she reviews the list, it will quickly become apparent that no single primary source provides a complete or unbiased picture. Each source has its own perspective, value, and limitations. Imagine a situation in which the personal essays submitted by applicants for admission are a historian’s only source of information about the student body. On reading them, our researcher might draw the false conclusion that the school attracted only the most gifted, talented, interesting, intellectually oriented, and socially committed students imaginable. Despite their flaws, however, essays composed by applicants for admission are important pieces of historical evidence. They reflect the would-be students’ perceptions of the school’s cultural values and the types of people it hopes to attract, and usually the applicants are right on the mark because they have studied the college’s or university's website and read the brochures prepared by its admissions office. Admissions materials and, to a degree, even the school’s official catalogue

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or bulletin (assuming a fifty-year-old electronic publication can be recovered) are forms of creative advertising, and both present an idealized picture of campus life. But such publications have value for the researcher because they reflect the values of the faculty and administrators who composed them. The catalogue also provides useful information regarding rules and regulations, courses, instructors, school organizations, and similar items. Such factual information, however, is the raw material of history, not history itself, and certainly it does not reflect anything close to the full historical reality of your class’s collective experience. What is true of the catalogue is equally true of the student newspaper and every other piece of evidence pertinent to your class. Each primary source is part of a larger whole, but as we have already seen, we do not have all the pieces. Think of historical evidence in terms of a jigsaw puzzle. Many of the pieces are missing, but it is possible to put the remaining pieces together to form a fairly accurate and coherent picture. That picture will not be complete, but it is valid and useful, and from it, one can often make educated guesses as to what the missing pieces look like. The keys to putting together this historical puzzle are hard work and imagination. Each is necessary.

Examining Primary Sources Hard work speaks for itself, but students are often surprised to learn that historians also need imagination to reconstruct the past. After all, they ask, doesn’t history consist of irrefutable dates, names, and facts? Where does imagination enter into the process of learning these facts? Again, let us consider your class’s history and its documentary sources. Many of those documents provide factual data—dates, names, grades, statistics. While these data are important, individually and collectively they have no historical meaning until they have been interpreted. Your college class is more than a collection of statistics and facts. It is a group of individuals who, despite their differences, share and mold a collective experience. It is a community evolving within a particular time and place.Any valid or useful history of it written in the future must reach beyond dates, names, and facts and interpret the historical characteristics and role of your class. What were its values? How did it change and why? What impact did it have on its members, the school, and society? These are some of the important questions a historian asks of the evidence. To arrive at answers, the historian must examine every piece of relevant evidence in its full context and wring from that evidence as many inferences as possible. An inference is a logical conclusion drawn from evidence, and it is the heart and soul of historical inquiry. Facts are the raw materials of history, but inferences are its finished products. Every American schoolchild learns that “in fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” In subsequent history classes, he or she might learn other facts about the famous explorer: that he was born in Genoa in 1451; that he made three other transatlantic voyages in 1493, 1497, and 1503; that he died in Spain in 1506. Knowing these facts is of little value, however, unless that knowledge

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contributes to our understanding of the motives, causes, and significance of Columbus’s voyages. Why did Columbus sail west? Why did Spain support such enterprises? Why were Europeans willing and able to exploit, as they did, the so-called New World? What were the short- and long-term consequences of the European presence in the Americas? Finding answers to such questions are the historian’s ultimate goal, and these answers can be reached only by studying primary sources. One noted historian, Robin Winks, wrote a book entitled The Historian as Detective,

and the image is appropriate although inexact. Like a detective, the historian examines evidence to reconstruct past events. Like a detective, the historian is interested in discovering “what happened, who did it, and why.’ Unlike the detective, however, the historian further asks “what did it all mean, and what were its immediate and longterm consequences?” Despite this difference, like a detective interrogating witnesses, the historian must carefully examine the testimony of sources. First and foremost, the historian must evaluate the validity of the source. Is it what it purports to be? Artful forgeries have misled many historians. Even authentic sources still can be misleading if their authors lied or deliberately misrepresented reality. In addition, the historian can easily be led astray by not fully understanding the perspective reflected in a document. Any detective who has examined eyewitnesses to an event soon learns that even honest witnesses’ accounts can differ widely. The detective has the opportunity to re-examine witnesses and offer them the opportunity to change their testimony in the light of new evidence and deeper reflection. The historian is not so fortunate. Even when the historian compares a piece of documentary evidence with other evidence in order to uncover its immediately apparent flaws, there is no way to probe more deeply by cross-examining its author. Given this fact, the historian must understand as fully as possible the source’s perspective with an eye toward evaluating as fully as possible its level of credibility and worth. Thus, the historian must ask several key questions—all of which share the letter W:

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What kind of document is it?

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Who wrote it?

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For whom and why?

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Where was it composed and when?

What is important because understanding the nature of a source gives the historian an idea of what kind of information he or she can expect to find in it. Many sources simply do not address the questions a historian would like to ask of them, and knowing this can prevent a great deal of frustration. Your class’s historian would be foolish to try to learn much about the academic quality of your school’s courses from a study of the registrar’s class lists and grade sheets; student and faculty class notes, copies of syllabi, examinations, student papers, and textbooks would be far more useful. Who, for whom, and why are equally important questions. The official catalogue and publicity materials prepared by the admissions office undoubtedly address some issues pertaining to student academic and social life. But should documents such as these—designed to attract potential students and to place the school in the

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best possible light—be read and accepted uncritically? Obviously not. They must be tested against student testimony provided by such sources as private letters, memoirs, posters, the student newspaper, and the yearbook.Additional evidence that the historian should consult would be data, such as the school’s graduation rate and the percentage of its students annually admitted to academic honor societies, that a reputable authority has gathered and recorded. Where and when are also important questions to ask of any primary source.As a rule, distance from an event in space and time colors perceptions and can diminish the reliability of a source. Imagine that a classmate had celebrated the twenty-fifth class reunion by recording her or his memories and reflections. That document or video could be an insightful and valuable source of information for your class’s historian. Conceivably this graduate would have had a perspective and information that he or she lacked a quarter of a century earlier. Just as conceivably, that person’s memory of what college was like might have faded to the point where the recollections have little evidentiary value.

You and the Sources This book will actively involve you in the work of historical inquiry by asking you to draw inferences based on your analysis of primary source evidence. This might seem difficult at first, but it is well within your capability. You will analyze two types of evidence: documents and artifacts. Each source in The Human Record is authentic, so you do not have to worry about validating it. Editorial material in this book also supplies you with the information necessary to place each piece of evidence into its proper context and will suggest questions you legitimately can and should ask of it. It is important to keep in mind that historians approach each source with questions, even though they might be vaguely formulated. Like detectives, historians want to discover some particular truth or shed light on an issue. This requires asking specific questions of the witnesses or, in the historian’s case, of the evidence. These questions should not be prejudgments. One ofthe worst errors a historian can make is setting out to prove a point or to defend an ideological position. Questions are essential, but they are starting points, nothing else. Therefore, as you approach a source, have your question or questions fixed in your mind, and constantly remind yourself as you work your way through a source what issue or issues you are investigating—but at the same time, keep an open mind. You are not an advocate or debater. Your mission is to discover the truth, insofar as you can, by following the evidence and asking the right questions of it. Each source in this anthology is preceded by a number of suggested Questions for Analysis. You or your professor might want to ask other questions. Whatever the case, keep focused on your questions and issues, and take notes as you read a source. Never rely on unaided memory; it will almost inevitably lead you astray. Above all else, you must be honest and thorough as you study a source. Read each explanatory footnote carefully to avoid misunderstanding a word or an allusion.

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Try to understand exactly what the source is saying and its author’s perspective. Be careful not to wrench anything out of context, thereby distorting it. Be sure to read the entire source so that you understand as fully as possible what it says and does not say. This is not as difficult as it sounds, but it does take concentration and work. And do not let the word “work” mislead you. True, primary source analysis demands attention to detail and some hard thought, but it is also rewarding. There is great satisfaction in developing a deeper and truer understanding of the past based on a careful exploration of the evidence.What is more,an ability to analyze and interpret evidence is a skill that will serve you well in whatever career you follow.

Analyzing Sample Sources To illustrate how you should go about this task and what is expected of you, we will now take you through an exercise. One of the features of this source book is what we call “Multiple Voices.” Each Multiple Voices feature is a set of short source excerpts that illustrates one of three phenomena: (I) multiple, more-or-less contemporary perspectives on a common event or phenomenon; (2) multiple sources that illustrate how something changes over time; (3) multiple perspectives from different cultures regarding a common concern or issue. The sample exercise we have constructed for this Prologue is a Multiple Voices feature that illustrates the third phenomenon: multiple perspectives from different cultures regarding a common concern or issue.We have chosen four documents and an artifact that shed light on the importance and economic policies of the Indian port city of Calicut in the years preceding the entry on a large scale of Europeans into the Indian Ocean.We present this grouping of sources as it would appear in the book: first a bit of background; next a discussion of the individual sources; then suggested Questions for Analysis;

and finally the sources themselves, with explanatory notes.

Everyone Meets in Calicut BACKGROUND On May 20, 1498, after almost eleven months of sailing, the Portuguese captainmajor Vasco da Gama anchored his three ships a few miles from Kozhikode (known to the Arabs as Kalikut and later to the British as Calicut) on India’s Malabar, or

southwestern, Coast, thereby inaugurating Europe’s entry into the markets of the Indian Ocean.At the time of da Gama’s arrival, Calicut was the capital of the most important state in a region dotted with small powers. Despite lacking a good natural harbor, Calicut prospered as a center of trade for reasons suggested in the following sources. However, with the establishment of competitive Portuguese trading stations along the Malabar Coast and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean as a consequence of da Gama’s initial contact with India and following da Gama’s bombardment of the city in 1503, Calicut’s fortunes rapidly declined, and its prominence ended.

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THE SOURCES We begin with the most recent of our five sources, an account of Calicut contained in the anonymous Logbook (Roteiro) of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, often referred to simply as the Roteiro. The journal, which is incomplete, was kept by an anonymous crew member aboard the San Rafael. Although the author's identity is unknown, what is certain is that the Roteiro is authentic, and it clearly reflects why Western Europeans were so eager to reach this port-city. The next three sources, which span more than a century, suggest the continuity of policies that enabled Calicut to achieve and maintain its status as a rich marketplace for several hundred years before da Gama’s arrival. Our fifth source completes the circle by revealing Western Europe’s vision of India more than a century before da Gama sailed to Calicut. The second source, Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, or A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travel, predates the Roteiro by almost a century and a half.Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Battuta (1304—1 368?) left his home in Tangier on the coast of Morocco in 1325 at the age of 21 to begin a twenty-six-year journey throughout the Islamic world and beyond. When he returned to Morocco in 1349, he had logged about 73,000 miles of travel, including more than seven years spent as a qadi, or religious judge, in the Islamic sultanate of Delhi in northern India. In 1341, Sultan Muhammad Tughlug (r. 1325-1351) invited Ibn Battuta to travel to China as his ambassador. On his way to China, Ibn Battuta stopped at Calicut. In 1354, the traveler began to collaborate with a professional scribe, Ibn Juzayy, to fashion his many adventures into a rihla, or book of religious travels, one of the most popular forms of literature in the Islamic world. It took almost two years to complete his long and complex story. Some of that story was fabricated, as even contemporaries noticed, but most of the rihla has the ring of authenticity. The excerpt that appears here describes Calicut as seen in 1341 and remembered about fifteen years later, and there is no good reason to doubt that this is an eyewitness account. The third source, The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores, is Chinese. Its author, Ma

Huan (ca. |380—after 1451),accompanied the fourth (1413-1415), sixth (1421-1423), and seventh (1431-1433) expeditions of the great Ming fleets that the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402-1424) and his successor sent into the Indian Ocean under the command of Admiral Zheng He (1371—1433).The main purpose of the seven expeditions, which began in 1405 and ended in 1433, was to reassert Chinese influence in coastal lands touched by the Indian Ocean. Ma Huan, who was a Chinese Muslim, served as an Arabic translator on his first voyage and upon his return home transcribed his notes into book form. After sailing on two additional expeditions, he amended his account accordingly and published a book around 1451 that encapsulated all three expeditions and described in detail! the lands and peoples visited and actions taken by the fleets during those voyages. In this excerpt he describes Calicut, known to the Chinese as Guli, which he visited on each of his last two voyages. Our fourth source is from the pen of a Persian scholar, Islamic jurist, and diplomat, Abd al-Razzaq (1413-1482), who served the Timurid ruler of western Central Asia, Shahrukh Bahadur, the son and successor of the would-be world conqueror

Prologue

Amir Temur, known in the West as Tamerlane (Volume I,source 82). In 1442,Abd al-

Razzaq traveled as an ambassador from the Timurid court at Herat (in present-day Afghanistan) to Vijayanagara, the most powerful Hindu state in southern India, where he remained until 1444. In 1463, al-Razzaq began writing The Dawn of Two Auspicious Planets and the Meeting of Two Seas, a history of the Turco-Mongol rulers of Persia from 1304 to 1470. He inserted into that history an account of his mission to Vijayanagara, which he had independently composed at an earlier date. In that account he described Calicut, to which he had sailed in early November 1442 and in which he resided until mid-April 1443. In a portion of his account not included below, he characterized the city as a “disagreeable place, where everything became a source of trouble and weariness,” but despite his dislike for Calicut, his official position and four-and-a-half-month residence there provided him with an intimate insight into the workings and culture of the port-city. The fifth source, an artifact, is a detail of the western portions of India and the adjoining Arabian Sea from the Catalan World Atlas, which was drawn in 1375 on the

island of Majorca, probably by Abraham Cresques (1325-1387), a Jewish “master of maps of the world” who served the Catholic king of Aragon in northeastern Spain (Catalonia), which had seized Majorca from the Moors in 1229. Cresques’s map was based on the best available literary and cartographic sources and reflected the facts and fictions regarding Afro-Eurasia (the vast connected landmass that constitutes Africa and Eurasia) that circulated in educated circles in late-fourteenth-century Western Europe. In the segment shown here, we see at the top the Three Magi on their way to visit the Christ Child. Below them is the sultan of Delhi, whose Muslim state dominated northern India; below him is the raja of Vijayanagara. Between them are an elephant and its handler. In the Arabian Sea, at the bottom of the map, are pearl divers, as described by Marco Polo in his widely circulated account of his latethirteenth-century travels through Asia. Above the pearl divers is a vessel with two men in conical hats. You will need a magnifying glass to see the divers and details of the ship and sailors because of fading that has taken place over almost 650 years.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. According to the Roteiro, why was Calicut so important, and, by implication, why was it necessary for Portugal to gain direct access to it? 2. What does Ibn Battuta tell us about the roles of foreigners in Calicut, and specifically which foreigners?

3. Based on your analysis of the four documentary sources, what do you conclude were the factors that contributed to Calicut’s prosperity? 4. What does the Catalan World Atlas allow us to infer about Western Europe’s knowledge of the Malabar Coast and India in general by the late fourteenth century? 5. Overall, what can we say with certainty about Calicut prior to its rapid decline in the sixteenth century?

ef

(0 « Prologue

1 e Roteiro

From this country of Calicut . . . come the spices that are consumed in the East and the West, in Portugal, as in all other countries of the world, as also [are] precious stones of every description. The

following spices are to be found in this city of Calicut, being its own produce: much ginger and pepper and cinnamon, although the last is not of so

fine a quality as that brought from an island called Cillon [Ceylon],' which is eight days journey from

duties to the Grand Sultan.° The merchandise is then transshipped to smaller vessels, which carry it through the Red Sea to a place close to Santa Catarina of Mount Sinai,’ called Tuuz [El Tar]® where customs

dues are paid once more. From that place the merchants carry the spices on the backs of camels . . . to Quayro [Cairo], a journey occupying ten days. At

Quayro duties are paid again. On this road to Cairo they are frequently robbed by thieves. . . . At Cairo the spices are embarked on the river Nile. . . and descending’ that river for two days

Cloves are brought to this city from an island called

they reach a place called Roxette [Rosetta], where duties have to be paid once more. There they are

Melqua [Melaka].° The Mecca vessels carry these

placed on camels, and are conveyed in one day to

spices from there to a city in Mecca* called Judea [Jeddah], and from the said island to Judea is a voyage of 50 days sailing before the wind. . . . At Judea they discharge their cargoes, paying customs

a city called Alexandria, which is a sea-port.'° This

Calicut. Calicut is the staple? for all this cinnamon.

Source: From E. G. Ravenstein, ed. and trans., A Journal of the

First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499 (Hakluyt Society, 1898), First Series, No. 99. Reproduced by Burt Franklin, 1963, pp. 11-18.

'The present-day island nation of Sri Lanka. At this time, Ceylon alone produced true cinnamon. The other cinnamon-like spice is cassia, which is made from the bark of a related tree that originated in China. 7A staple is a place where merchants have been granted the exclusive right to purchase and export a particular commodity or group of commodities. *The straits and city of Melaka (also known as Malacca) were not the source. Cloves came from the Southeast Asian islands known as the Moluccas (or Spice Islands), which today constitute the province of Maluku in the Republic of Indonesia.

city is visited by the galleys of Venice and Genoa, in search of these spices, which yield the Grand

Sultan [an annual] revenue of 600,000 cruzados.!! ‘Actually Arabia, Mecca (or Makkah) being the inland holy city of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. Today Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia. >Jeddah (or Jidda) is the Arabian Peninsula’s main port city on the Red Sea. ®The Mamluk dynasty of sultans that ruled Egypt from 1250 tonlldili7: 7Saint Catherine’s Monastery—an ancient Christian monastery in Egypt that still exists. 8A port on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Sailing north. '°On the Mediterranean. ''A Portuguese gold coin that received its name from the crusader cross emblazoned on it.

ship-owner Mithqal,’ who possesses vast wealth

2 ¢ Ibn Battuta, A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels Encountered in Travel

Yemen, and Fars.* When we reached the city, the

The sultan of Calicut is an infidel,! known as “the

principal inhabitants and merchants and the sultan’s representative came out to welcome us, with

Samari.”’ . . . In this town too lives the famous

drums, trumpets,

Source: Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354, H. A. R. Gibb, trans. (New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1929), pp. 234-237, passim. Modernized by A. J. Andrea. 'A Hindu. *In the local language, the title was Samudri raja, which means “Lord of the Sea.” The Portuguese would corrupt this to “Zamorin.”

3A strange name, very much like being called “Goldie” in English.A measure of weight throughout the Islamic world, a mithgal was 4.72 grams of gold. This might mean the man was a Muslim from across the Arabian Sea. *Yemen is the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula; Fars is the southern region of lran along the Gulf of Oman.

and many ships for his trade with India, China,

bugles and standards on their

Prologue

eo Pely

ships. We entered the harbor in great pomp. . . . We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there

where he stays, they stand their lances on both

were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and dis-

sides of the door, and continue thus during his

embarked. Every one of us was lodged in a house,

stay. Some of the Chinese own large numbers of ships on which their factors are sent to foreign countries. There is no people in the world wealthier than the Chinese. When the time came for the

and we stayed three months as the guests ofthe infidel, awaiting the season of the voyage to China.’ On the Sea of China traveling is done in Chinese

ships only. ...

and

bugles. On

reaching the house

voyage to China, the sultan Samari made provi-

The Chinese vessels are of three kinds: ships called chunks [junks],° middle-sized called zaws [dhows?],’? and small ones kakams.® The large ships have from twelve to three sails, which are made of bamboo plaited like mats.

trumpets,

They are never

large ones called down rods

lowered,

but

turned according to the direction of the wind. .. . A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors and four hundred

sion for us on one ofthe thirteen junks in the port of Calicut. The factor on the junk was called Sulayman ofSafad,'*in Syria... .

>

Disaster strikes. lbn Battuta’s ship sinks in a storm in the harbor before he boards it,

but it carries with it to the bottom all of his

baggage, servants, and slaves.

men-at-arms, including archers . . . and arbalists,

Next morning we found the bodies of Sum-

who throw naptha.”. . . The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and salons for mer-

bal and Zahir ad-Din,'’ and having prayed over

chants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupant, who takes along

of Calicut ... a fire lit before him on the beach;

them buried them. I saw the infidel, the sultan

live in his cabin unknown to any of the others on board until they meet on reaching some town.

his police officers were beating the people to prevent them from plundering what the sea had cast up. In all the lands of Malabar, except in this one

The sailors have their children on board ship, and

land alone, it is the custom that whenever a ship

they cultivate green stuffs, vegetables, and ginger in wooden tanks. The owner’s factor [agent-incharge] on board ship is like a great amir.'° When

is wrecked all that is taken from it belongs to the treasury. At Calicut, however, it is retained by its owners, and for that reason Calicut has become a flourishing city and attracts large numbers of

with him slave girls and wives. Often a man will

he goes on shore he is preceded by archers and Abyssinians'! with javelins, swords, drums,

*They awaited the lessening of the northeastern monsoon winds, which blow from late November to April. The period around April || was considered the best time to begin a voyage from the Malabar Coast to the Bay of Bengal, which lies east of India. The junk was the standard Chinese ocean-going ship since the second century c.£.and came in a variety of sizes. 7If he means dhows, he is incorrect. The dhow was (and is) a lateen-rigged vessel crafted by Indian, Arab, and East African shipwrights for sailing in the waters of the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas. It was not Chinese. ®This type of vessel is unknown. It cannot be the flatbottomed sampan, which was used exclusively along China's coastal waters and in its rivers.

merchants.

°Crossbowmen who shoot missiles containing a mixture of fiery materials.

'Lord or commander. ''Persons from the Horn of Africa—present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia—and maybe even farther south along the Swahili Coast.

"Zefat in present-day Israel. Envoys whom the sultan of Delhi had dispatched to accompany him.

» « Prologue

3 ¢ Ma Huan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores

shake hands; the broker then concludes that the

The inhabitants of Guli are divided into five classes: Nankun,

Zhedi,

then registered in a contract for each party.* Guli chiefs, the Zhedi, and our great eunuch ofhcer?

The Country of Guli

Muslims,

of [Chinese] silk clothing will be discussed, fixed,

Geling and Mugua,'

within which the king belongs to the second, and

he venerates elephants and the ox due to his Buddhist belief? All residents refrain from consuming beef; grand chiefs are Muslims who also refrain from partaking of pork. An earlier king made a compact

with Muslim leaders that stated: “You people do not eat beef; we do not eat pork, and we will respect

this taboo reciprocally from now on.”’. . . The king is assisted by two grand chiefs in administering governmental affairs. They are both Muslims; over half the people of Guli affirm the Islamic faith. They go to prayers every week, and there are twenty to thirty mosques round about.‘ ... These two grand chiefs are recognized by the Chinese Court; hence, they are in full charge of

the trade once the Chinese treasure boats arrive.’ The king sends those chiefs alongside with a Zhedi

termed the “Weinaji”® to keep the official books. A trade broker’ accompanies them. The ship’s com-

mander decides the day for bargaining and trading. When that day arrives, the price of the pieces Source: Translated by Liu Xu from Ma Huan’s Ying Ya Sheng Lan in Wan Ming edited & annotated version (Beijing, Haiyang Press, 2005), pp. 37-92, passim. Copyright © Liu Xu, 2014. All rights reserved. 'In his description of another port city, Cochin, Ma Huan makes it clear that these four “classes” of Hindus were jatis, or occupations, not varnas, or the four major castes of Indian society (Volume |,Chapter 3, source |5,and Chapter 5,source 32).The Nankun were rulers, the Zhedi were commercial accountants and business people (note 6), the Geling were commission agents (note 7),and the Muguas were fishermen and porters. Actually, he was a Hindu. His veneration of an ox (probably a bull) suggests that he was a devotee of Shiva. 3Hindus consider the cow and all other cattle sacred and do not eat beef; Muslims are prohibited from eating pork. In many areas of traditional India, where Muslims lived alongside Hindus, people refrained from eating the meat of both animals as an act of mutual respect.

‘Compare this with the testimony of Abd al-Razzaq.

price [on Chinese goods] has been determined with our hands’ clasping. Whether it is over- or underpriced, there will be no regrets or further negotiations.

Afterwards, Zhedi people of wealth bring their precious stones, pearls, corals, and so on for priceevaluation

and bargaining,

which

usually takes

more than one day. It goes on for a month if done quickly; two to three months if not. When a price has been settled after bargaining, if one purchases

pearls, the price payable is calculated by the chief agent and the “weinaji.” The amount due is determined in raw textiles, such as hemp-silk, which

is paid in exchange. Guli locals own no abacus,'° but their calculations with both hands and feet are error-free and shockingly exceptional. The Guli have a coin of sixty percent purity in gold . . . they also have smaller coins made of Silver... . The people of Guli know how to dye raw silk in varied colors and weave decorative stripes onto fine towels . . . ; every piece is sold for a hundred gold coins. ‘The fleets commanded by Zheng He contained a significant number of treasure ships—large ships along the lines described by Ibn Battuta that carried Chinese trade goods and gifts, but which also were meant to carry back tribute, foreign trade goods, exotic items, and persons of importance invited (or compelled) to visit the imperial court. By extension, Ma Huan means any Chinese trading vessel. SHis attempt to transliterate the Malabar Coast term Waligi Chitty, or accountant. 7A Geling. ®India has produced silk since at least the third millennium (2000s) 8.c.£., but Indians who could afford it favored Chinese silk as a superior luxury fabric. *The reference is to Zheng He, a eunuch, who commanded the treasure ships that visited Calicut during these voyages, but more broadly it probably also refers to the commander of any Chinese ship.

The traditional Chinese calculator.

Prologue

Pepper is widely cultivated in countryside gardens; every October, ripe pepper corns are dried and sold to big pepper-collectors, then stored eventually at an official warehouse. Any purchase of pepper must

authorities,

and taxed

in accordance

with

the

amount purchased... . Foreign boats arrive for trade, the king sends

out a chief and a clerk to oversee and to tax.

be approved by the

cargoes, which they unload, and unhesitatingly

4 @ Abd al-Razzaq, The Dawn of Two Auspicious Planets' and the Meeting of Two Seas?

send into the markets and the bazaars, without

thinking in the meantime

of any necessity of

Calicut is a perfectly secure harbor, which, like

checking the account or of keeping watch over the goods. The officers of the custom house take upon

that of Hormuz,’ brings together merchants from

themselves the responsibility of looking after the

every city and from every country; in it are to be

merchandise, over which they keep watch day and

found an abundance of precious articles brought

night. When a sale is made, they levy a duty on

there

from

maritime

from Abyssinia,*

countries,

Zirbad,>

and

and

especially

Zanzibar;°

from

the goods of one-fortieth; if the goods are not sold,

they make no charge on them whatsoever.

time to time ships arrive there from the shores of the House of God’ and other parts of the Hejaz,* and stay at will... . [T]he town is inhabited by infidels.?. . . It contains a considerable number

In other ports a strange practice is adopted. When a vessel sets sail for a certain point and

of Muslims, who are constant residents and have

under the pretext that the wind has driven it

built two mosques, in which they meet every Friday to offer up prayer. They have one gadi,'° an

there,'* plunder the ship. But at Calicut every ship, whatever its place of origin or wherever it

imam,

1a

and for the most part belong to the Shafi

sect.'* Security and justice are so firmly established in this city that the most wealthy merchants

suddenly is driven by a decree of Divine Providence into another anchorage,

the inhabitants,

is bound for, is treated like other vessels when it

puts into this port, and it has no trouble of any kind to put up with.

bring there from maritime countries considerable

Source: Abd al-Razzaq: R. H. Major, ed. and trans., India in the Fifteenth Century (Hakluyt Society, 1857), First Series, No. 22., pp. 13-14. Modernized by A. J. Andrea. 'The Timurids bestowed the ancient royal title Sahib-Qiran (Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction) on their founder Amir Temur because it was believed that he had been born on April 8, 1336, when Mars and Jupiter were auspiciously conjoined. An ancient phrase that refers to any meeting of two discrete entities or cultures. This probably refers to the joining of Persian and Turco-Mongol cultures and peoples under the Mongol khans and their Timurid successors. 3An important trading port on an island at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

“Ethiopia on the Horn ofAfrica. Southeast Asia.

An island along the Swahili Coast of East Africa that was an important center of trade. (See Volume |, Chapter 10, source 67.) ’Mecca and its nearby port ofJeddah. ®The western region of the Arabian Peninsula that is bordered by the Red Sea.

*Hindus. '0A judge of Sharia, Islamic religious law. ''The leader of prayer in a mosque. "One of four schools of jurisprudence within the Sunni branch phasizes on the Chapter

of Islam. This school of legal interpretation emthe rigorous application of legal principles based Quran and Hadith, or tradition. (See Volume |, 7, sources 45 and 46.)

Thereby making it a derelict vessel. Anyone may rightfully take possession of such a ship and its cargo.

¢ Prologue

5 ¢ The Catalan World Atlas

century)/Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France/Index/The Bridgeman Art Library (14th

Catalan Atlas: Detail of Asia, Jafunda by Abraham and Cresques, Spanish 1375, School,

Prologue

Interpreting the Sources These five pieces of evidence allow us to learn quite a bit about Calicut before Europeans established a strong presence in the Indian Ocean. Let us begin with the two Western sources. The earlier of the two, the Catalan World Atlas, depicts what is unmistakably a Chinese junk off the west coast of India. Its plaited bamboo sails, which Ibn Battuta described, are difficult to discern with the unaided eye, but they are there to be seen if you look carefully. Moreover, the conical hats worn by the men at each end of the vessel were (and are) traditionally East Asian. Also, anyone who has ever seen a junk or a photo of one will recognize its distinctive high stern (the rear of the ship). Clearly, Westerners realized as early as the fourteenth century that the Chinese were major players in the commerce of the Indian subcontinent and descriptions of Chinese junks and clothing had made their way to Europe. The West’s knowledge of the great wealth of India, as well as its high degree of urbanization and its political fragmentation, is equally obvious from the portraits of the sultan of Delhi and the raja of Vijayanagara, as well as the symbols for the many cities dotting the coastline and interior. The pearl divers, elephant, and Three Magi only add to the overall picture of India’s riches and wonders. The fact is that between roughly 1250 and 1350,a significant number of Europeans, especially missionaries and merchants, had traveled, largely by land,to India and China, and some of them, such as Marco Polo, had written widely circulated accounts of their experiences. Even if you did not know that, you can infer from this map segment alone that the fourteenth-century West was not totally ignorant of India’s geography and dynamics, including the importance of Chinese merchants in the commerce of the Malabar Coast. The Roteiro illustrates why, with that knowledge, the Portuguese desired direct overseas access to the rich markets of India and beyond. Given the numerous duties and markups placed on spices that made their way to Egypt and from there to Europe, the Portuguese realized that access to the markets of the Malabar Coast and beyond would enable them cut out many of the middle agents who profited greatly from this lucrative trade.At this point, there is no good reason for you to know that the overland trade routes between Europe and the “Indies” (a vague term that referred to India, China, and other distant lands in Asia and East Africa) had largely broken down after about 1350 (see Volume |, Chapter | 1) and that the closing down of those routes spurred Portugal and Spain to find alternate ways by sea. What you can easily infer from this source is that the Portuguese expected to make much more per year than the 600,000 cruzados that the sultan of Egypt enjoyed, once they had direct access to Calicut.As we learn from this anonymous author, not

only was Calicut a major commercial emporium, it was also a center of spice and gemstone production. The Roteiro also makes clear how important Calicut was to the commerce of Arabia and Egypt,Venice, Genoa, and the Spice Islands; likewise, lbn Battuta, Ma Huan,

«

16

¢ Prol ogue

and Abd al-Razzaq indicate how important Calicut was to the overseas trade of such widely separated regions as China, East Africa, Southeast Asia,Arabia, and Persia. It is no exaggeration to state that Calicut was a centrally located emporium that played a vital economic role for much of Afro-Eurasia. Our Moroccan and Chinese eyewitnesses depict Calicut as a multicultural city, and Abd al-Razzaq notes that Calicut had a significant Muslim population, but in his description of this Muslim community, he serves as a corrective to several errors in Ma Huan’s account. The Chinese visitor states that the population of the “country” (the city and surrounding lands) was largely Muslim and that it had twenty or thirty mosques. Both statements strain belief. Abd al-Razzaq, a pious Muslim jurist and scholar who spent more than four months in the city and therefore surely became well acquainted with its Muslim community, strongly (and correctly) implies that the city’s population consisted largely of non-Muslims (infidels), and he further notes that the city had only two mosques, which were served by a single gadi and a single imam. It is unimaginable that there would have been any additional mosques in the surrounding countryside. It is not difficult to imagine that Ma Huan, who traveled to Calicut twice, was in the city for only short periods of time and did not have an opportunity to visit the twenty or more temples of worship that he assumed were mosques. All too often the eyes see what the brain prepares them to see. When Vasco da Gama first set foot in Calicut he worshiped at a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess, believing it to be a church built by the legendary St.Thomas Christians and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. You do not need to know this fact about da Gama’s error to reasonably conclude that Abd al-Razzaq is a far more trustworthy source than Ma Huan on the issue of Calicut’s Muslim population and its religious life. The three Muslim authors also shed light on policies adopted by the rulers of Calicut to encourage commerce and friendly relations with neighboring and fardistant powers. Ibn Battuta tells us how his diplomatic party was received with great ceremony and how the Samudri raja arranged for his transportation aboard a Chinese vessel. Even more revealing are his descriptions of the sizes and types of the Chinese ships that did business at Calicut; the high status and honor accorded the factors, or agents-in-charge, of these Chinese ships; and the manner in which the ruler of Calicut protected the goods of shipwrecked merchants. The size of their ships alone suggests that the Chinese invested heavily in their trade with Calicut, but they did so because they knew that they would be welcomed and treated fairly at the port city.And why not? The rulers of Calicut understood that the prosperity of their city depended on the satisfaction of visiting merchants. Ma Huan provides additional detail in this regard. The rajas of Calicut maintained a policy of religious toleration, which, given how much they depended on Muslim officials and merchants, was the only logical policy to follow. The rajas also provided for a well-run and honest marketplace by commissioning officials who were responsible for facilitating all commercial transactions and guaranteeing all contracts. Once a deal was struck, it was inviolate.

Prologue « Finally, Ma Huan supports and supplements evidence from the Roteiro regarding Calicut’s industries. Pepper production, which was carefully regulated by the state in regard to collection, storage, and sale (although the trees were apparently cultivated in small family garden plots), was a major staple of Calicut’s economy. Likewise, Calicut’s silk industry produced expensive bolts of silk, and the region was also a major source for coral and gemstones, especially pearls. Despite its native silk production, however, Calicut was a center for trade in Chinese embroidered silk.Apparently the high quality of this product allowed it to compete favorably with Indian silk. Abd al-Razzaq supplements Ibn Battuta’s testimony regarding the raja’s protection of the cargoes of vessels that ran aground in the area by noting that every ship that happened to arrive in the area by accident was treated fairly and protected. He also adds a bit of detail to Ma Huan’s account of the vital role played by the raja’s officials in providing a secure and honest commercial environment. According to Abd al-Razzagq, local customs officials were responsible for inventorying and guarding all incoming cargoes and performed their duties so well that visiting merchants freely entrusted their goods to them. Finally, he informs us that a tariff of one-fortieth was levied on all sales of incoming merchandise.A tax of two and one-half percent on sales alone was not extortionate and ensured a heavy influx of merchandise, especially when merchants understood that all unsold items were tax-exempt. In conclusion, inasmuch as this tax was paid into the ruler’s treasury, it was in his

best interest to grease the wheels of trade in every way possible and to provide two elements that merchants around the world and in all ages have deemed necessary for the success of their endeavors: certainty and security. The fact that,as Ma Huan informs us, the raja minted gold and silver coins suggests that these policies worked well—at least until the arrival in force of the Portuguese. Well, as you can see, interpreting historical sources is not an arcane science or esoteric art. Yes, it is challenging, but it is a skill that you can master. Look at it this way: it is an exercise that mainly requires close attention and common sense. You must first read and study each source carefully and thoroughly. Then, using the evidence you have picked up from the documents and artifacts, answer the Questions for Analysis. It is that straightforward. If you work with us, trusting us to provide you with all of the necessary background information and clues that you need to make sense out of these sources, you will succeed. One last word: Have fun doing it because you should find it enjoyable to meet the challenge of reconstructing the past through its human records.

FEIT

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-« ——_—

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PART ONE

The Ancient World

HE TERM ANCIENT WorLD presents a problem to the student of world history because it is a creation of Western historical thought. Historians in the West originally used the term to refer only to the early history of one small region of the world—the

area that stretches from the northwest corner of the Indian subcontinent to the Atlantic Coast of Europe. Understood within this narrow context, ancient history was seen as encompassing the period from the rise of civilizations, or complex urban societies, in Southwest Asia and

Egypt to the collapse of Roman

civilization: from approximately 3500

Before the Common Era (B.c.e.) to about 500 in the Common Era (c.e.). Within this scheme of history, antiquity passed away about |,500 years

ago, but not before it had laid the roots of Western civilization. Having spent itself, the Ancient World was followed by the so-called Middle Ages (500-1500), and this era, in turn, was followed by the early modern (1500-1789), modern (1789-1914), and contemporary eras. Such neat divisions of the past, which once were thought to reflect the Western historical experience (and today there is serious doubt as to their accuracy even in regard to the history of the West), make little sense when history is studied globally. Nevertheless, the category Ancient

World is useful for the world historian if we redefine it in two ways: (1) by

expanding the term to include all of the world’s earliest complex societies, which are also known as primary civilizations; and (2) by distinguishing between the Afro-Eurasian and American worlds of antiquity.

The first primary civilizations arose independently and somewhat contemporaneously on two grand world islands: the great landmass known as Afro-Eurasia and the Americas. Apparently, the first to witness this

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phenomenon was the Afro-Eurasian supercontinent, where, between approximately 3750 and 2200 ..c.c.,a variety of urban societies appeared in an arc that stretched from Egypt to the Indus Valley. Beyond this arc lay the island of Crete to the west and China far to the east, both of which also produced complex civilizations during this |,500-year period.

Across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, unknown to and uninfluenced by the civilizations of Afro-Eurasia, an urban, complex society had already emerged by 2600 B.c.e. (and possibly as early as 3100 8.c.£.) along Peru’s Pacific coastal zone, as shown by recent radiocarbon dating of artifacts found at Caral in the Supe Valley. Later, by at least 1500 B.c.c., civilization had also emerged along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Significantly, the earliest cities of Peru and Mexico were constructed around monumental

stone mounds that served as temple complexes,

but hard evidence of any cross-cultural

linkage at this early date is

lacking. What is clear is that these original centers of civilization in the Americas served as the Western Hemisphere’s dominant matrices of civilized culture for thousands of years and well beyond the period of Afro-Eurasian antiquity. Due to extensive trade networks, Mexico’s first civilization eventually influenced cultures throughout ancient Mesoamerica

(Mexico and Central America) and far into North America, whereas Peru’s first civilization influenced the development of complex societies throughout the Pacific coastal and Andean regions and into Amazonia, a vast region of rainforest and savanna (grassland).

The early centers of civilization within Afro-Eurasia had distinctive cultural identities, but they were never isolated. Plenty of evidence (such as Multiple Voices II of Chapter 2) indicates that the civilizations of that area of Afro-Eurasia stretching from the Indus Valley to the eastern Mediterranean enjoyed a significant measure of commercial and cultural exchange from early days. Conversely, the vast steppes, deserts, and mountain

ranges of Central Asia meant that China, at the eastern end of the Eurasian landmass, was more isolated than these other primary centers of civilization, but its isolation was never absolute. Desiccated corpses and accompanying textiles unearthed in the Tarim Basin of eastern Central Asia (the so-called Tarim mummies), in what is today the Xinjiang region of western China, strongly suggest that by 1800 B.c.c. the region was inhabited by a wide variety of migrants, some of whom originated from as far away as Central Europe. By at least the middle of the second

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The Ancient World «

2 2 5

millennium (the 1000s) 8.c.e., wheat and barley had made their way to

northern China from Southwest Asia (today often called the Middle East) by land routes and possibly even earlier to southern China from the Indian subcontinent by way of sea routes. Domesticated sheep, goats, and cattle also seem to have made their way to central China across overland trade and migration routes during the second millennium or earlier. The techniques of painted pottery and bronze casting might also have made a similar journey from west to east, but the process of transmission is ob-

scure and disputed, with some experts claiming that China independently developed bronze metallurgy. Less controversial is the horse chariot, a

means of locomotion that probably had its origins in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 8.c.£.and appeared in China before the twelfth century 8.c.e. On the other end of the scale of exchange, scraps of Chinese silk have

been found in Egyptian tombs dating from around 1000 B.c.e. As these separate but connected civilizations evolved over the course of several thousand years, each spread outward, encompassing a large

region on which it imprinted a distinctive culture. By 300 B.c.e., there were four major Afro-Eurasian cultural regions: Southwest Asia, India,

China, and the Mediterranean. Of these, China’s relative isolation dictated that its culture would be the most singular and least stimulated by foreign influences. Conversely, the culture of Southwest Asia was the most variegated and eclectic because geography made it the crossroads of Afro-Eurasia.A close second in the realm of diversity was the Medi-

terranean, which drew deeply from the cultural traditions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and all of the various peoples of the Mediterranean Basin,

especially the Greeks and the diverse inhabitants of Syria-Palestine (the land today comprising Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian

Authority) and Anatolia (the Asian peninsula of present-day Turkey).

During the last few centuries 8.c.c. and the first several centuries c.E., the cultures at both ends of the great Eurasian expanse

of land,

China and the Mediterranean, achieved political unity and consequently expanded at the expense of their less organized neighbors, such as Koreans and Southeast Asians in the East and various Celtic peoples in the West. The result was two massive empires—Han China and the Roman

Empire—linked

by Central Asian, Indian, Southwest Asian, and

East African intermediaries. Consequently, goods, ideas, and diseases were exchanged throughout Eurasia and portions of Africa more freely

ls

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4 + The Ancient World = pete

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4

and quickly than ever before, especially along the inaccurately but romantically named Silk Road (or Silk Roads),

a complex network of

overland caravan routes across the heart of Eurasia that opened up

around

100 B.c.e. and connected China with Central Asia, India, and

lands bordering the Mediterranean

Sea. Likewise, sea-lanes allowed

people and goods to travel long distances from their points of origin.

A Greek

navigational text from

probably the mid-first century C.E.

describes the rich maritime trade that connected Roman Egypt with the coastal lands of East Africa (as far south as present-day Tanzania or even Mozambique), Arabia, and both coasts of India. Between approximately 200 and 550 c.e.,internal and external pressures, including diseases that traveled along the trade routes and incursions by various nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, precipitated the collapse of empires in China, India, Southwest Asia, and the Roman Mediterranean. With those disasters, which were neither totally contemporaneous nor equally severe, the first grand epoch of Afro-Eurasian history—the Ancient

World—was at an end. The era that followed rested on the foundations

of antiquity but also differed substantially from the Ancient World, in part because of three world religions (religions that claim to have a universal mission)—Mahayana Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam—that played transforming roles throughout Afro-Eurasia between roughly 600 and 1500 c.e.

Across the oceans, the civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America continued their development in isolation from the cares and trends of the Eastern Hemisphere. Cities and empires rose and fell, and societies

continued to develop along cultural lines set down by the Americas’ first civilizations.To be sure, changes took place. One important new trend be-

tween roughly 600 and |200 c.c. was the rise of North American complex societies in what are today the deserts of the southwestern United States and the lands washed by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Despite these new centers of civilization, theAmerican Indian world was wrenched out of its ancient patterns only when European invaders and colonists began arriving in significant numbers in the early sixteenth century. Because of a relative lack of documentary evidence relating to preconquest American Indian cultures and civilizations, the sources in Part One

deal exclusively with ancient Afro-Eurasian history. We will consider the story of antiquity in the Western Hemisphere in Part Three, Chapter 10.

Chapter

|

The First Civilizations HE TERM CIVILIZATION arouses heated discussion among world historians. First, they do not agree as to what constitutes a “civilization.” Moreover, many deplore the value judgment that the term seems to imply: Civilizations are better or “more advanced” (more “civilized”) than non-civilizations. Rather than use this value-laden word, many have opted for the supposedly more neutral “complex society.” Leaving aside the obvious objection that this alternative term contains its own apparent value judgment, we have opted for the often-misused and misunderstood term civilization, but we attach no value to the word.As we use it,“civilization” only delineates

a society that has created a state. The word derives from the Latin adjective civilis, which means “political” or“civic.” No matter how else we define civilization, an organized civic entity, a state, serves as its core.A state is a sovereign public power that binds large numbers of people together at a level that transcends the ties of family, clan, tribe, and local community and organizes them for projects far beyond the capabilities of single families or even villages and towns. Modern states tend to be secular, or oriented toward this world, and most rulers

today claim no particular spiritual or religious authority. In fact, many modern states are based on the principle that legitimate power derives solely from the people. In contrast, the world’s first states were sacred states, in which rulers claimed to gov-

ern by divine mandate. Such rulers either governed in the name of some divine or heavenly authority or were themselves perceived as gods. Religious beliefs, as well as political and social institutions, varied greatly among the world’s ancient civilizations, but ancient civilized peoples shared a common perception that authority is indivisible because it is divine. In other words, they saw no distinction between the state’s sacred and secular functions. Rulers and those who carried out their wills—priests, bureaucrats, and soldiers— were a small minority and maintained power by exploiting the many. This was a fact of early civilized life largely because, until recent times, states could produce only severely limited surpluses of resources, due to the narrow agrarian base of their

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5 « The Ancient World

economies. That surplus of goods, which is so necessary for the creation of a state, could be channeled into state-building activities only if rulers kept the majority of their subjects at a fairly low level of subsistence by exacting from them a major portion of the surplus through taxes, labor services, and military conscription. Consequently, the more agreeable benefits of civilization, such as literature and the other arts, were largely the exclusive property and tools of the few. Many (but not all) of the world’s first civilizations evolved systems of writing, and in each case, the art of writing served, at least initially, to strengthen the authority of rulers. Whether writing was used to record temple possessions or tax obligations, to give permanence to laws, or to provide priests with a coherent body of sacred texts, writing set apart the powerful from the powerless.At the same time, however, writing was only one means of communicating the will of the gods and of rulers and of preserving cultural traditions, and it was a far less effective and popular vehicle than word of mouth, images, and architecture. The point is that written records from the long-distant past can give us only a partial glimpse of reality, and that glimpse is given to us by antiquity’s elites. Rarely, if ever, do we hear the voice of the common person, and almost never do we hear the folk stories and myths of an ancient society in their original, raw condition.When myths, folk tales,and popular songs were finally set down in writing, they were probably overlaid with “more literary” elements. Added to this is the problem that not all of the records left behind by the first civilizations are open to us. Some ancient systems of writing still defy decipherment, such as that of early Crete. Happily, this is not the case with the written languages of Southwest Asia, Egypt, and China. The documentary sources left behind by the literate civilizations of these regions, for all of their limitations, reveal societies that were strikingly different in perspective and structure, even as they shared characteristics common to all early civilizations. We do not know all that we want to know about these civilizations, but their records give us privileged insights into their values and makeup.

Mesopotamia: The Land of Two Rivers Mesopotamia, a name that derives from a Greek term that means “between rivers,”

is the traditional starting point for chapters dedicated to the earliest civilizations Essentially present-day Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia lay between the Tigris River in the

east and the Euphrates to its west, and for most of the twentieth century, a people known as the Sumerians, who resided in the southernmost regions of Mesopotamia, were credited with having been the first to make the transition to civilization. That view was strongly affirmed in the first six editions of The Human Record.We offered a revision in the seventh edition and continue to stand by it. Recent archaeological discoveries strongly suggest that not only were sophisticated urban cultures emerging in northern and central Mesopotamia just about the

Chapter 1

The First Civilizations

same time that they appeared in Sumer, but, as already noted, there is good evidence that cities were rising more or less contemporaneously in a wide variety of geographic and environmental locales from Egypt to the Indus Valley. For example, the Hurrian city of Urkesh in northeastern Syria was settled as early as 3500 8.c.e., and its culture appears to have been quite different from that of Sumer. All of this evidence now causes historians and archaeologists not only to question Sumer’s claim to primacy but also to doubt the once firmly maintained notion that Afro-Eurasia’s earliest civilizations emerged exclusively in river valleys, such as those of Mesopotamia, the Nile, the Indus, and the Yellow River of China. That noted, we still begin this chapter with an investigation of the Sumerians and the peoples who came after them in Mesopotamia because, of all the primary civilizations of Afro-Eurasia, the Mesopotamians left the most richly variegated written records. Around 3750 s.c.e., Uruk (or Erech) emerged as a city—apparently Sumer’s first city—and other Sumerian city-states followed in succeeding centuries. By approximately 1800 8.c.c., the Sumerians had been absorbed by waves of infiltrators and invaders and ceased to exist as an identifiable people. Moreover, the political center of gravity within Mesopotamia had shifted northward to the region of middle Mesopotamia, centering on the city of Babylon on the Euphrates. Despite their disappearance as a people, the Sumerians had set much of the framework of a dynamic Mesopotamian civilization that exercised profound cultural influence throughout much of West Asia and beyond for about 3,000 years. The geography of Mesopotamia provided its people with the challenge of harnessing the waters of its two great rivers, and out of that cooperative effort, Mesopotamians constructed a complex civilization. Yet those rivers also threatened to destroy the fragile fabric of civilized society because they were unpredictable and could easily turn into uncontrollable torrents, especially in the south. Moreover, most of southern Mesopotamia was covered by either arid plains or marsh. Consequently, Mesopotamian civilization was built upon heroic labor in the midst of a hostile environment. Another significant geographic aspect of Mesopotamian life, which also proved to be an important factor throughout its history, is the land’s openness to incursions. To the north and east lie the hills and mountains of Iran and Armenia, from which wave after wave of invaders descended into the inviting valley of cities.To the south and west lies the desert of Arabia, out of which came countless nomads century after century. In many instances, these invaders toppled a preexisting state and then settled down to become, in turn, Mesopotamians. Some came from the desert fringes, such as the Amorites, speakers of a Semitic language who established the first Babylonian Empire in the eighteenth century (1700s) 8.c.e. Others

were

mountain

folk, such as the chariot-driving

Kassites, speakers of an

Indo-Iranian language who toppled Babylon late in the seventeenth century B.Cc.e. Regardless of their origin, language, or native culture, all eventually became part of a Mesopotamian cultural complex, with modes of life and thought set in place by the region’s earliest urban centers, especially those of Sumer.

The Ancient

World

Life and Death in Mesopotamia | ° THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH Humans inevitably seek to find meaning in life and must confront the reality of death. In Mesopotamia, where life and human fortune were so precarious (as it was for all ancient peoples everywhere), people deeply probed these issues and made them the subjects of numerous myths. The word myth derives from the ancient Greek word for‘a poetic story.’As understood by modern scholars, a myth is not just any poetic story, and it certainly is not a deliberate piece of fiction or a story told primarily to entertain, although myths have entertainment value. Primarily, a myth is a vehicle through which prescientific societies explain the workings of the universe and humanity’s place within it. Whereas the scientist objectifies nature, seeing the world as an it, the myth-maker lives in a world where everything has a soul,a personality, and its own story.A raging river is not a body of water responding to physical laws but an angry or capricious god. In the same manner, the fortunes of human society are not the consequences of chance, history, or any patterns discoverable by social scientists. Rather, the gods and other supernatural spirits intervene directly into human affairs, punishing and rewarding as they wish, and divine interventions become the subjects of mythic stories. The stories, in turn, provide insight into the ways of the gods, thereby largely satisfying the emotional and intellectual needs of the myth-maker’s audience. So far as the issues of the meaning of life and death were concerned, ancient Mesopotamia created its classic mythic answer in the form of its greatest work of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh. An epic is a long narrative poem that celebrates the deeds of a legendary hero who is involved in a journey or similar severe test. In the process of his trials, the hero accomplishes some great feat, gains some treasure, or acquires knowledge and, because of that triumph or acquired wisdom, he achieves greater heroic stature. The most complete extant version of The Epic of Gilgamesh exists in Akkadian, a Semitic language that gradually supplanted Sumerian as the dominant language of Mesopotamia after about 2300 B.c.c. and became the language of diplomacy and commerce throughout Southwest Asia after about 1450 8.c.e. The text was discovered on fragments of about seventy clay tablets in the ruins of an Assyrian library that dated to the late seventh century B.c.e. Other, earlier versions of the epic show, however, that the story, at least in its basic outline, is Sumerian in origin and goes back to the third millennium (2000s) 8.c.e. The Akkadian version of the epic that survives is about eighty percent complete.About 575 lines are missing out of an original 3,000 or so. Despite these holes, some of which might have been filled from yet-tobe-translated cuneiform tablets stolen or destroyed in April 2003 in the wake of the Second Gulf War when the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad was looted, the story that survives is coherent, and its characters emerge as multidimensional. The hero, Gilgamesh, was a historical figure. Originally known by his Sumerian name, Bilgames, he ruled the city-state of Uruk sometime around 2800-2700 B.c.. and was remembered as a great warrior, as well as the builder of Uruk’s massive walls. His exploits were so impressive that he became the focal point of a series of

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The

First

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sagas that recounted his heroic deeds. Around 1700 B.c.£.,an unknown Babylonian poet reworked some of these Sumerian tales, along with other stories—such as the adventure of Utnapishtim that appears in our selection—into an epic masterpiece that became widely popular and influential throughout Southwest Asia and beyond. The epic contains a profound theme, the conflict between humanity's talents and aspirations and its mortal limitations. Gilgamesh, “two-thirds a god and one-third human,” as the poem describes him, is a man of heroic proportions and appetites who still must face the inevitability of death. As the epic opens, an arrogant Gilgamesh, not yet aware of his human limitations and his duties as king, is exhausting the people of Uruk with his manic energy. The people cry to Heaven for relief from his abuse of power, and the gods respond by creating Enkidu, a wild man who lives among the animals. Enkidu enters Uruk, where he challenges Gilgamesh to a contest of strength and fighting skill. When Gilgamesh triumphs, Enkidu embraces him as a brother, and the two heroes set out on a series of spectacular exploits. In the course of their heroic adventures, they kill the monstrous giant Huwawa (or Humbaba the Terrible) and the Bull of Heaven, both of which had been fashioned by the gods to terrorize humans. They also insult Ishtar (Inanna in Sumerian), goddess of sexual love and fertility. These three sacrileges require a life in return. The one whom the god Enlil chooses to die is Enkidu.As the selection opens, Enkidu, after having cursed his heroic past, which has brought him to this fate, tells Gilgamesh of a vision he has had of the place Mesopotamians knew as “the land of no return.”

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What was the Mesopotamian view of the afterlife? 2. Consider Siduri’s advice to Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim’s initial response to Gilgamesh’s request for the secret of eternal life. VWWhat is the core message here? 3. According to the epic, what are the respective roles of the gods and humans? What do the Mesopotamian deities require of humanity? What do humans expect of their gods? 4. In the epilogue, the poet lays out the moral of the story. What does it tell us about the Mesopotamian view of the meaning of life? As Enkidu slept alone in his sickness, in bitterness of spirit he poured out his heart to his friend. . . .

on me his purpose. His was a vampire face, his foot was a lion’s foot, his hand was an eagle’s talon.' He

night. The heavens roared, and earth rumbled back

fell on me and his claws were in my hair, he held me fast and I smothered; then he transformed me so

an answer; between them stood I| before an awful

that my arms became wings covered with feathers.

being, the somber-faced manbird; he had directed

He turned his stare towards me, and he led me away

Source: From The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Nancy K. Sandars, Penguin Classics, 3rd ed., 1972, pp. 81-83, 102,

maintains order in the Underworld.

“Listen, my friend, this is the dream I dreamed last

106-110, 111-114,

118. Copyright © N. K. Sandars, 1960,

1964, 1972. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Group UK.

'This is a gallu, a monster that drinks blood, eats flesh, and

©

The Ancient

World

to the palace ofIrkalla, the Queen of Darkness,’ to

“Gilgamesh,

where

are you hurrying to? You

down the road from which there is no coming back. “There is the house whose people sit in dark-

will never find that life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping.

ness; dust is their food and clay their meat. They are

As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good

clothed like birds with wings for covering, they see

things; day and night, night and day, dance and be

the house from which none who enters ever returns,

no light, they sit in darkness. I entered the house of

merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh,

dust and I saw the kings of the earth, their crowns

bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that

put away forever; rulers and princes, all those who once wore kingly crowns and ruled the world in the days of old. They who had stood in the place of the

embrace; for this too is the lot of man.”

gods like Anu and Enlil,? stood now like servants

to fetch baked meats in the house of dust, to carry cooked meat and cold water from the waterskin. In

the house of dust which I entered were high priests and acolytes, priests of the incantation and of ecstasy; there were servers of the temple, and there was

holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your

>

Gilgamesh refuses to be deflected from his

quest. After a series of harrowing experiences, he finally reaches Utnapishtim, a for-

mer mortal whom the gods had placed in an eternal paradise, and addresses him.

Etana, that king of Kish whom the eagle carried to

Heaven in the days of old.* There was Ereshkigal’ the Queen of the Underworld; and Belit-Sheri squatted in front of her, she who is recorder of the gods

and keeps the book of death. She held a tablet from which she read. She raised her head, she saw me and spoke: “Who has brought this one here?’ Then I awoke like a man drained of blood who wanders alone in a waste of rushes; like one whom the bailiff

has seized and his heart pounds with terror.”

>

Enkidu dies. Gilgamesh, now aware of the

“Oh, father Utnapishtim, you who have entered

the assembly of the gods, I wish to question you concerning the living and the dead, how shall I find the life for which I am searching?”

Utnapishtim

said, “There is no permanence.

Do we build a house to stand forever, do we seal

a contract to hold for all time? Do brothers divide an inheritance to keep forever, does the flood-time

of rivers endure? . . . From the days of old there is no permanence. ... What is there between the master and the servant when both have fulfilled their doom? When the Anunnaki,’ the judges, come

reality of his own death, begins a search for

together, and Mammetun® the mother of destinies,

immortality. He travels to the end of the

together they decree the fates of men. Life and death they allot but the day of death they do not disclose.”

Earth, where he encounters Siduri, a female tavern keeper/goddess, who advises him:

*Goddess of the Underworld and sister of Ishtar/Inanna. *Dead earthly kings. Anu, whose name meant “heaven,” was the supreme but remote king of the gods and the ultimate source of all order and government. Enlil, second only to Anu in power and importance, directed the forces of nature and bestowed royal authority on earthly leaders. ‘A legendary king of the Sumerian city of Kish who flew to Heaven on the back of an eagle in order to obtain a

Then Gilgamesh said to Utnapishtim the Faraway, “I look at you now, Utnapishtim, and your

magical plant that would give him the potency to father an heir. °The more common name of the goddess of the Underworld (note 2). °An officer of the law. ’An assemblage of lesser deities (numbering either sixty or six hundred) who had multiple functions. ®A mother goddess of fate.

Chapter 1 The First

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«

appearance is no different from mine; there is noth-

learnt that Enlil is wrathful against me, I dare no

ing strange in your features. | thought I should find

longer walk in his land nor live in his city; I will go down to the Gulf to dwell with Ea my lord. But on you he will rain down abundance, rare fish

you like a hero prepared for battle, but you lie here taking your ease on your back. Tell me truly, how was it that you came to enter the company of the gods and to possess everlasting life?” Utnapishtim

said to Gilgamesh, “I will reveal to you a mystery, I will tell you a secret of the gods.” “You know the city Shuruppak,’ it stands on

and shy wildfowl, a rich harvest-tide. In the evening the rider of the storm will bring you wheat in torrents. ...

“On the seventh day'* the boat was complete. . . . “I loaded into her all that I had of gold and of living things, my family, my kin, the beast of the

the banks of Euphrates? That city grew old and the gods that were in it were old... . In those days

field both wild and tame, and all the craftsmen. I

the world

sent them on board. . . . The time was fulfilled, the

teemed,

the people

multiplied,

the

world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god

evening came,

was aroused by the clamor. Enlil heard the clamor

Ea because of his oath'® warned me in a dream.

the rain. I looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so I too boarded the boat and battened her down.... “For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts.

He whispered their words to my house of reeds,

When the seventh day dawned the storm from the

“Reed-house,!! reed-house!, Wall, O wall, hearken

south subsided, the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled; I looked at the face of the world and there was silence, all mankind was turned to clay. The surface of

and he said to the gods in council, “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer

possible by reason of the babel.’ So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but

reed-house,

wall reflect;

O man

of Shuruppak,

son of Ubara-Tutu; tear down your house and

the rider of the storm sent down

build a boat, abandon possessions and look for

the sea stretched as flat as a roof-top; I opened a hatch

life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and build a

and the light fell on my face. Then I bowed low, I sat down and | wept, the tears streamed down my face,

boat... . Then take up into the boat the seed ofall

for on every side was the waste of water. I looked for

living creatures.’ “When I had understood

land in vain, but fourteen leagues distant there ap-

I said to my lord,

peared a mountain, and there the boat grounded; on

‘Behold, what you have commanded I will honor

the mountain of Nisir the boat held fast, she held fast

and perform, but how shall I answer the people, the city, the elders?’ Then Ea opened his mouth

and did not budge. . . When the seventh day dawned

and said to me, his servant, “Tell them this: I have

ing no resting-place she returned. Then I loosed a

*Located at present-day Fara, about equidistant between Baghdad in the north and Basra in the south, the ruins of Shuruppak contain a two-foot-thick layer of mud, evidence of a local flood that took place around 2750 8.c.e. The flood did not cover all of Sumer, much less all of Mesopotamia, but it might have served as the basis for a flood epic. Evidence also shows that the city survived the flood and life

''Reed houses probably go back to Neolithic times. Because of their fragility, they served Mesopotamians as a metaphor for impermanence. The so-called Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq built reed houses well into the late twentieth century, until Saddam Hussein destroyed the marshes following the 1991 Gulf War in order to root out their opposition to his rule. Almost the entire marshland was turned into desert, and most of its inhabitants were displaced. The marshes and its people are now being rehabilitated. "The number seven had great religious and mystical significance for a wide variety of ancient cultures.

went on. 'SAn oath to protect humanity, because Ea was the god of life-giving water and good fortune. He was also the god of providence who protected those in crisis.

I loosed a dove and let her go. She flew away, but find-

¢ The Ancient World

swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-

that the gods took me and placed me here to live

place she returned. I loosed a raven, she saw that the

in the distance, at the mouth of the rivers.”

waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she

Utnapishtim said, “As for you, Gilgamesh, who

cawed, and she did not come back. Then I threw ev-

will assemble the gods for your sake, so that you

erything open to the four winds, | made a sacrifice and

may find that life for which you are searching?”

poured outa libation'? on the mountain top. Seven and again seven cauldrons | set up on their stands, I heaped

up wood and cane and cedar and myrtle. When the gods smelled the sweet savor, they gathered like flies over the sacrifice.'“ Then, at last, Ishtar also came, she

lifted her necklace with the jewels of Heaven that once Anu had made to please her. ‘O you gods here present, by the lapis lazuli round my neck I shall remember these days as I remember the jewels of my throat; these last days I shall not forget.'? Let all the gods gather round the sacrifice, except Enlil. He shall not approach this offering, for without reflection he brought the

flood; he consigned my people to destruction.’ When Enlil had come, when he saw the boat, he was wroth and swelled with anger at the gods, the

host of Heaven, “Has any of these mortals escaped? Not one was to have survived the destruction.’ Then the god of the wells and canals Ninurta opened his mouth and said to the warrior Enlil, “Who is there

> After telling his story, Utnapishtim

chal-

lenges Gilgamesh to resist sleep for six days

and seven nights. When Gilgamesh fails the test, Utnapishtim points out how preposterous it is to search for immortality when one cannot even resist sleep. Out of kindness, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh where he can

find an underwater plant that will at least rejuvenate him.The hero dives to the bottom of the sea and plucks it. However, human-

ity is denied even the blessing of forestalling old age and decrepitude when the plant is stolen from Gilgamesh by a serpent (which rejuvenates itself by shedding its skin). His

mission a failure, Gilgamesh returns to Uruk.

The destiny was fulfilled which the father of

of the gods that can devise without Ea? It is Ea alone

the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for

who knows all things.’ Then Ea opened his mouth

Gilgamesh: “In nether-earth the darkness will show

and spoke to warrior Enlil, “Wisest of gods, hero

him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none

Enlil, how could you so senselessly bring down the

will leave a monument for generations to come to

flood? . . . It was not that I revealed the secret of the

compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like

gods; the wise man learned it in a dream. Now take

the new moon have their waxing and waning. Men

your counsel what shall be done with him.

will say, “Who has ever ruled with might and with

“Then Enlil went up into the boat, he took me

power like him?’ As in the dark month, the month

by the hand and my wife and made us enter the

of shadows, so without him there is no light. O

boat and kneel down on either side, he standing

Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream.

between us. He touched our foreheads to bless us

You were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bind and

saying, ‘In time past Utnapishtim

was a mortal

man; henceforth he and his wife shall live in the

distance at the mouth of the rivers.’ Thus it was

‘Poured out wine or some other beverage as an offering

'SThe necklace is a rainbow. Lapis lazuli was imported from

to the gods. '4Many myth-making people believe that the gods gain nourishment from the greasy smoke of burnt sacrifices.

Afghanistan.

Chapter 1

The First Civilizations

«

to loose, to be the darkness and the light of man-

Gilgamesh, the son of Ninsun, lies in the tomb.

kind. He has given unexampled supremacy over

At the place of offerings he weighed the bread-

the people, victory in battle from which no fugitive

offering, at the place of libation he poured out the wine. In those days the lord Gilgamesh departed,

returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal

the son of Ninsun, the king, peerless, without an

justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly

equal among men, who did not neglect Enlil his

before the face of the Sun.” .

master. O Gilgamesh, . . . great is thy praise.

.

The Search for Justice in Mesopotamia 2° THE JUDGMENTS

OF HAMMURABI

Mesopotamia produced not only great philosophical literature but also extensive collections of legal decisions. The so-called Code of Hammurabi is the most famous but certainly not the earliest of the many collections of law produced throughout the first 3,000 years of Mesopotamian civilization. Discovered in 1901, this Babylonian text from the eighteenth century 8.c.e.is inscribed on a stone pillar (technically known as a stelé) that measures over seven feet in height and more than six feet in circumference. Apparently Hammurabi (i. ca. 1792-1750), an Amorite who briefly united Mesopotamia through conquest and transformed Babylon into the capital of an empire, wanted it to last forever. Whether Mesopotamia’s numerous compilations of law were Sumerian, Babylonian,

Assyrian, or Chaldean, they shared common elements. Chief among them was the expressed purpose,as the prologue to Hammurabi’s collection declares, “to promote the welfare of the people ... to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak.” Hammurabi’s code is not a coherent and systematic code of laws but rather a compilation of decisions, or misharum (equity rulings), that the king made in response to specific cases and perceived injustices. Nevertheless, this collection of judgments covers a wide variety of crimes and circumstances, thereby allowing extensive insight into the structure and values of eighteenth-century Babylonian society.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What specific actions did Hammurabi take in his attempt to provide for the good order of society and the basic welfare of his subjects? 2. What evidence is there of class distinctions in Babylon? 3. Mesopotamian society has been characterized as patriarchal (dominated by male heads of households). Does the evidence in this collection of decisions tend to support or refute that judgment? 4. What was the status of women and children in this society? Did they enjoy any protection or liberties? 5. What principles and assumptions underlay these judgments? In other words, what does this collection reveal about the worldview, basic values, and ideals of Hammurabi’s Babylon?

¢ The Ancient World

Prologue

Property

When Marduk! had instituted me governor of men, to conduct and to direct, Right and Justice I

minister his [deceased] father’s affairs, then a third

established in the land, for the good ofthe people.

part of the field and garden shall be given to his

29, If his son is under age, and unable to ad-

mother, and his mother shall bring him up...

.

38. A captain, soldier, or official may not give

his field, or garden, or house to his wife or his

The Administration of Justice

daughter; neither can they be given as payment

3. If in a lawsuit a man gives damning evidence,

and his word that he has spoken is not justified,

for debt.° 39. He may bequeath in writing to his wife

then, if the suit be a capital one,’ that man shall

or daughter a field, a garden, or a house that he

be'slain... .. 5. If a judge has heard a case, and given a de-

debt....

may have bought, and may give it as payment for

cision, and delivered a written verdict, and if af-

terward his case is disproved, and that judge is convicted as the cause of the misjudgment, then

he shall pay twelve times the penalty awarded in

Wine-Sellers and Taverns

that case. In public assembly he shall be thrown

109. If rebels meet in the house of a wine-seller

from the seat of judgment; he shall not return; and

and she’ does not seize them and take them to the

he shall not sit with the judges upon a case... .

palace, that wine-seller shall be slain.

110. Ifa priestess who has not remained in the temple,® shall open a wine-shop, or enter a wine-

shop for drink, that woman shall be burned. . . .

Felons and Victims

22. If a man has perpetrated brigandage, and has been caught, that man shall be slain. 23. If the brigand has not been taken, the man

plundered shall claim before god’ what he has lost; and the city and governor in whose land and

boundary the theft has taken place shall restore to him all that he has lost. 24. Ifa life, the city and governor shall pay one

Edwards, The Hammurabi

pp. 23-80, passim, as printed in Kennikut 'The chief god of Babylon. 2A case in which death is the penalty. *The god or goddess of the city. Each protector deity. ‘A unit of measure that equaled 18 ounces invented around 700 .c.e.in the Anatolian

117. If a man has contracted a debt, and has given his wife, his son, his daughter for silver or for labor, three years they shall serve in the house of their purchaser or bondsmaster; in the fourth

mina‘ of silver to his people.’ . . .

Source: Chilperic

Debt Slavery

Code

(1904),

Press, 1971.

city had its special of silver. Coins were kingdom of Lydia.

year they shall regain their original condition. . . .

*The family of the slain person. ‘The monarch retained ultimate ownership of the property handed out to soldiers and bureaucrats who received land as payment for their services. ’Women traditionally filled this role in ancient Mesopotamia. See Siduri in source |. *Thereby breaking her vow to devote her life to serving the temple deity.

Chapter 1 The First Civilizations

she is not divorced, her husband may marry an-

Marriage and the Family

129. If the wife of a man is found lying with another male, they shall be bound and thrown into the water. If the husband lets his wife live, then the king shall let his servant? live. . . .

134. If a man

has been taken prisoner, and

there is no food in his house, and his wife enters the house of another, then that woman bears no blame. 135. Ifa man has been taken prisoner, and there is no food before her, and his wife has entered the house of another, and bears children, and after-

ward her husband returns and regains his city, then that woman shall return to her spouse. The children shall follow their father... . 137. If a man has decided to divorce ...a wife who has presented him with children, then he shall give back to that woman

her dowry,'°

and he shall give her the use of field, garden,

and property, and she shall bring up her children. After she has brought up her children, she

shall take a son’s portion"! of all that is given to

her children, and she may marry the husband of her heart.

138. If a man divorces his spouse who has borne him children, he shall give to her all silver of the bride-price,'* and restore to her dowry which she brought from the house of

not the the her

other woman, and that [first] woman shall remain

a slave in the house of her husband. 142. If a woman hates her husband, and says “You shall not possess me,” the reason for her dislike shall be inquired into. If she is careful, and has no fault, but her husband takes himself away and neglects her, then that woman is not to blame. She

shall take her dowry and go back to her father’s house. . ..

148. If aman has married a wife, and sickness has seized her, and he has decided to marry another, he may marry; but his wife whom the sick-

ness has seized he shall not divorce. She shall dwell in the house he has built, and he shall support her

while she lives. . . .

168. If aman has decided to disinherit his son, and has said to the judge, “I disown my son,” then

the judge shall look into his reasons. If the son has not been guilty of a serious offense which would justify his being disinherited, then the father shall not disown him.

169. If the son has committed a serious offense

against his father which justifies his being disinherited, still the judge shall overlook this first of-

fense. If the son commits a grave offense a second

time, his father may disown him. . . . eee

father; and so he shall divorce her.

139. If there was no bride-price, he shall give her one mina of silver for the divorce. 140. If he is a peasant, he shall give her onethird of amina of silver. 141. If aman’s wife, dwelling in his house, has

decided to leave, has been guilty ofdissipation, has wasted her house, and has neglected her husband,

then she shall be prosecuted. If her husband says she is divorced, he shall let her go her way; he shall

give her nothing for divorce. If her husband says

°*The wife’s lover. '"The required money or goods she brought to the marriage.

Personal Injury 195. If a son has struck his father, his hands

shall be cut off. 196. If a man has destroyed the eye of another free man, his own eye shall be destroyed. . . . 198. If he has destroyed the eye of a peasant, ... he shall pay one mina of silver. 199. If he has destroyed the eye of aman’s slave, ... he shall pay half his value. .. .

''A portion equal to that inherited by any son. "The price he paid her family in order to marry her.

¢ The Ancient World 202. Ifa man strikes the body of aman who is

built falls in and kills the householder, that builder

superior in status, he shall publicly receive sixty

shall be slain. 230. If the child of the householder is killed, the child of that builder shall be slain. 231. If the slave of the householder is killed, he shall give slave for slave to the householder.

lashes with a cowhide whip. .. . 206. If aman has struck another man in a dispute and wounded him, that man shall swear, “I

did not strike him knowingly”; and he shall pay for the physician.

232. If goods have been destroyed, he shall re-

207. If he dies of his blows, he shall swear like-

place all that has been destroyed; and because the

wise; and if it is the son of a free man, he shall pay

house that he built was not made strong, and it has fallen in, he shall restore the fallen house out of his own personal property.

halfa mina ofsilver. 208. If he is the son of a peasant, he shall pay a

third of a mina ofsilver. 209. Ifa man strikes the daughter of a free man,

and causes her fetus to abort, he shall pay ten shekels'? of silver for her fetus. 210. If that woman

dies, his daughter shall be

slain.

211. If he has caused the daughter of a peasant to let her fetus abort through blows, he shall pay five shekels of silver.

212. If that woman

Epilogue The oppressed,

who

has a lawsuit,

shall come

before my image as king ofjustice. He shall read the writing on my pillar, he shall perceive my precious words. The word of my pillar shall explain to him his cause, and he shall find his right. His

dies, he shall pay half a

mina ofsilver. ...

heart shall be glad [and he shall say] “The Lord

Hammurabi has risen up as a true father to his people; the will of Marduk, his god, he has made

to be feared; he has achieved victory for Marduk Consumer Protection

215. If a physician has treated a man with a metal knife for a severe wound, and has cured the

above and below. He has rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord, and gladdened the flesh of his people for ever. And the land he has placed in otder.’ The “The ’The as it

salt, although invisible, remains forever in the water. human body. soul, or atman. image is of a fruit that carries the seed of new life, even decays.

‘The law of karma, which is defined more fully later in this source. Acquaintance with things in a former life explains the peculiar talents and deficiencies evident in a child.

®The law of karma, which means “action.”

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality “So much for the man who desires. But as to the

+

nothing that is within. This indeed is his true form,

man who does not desire, who, not desiring, freed

in which his wishes are fulfilled, in which the Self

from desires, is satisfied in his desires, or desires the

only is his wish, in which no wish is left,—free from

Self only, his vital spirits do not depart elsewhere,—

any sorrow. “Then a father is not a father, a mother not a

being Brahman, he goes to Brahman.”

mother, the worlds not worlds, the gods not gods,

the Vedas not Vedas. Then a thief is not a thief, a

“Now as a man, when embraced by a beloved wife, knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, thus this person, when embraced by the

a Sramana not a Sramana,'' a Tapasa not a Tapasa.’? He is not followed by good, not followed by evil, for

intelligent Self, knows

he has then overcome all the sorrows of the heart.”

nothing that is without,

°By discovering and becoming one with the spark of Brahman within, the person ends the painful cycle of samsara. Kandalas were the lowest of all casteless persons. Beneath the lowly Sudra stood certain casteless persons whose

murderer not a murderer, a Kandala not a Kandala,'°

inherited occupations, or subcastes (jatis), rendered them “unclean.” Hence, they were Untouchables. ''A holy beggar. "A person performing penance.

Dharma: The Imperative of Caste Law 15 * THE

BHAGAVAD

GITA

The Upanishadic texts offer one yoga (pathway of discipline) to total detachment from this world and, therefore, release: the Yoga of Knowledge, by which the atman acquires the sure knowledge of its own divinity. The Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Blessed Lord), Brahminical Hinduism’s most beloved sacred text, offers several others, of which we shall,atthis time, consider only one: the Yoga of Action, by which one detaches oneself from this world through selfless devotion to caste duties (see Chapter 6, source 37, for the Yoga of Devotion). The Gita appears as an interjected episode in the Mahabharata (The Great Deeds of the Bharata Clan), the world’s longest epic poem. Like the Homeric Greek epics, the Mahabharata is ascribed to a single legendary poet, Vyasa. In fact, however, it was the work of many authors over an extensive period of time, from perhaps 500 B.c.e. to possibly 400 c.t. Also, like the Homeric epics, the Mahabharata deals,on one level, with the clash of armies and the combat of individual heroes, and simultaneously, on a higher plane, it expounds theological and philosophical insights. Among all of its spiritual passages, the Bhagavad Gita is the most profound. Younger than most of the epic into which it was placed, the Gita’s date of final composition is uncertain; scholars fix it anywhere between 300 B.c.c. and 300 c.c. Whatever its date, Hindu commentators have consistently considered the song to be the last and greatest of the Upanishadic texts, for they see it as the crystallization of all that was expressed and implied in the Upanishadic tradition. The core question addressed in the Bhagavad Gita is how a person can become one with Brahman while still functioning in this world. Answers to that primary quest of Hindu theology come from Lord Krishna, the incarnation of the godVishnu, the Divine

© The Ancient World

Preserver. Vishnu had been a minor deity in the Vedas, but by the fourth century C.E., he had become a major god in the Hindu pantheon, who was believed to assume corporeal form periodically in order to re-establish cosmic harmony. In this particular incarnation, or avatara (descent), Krishna/Vishnu serves as charioteer to the warriorhero Arjuna. The son of a mortal mother and the god Indra, Arjuna is a fearless warrior, but he shrinks from entering battle because his foes are kinsmen. Overcome by a sense of the futility of this fratricidal war and overwhelmed by compassion, he wants no part in creating more suffering. The hero-god Krishna then proceeds to resolve Arjuna’s quandary by explaining to him the moral imperative of caste-duty, or dharma.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. “There is no existence for that which is unreal; there is no non-existence for that which is real.” What does Krishna mean by these words, and what relevance does it have to Arjuna’s unwillingness to fight his kinsmen? 2. Why should one perform one’s caste-duty in a totally disinterested fashion? 3. According to Krishna, what constitutes sin? What is evil? 4. Is Krishna’s message the same as that of the Upanishads? If so, how?

The deity said, you have grieved for those who de-

know nothing. It kills not, is not killed. It is not

serve no grief... . Learned men grieve not for the

born, nor does it ever die, nor, having existed, does

living nor the dead. Never did I not exist, nor you,

it exist no more. Unborn, everlasting, unchange-

nor these rulers of men; nor will any one of us ever

able, and primeval, it is not killed when the body

hereafter cease to be. As in this body, infancy and

man is not deceived about that. The contacts of the

is killed. O son of Pritha!* how can that man who it thus to be indestructible, everlasting, unborn, and inexhaustible, how and whom can he kill, whom can he cause to be killed? As a man,

senses, O son of Kunti!' which produce cold and

casting off old clothes, puts on others and new

heat, pleasure and pain, are not permanent, they

ones, so the embodied self casting off old bodies,

are ever coming and going. Bear them, O descen-

goes to others and new ones. . . . It is everlasting,

dant of Bharata!* For, O chiefofmen! that sensible

all-pervading, stable, firm, and eternal. It is said

youth and old age come to the embodied self, so

does the acquisition of another body; a sensible

man whom they (pain and pleasure being alike to him) afflict not, he merits immortality. There is no

knows

to be unperceived, to be unthinkable, to be un-

conclusion about both is perceived by those who

changeable. Therefore knowing it to be such, ought not to grieve. But even if you think that constantly born, and constantly dies, still, O of mighty arms! you ought not to grieve thus.

perceive the truth. Know that to be indestructible

to one that is born, death is certain; and to one

existence for that which is unreal; there is no non-

existence for that which is real. And the correct

which pervades all this. .

you it is you For

. He who thinks it? to

that dies, birth is certain. . .. This embodied self,

be the killer and he who thinks it to be killed, both

O descendant of Bharata! within every one’s body

Source: Tashinath Trmibak Telang, trans., The Bhagavad Gita,

*King Bharata was the ancestor from whom Arjuna and his foes were descended. *The atman, or individual soul, and Brahman, which are one and the same (source 14). “The primary name of Arjuna’s mother (see note 1).

in F. Max Mueller, ed., The Sacred Book of the East, 50 vols.

(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879-1910), Vol. 8, pp. 43-46, 48-49, 51-52, 126-128, passim. 'The secondary name of Arjuna’s mother (see note 4).

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality « is ever indestructible. Therefore you ought not to

impiety is in the ascendant, | create myself. I am

grieve for any being. Having regard to your own

born age after age, for the protection of the good,

duty also, you ought not to falter, for there is noth-

for the destruction of evil-doers, and the establish-

ing better for a Kshatriya than a righteous battle.

ment of piety... . The fourfold division of castes

Happy those Kshatriyas, O son of Pritha! who can

was created by me according to the appointment ofqualities and duties. ... The duties of Brahmins,

find such a battle . . . an open door to Heaven!

But if you will not fight this righteous battle, then you will have abandoned your own duty . . . and you will incur sin. . . . Your business is with action alone; not by any means with fruit. Let not the fruit of action be your motive to action. Let not your attachment be fixed on inaction. Having

Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and of Sudras,

too, O

terror of your foes! are distinguished according to the qualities born of nature.’ Tranquility, restraint of the senses, penance, purity, forgiveness, straightforwardness,

also

knowledge,

experience,

and

belief in a future world, this is the natural duty of

recourse to devotion . . . perform actions, casting off all attachment, and being equable in success or

slinking away from battle, gifts, exercise of lordly

ill-success; such equability is called devotion. . . .

power, this is the natural duty of Kshatriyas. Agri-

The wise who have obtained devotion cast off the fruit of action,’ and released from the shackles

culture, tending cattle, trade, this is the natural

Brahmins.

Valor,

glory, courage,

dexterity,

not

duty of Vaisyas. And the natural duty of Sudras,

of repeated births, repair to that seat where there

too, consists in service. Every man

is no unhappiness. . . . The man who, casting off

own

intent on his

respective duties obtains perfection. Listen,

all desires, lives free from attachments, who is free

now, how one intent on one’s own duty obtains

from egoism, and from the feeling that this or that

perfection. Worshiping, by the performance of his

is mine, obtains tranquility. This, O son of Pritha!

own duty, him from whom all things proceed, and

is the Brahmic state; attaining to this, one is never

by whom

deluded; and remaining in it in one’s last moments,

perfection. One’s duty, though defective, is better than another’s duty well performed. Performing

one attains the Brahmic bliss.° . . .

I have passed through many births, O Arjuna!

all this is permeated,

a man

obtains

the duty prescribed by nature, one does not incur

and you also. I know them all, but you, O terror of

sin. O son of Kunti! one should not abandon a

your foes! do not know them. . . . Whensoever, O

natural duty though tainted with evil; for all

descendant

actions are enveloped by evil, as fire by smoke.

of Bharata!

piety

languishes,

and

5They do not concern themselves with the earthly consequences of their actions and develop no attachments to the rewards of this world (fame, wealth, family) that might result from those actions. 6Brahma-nirvana, or merging with Brahman and release (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth. It is a state of simultaneous being and nonbeing.

7Each caste consists of persons born to that station by virtue of their nature. Each person’s karma has made that person’s nature suitable for a particular caste and only that caste: Brahmins teach and offer sacrifices, Kshatriyas rule and fight, Vaisyas work, and Sudras serve (source 9).

A Challenge to Caste: The Teachings of the Buddha By 600 8.c.£., the central spiritual question in Indian society was how to find liberation from karma and the painful cycle of rebirth. Upanishadic teachers and the school of religious thought exemplified by the excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita offered different

OM

2

The Ancient World

but complementary answers, and both held out the possibility that anyone, regardless of caste, could find release in the present life by achieving a state of absolute selflessness. Regardless, Brahmin teachers continued to emphasize the four-fold division of society, and by about 300 B.c.e., the idea and even reality of caste divisions and duties would be pretty well established throughout most of northern and central India (but not yet in the south). Even before caste became fixed within the social-religious fabric of much of India, there was a widespread consensus—at least among Brahminical teachers—that conformity to one’s dharma, no matter how lacking in perfect selflessness it might be, and slow karmic progress up the chain of caste through a series of reincarnations were the dual keys to release from the bonds of matter. In opposition to this notion, some spiritual teachers offered their followers ayenues to liberation that rejected the entire caste system, and not surprisingly, some of the most important of these challengers to caste were from the Kshatriya class. The most significant of them was Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha (the Awakened, or Enlightened, One). The Buddha and his doctrine are understandable only within the context of Hindu cosmology. Although he formulated a spiritual philosophy that denied certain concepts basic to what was emerging as classical Brahminical Hinduism, the questions he asked and the answers he offered were predicated on the world-denying assumptions that underlie all Indian spiritual thought. Although grounded in Indian spirituality, Buddhism eventually expanded well beyond the cultural and geographic boundaries of India. By the first century c.e., the Buddha’s teachings had been transformed into a family of related religious sects, many of which worshiped the Buddha himself as a divine being. For well over two thousand years, Buddhism, in its various forms, has profoundly shaped the lives of countless devotees throughout South, Central, and East Asia and remains a vital religious force today.

An Early Search for Enlightenment 16° THE ASCETIC

SIDDHARTHA

Most details of the Buddha’s life are uncertain. Unanimous tradition places Siddhartha Gautama’s birth into a princely family residing in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, but the written sources for his life and teachings, all composed long after his time, differ as to his birth and death dates; the three strongest traditions are 624-544, 563-483, and 448-368 B.c.c. Significantly, all three agree that he lived to the age of 80. Recent scholarship, based on archaeological evidence, has led to a growing consensus that the approximate dates 480-400 make the most sense. Tradition holds that the prince led a sheltered court life up to age twenty-nine, when he viewed human aging, suffering, and death for the first time. Shrinking in horror at these manifestations of misery, he fled his comfortable life, his wife, and his newborn son and became an ascetic (someone who denies the pleasures of the body in order to liberate the soul), determined to find a remedy for suffering. Mendicant (begging) ascetics, known as Shramanas, who rejected the religious traditions of the Vedas and the primacy of the Brahmins, were already a major religious force in India.

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality + Our source, a bronze sculpture that portrays Siddhartha as a Shramana, was crafted in the period between roughly 50 B.c.e. and 300 c.e. in an area known as Gandhara (present-day northern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan). The emaciated former prince is in deep meditation, which is indicated by his closed eyes and the mudra (symbolic hand gesture) of meditation—the right hand over the left with both palms and thumbs turned up.Although he is not yet the Buddha, he has several of the Buddha’s distinctive physical characteristics: the ushnisha, a topknot or fleshy protuberance on the crown of his head that indicates his cosmic consciousness; the dot, or third eye, on his forehead, from which emanates cosmic wisdom; and a disc of light, known as a nimbus, or halo, that symbolizes sanctity.At the base of the sculpture, six devotees of the Buddha are worshipping at a stupa (a huge, dome-shaped Buddhist monument that served as a site of pilgrimage).

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What is the message that the sculptor wishes to convey, and how has he achieved his purpose? 2. Study source |7 and then compose the Buddha’s commentary on this sculpture.

Pakistan/Giraudon/ Lahore, Museum, School/Lahore Pakistani (bronze), Greco-Buddhist 1st-4th meditation, style, in Buddha Seated century Library Art Bridgeman The

The Ascetic Siddhartha in Meditation

78 «

The Ancient World

ines Pati to Eiiignreniancint 17 * THE BUDDHA, OF THE LAW

SETTING

IN MOTION THE WHEEL

As the previous source indicates, Siddhartha Gautama passionately pursued the life of an ascetic. According to one tradition, he ultimately reduced his daily food to a single grain of rice.After six years of self-denial, he was on the verge of death by starvation, and yet he was no closer to discovering how one might escape rebirth and the sorrows of mortal existence. In an act of desperation, he accepted a meal of rice cooked in milk, sat under a pipal tree, a tree sacred to Indians since at least the era of earliest Indus Valley civilization,and vowed to meditate there until he achieved his goal. Despite the attempts of the armies of Mara, “the Evil One,’ the divine Lord of the Realm of Desire,to deflect

Siddhartha from his course, he persisted. Shortly after his victory over Mara’s temptations, he achieved his goal. He was now the Buddha, the Awakened, or Enlightened, One. Legend tells us that seven weeks later,heproceeded to share the path to Enlightenment, which he termed the Middle Path, by preaching a sermon ina deer park at Sarnath in northeastern India to five ascetics, former companions and students who had abandoned him as a false teacher when he had renounced asceticism as the path to Enlightenment. Through the aura of compassion that he now radiated, as well as by the words of his first sermon, the Buddha converted these five into his first disciples. Buddhists refer to that initial sermon as “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law,’ which means that the Buddha had embarked on a journey (turning the wheel) on behalf of the Law of Righteousness (Dharma). Now, at age thirty-five, he had forty-five years ahead of him to preach his doctrine. Our text is a reconstruction of that sermon as preserved in a body of Buddhist literature known as the Pali Canon, which contains the most authentic texts relating to the Buddha and his doctrine known to exist today.Assembled as an authoritative collection, or canon,

of orally transmitted remembrances during the period between the Buddha's death and the late third century B.c.E.,the texts were probably not written down in the form in which we have them until the late first century B.c.e. Composed in Pali,a language that is close to classical Sanskrit, they first appeared on the island of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and traveled from there to Burma and Thailand. Each text is located in one of three groupings, or“‘baskets,’ a designation that traces back to a time when the palm-leaf manuscripts of the texts were kept in three separate baskets. For this reason, the entire collection is known as the Tipitaka (also spelled Tripitaka), or Three Baskets. The following source comes from The Discipline Basket, which consists of a number of books that concern the discipline, or regimented life, of Buddhist monks and nuns.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What is the Middle Path? According to the Buddha, why is it the proper path to Enlightenment? 2. What are the Four Noble Truths, and how does one’s total comprehension and acceptance of them lead to Nirvana, or escape from the cycle of suffering? 3. Buddhists call the Law taught by the Buddha Dharma. How does Buddhist Dharma differ from that of Brahminical Hinduism?

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality

And the Blessed One thus addressed the five Bhikkhus.'

“There

are

two

extremes,

O

Bhikkhus,

which he who has given up the world ought to

avoid. What are these two extremes? A life given to pleasures, devoted to pleasures and lusts: this is

_ degrading, sensual, vulgar, ignoble, and profitless;

namely, thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence, thirst for prosperity. “This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Cessation ofsuffering: it ceases with the complete cessation ofthis thirst,—a cessation which consists in the absence of every passion—with the aban-

and a life given to mortifications: this is painful,

doning ofthis thirst, with the doing away with it,

ignoble, and profitless. By avoiding these two ex-

with the deliverance from it, with the destruction of desire.

tremes, O Bhikkhus, the Tathagata’ has gained the knowledge of the Middle Path which leads to insight, which leads to wisdom, which conduces to calm, to knowledge, to the Sambodhi,’ to Nirvana.‘ “Which, O Bhikkhus, is this Middle Path the knowledge of which the Tathagata has gained. . . ? It is the Holy Eightfold Path, namely, Right Belief,

Right Aspiration,° Right Speech,’ Right Conduct,*

Right Means

of Livelihood,’

Right Endeavor,'°

Right Memory,'! Right Meditation."*. . .

“This,

O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth ofSuffer-

ing: Birth is suffering; decay is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering. Presence of objects we hate, is suffering; Separation from objects we love,

is suffering; not to obtain what we desire, is suffering. Briefly, . . . clinging to existence is suffering. “This,

O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the

Cause of suffering: Thirst,'’ that leads to rebirth,

accompanied

by pleasure and lust, finding its

delight here and there. This thirst is threefold,

Source: T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg, trans., Vinaya Texts, in F. Max Mueller, ed., The Sacred Books ofthe East, 50 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879-1910), Vol. 13, pp. 94-97, 100-102, passim. 'Ascetics. The term later was used to refer to Buddhism’s mendicant monks. 2One of the Buddha's titles. It means “one who has gone thus,” which is a way of saying “He who has arrived at the Truth.”

Total Enlightenment. _ ‘The state of release from the limitations of existence and rebirth. The word means “extinction,” in the sense that one has extinguished all worldly desires. In essence, it is Buddhahood. Like the Hindu Brahma-nirvana, Buddhist Nirvana is a state of absolute being and nonbeing. ‘Understanding the truth about the universality of suffering, knowing the path leading to its extinction, and realizing it is attainable.

“This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the

Path which leads to the cessation of suffering: that

Holy Eightfold Path, that is to say, Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right Endeavor, Right Memory, Right Meditation. . . . “As long, O Bhikkhus, as I did not possess with

perfect purity this true knowledge and insight into these four Noble Truths . . . so long, O Bhikkhus, I knew that I had not yet obtained the highest, abso-

lute Sambodhi in the world of men and gods. . . . “But

since

I possessed,

O

Bhikkhus,

with

perfect purity this true knowledge and insight into these four Noble Truths . . . then I knew,

O Bhikkhus, that I had obtained the highest, universal Sambodhi. . . .

“And this knowledge and insight arose in my mind: The emancipation of my mind cannot be lost; this is my last birth; hence I shall not be born again!”

Preparing for the journey to Enlightenment by freeing one’s mind of ill will, sensuous desire, and cruelty. 7Abstaining from lying, harsh language, and gossip. ®Acting honestly by avoiding killing, stealing, and unlawful sexual intercourse. *Avoiding any occupation that harms directly or indirectly any living being. 'Going beyond simply acting morally, a person now avoids all distractions and temptations of the flesh. ''Niow that one has put aside distractions, one focuses the entire mind fully on important issues, such as life, suffering, and death. "Total discipline of the mind, body, and spirit leading to a state of absolute awareness that transcends consciousness.

"Desire.

SO

«

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Persians, Israelites, and Their Gods Two peoples of Southwest Asia, the Persians and the Israelites, evolved visions of a single, exclusive, and uncreated God of the universe, a belief known as monotheism.

The Creator of all goodness, He demanded wholehearted devotion and imposed an uncompromising code of moral behavior upon all believers. Both the Persian Ahura Mazda (Lord Wisdom) and the Israelite YHWH (Il am Who am) were originally perceived as male sky-gods, existing among a multiplicity of other gods of nature; by the sixth century B.c.£., however, their respective devotees worshiped each as the sole source of all holiness. What is more, each of these two divinities was perceived as the sole God of history. That is, each God alone used humans as agents to serve the Divine Will and, thereby, to assist in the realization of the Divine Plan for humanity. For both the Persians and the Israelites, human history had a purpose and a goal. By serving as agents in the working out of God’s holy plan for creation, humans assumed a spiritual dignity and importance that they could otherwise never have hoped to attain. The Persian faith, known

as Zoroastrianism, admitted the existence of a number

of lesser divinities and, therefore, was not strictly monotheistic. Moreover, evidence

strongly suggests that the religion of the early Israelites (Chapter 2) was monolatric (worshiping a single god while acknowledging the existence of others) rather than monotheistic. Nevertheless, both religions laid the basis for Southwest Asia’s distinctive vision of ethical monotheism.

The Struggle between Good and Evil 18 ©

ZARATHUSTRA,

GATHAS

During the second millennium 8.c.£., about the same time that one branch of the Aryans wandered into the Indian subcontinent, another branch settled the highlands of Iran (the land of the Aryans). Initially, the religion and general culture of the people who settled Iran were almost identical to that of the Vedic Aryans of India. For example, the Iranians celebrated the slaying of Verethra, the drought, by their war-god Indara. The parallel with Indra’s striking down Vritra, the dragon of drought (source 9), is obvious. In time, however, the Iranians developed a civilization that differed radically from that of the Indo-Aryans.We call that ancient civilization Persian. By the late sixth century B.c.£., the Persians possessed the largest empire the world had yet seen. For nearly two centuries, they united Southwest Asia and portions of Central Asia, Northeast Africa, and the Balkan region of Europe into a politically centralized yet culturally diverse entity. During the reign of Darius the Great (r. 522-486 B.c.e.), who styled himself King of Kings, the royal house of Persia adopted as its religion the teachings of a native son, Zarathustra (or Zoroaster, as he was called by the Greeks). The highly ethical message of this Persian religious visionary appears to have been one of the major factors contributing to the empire's general policy of good government.

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality + We know very little about the life of Zarathustra. According to a late Persian tradition, he lived 258 years before Alexander the Great, or around the first quarter of the sixth century B.c.e.As appealing as this putative date is for those who would place this religious revolutionary squarely into the so-called Axial Age, it seems likely that Zarathustra flourished many centuries earlier. The archaic language of his few extant hymns strongly suggests that he lived no later than 1000 B.c.£., probably closer to 1200, and possibly as early as the 1300s, although some scholars state that his use of archaic language indicates only that he drew from much earlier rituals. Whatever his dates, he apparently belonged to the priestly class that performed fire sacrifices, very much like the Indo-Aryan Brahmins and the Greeks. The religious world into which he had been born was filled with a multiplicity of lesser gods known as daevas (called devas by the Indo-Aryans) and three greater gods, each of whom bore the title Ahura (Lord), and all of these deities commanded worship. Zarathustra’s great religious breakthrough seems to have been that he preached that one of these divine beings, Ahura Mazda (Lord Wisdom), was the sole God of creation and the supreme deity of the universe. This uncreated God and source of all goodness alone was worthy of the highest worship.To be sure,Ahura Mazda had created lesser benign spirits, known as yazatas, to aid him, and they merited devotion, but all of the traditional Iranian daevas were evil demons, who deserved no worship. Indeed, these daevas were the creation of another uncreated entity, Angra Mainyu (Hostile Spirit), whose evil existence was the source of all sin and misery in the universe. It is clear that Zarathustra claimed to be the prophet (a person speaking by divine inspiration and, thereby, revealing the will of God) of Ahura Mazda. Equally clear, Zarathustra taught his disciples that Ahura Mazda required all humans to join in the cosmic struggle against Angra Mainyu.Although coeternal with Lord Wisdom, Hostile Spirit was nowhere his equal.Angra Mainyu (also known as the Liar) and his minions afflicted human souls with evil and led them away from the path of righteousness, but in the end,Angra Mainyu and his daevas would be defeated. Strictly speaking, such a vision, which sees the universe engaged in a contest between two divine principles, one good and the other evil, is not monotheistic but rather dualistic. Nevertheless, Zarathustra’s dualistic theology focused on a single God of goodness and should be seen as one of the major roots of Southwest Asian ethical monotheism. Zarathustra’s teachings took hold in Persia, especially with the rise of the first Persian Empire in the sixth century 8.c.e. From 224 to 651 c.e., Zoroastrianism was the official state religion of a revived Persian Empire under the Sassanian house, and it was only in the Sassanian era, possibly as late as the sixth century c.., that the Avesta, the Zoroastrian collection of holy scripture, was written down in its final form. Although the Avesta encompasses many texts that date from well after Zarathustra’s time, it contains a few short devotional hymns, known as Gathas, which seem to date to the age of Zarathustra and probably owe their composition to him or an early disciple. Their archaic language and often unclear references make them hard, even impossible to interpret with full confidence. Yet, they are our only reliable sources for the original teachings of the Persian prophet.As such, they illustrate, but ambiguously so, his vision and message.

The

Ancient World

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What evidence indicates that Zarathustra saw Ahura Mazda as the sole creator of the universe? 2. How does each person’s life become a microcosm of the battle between Ahura Mazda and the Liar? 3. How do we know that Zarathustra believed Ahura Mazda would ultimately triumph over evil? 4. Does Zarathustra see his faith as only one of many paths to the truth, or is it the Truth? 5. What is promised to those who serve Ahura Mazda faithfully? What about those who do not accept and serve this God?

made light and darkness? What artist made sleep

This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura—whether Piety will extend to those to whom your Religion shall be proclaimed? I was ordained at the first by you: all others I look upon with hatred ofspirit. This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. Who among those with whom I would speak is a righteous man, and who a liar? On which side is the enemy? . . . This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura—whether we shall drive the Lie away from us to those who being full of disobedience will not strive after fellowship with Right, nor trouble themselves with counsel of Good Thought. . . .

and waking? Who made morning, noon, and night,

This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura—whether

This | ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. Who

is by

generation the Father of Right, at the first? Who determined the path of sun and stars? Who is it by whom the moon waxes and wanes again? This, O Mazda, and yet more, | want to know.

This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. Who upheld the Earth beneath and the firmament from falling? Who the waters and the plants? Who yoked swiftness to winds and clouds? Who is, O Mazda, creator of Good Thought?! This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. What artist

that call the understanding man to his duty? . . . This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. Who created

together with Dominion the precious Piety? Who made by wisdom the son obedient to his father? I strive to recognize by these things you,

O Mazda,

creator of all things through the holy spirit. . . .

through you I shall attain my goal... and that my

voice

may

be effectual,

that Welfare

and

Immortality may be ready to unite according to that promise with him who joins himself with Right. This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura—whether

This I ask you, tell me truly, Ahura. The Reli-

I shall indeed, O Right, earn that reward, even

gion which is the best for all that are, which in union with Right should make prosperous all that is mine, will they duly observe it, the religion of my

ten mares with a stallion and a camel,” which was

promised to me, O Mazda, as well as through you the future gift of Welfare and Immortality.

creed, with the words and action of Piety, in desire for your future good things, O Mazda?

knowing, revealed to me first in this earthly life.

Source: James Hope Moulton, Yasnas 43, 44, 45, in Early Zoroastrianism (London: Williams and Norgate, 1913), pp. 367-370, passim. 'Zarathustra conceived of Good Thought, Piety, and other such moral entities as spiritual beings whom Ahura

I will speak of that which Mazda Ahura, the all-

Mazda had created to help in the battle against the forces of evil. *Symbols of good fortune and earthly prosperity.

j

( apes

Those of you that put not in practice this word as I think and utter it, to them shall be woe at the end oflife. . .

I will speak of that which the Holiest declared

to me as the word that is best for mortals to obey: he, Mazda Ahura said, “They who at my bidding

>

ne)

]

Transcendental

’

Reality

render him? obedience, shall all attain Welfare and Immortality by the actions of the Good Spirit.” . . . In immortality shall the soul of the righteous be joyful, in perpetuity shall be the torments of the Liars. All this does Mazda Ahura appoint by his Dominion.

3Zarathustra.

A. New Covenant for All Peoples 19 * THE

BOOK

P

OF ISAIAH

Once settled in the land of Canaan (Chapter 2), the Israelites waged a continuing battle to retain their independence, cultural identity, and exclusive devotion to YHWH. According to the biblical account, in the late eleventh century 8.c.E., largely in response to Philistine pressure, the Israelites created a kingdom.Around 1020 8.c.., their second king, David, captured Jerusalem and converted it into the Israelites’ religious and political capital. The political stability of this kingdom was precarious. In 922, it was split into two independent entities: the larger kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah, centering on Jerusalem, in the south. In 722, the Assyrians obliterated Israel. The more compact and remote kingdom ofJudah survived until 586 8.c.£., when a Semitic people from Mesopotamia known as the Chaldeans captured and destroyed Jerusalem and carried off most of Judah’s upper classes into exile in Babylon,an episode known forever after as the Babylonian Captivity. Cultural and religious stability was equally precarious. The cult of YHVWVH was, in many ways, more suitable to the life of the desert herder than to that of the settled farmer. As the Israelites settled down, they adopted many of the religious practices of their neighbors (and there is good reason to conclude that many Israelites were themselves of Canaanite stock). This embracing of so-called alien deities occasioned angry protests from a group of religious reformers known as the prophets. The prophets, who claimed inspiration from YHWH, now increasingly referred to as “the Lord,” protested vehemently against debasement of the Mosaic religion, but in the process of their protest, they broadened considerably the moral and theological scope of the worship of the Lord. One of the greatest and last of these prophets was a person we know only as Second Isaiah. He served as the voice of a new faith that was born out of the anguish of the Babylonian Captivity. We call that faith Judaism. The original Prophet Isaiah had towered over the religious scene of Jerusalem from the middle to the late eighth century 8.c.e.and left behind a rich legacy of teaching on the Lord’s role as the God who controls the destinies of all people. Second Isaiah, who lived in the middle and late sixth century 8.c.£., carried on this tradition. Consequently, the prophecies of this otherwise unknown person were appended to

The Ancient World

the writings of the earlier Isaiah and appear as chapters 40 through 55 in the Bible’s Book of Isaiah (and Third Isaiah was the author or authors of chapters 56-66). The following passages were composed around 538 B.c.e., when Cyrus the Great, king of Persia and conqueror of the Chaldean (Neo-Babylonian) Empire, released Israelite leaders from captivity in Mesopotamia and allowed them to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple. Here, Second Isaiah metaphorically describes the people of Israel as the Lord’s Suffering Servant and delineates the historical role that the Lord has decreed for this servant. This notion of a God of goodness who uses human agents to drive history forward certainly reminds us of Zarathustra’s message, and clearly elements of Zoroastrian belief—such as angels, the Devil, Heaven, Hell, Limbo, the Resurrection of the dead,a Savior-to-Come, and a Day ofJudgment—would later surface in some forms of Judaism, as well as in Christianity and Islam. Nevertheless, it is impossible to say with any certainty what influence, if any, Zoroastrian teachings might have had on Second Isaiah’s prophetic vision. We can only speculate. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What does Second Isaiah mean by the prophecy that the Lord will present Israel “as a light to the nations”? How will the Children of Israel’s redemption from exile in Babylon serve a universal purpose? 2. Compare this text with Zarathustra’s Gathas with an eye toward the ways in which Ahura Mazda and the Lord are portrayed.Are there any parallels or common elements? Are there any major differences? Which are more significant—the similarities or the differences? Why? 3. Consider YHWH’s covenants with Noah (source 12) and with the wandering Israelites (source 13). To which of those covenants is this one closer? What do you conclude from your answer? 4. How do Ahura Mazda and the Lord differ from Brahman?

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel! and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “Tam the first and I am the last; besides me there is no God. .. . Remember these things, O Jacob,’ and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you, you are my servant;

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,

and your sins like mist; Source: The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1989 by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. 'All Israelites and not just the inhabitants of the former kingdom of Israel.

return to me, for I have redeemed you. . . . { am the Lord, who made all things,

who stretched out the heavens alone,

who spread out the Earth—Who was with me?—

who frustrates the omens ofliars, and makes fools ofdiviners;

who and who and

turns wise men back, makes their knowledge foolish; confirms the word of his servant, performs the counsel of his messengers;

*Here Jacob means all of Jacob’s descendants—the Children of Israel.

Chapter 3 Transcendental Reality « 85

who says ofJerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be built, and | will raise up their ruins, ... who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd. and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, “She shall be built, _ and ofthe temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.’ ” Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “T will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron,” I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name,

he shall build my city® and set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,”

says the Lord of hosts. . . . “I the Lord speak the truth,

I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, you survivors of the nations!’

They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior;

there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved,® all the ends of the Earth! For Iam God, and there is no other.

I surname you,* though you do not know me.

By myself Ihave sworn,

I am the Lord, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return:

I gird you, though you do not know me, that men may know, from the rising of the sun

every tongue shall swear.’

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

I am the Lord, and there is no other... .

are righteousness and strength;

I made the Earth,

to him shall come and be ashamed, all who were incensed against him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

and created man upon it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have aroused him? in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways; - 3A reference to the great walls of Babylon.

‘The Lord bestows on Cyrus the title the Great. Cyrus. SJerusalem. 7All peoples who survive the collapse of the Chaldean, or Neo-Babylonian, Empire.

“To me every knee shall bow,

shall triumph and glory.” . . . Listen to me, O coastlands,

and hearken, you peoples from afar. ’Most scholars conclude that the terms save and salvation used by Second Isaiah do not imply a promise of Paradise after death but only earthly peace and prosperity.

86 ¢ The Ancient World

The Lord called me? from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

“Tt is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations,

he made me a polished arrow,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the Earth.”

in his quiver he hid me away.

Thus says the Lord,

And he said to me, “You are my servant,

the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain,

the servant of rulers:

to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord,

princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;

and my recompense with my God.”

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

And now the Lord says, . . .

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

°The Children of Israel.

“Kings shall see and arise;

Chapter 4

The Secular Made Sacred Developing the Humanistic Traditions of China and Hellas: 600—200 8.c.e. HE CHINESE AND THE Greeks had deities and spirits for every imaginable function and also observed a wide range of religious taboos and rituals. But while contemporaries in India and Southwest Asia were raising religious speculation to high levels of abstract thought, religion for the Chinese and the Greeks remained, for the most part, a practical affair. One sacrificed to the gods and spirits in order to ensure their benevolence. Religion was largely a form of magical insurance and not a relationship with Ultimate Reality. At the same time, the social and psychic crises of the Age of Iron were as real in China and Greece as elsewhere. In fashioning responses to the questions occasioned by the dislocation of traditional ways of life, both the Chinese and the Greeks looked more toward this world than the Beyond and created cultures that were essentially humanistic (human-centered) and secular (of this world) in the sense that they focused on humanity’s position within an observable universe of finite space and time. Social and political philosophy, rather than theology, engaged the intellectual energies of the Chinese and the Greeks as they faced the challenges of the Iron Age. In China, various philosophers offered insights into how humans should behave in regard to their families, the state, and nature. These philosophers also struggled with the issue of personal excellence. They first inquired whether such a goal was achievable or even desirable, and many ultimately concluded that the cult of individuality that was inherent in such a quest for personal perfection threatened the harmony of the family, the state, and even the natural order. Therefore, it was to be avoided. For those who accepted, however tentatively and reluctantly, even a modified search for personal excellence, several questions remained: How is it achieved, and what purposes does it serve? Does cultivation of virtue have only personal value, or is it subordinate to a higher social purpose? 87

OO

6

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Many of the same concerns preoccupied Greek thinkers. Two issues particularly dominated Greek social thought: How does the individual achieve excellence (arete), a quality they assumed to be the natural goal of all human striving? How does the individual function as an effective citizen within the city-state (polis)? Most Greek social philosophers assumed that cultivation of personal talents and good citizenship were complementary pursuits. Accomplished individuals were the best citizens. Additionally, a highly influential group of Chinese and Greeks turned their attention to an objective study of the physical environment, thereby becoming the world’s first natural scientists. Like their social philosophers, China’s and Greece's scientists attempted to explain the workings of the physical universe in response to human needs, the most basic of which was to provide knowledge that would allow people to control their lives in a manner that was productive and healthy. The Chinese and the Greeks fashioned cultures in which humanity and the natural world were the measure of what was most important to them, and in this sense, they made the secular sacred.

China: Thought and Action in Search of Harmony The collapse of the Western Zhou monarchy (ca. 1050-771 8.c.£.) and its replacement by the weaker Eastern Zhou (770-249 8.c.£.) signaled the end of all effective royal power in China (limited though it had been) and ushered in a five-hundredyear period when regional states held center stage. Zhou kings continued to perform their traditional religious roles and received tokens of nominal obedience from the great lords. True power, however, lay in the hands of the regional lords, who developed bureaucratic governments and strong standing armies. With each local prince essentially a sovereign, military and diplomatic maneuvering among their states became a constant fact of life. As disruptive as all of this was at times, it also proved to be a stimulus to intellectual activity. The demands of statecraft at the regional level and the occasional social dislocation that resulted from the conflicts among these states stimulated the development of political theory and social philosophy. This was especially true from the fifth century B.c.£. onward,as wars became more frequent and bitter. Chinese historians traditionally catalogue the period from about 475 to 221 B.c.e.as the Age of Warring States. Innovations such as inexpensive, massproduced iron weapons, cavalry, and the crossbow broke the battlefield superiority of the chariot-driving, bronze-armed aristocracy. Armies of conscripted foot and horse soldiers became larger and more deadly. Concomitantly, intellectuals sought to keep pace with this changing world. Between

260 and 221 B.c.£., Qin, the most aggressive and best organized of the

warring states, conquered all rival powers in China and established a new ruling

Chapter

i

The

Secular

Made

Sacred

family, the short-lived but pivotal Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.c.£.). The triumph of the lord of Qin, the self-styled Qin Shihuangdi (First Emperor of Qin), not only inaugurated China's first age of empire but also brought with it the momentary victory of a political philosophy known as Legalism. In conforming to the principles of Legalism, the Qin regime was ruthless and brutal in its drive for complete centralization of authority. Undone by the harshness of its laws and policies, the Qin Dynasty collapsed in early 206. Within four years, however, a commoner general, Liu Bang, reformulated the empire by establishing the successful and long-lived Han Dynasty (202 B.c.6.-220 c.e.). Although the extreme measures of the Qin regime discredited Legalism as a philosophy, Legalist-inspired organizational structures and administrative procedures served as the framework of the highly centralized Han Empire. By the late second century B.C.£., however, the Han Dynasty adopted as its official ideology the gentler and more humane philosophy of Confucianism, which had also taken shape in the disturbing period of Eastern Zhou. Han imperial policies and institutions were, therefore, the products of aConfucianLegalist synthesis, but these were not the only modes of thought to play a prominent role then and ever after in China. Daoism, an antirational, quite antipolitical,and some-

what antisocial philosophy, had also emerged from the confusion of Eastern Zhou and survived the hostility of Qin censors to become an integral part of Chinese thought and aesthetics. Although they offered different answers to the ills of their day and presented some striking differences of perspective, all three schools of thought claimed to offer the correct Way (Dao), or path,to harmony. Daoism emphasized harmony with nature; Confucianism emphasized the harmony of human relationships; and Legalism emphasized the harmony of a well-regulated state.A fourth school of thought that emerged during this era of profound intellectual fertility also emphasized harmony, but harmony on a grander scale. Philosophers who developed the dualistic theory of Yin and Yang encapsulated the entire universe in their explanation of the intrinsic harmony that infuses everything that exists. Integral to their philosophy was the belief that by understanding the natural harmony of the universe that results from the balance of Yin and Yang, one could set aright anything that had fallen into a state of disharmony—be it some element of nature, human relations, the social-political order, or even the human body.

Daoism: The Way That Is and Is Not 20 * LAOZI,

THE CLASSIC

OF THE WAY AND VIRTUE

Few, if any, philosophies are as enigmatic as Daoism—the teachings of the Way (Dao). The opening lines of this school’s greatest masterpiece, The Classic of the Way and Virtue (Dao Dejing), which is ascribed to the legendary Laozi, immediately confront the reader with Daoism’s essential paradox: “The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The name that can be named is not

e

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the enduring and unchanging name.” Here is a philosophy that purports to teach the Way of truth and virtue, but simultaneously claims that the True Way transcends human understanding. Encapsulated within a little book of about five thousand characters is a philosophy that defies definition, spurns reason, and rejects words as inadequate. Two core tenets of this little book are that the Dao is limitless and its origins are infinite. Somewhat like the Way that it purports to teach and not teach, Daoism has many manifestations and numerous origins. No one knows when or where it originated, but its roots probably lie in the animistic religions of prehistoric China. Daoism’s earliest sages are equally shadowy. According to tradition, Laozi was born around 604 B.c.£. and died about 517, making him an older contemporary of Confucius (source 21). According to one popular story, when Confucius visited him, Laozi instructed the younger man to rid himself of his arrogant airs and then bade him farewell. As another story has it, the aged Laozi decided to leave the state in which he lived because he foresaw its imminent decay. At the frontier, he was delayed by a border official, who implored him not to depart without first leaving behind his wisdom. In response, Laozi dashed off the Dao Dejing and left, never to be heard from again (although according to one story that sprang up in Daoist circles in the fourth century c.e., Laozi went to India, where he became the Buddha). The fact that Laozi means “Old Master” suggests to many that this sage was more a composite figure of legend and imagination than a historic individual of flesh and blood. Indeed, many scholars conclude that the bulk of the language, ideas, and allusions contained within this classic indicate an intellectual environment

closer to 300 than to 500 B.c.e. Whatever its date and circumstances of composition, the Dao Dejing is one of the most profound and beautiful works ever written in Chinese and one of the most popular. Daoism, especially as articulated in this little book, has exercised an incalculable influence on Chinese life, thought, and art over the centuries. As you study the following selections, pay particular attention to the Daoist notion of Actionless Activity. Known in Chinese as wuwei and also translated as “Effortlessness,” “Nonaction,” and “Nonstriving,’ this idea pervades all Daoist thought and comes closest to being Daoism’s universal principle and driving force, if such is possible. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. How does Laozi define the Way? How permanent is it? What are its limitations? 2. Does the Way acknowledge right and wrong? 3. How does the sage ruler who is in harmony with the Way govern? 4. What are the Dao Dejing’s major criticisms of Confucianism and Legalism? Before addressing this issue, study sources 21 and 22. 5. When Buddhism initially entered China, many Chinese thought it to be a variation of Daoism. How and why was this perception possible? In what ways was this a misperception?

Chapter 4 The Secular Made Sacred + 91

The Way The Dao that can be trodden

is not the endur-

ing and unchanging Dao. The name that can be

He who has in himself abundantly the attributes of the Dao is like an infant.

named is not the enduring and unchanging name.

The Dao in its regular course does nothing, for the

The Dao produces all things and nourishes them; it produces them and does not claim them as its own; it does all, and yet does not boast ofit; it presides over all, and yet does not control them. This is what is called “The mysterious quality” of the Dao.

When the Great Dao ceased to be observed, benevolence

and

righteousness

came

into vogue.

Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there

ensued great hypocrisy. !

sake of doing it, and so there is nothing which it does not do.”

The Wise Person When we renounce learning we have no troubles.’

If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hun-

dredfold. If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again

become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our

Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes

artful contrivances and discard our scheming for gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.‘

its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Dao. The law of the Dao is its being what it is.

The sage manages affairs without doing anything,

and conveys his instructions without the use of All-pervading is the Great Dao! It may be found on the left hand and on the right. All things depend on it for their production, which it gives to them, not one refusing obedience

to it. When its work is accomplished, it does not claim the name of having done it. It clothes all things as with a garment, and makes no assumption of

being their lord;—it may be named in the smallest things; . . . it may be named in the greatest things. Source: F. Max Mueller, ed., The Sacred Books of the East,

50 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon

Press, 1879-1910), Vol. 39,

passim.

'This is a criticism of the supposed hypocrisy of Confucians ~ who claim to know and practice virtue (source 21). The principle of wuwei, or achieving through noneffort. 3According to the Confucians, careful study and emulation of the virtues of the past, as recorded in its classical books, is the primary avenue to harmony.

speech.

Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing of humility,

and

manifests

it to all the

world. He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines; from self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished;

from self-boasting,

and therefore

his merit is acknowledged; from self-complacency,

and therefore he acquires superiority. It is because ‘The first two sentences reject the Confucian values of knowledge, wisdom, benevolence, and righteousness, all of which, according to the Confucians, will result in filial piety (proper devotion and service to parents, ancestors, and superiors). See the introduction to source 21 for further discussion of the history of this Confucian principle. The last sentence rejects Legalism’s advocacy of state-directed programs aimed at creating a prosperous society.

92 « The Ancient World he is thus free from striving that therefore no one in the world is able to strive with him.

When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe. When wealth and honors lead to arrogance, this brings its evil on itself. When the work is done, and one’s name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is

Therefore a sage has said, “I will do nothing,

and the people will be transformed of themselves;

I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest no ambition, and the

people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.”

the way of Heaven.

Ideal Government

A state may be ruled by measures of correction;’ weapons of war may be used with crafty dexterity; but the kingdom is made one’s own only by freedom from action and purpose. How do I know that it is so? By these facts:—In the kingdom the multiplication of prohibitive enactments

increases the poverty of the people; the

Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves;° not to prize articles which are difficult

to procure’ is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely to ex-

cite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder. Therefore the sage, in the exercise of his government, empties their minds, fills their bellies, weak-

more implements to add to their profit that the

ens their wills, and strengthens their bones.

people have, the greater disorder is there in the state

He constantly tries to keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those

and clan; the more acts of crafty dexterity that men

possess, the more do strange contrivances appear; the more display there is of legislation, the more thieves and robbers there are.

who have knowledge, to keep them from presum-

See source 22.

’Legalist policy favored trade.

ing to act on it. When there is this abstinence from action, good order is universal.

®Confucian political philosophy centered on the wise and learned superior man, also Known as the gentleman (source 21).

Confucianism: The Moral Way of the Past 2!

* CONFUCIUS, THE ANALECTS

The Chinese refer to the period of Eastern Zhou as the Age of aHundred Schools. Of the many schools of thought that flourished then, none has had a more substantial impact on Chinese culture than Confucianism, a philosophy ascribed to a teacher whom history identifies as Confucius. Tradition records that this sage was born in 552 or 551 B8.c.£. into the aristocratic but impoverished Kong family, which traced its lineage to the Shang Dynasty. Young Kong Qiu, as he was named, became an authority on court rituals and

( hapter

The serpent was sacred to Aesculapius because of its presumed regenerative powers, and a number were kept at each temple dedicated to the god.

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claim great piety and superior knowledge. Such per-

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1/1

sons, using superstition as camouflage for their own

from it... . Another strong proof that this disease is no more divine in origin than any other is that

inability to offer any help, proclaimed the disease

it afflicts those who are by nature phlegmatic,' but

sacred .. . and instituted a method of treatment that

it does not attack the bilious.’ If this disease were more divine than other diseases, it should afflict all

protected them, namely purifications, incantations, and enforced abstinence from bathing and from

. many types of food. . . . Their course of treatment forbids the patient to have a black robe, because black is symbolic of death, or to sleep on a goatskin, or to wear one, or to put one foot on another, or one hand on another. All these things are reputed to be impediments to healing. . . . If the patient recovers they reap the honor and credit; if the patient dies,

groups equally, making no distinction between the bilious and the phlegmatic. . . . Since the brain, as the primary center of sensation and of the spirits, perceives whatever occurs

in the body, if any unusual change takes place in the air, due to the seasons, the brain is changed by

the state of the air... . And the disease called “sacred” arises from . . . those things that enter and

they have a perfect defense: The gods, not they, are

leave the body, such as cold, the sun, and winds,

to blame, seeing as they had administered nothing

to eat or drink in the way of medicine, and they had

which are constantly changing and never at rest. . . . Therefore the physician should under-

not overheated the patient with baths. . . .

stand and distinguish each individual situation, so

If such things, when administered as food, ag-

that at one time he might add nourishment,

at

gravate the disease, and if it is cured by abstinence

another time withhold it. In this disease, as in all

from them, then the disease cannot be divine in origin, and the rites of purification provide no benefit. It is the food which is either beneficial or harm-

but he must attempt to wear it out by administering

ful. . . . Therefore, they who attempt to cure this disease in such a manner appear to me to be incapable of believing the disease is sacred or divine. .. .

Consequently, this disease seems to me to be no more divine than others. It has the same nature

and cause as other diseases. It is also no less cur-

able than other diseases. . . . The key to its origin, as is the case with other diseases, lies in heredity. .

. Where one or the other parent suffers from

others, he must endeavor not to feed the disease,

whatever is most contrary to each disease and not that which favors and is allied to it. For it grows vigorous and increases through that which is allied to it, but it wears out and disappears under the

administration of whatever is opposed to it. Whoever is knowledgeable enough to render a

person humid or dry, hot or cold by regimen can also cure this disease, if the physician recognizes the proper season for administering remedies. ‘The

physician can do so without attention to purifica-

this malady, some of their children likewise suffer

tions, spells, and all other forms of hocus-pocus.

Source: Hippocrates, A. J. Andrea, trans. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved. 'A calm temperament that can reach sluggishness due to excessive phlegm.

*Those who, by reason of the dominance of bile in their systems, have peevish, sour-tempered dispositions. *Specific foods and ministrations stimulate the production of specific humors; others reduce them.

An Alienated Foreign Woman 26 « EURIPIDES, MEDEA Athens created one of the Hellenic world’s most enduring art forms—tragic drama. In the sixth century 8.c.£., improvised songs and dances performed at festivals honoring Dionysus (also known as Bacchus), the god of wine, evolved into

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World

formal lyric narratives and dances, and from there became full-fledged dramas. The first known dramatic contest at which a prize was offered took place in Athens around the year 534. By the fifth century, tragic dramas were annually offered in competition during Athens’ six-day spring festival dedicated to Dionysus. Each of three invited playwrights would present, on successive days, a tetralogy consisting of a set of three connected tragedies and an accompanying comic (and quite bawdy) “satyr play.” First, second, and third prizes would then be awarded. Production of the plays was supported by public funds, and money was put aside to allow the poorest of Athens’ citizens leisure time to attend the festivities and plays because attendance was considered to be a necessary civic function for all citizens. As Athenian tragic drama evolved, three playwrights emerged as the city’s preeminent dramatists and dramatic innovators: Aeschylus (ca. 525-456), Sophocles (ca. 496-406), and Euripides (ca. 480-406). Of the three, Euripides won the fewest first prizes—five, one of which was posthumous—despite having composed about ninety tragedies, but more of his plays have survived (nineteen, but one is of doubtful authenticity) than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles combined. The reason for his later popularity, which ensured the survival of so many of his plays, is that, more than any other Hellenic playwright, Euripides explored the dark side of the human psyche and the underside of Athenian life. He was also an outspoken critic of the indignities suffered by those whom Athenian society exploited or overlooked: war victims, slaves, foreigners, and especially women. Athenian women lived in a society that accorded them little status and less freedom, and in apparent outrage at that reality, Euripides focused much of his art on their situation. Women dominate twelve of Euripides’ extant plays, and although his female protagonists are placed in mythological settings, such as Troy and ancient Thebes, they clearly speak to the social environment of fifth-century Athens and the greater Hellenic world. More than that, each of his heroines is a powerful personality in her own right. Late in life, he left Athens, probably because his outspoken opposition to Athenian atrocities in the Peloponnesian War made his native city an unwelcome place for him, and he took up residence in Macedon, where

he died.

In 431, on the eve of the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Euripides produced Medea, a play revolving around a woman who found herself in exile far from her native land. The mythic background to the story was well known to the audience. Jason, an adventurer in search of the Golden Fleece, had sailed to Colchis, a region located at the eastern end of the Black Sea that Greeks referred to as the “land of the farthest voyage” and that they looked upon as a distant barbarian country. There he met Princess Medea, who fell in love with him and resolved to use her magical powers (she was the granddaughter of the sun-god Helios) to assist him in securing the Golden Fleece, no matter the price. The price was high. She killed her brother, betrayed her father, the king of Colchis, and fled with Jason. Eventually she and Jason and now their two children arrived as refugees at Corinth, where the play is set. As the play opens, now comfortably settled in Corinth, Jason has abandoned Medea and the children and has become engaged to King Creon’s daughter. Creon,

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perceiving Medea and the children as an embarrassment and a threat, orders Medea and the children to leave the city.

Love and hate, emotions so clearly allied, soon become one and the same in Medea. As the play unfolds, she kills Creon, his daughter, and her two children and then magically escapes to sanctuary in Athens, where she marries its king, Aegeus. Here, in the opening scene, Medea addresses the women of Corinth and lays bare the pressures and injustices that have led to her emotional distress and, it is not farfetched to say, mental breakdown—a disorder that will lead to tragic consequences. The play, which today is considered a classic of Hellenic tragedy, was awarded, along with the other three plays in Euripides’ tetralogy, third prize.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Assuming that Euripides’ play was a commentary on contemporary Athenian social issues, what does the evidence suggest about the status of women and aliens in fifth-century Athens? 2. It has been said that whereas Hippocrates (source 25) studied the clinical course of physical disease, Euripides specialized in diagnosing emotional disorders and mental breakdowns, especially those brought on by social ills. What, if anything, in this excerpt leads you to accept or reject that judgment? 3. Based on this brief excerpt (and granted that we know almost nothing about either the competition or the other three plays in Euripides’ production), why do you think the playwright was awarded third prize?

Medea: Women

of Corinth! I have come out of

the house so that you do not blame me. For | know that many mortals are far too private and are

seen as haughty. Some are so perceived when they keep from public view; others are so perceived because of their public actions. Still others who are quiet and retiring get a bad reputation for indiffer-

ence. It is surely wrong to judge and dislike someone who has done one no harm before learning that person’s heart. It is especially important for a

foreigner to obey the customs of a host city, but I cannot approve of even a citizen who is arrogant and ignores fellow-citizens out of ignorance.

joy oflife, Iwant to die. I know now so well that my husband, on whom I depended for everything, has turned out to be the basest of men. Of all who live and have an intellect, we women are the most wretched creatures. First, we must purchase a husband at an excessively high price,'

thereby taking a master for our bodies, which is a worse evil. Then there is the challenge as to whether the husband is good or bad. Divorce gives a woman a bad reputation, so we cannot refuse the husband we have. When the new bride finds herselfin a situation beset by new ways and customs, she must be a mind-reader if she has not already

But this matter has befallen me unexpectedly and destroyed my spirit. | am finished. Having lost the

learned at her parents’ home the best way to please

Source: A. J. Andrea, trans., Euripides, Medea, ed. by Alan Elliott (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), lines 214-266, pp. 14-16. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved.

'The dowry that the bride’s parents pay to the husband’s family and the items she brings to the marriage.

a husband.

© The Ancient World If we figure this all out, and our husbands, feeling

and far from my native city, am abused by my hus-

not the least bit constrained by the yoke ofcircum-

band. Taken as a prize from an alien land, I have

stances, stay with us, then life is ideal. But if this

no mother, no brother,‘ no kinsman to take refuge

is not the case, then it is better to be dead. When

with in this disaster.

a man grows tired of home life, he goes out to get

Therefore, I want to ask this much of you: If

relief, [turning to either a friend or some colleague).

I find some way and device through which to extract retribution from my husband for these evils [and from the man who gave his daughter to him, and that daughter whom he married, that you keep quiet. For a woman is generally fearful in other matters and timid when it comes to

We women,

however, must look at one face only.

Men say that within the house we live a life free of danger, whereas they must take up arms and fight.’ They are wrong! I would rather fight three battles than give birth once.

Of course, your situation and mine are quite different. You have this city and your fathers’ homes, a secure life, and the company of friends. I, deserted

combat and facing weapons, but when her mar-

*This is a good example of the problems that historians and

metrically awkward, is a later interpolation and not part of the original text. >Greek poleis were organized for war, and every able-bodied citizen was required to perform military service throughout his vigorous adult life. 4Of course, she had killed her younger brother,Apsyrtus. *Another suspicious line and probable interpolation.

others have when working with texts that have been recreated from fragments and corrupted manuscripts. No complete copy of the Medea survives from antiquity. Modern scholars have produced “critical editions” of the play working from both papyrus fragments that survived antiquity and late medieval copies of now-lost earlier manuscripts of the play. Scholars generally agree that this phrase, which is

riage-bed has been defiled, no one has a bloodier

mind.

A Defense of Philosophy 27°

PLATO,APOLOGIA

The Dialogues of Plato (427-348 8.c.e.) are the major source for the life and teachings of Socrates (ca. 469-399 B.c.e.), Hellas’ first great ethical and social philosopher. Like Confucius, his near contemporary, Socrates left behind only a small cohort of students and no writings, but also like Confucius, he was pivotal in the development of his culture’s approach to philosophy. Philosophy,a Greek term meaning “love of wisdom,” was not unique to the Hellenes nor, as we have already seen in our survey of Chinese thought, were their intellectual elites the first to apply unaided human reason to addressing such basic questions as “What is the well-lived life?” What we can say is that philosophy in myriad forms and multiple schools of thought became a hallmark of Hellenic culture for many centuries following the life and death of Socrates. Socrates’ main contribution to Hellenic thought was that he refused to accept easy answers as he searched after wisdom and virtue, which were, in his mind, one

and the same. Like Confucius, Socrates had an implicit faith that action invariably follows knowledge. The moral person for Socrates (and for Confucius) is one who knows the good and acts accordingly. Socrates’ uncompromising search for truth and goodness of soul earned him enemies, and consequently he fell victim to the mood of bitter recrimination that

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«

followed Athens’ defeat in the Peloponnesian War. In 399, a conservative politician charged Socrates with impiety against the gods and corruption of the city’s youth. On trial for his life, the seventy-year-old philosopher refused to defend himself against the charges, choosing instead to offer a justification of his life and methods of inquiry. He was found guilty and condemned to death by a jury that assumed he would save himself by fleeing the city. Socrates, faithful to the end to his sense of morality, refused to avoid the sentence and went serenely to his death. The best account of Socrates’ defense, or apologia, at his trial comes from Plato,

Socrates’ brilliant student and arguably the most original of all of Hellas’ thinkers. In many of the philosophical dialogues that Plato composed and in which his late master serves as hero, it is impossible to say where Socrates’ ideas leave off and Plato’s begin. It is likely, however, that the Apologia is faithful to the basic concepts, but probably not the actual words, that Socrates presented in his defense of philosophy.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. According to Socrates, what necessary social function does he serve? 2. What is the core of his philosophy, and what is “the Socratic method” of inquiry? 3. Herodotus, Hippocrates, Euripides, and Socrates: What basic attitudes and assumptions did they share? 4. The introduction to this source draws a parallel between the teachings of Confucius and Socrates. But this is not the entire story: In some basic ways their philosophies were radically different. How did they differ, and what do those differences allow us to infer?

5. Construct a dialogue between two Chinese philosophers, one a Daoist and the other a Legalist, in which they debate the merits (or lack thereof) of Socrates’ defense of his search for truth.

Men of Athens, do not interrupt me with noise,

and, gentlemen, don’t make a disturbance at what

even if Iseem to you to be boasting; for the word that I speak is not mine, but the speaker to whom I shall refer it is a person of weight. For of my wisdom — if it is wisdom at all — and ofits nature, I will offer you the god of Delphi' as a witness.

I say; for he asked if there were anyone wiser than

You know Chaerephon, I fancy. He was my comrade from a youth and the comrade ofyour demo-

I. Now the Pythia’ replied that there was no one wiser. And about these things his brother here will

bear you witness, since Chaerephon is dead. But see why I say these things; for | am going to tell you from where the prejeduce against me has arisen. For when I heard this, I thought to myself:

cratic party.” ... Well, once he went to Delphi and

“What in the world does the god mean, and what

made so bold as to ask the oracle this question;

riddle is he propounding?* For I am conscious that

Source: Plato, Apologia, in F. J. Church, trans. The Trial and Death ofSocrates (London: Macmiilan, 1880). With emendations by A. J. Andrea. 'The oracle, or prophetess, at Delphi spoke for the god Apollo.

*Not Socrates’ democratic party. He mistrusted the “unthinking masses” and did not favor democracy. The priestess who acted as the voice of Apollo. See note |. ‘The Pythia at Delphi answered questions in riddles.

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The Ancient World

I am not wise to any degree. What then does he

that the god is really wise and by his oracle means

mean by declaring that I am the wisest? He cer-

this: “Human wisdom is oflittle or no value.” And

tainly cannot be lying, for that is not possible for

it appears that he does not really say this of Socrates,

him.” And for a long time I was at a loss as to what

but merely uses my name, and makes me an exam-

he meant; then with great reluctance I proceeded to

ple, as if he were to say: “This one of you,

investigate him somewhat as follows.

beings, is wisest, who, like Socrates, recognises that

I went to one of those who had a reputation for

O human

he is in truth of no account in respect to wisdom.”

wisdom, thinking that there, if anywhere, I should

Therefore I am still even now going about and

prove the utterance wrong and should show the

searching and investigating at the god’s behest any-

oracle “This man

one, whether citizen or foreigner, who I think is

is wiser than I, but you said I

was wisest.” So examining this man —

for I need

wise; and when he does not seem so to me, I give

not call him by name, but it was one of the public

aid to the god and show that he is not wise. And by reason of this occupation I have no leisure to attend to any of the affairs of the state worth mentioning,

men with regard to whom I had this kind of experience, men of Athens — and conversing with him,

this man seemed to me to seem to be wise to many other people and especially to himself, but not to be

or of my own, but am in vast poverty on account of

so; and then I tried to show him that he thought he

my service to the god.” And in addition to these things, the young men

was wise, but was not. As a result, I became hateful

who have the most leisure, the sons of the richest

to him and to many of those present; and so, as I

men, accompany me of their own accord, find pleasure in hearing people being examined, and often

went away, I thought to myself, | am wiser than this man; for neither of us really knows anything fine

imitate me themselves, and then they undertake to

when he does not, whereas I, as | do not know any-

examine others; and then, I fancy, they find a great plenty of people who think they know something,

thing, do not think | do either. I seem, then, in just

but know little or nothing. As a result, therefore,

this little thing to be wiser than this man at any

those who are examined by them are angry with me, instead of being angry with themselves, and say

and good, but this man thinks he knows something

rate, that what I do not know I do not think I know

either.” From him I went to another of those who

that “Socrates is a most abominable person and is

were reputed to be wiser than he, and these same things seemed to me to be true; and there I became

corrupting the youth.”° And when anyone asks them “by doing or teach-

hateful both to him and to many others. ...

ing what?” they have nothing to say, but they do not

Now

from

this investigation,

men

of Athens,

many enmities have arisen against me, and such as

know, and that they may not seem to be at a loss, they say these things that are handy to say against all

are most harsh and grievous, so that many preju-

the philosophers, “the things in the air and the things

dices have resulted from them and I am called a wise man. For on each occasion those who are present think | am wise in the matters in which I confute

beneath the Earth” and “not to believe in the gods” and “to make the weaker argument the stronger.” For

someone else; but the fact is, gentlemen, it is likely

“Actually, Socrates had served Athens bravely as a soldier, and he also performed civic duties when chosen by lot for

an Office. ‘In The Clouds, the lampooned

Socrates’

comic playwright Aristophanes methods of investigation

had and

they would not, I fancy, care to say the truth, that it is being made very clear that they pretend to know,

argumentation. According to the picture he presented, Socrates’ “thought factory” taught young men how to tie their elders into verbal and logical knots and catered to those who sought to swindle people.

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but know nothing... . [f you should say to me... : “Socrates, this time we will not do as Anytus’ says, but we will let you go, on this condition, however, that you no longer spend our time in this investigation or in philosophy, and if you are caught doing so again you shall die”; if you should let me go on this condition which I have mentioned, I should say to you, “Men of Athens, I respect and love you, but I shall obey the god* rather than you, and while I live and am able to continue, I shall never give up philosophy or stop exhorting you and pointing out the truth to any one of you whom | may meet, saying in my accustomed way: “Most excellent man, are you who are a citizen of

4 The Secular Made Sacred « 117

I say other things than these, he says what is untrue. Therefore I say to you, men ofAthens, either do as Anytus tells you, or not, and either acquit me, or not, knowing that I shall not change my conduct even if |am to die many times over. . . . For know that if you kill me, I being such a man as I say I am, you will not injure me so much as yourselves.

. . And so, men of Athens,

| am now

making my defense not for my own sake, as one might imagine, but far more for yours, that you may not by condemning me err in your treatment

of the gift the god gave you. For if you put me to death, you will not easily find another, who, to use a rather absurd figure, attaches himself to the city

Athens, the greatest of cities and the most famous

as a gadfly to a horse, which, though large and well

for wisdom and power, not ashamed to care for the

bred, is sluggish on account of his size and needs to be aroused by stinging. I think the god fastened me upon the city in some such capacity, and I go about arousing, and urging and reproaching each one of you, constantly alighting upon you everywhere the whole day long. Such another is not likely to come

acquisition of wealth and for reputation and honor,

when you neither care nor take thought for wisdom and truth and the perfection of your soul?” And if any of you argues the point, and says he does care, I shall not let him go at once, nor shall I go away,

but I shall question and examine and cross-examine

to you, gentlemen; but if you take my advice, you

him, and if I find that he does not possess virtue,

will spare me. But you, perhaps, might be angry, like people awakened from a nap, and might slap

but says he does, I shall rebuke him for scorning the things that are of most importance and caring more for what is of less worth. This I shall do to

me, as Anytus advises, and easily kill me; then you

would pass the rest of your lives in slumber, unless

I meet, young and old, foreigner and

the god, in his care for you, should send someone

citizen, but most to the citizens, inasmuch as you are more nearly related to me. For know that the god commands me to do this, and I believe that no greater good ever came to pass in the city than my service to the god. For I go about doing nothing else than urging you, young and old, not to care for your persons or your property more than for

else to sting you. And that I am, as I say, a kind of gift from the god, you might understand from

whomever

the perfection of your souls, or even so much; and |

tell you that virtue does not come from money, but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man, both to the individual and to the state. If - by saying these things I corrupt the youth, these things must be injurious, but if anyone asserts that

’The person who introduced charges against Socrates.

this; for I have neglected all my own affairs and have

been enduring the neglect of my concerns all these years, but I am always busy in your interest, coming to each one of you individually like a father or an elder brother and urging you to care for virtue; now that is not like human conduct. If I derived any profit from this and received pay for these exhortations, there would be some sense in it; but now you yourselves see that my accusers, though they accuse me of everything else in such a shameless way, have not been able to work themselves up to such a pitch

Apollo.

©

The Ancient World

of shamelessness as to produce a witness to testify that I ever exacted or asked pay of anyone. For | think I have a sufficient witness that I speak the truth, namely, my poverty. . . . I was never any one’s teacher. If any one, whether

young or old, wishes to hear me speaking and pursuing my mission, I have never objected, nor do I converse only when I am paid and not otherwise,

or ill, I should not justly be held responsible, since I never promised or gave any instruction to any of them;? but if any man says that he ever learned or heard anything privately from me, which all the others did not, be assured that he is lying. But why then do some people love to spend much of their time with me? You have heard the reason, men of Athens; for I told you the whole

but I offer myself alike to rich and poor; I ask questions, and whoever wishes may answer and hear

truth; it is because they like to listen when those are examined who think they are wise and are not

what I say. And whether any of them turns out well

so; for it is amusing.

*Socrates contrasts himself with the Sophists (those who are wise), professional teachers who offered, for pay, instruction in argumentation and other skills that young men needed in order to distinguish themselves in public affairs. The charge against the Sophists was that they taught their pupils how to win debates at any cost, with no regard to the

truth. Our term “sophistry” reflects the poor reputation of the Sophists. Aristophanes (note 6) portrayed Socrates as the worst of the Sophists. On his part, Socrates claimed that he did not teach or pursue skills; realizing his ignorance, he sought wisdom through inquiry.

Multiple Voices III

Art and the Human and China

Form in Hellas

BACKGROUND It is often said that the ancient Hellenes used the human as the measure of all things. Most Greek thinkers and writers concentrated their attention on human concerns,

and consequently history, moral and political philosophy, dramatic tragedy, and medical science were the preeminent areas of Hellenic inquiry. Even their gods were humanlike in appearance and in their passions. In like fashion, the human form was the consuming interest of the sculptural and graphic artists who flourished during the fifth-century 8.c.£.,an era that many art historians view as the high-water point of Hellenic art. The three examples that we will study were all produced during the heart of that century, in a twenty-year period from about 460 to roughly 440. As we have seen, Chinese philosophers and writers were no less concerned with all matters human. Their medical science, history-writing, and schools of social, political, and moral philosophy were equally human-centered. Indeed, the gods played a far less important role in Chinese thought and art than in that of Hellas. All of that acknowledged, the question remains: Did this obsession with humanity and its down-to-earth concerns find expression in the ways in which ancient China’s early artists portrayed humans and the human form?

Chapter

4

The

Secular

Made

Sacred

To address that question, we must consider art that spanned several centuries, from the fourth or third century to the first century B.c.e. For more than a thousand years prior to the fourth century B.c.£., Chinese art, crafted almost exclusively from bronze and jade, had been abstract and served ritualistic purposes. Massive Shang-era bronze vessels and delicate jade carvings that date back to the midsecond millennium 8.c.e. are prime examples. During the era of the Warring States (ca. 475-221 B.c.£.), however, naturalistic representations of humans began to appear, and during the period of the Qin and Han dynasties (221 B.c.e—220 c.e.) human figures became an increasingly significant element in China’s art. It is easy and probably not far-fetched to see a parallel between the blossoming of Chinese schools of moral and social philosophy during these centuries and the emergence of human-representational art.

THE SOURCES Each of the three examples of Hellenic art that appears here is a sculpture, but we should not be led astray into thinking that sculpture was the dominant form of Greek artistic expression. Ceramic vessels of various styles and sizes,on which were painted a wide variety of mythic and everyday scenes, were a far more common artistic medium. Produced in huge numbers in slave-operated factories in Athens and Corinth, they were used for domestic purposes and also exported across the Mediterranean and beyond. Consequently, tens of thousands of these pots have survived, and when studied in large numbers, they provide excellent insights into ancient Greek society. Individually, however, they resist easy interpretation by students, so it is to sculptures that we turn. Our first piece of art is a bronze sculpture of a middle-aged warrior. It is one of two warrior statues discovered in shallow water off the coast of southern Italy in 1972 and subsequently named The Riace Bronzes after the site where they were found. Their style indicates that they were cast around 460—450 B.c.e. on the Greek mainland and exported to that Greek-dominated area of southern Italy known as Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). The statues probably were intended for a temple in some southern Italian Greek city, possibly Neapolis (present-day Naples). Known as the Girl with Doves, the second sculpture is a grave stele (an upright stone monument) from the island of Paros. Its style places it squarely in mid-century, around 450 B.c.e. Carved from Parian marble, this raised relief depicts a young girl who died unmarried (the doves symbolize virginity). The artist has created an especially poignant work of art by contrasting the subject’s head with her body. The body is that of a child (note the arms and hands), but her stylishly coiffured head is that of the young woman she would never become. Note also how the sculptor has used the maiden’s draped robe to give form to her figure. The third sculpture is a small portion of the marble frieze, or decorative horizontal band, that ran along the upper part of the inner wall of the Parthenon, Athens’ major temple on the Acropolis, which was dedicated to Athena, the city’s patroness deity. Portraying what appears to be a cross section of Athenian society (including

U

The Ancient World

women and youths) assembling for a religious procession, this frieze was crafted sometime between 443 and 438 B.c.£. and probably under the direction of Athens’ greatest sculptor, Phidias (ca. 480-430). Here we see two horsemen, with the man in the front apparently serving as marshal of the procession. Our first exampie of early Chinese figural art consists of two painted wooden statuettes from the era of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-249 B.c.e.),and more precisely from the fourth or third century B.c.£., which means they were crafted during the period of the Warring States. They are clearly a set inasmuch as they are communicating with one another, and the message seems to be quite Confucian. Our second source is an equestrian sculpture—a painted terracotta rider and horse dating from the Western Han era (202 8.c.e.—-9 c.£.) and probably from the first century B.c.E. As with most effigies of this sort, it was a tomb offering and accompanied someone into the Beyond. Was the rider the dead person? More likely, it represented a retainer who served and protected him. The third source is actually a group of sculptures: a small cohort of life-sized soldiers from the vast terracotta army of Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 8.c.e.) that accompanied the first emperor of China to the grave. The soldiers were massproduced in efficient, assembly-line fashion at factory-sized kilns situated near the site of the emperor’s tomb. Torsos, legs,arms,and heads were separately molded and fired and then fit together.Apparently eight separate head molds were used, and clay was added to each face before firing to provide individual features. As with Greek statuary, they were painted in vivid colors, but time and atmospheric conditions have caused most of the paint to disappear.To provide an additional degree of reality, the soldiers carried actual weapons, such as crossbows and swords, but almost all of these are now lost to either decay or looting. The current estimate, which is subject to revision as more statues are uncovered, is that the army consists of more than eight thousand soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. How, if at all, had fifth-century Hellenic art moved away from the archaic style and form of kouroi and kourai (source ||)? Did it retain anything from the archaic past? 2. It has also been said that Hellenic artists created idealized human forms that conveyed a sense of serene balance without losing reality. Based on these three examples, do you agree or disagree? Be specific in articulating your reasons. 3. Explain the “conversation” that is taking place between the two Zhou-era figurines. What, if anything, is Confucian about it? 4. Compare the three Greek sculptures with the Chinese sculptures. What, if anything, do these two sets of sculptures allow us to infer about the place and importance of the human individual in each culture?

Chapter 4

The Secular Made Sacred

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Chapter 5

Regional Empires

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Laaan onthe

oe epee Mee ces Ahr ee, SNS Se

and Afro-Eurasian Interchange, S00sB GE —)00-GE Y 300 8.C.£., THE CULTURAL TRADITIONS of China, India, Southwest Asia, and Hellas were solidly in place and ready to expand beyond their original boundaries. Expand they did, but expansion followed no single pattern. Imperial aggrandizement, largely by means of. military conquest, played a major role in spreading Chinese, Southwest Asian, and Hellenic cultural influences, but it was not a factor in the creation in Southeast Asia of a Greater India (as many historians term it). As early as the first century c.e., people of the coastal areas of Southeast Asia accepted elements of Indian culture, including Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions, from merchants traveling across the Bay of Bengal. Colonists, including Indian

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priests and scholars, soon followed the merchants. Traffic was not all one-way, as

youths from the emerging Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia traveled to India for advanced religious instruction. Although the Hindu caste system failed to take root in Southeast Asia, other Indian traditions flourished there, including

the cults of Shiva and Vishnu (Chapter 6, source 37) and the notion of the devaraja (sacred king)—an idea embraced by native ruling elites. Chinese cultural influences traveled south, northeast,and west as a consequence of both military adventures and peaceful exchanges, especially the travels of merchants and the slow, steady southward migration of China’s expanding peasant population. The armies of China’s Han Dynasty conquered Manchuria and northern Korea and established hegemony over non-Chinese peoples to the south in northern Vietnam and along the Himalayan foothills.To the west, the armies of Han penetrated deeply into Central Asia. Wherever its soldiers went, its merchants were not too far behind. The roads that China opened to the West also served as conduits for the influx of

123

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Se

SS, eS Sa OSE 2 eg se ae ec ees Wes ALS Dae A

ee ee eae ye ey oe ee tn

The Ancient World

new ideas into the Middle Kingdom, particularly Mahayana Buddhism (Chapter 6, sources 38 and 39, and Chapter 8, Multiple Voices VII), which flowed into China along its overland trade routes. From the late sixth to the late fourth century 8.c.£., the Persian Empire, centered in Southwest Asia, encompassed an area from the Nile to the Indus, from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, from the Black Sea to the Red Sea. Although the Persians were respectful of local traditions, their massive empire was a fertile medium for the blending and transmission

of many cultures. Then, in the late fourth century, Persia

and Greece were merged into a single empire for one brief but significant moment. The conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 8.c.£.) and his penetration as far east as Central Asia and the Indus Valley ushered in a new era for western Afro-Eurasia—the Hellenistic Age. Whereas the Hellenic world had been parochial in mindset (although geographically widespread) and had clearly distinguished between Hellenes and “barbarians” (sources 24 and 26), the Hellenistic world was self-consciously cosmopolitan and culturally eclectic. The armies of Alexander, the state-builders who followed, and the merchants, scholars, and adventurers who trayeled the roadways and sea-lanes that linked these new empires combined to create a cultural amalgamation of Southwest Asian, Egyptian, and even some Indian elements, over which was laid a layer of Greek language, thought, and artistic expression. What emerged was, to use a Greek word, a cultural ecumene (a convergence of diverse civilized peoples). This world culture, which was largely limited to urban dwellers, stretched from western Central Asia and northwest India to the central Mediterranean, and much of it was Greek in form and inspiration. Alexander’s empire did not survive him, but the amalgamation of peoples and cultures that he forged laid the basis for Hellenistic successor states in Egypt, Southwest Asia, and the Mediterranean. Of these, the most impressive was the Roman Empire. To be sure, Romans spoke Latin and not Greek, and their civilization was as deeply influenced by the Etruscans of north-central Italy as it was by Greeks and other Hellenistic cultures. Moreover, their empire was centered on the central Mediterranean—far away from the heartland of the original Hellenistic Ecumene. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to see the Roman Empire as the last and greatest of the Hellenistic states and as the carrier of Hellenistic culture into such faraway western regions as Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Rome and Han China were certainly not Afro-Eurasia’s only great empires. By the end of the first century B.c.., four great regional empires linked China, India, Southwest Asia, and the Greco-Roman Mediterranean in a chain of civilization from the Pacific to the Atlantic: Han China, the Kushan Empire of Central Asia, the Parthian Empire of Southwest Asia, and Rome. We shall see the Kushan and Parthian empires when we look at Central Asia later in this chapter. Suffice it to say that these four empires served as vital links along the network of caravan routes that linked the Mediterranean, India, Central Asia, and China and which historians romantically but misleadingly term the Silk Road. Indeed, not only land routes but sea-lanes as well were now joined in complex patterns to create the first age of Afro-Eurasian linkage (see Multiple Voices IV).

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange * 125 } Although most of the major trade routes traversed the lands and waters of Eurasia, Africa also shared in this unification to the extent that its northern regions along the Mediterranean Coast were an integral part of the Roman Empire, and northern portions of its eastern coast were linked by regular sea-borne trade with Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia. This was especially true for the Axumite Empire located in the highlands of Ethiopia, which flourished from the first through seventh centuries c.e. and controlled the routes of the Red Sea and the commerce, especially in incense and spices, that moved up it. This age of grand-scale linkage began to suffer shrinkage and retrenchment around 200 c.t., when both China and the Roman Empire entered periods of severe crisis. Despite political and economic disasters, however, trade across the Silk Road and along the sea-lanes never totally ceased in the centuries that followed, even though it experienced periods of severe recession.

Han China As we survey Afro-Eurasia around the turn of the millennium, we see two massive empires of about equal size and population at the ends of this great landmass. For the next two centuries, Han China and Rome dominated their respective regions and expanded through military force far beyond their homelands. Although each experienced periods of crisis, each also offered its subjects, including its conquered peoples, fairly stable government and a degree of prosperity. The Han Dynasty presided over one of China’s golden ages. It expanded China’s influence into Korea and Vietnam and across the reaches of eastern Central Asia. It enjoyed a general economic upswing, in spite of its expansionist policies, and witnessed a period of rich cultural productivity. Han China flourished for close to four centuries, but in the end, like the Roman Empire, the dynasty and its empire collapsed, the victim of internal instabilities and invasions. The age of Han was not one period, but two. From 202 B.c.£. to 9 c.£., the Former, or Western, Han ruled China. Following an interlude in which the imperial throne was temporarily wrested from the Han family, the dynasty returned to power in the form of the Later, or Eastern, Han (25-220 c.e.). After the first century c.£., however, domestic and frontier conditions deteriorated. From 88 c.£. onward, the family was plagued by a series of ineffective rulers. Between 220, when the Han Dynasty formally came to an end, and 589, when imperial unity was reestablished under the Sui Dynasty (581-618), local lords and invaders from the steppes ruled over a fragmented China.The stability and unity of earlier Han was only a memory as China was plunged into a period of political disunity, social fluctuation, and cultural change that lasted for more than 350 years. The centuries of disruption following the collapse of Han have often been likened to Europe's so-called Dark Ages that ensued after the disintegration of Roman imperial unity in the West, but the differences between the two are more significant than any superficial parallels.

126

« The Ancient World

Two Views on How to Deal with Empire 28 * HUAN

KUAN, DEBATE

ON SALT AND

IRON

The First Chinese Empire can be said to have begun with the triumph of the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.c.e.and continued until the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 c.e. The two dynasties experienced setbacks and disasters, but by and large, China was the imperial power in eastern Eurasia during these 441 years. The reign of Emperor Han Wudi (r. 141-87 8.c.£.) was pivotal in China's drive toward empire. The policies that Han Wudi (whose name means “the Martial Emperor of Han’) pursued during his fifty-four-year reign were pragmatic and expansionistic. Beginning in 121, his armies began driving a confederation of aggressive pastoral peoples, whom the Chinese called the Xiongnu (fierce slaves), out of the Gansu (or Hexi) Corridor, a narrow defile bordered by desert and mountains that ran northwest for about six hundred miles from the Han capital of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) in north-central China. Once the Chinese gained control of the corridor, their armies, administrators, settlers, and merchants began moving farther west into the heart of Central Asia. The result was an empire that extended its influence all the way to the Fergana Valley in what is today eastern Uzbekistan. It also meant that the so-called Silk Road, a vast network of caravan routes linking China with India and the Mediterranean, entered its first age of efflorescence.

Empire and long-distance trade have their rewards and their costs. Armies along an expanded western frontier demanded large outlays of money, and to raise sufficient funds, Han Wudi’s government turned the manufacture of two basic necessities, salt and iron, into government monopolies. It also placed liquor production under government supervision and taxed it heavily. All three were enterprises that previously had brought great wealth to private entrepreneurs. The government also took large-scale commerce in grain and other staple food products, another source of huge profits, out of the hands of individuals and turned it into a function of the state. Governmental control of food distribution, known as equable marketing, was designed to stabilize prices and to prevent famines by buying grain and similar commodities where and when they were plentiful and cheap and selling them at fair prices in places and times of scarcity. But it also turned the government into a market speculator. Despite his militaristic expansionism and Legalist domestic policies, Han Wudi was not blind to Confucian values. In 124 B.c.e., the emperor decreed that proven knowledge of one of the Confucian Classics would be a basis for promotion into the imperial civil service, and he created a rudimentary imperial academy for educating aspiring scholar-officials in the various fields of Confucian learning. Confucians formed a small minority among the ministers and advisors who served Han Wudi and his immediate successors, but they were a voice for the moral way of the past. In 81 8.c.e., Confucian scholars who disagreed with the policies instituted by Han Wudi were invited by Emperor Han Zhaodi (r. 87-74) to debate the issue with Sang Hongyang, the emperor’s chief economic minister. Sometime between 74 and

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange 49 8.c.£.,an otherwise unknown scholar by the name of Huan Kuan composed the Debate on Salt and Iron. It is not an official transcript of the debate, and it is anyone’s guess as to the sources, if any, that Huan Kuan used. Notwithstanding these limitations, our excerpt provides a privileged insight into the differences that separated Confucians and Legalists in this age of empire.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What was the Confucian position? Was it consistent with the principles articulated in the Analects (source 21)? 2. Can you discover any Daoist principles (source 20) in the Confucians’ arguments? What do you infer from your answer? w . What was the Legalist position? 4. Consider the styles and methods of argumentation employed by each side. Were they different or similar? What do you infer from your answer? 5. What does this document allow us to infer about the state of the Han Empire and its economy in the early first century B.c.e.? Be specific.

An imperial edict directed the chancellor and chief minister! to confer with a group of wise and

learned men about the people’s hardships. The learned men responded: We have heard

that the way to rule lies in preventing frivolity while encouraging morality, in suppressing the pursuit of profit while opening the way for benevolence and duty. When profit is not emphasized, civilization flourishes and the customs of the people improve.

Recently, a system of salt and iron monopolies, a liquor excise tax, and an equable marketing system have been established throughout the country. These represent financial competition with the people which undermines their native honesty and

flourishes,

the basic decays.

Stress on

the sec-

ondary makes the people decadent; emphasis on the basic keeps them unsophisticated. When the people are unsophisticated, wealth abounds; when they are extravagant, cold and hunger ensue. We desire that the salt, iron, and liquor mo-

nopolies and the system of equable marketing be abolished. In that way the basic pursuits will be encouraged, and the people will be deterred from entering secondary occupations. Agriculture will then greatly prosper. This would be expedient. The minister: The Xiongnu rebel against our authority and frequently raid the frontier settlements. To guard against this requires the effort of the nation’s soldiers. If we take no action, these

many flock to the secondary.’ When artificiality

attacks and raids will never cease. The late emperor* had sympathy for the long-suffering of the frontier settlers who live in fear of capture by the barbarians.

thrives, simplicity declines; when

As defensive measures, he therefore built forts and

promotes selfishness. As a result, few among the

people take up the fundamental pursuits’ while the secondary

Source: Patricia Ebrey, ed. and trans., Chinese Civilization: “A Sourcebook, 2nd ed. revised and expanded (New York: Free Press, 1993), pp. 60-62. Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster Publishing Group from the Free Press edition of Chinese Civilization: ASourcebook, 2nd ed. by Patricia Buckley Ebrey. Copyright © 1993 by Patricia Buckley Ebrey. All rights reserved.

'Sang Hongyang, the son of a shopkeeper, who rose to high

office in | 10 B.c.e. because of his mathematical abilities. Agriculture. >Confucians considered manufacture and trade secondary in importance to agriculture.

*Han Wudi.

128 « The Ancient World beacon relay stations and set up garrisons.” When

officials and military officers at the border. Al-

the revenue for the defense ofthe frontier fell short,

though they have long deserved punishment for

he established the salt and iron monopolies, the

their lawless rebellion, Your Majesty has taken pity

liquor excise tax, and the system of equable market-

ing. Wealth increased and was used to furnish the frontier expenses. Now our critics wish to abolish these measures.

on the financial exigencies of the people and has not wished to expose his officers to the wilderness. Still, we cherish the goal of raising a great army and driving the Xiongnu back north.

‘They would have the treasury depieted and the border deprived of funds for its defense. They would expose our soldiers who defend the frontier passes

I again assert that to do away with the salt and iron monopolies and equable marketing system would bring havoc to our frontier military policies

and walls to hunger and cold, since there is no other

and would be heartless toward those on the fron-

way to supply them. Abolition is not expedient.

tier. Therefore this proposal is inexpedient. The learned men: The ancients honored the use

The learned men:

Confucius

observed,

“The

ruler of a kingdom or head of a family does not worry about his people’s being poor, only about their being unevenly distributed.

He does not

of virtue and discredited the use of arms. Confucius said, “If the people of far-off lands do not submit, then the ruler must attract them by enhancing

worry about their being few, only about their being

his refinement and virtue. When they have been

dissatisfied.”° Thus, the emperor should not talk of

attracted, he gives them peace.”®

much and little, nor the feudal lords’ of advantage

At present, morality is discarded and reliance

and harm, nor the ministers of gain and loss. In-

is placed on military force. Troops are raised for

stead they all should set examples of benevolence and duty and virtuously care for people, for then those nearby will flock to them and those far away

campaigns and garrisons are stationed for defense. It is the long-drawn-out campaigns and the cease-

will joyfully submit to their authority. Indeed, the

people at home and cause our frontier soldiers to

master conqueror need not fight, the expert war-

suffer from hunger and cold. The establishment of the salt and iron monopolies and the appointment to financial officers

rior needs no soldiers, and the great commander need not array his troops. If you foster high standards in the temple and courtroom, you need only make a bold show and bring home your troops, for the king who practices

benevolent government has no enemies anywhere. What need can he then have for expense funds? The minister: The Xiongnu are savage and cunning. They brazenly push through the frontier passes and harass the interior, killing provincial

*Many of these forts and signal towers were linked by “long walls,” which were steep earthen berms that had been constructed to hinder the progress of the nomads and their flocks. Long walls of this type dated back to about 300 B.c.e. During the height of its power, the Han Empire’s long walls, which were scattered all over its various frontiers and not connected in an unbroken line, totaled over six thousand miles in length.

less transportation of provisions that burden our

to supply the army were meant to be temporary measures. Therefore, it is expedient that they now be abolished. The minister: The ancient founders of our

country laid the groundwork for both basic and secondary occupations. They facilitated the circulation of goods and provided markets and courts to harmonize the various demands.

°A quotation from the Analects (source 21). ’Despite a limited meritocracy, in which some extraordinary commoners, such as Sang Hongyang and a few Confucian “learned men,” achieved positions of influence and authority in the Han Empire, the traditional feudal families still maintained a high degree of power.

8A quotation from the Analects.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange

People of all classes gathered and goods of all

other goods. In his markets merchants do not cir-

sorts were assembled, so that farmers, merchants,

culate worthless goods nor artisans make worthless implements.

and workers could all obtain what they needed. When

complete,

The purpose of merchants is circulation and the

everyone went home. The Book of Changes says,

purpose of artisans is making tools. These mat-

“Facilitate exchange so that the people will not

ters should not become a major concern of the government. The minister: Guanzi'' said: “If a country

.be over

the exchange

worked.’

of goods

This

was

is because

farmers

are

deprived of tools, and without merchants, desired commodities are unavailable. When farmers lack

possesses fertile land and yet its people are un-

tools, grain is not planted, just as when valued goods are unavailable, wealth is exhausted. The salt and iron monopolies and the equable

derfed, the reason is that there are not enough tools. If it possesses rich natural resources in its

marketing system are intended to circulate accu-

the reason is that there are not enough artisans

mulated wealth and to regulate consumption according to the urgency of need. It is inexpedient

and merchants.” ... We depend upon merchants for their distribution and on artisans for their production. For such reasons the ancient sages

to abolish them.

mountains and seas and yet the people are poor,

The learned men: If virtue is used to lead the

built boats and bridges to cross rivers; they do-

people, they will return to honesty, but if they are enticed with gain, they will become vulgar. Vulgar habits lead them to shun duty and chase

mesticated cattle and horses to travel over mountains and plains. By penetrating to remote areas, they were able to exchange all kinds of goods for

profit; soon they throng the roads and markets.

the benefit of the people.

Laozi said, “A poor country will appear to have

Thus, the former emperor set up iron officials to meet the farmers’ needs and started the equable

a surplus, 1 Tt is not that it possesses abundance,

ple’s desires through the principles of ritual and

marketing system to assure the people adequate goods. The bulk of the people look to the salt and iron monopolies and the equable marketing system as their source of supply. To abolish them

duty and arranges to have grain exchanged for

would not be expedient.

°*The Yijing, a book of divination and one of the Confucian Classics. '0A quotation from The Classic of the Way and Virtue. See source 20.

''Master Guan Zhong, a seventh-century B.c.£. philosopher. Writings ascribed to him, but compiled between the mid-

but that when wishes multiply the people become restive. Hence, a true king promotes the basic and

discourages the secondary. He restrains the peo-

fourth

and

mid-second

centuries

8.c.c., blended

Daoist, and Confucian elements.

The Mother of Mencius:A Model Virtuous Woman 29 « LIU XIANG, LIVES OF EXEMPLARY WOMEN Prior to the Han era, China’s philosophers largely ignored women, whom they regarded as naturally inferior and subservient to men. The Analects of Confucius (source 21) contain only two references to women. In the first, the Master

Legalist,

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WCLENHLE

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reputedly said in reference to King Wu's having claimed that he had ten able ministers:““Yet there was a woman among them. The able ministers were no more than nine.” In the second, he noted that “Only women and petty men are difficult to handle. Be close to them and they are not humble; keep them at arm’s length and they complain.” This overall dismissal of women was broken in the late first century 8.c.e. when the Confucian scholar Liu Xiang (77-6 8.c.£.) authored the Lives of Exemplary Women (Lienu Zhuan), a collection of the biographies of | 10 virtuous and fifteen unvirtuous, or “depraved,” women from legendary times to the Han era. The theory underpinning the book was that China’s fortunes, both good and bad, had always been significantly influenced by women. So popular was the book that thereafter Chinese historians almost always included in their works biographical sections on notable women. Indeed, Liu Xiang’s collection gave birth to an entire literary genre known as lienu (writings about exemplary women). The most famous of Liu Xiang’s 125 biographies was that of the mother of Mencius. Mengzi (Master Meng, Latinized in the West as Mencius), whose traditional dates are 372 to 289 B.c.£., was the most original thinker of all of Confucius’s disciples and the teacher who was most responsible for the eventual triumph of Confucian ideology in China. Moreover, although Confucius had supposedly stated that “by nature, men are nearly alike” (source 21), he had not concerned himself with probing in any systematic manner the issue of whether humans, by their nature, tend toward virtue or vice. Mencius, to the contrary, focused his energies on promoting the principle of innate human goodness and examining the role that environment plays in either fostering or perverting a person’s natural inclination toward the good. His doctrine that humans will naturally opt for the good, as long as they are not corrupted by outside forces, such as society, became a core tenet of Confucian philosophy during the era of the Song dynasty (960-1279) and forever after. It is impossible to say how much of Liu Xiang’s biography of Mencius’s mother is factual, but clearly the biographer accepted these stories as fact and thought that this woman deserved a special place of honor in the pantheon of exemplary women.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Over the centuries, the Chinese have revered Meng Mu as the epitome of ideal motherhood. How did she perform her role as mother, and what does that suggest about the ideal Confucian mother? 2. The author writes about Meng Mu, “She caused him to follow the social relationships.” How did each of them conform their actions to the social relationships? 3. According to this account, how did Meng Mu’s actions and words conform to Mencius’s basic philosophy?

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange «

you have deserted your studies, you will sink

The Mother of Meng Ke of Zou!

The mother of Meng Ke of Zou, respectfully addressed as “Meng Mu,”” once lived near a cemetery. As a child, Mengzi played among the graves, learning how to build them and to per-

form burials. “This is no proper place for raising a boy,” said the fine lady;? then she moved of a market place. There Mengzi enjoyed peddling and bargaining with the vendors.* “This is no proper place for rais-

to the neighborhood

ing a boy,” the fine lady said again; then she moved to the neighborhood of a school. There

Mengzi learned the rituals for heavenly offerings and protocols for greeting people. “This is truly the proper

place for raising him,” the mother

said finally. Thereafter it was their permanent residence.’ As the boy grew, learning all six liberal arts,°

he began to grow in fame and eventually became

a master.

Gentlemen’ praised

the good

parenting of our lady.... One time when the young Mengzi returned home from school, his mother, weaving at the same time,’ inquired

about his progress at study; the boy simply replied “as usual.” Meng Mu cut the web of the loom with a blade. This startled her son and

made him ask in wonder why this fury. She said: “Your deserting learning is like my cutting the woven web. An honorable man learns to establish a reputation, to broaden his knowledge, to

abide in peace, and to avoid hazards. Now that

Source: Translated by Liu Xu from Liu Xiang’s Lie Nu Zhuan, Guangling Publishing House, 2003. Copyright © Liu Xu, 2014. All rights reserved. . 'Mencius, born Meng Ko or Meng Ke, came from the small principality of Zou, which was located only a few miles from Confucius’s birthplace in the Shandong region of northeastern China “Mother Meng.” According to tradition, Mother Meng was uneducated and widowed while her son was quite young. 3See Confucius’s reputed attitude in regard to “the spirits” (source 21).

into hard labor and not be safe from potential is that different from living by

disasters. How weaving?

If a woman

stops weaving,

how

can

she provide a husband and son with clothes and nourishing food? A woman who loses her skills that earn her food or a man who abandons the cultivation of virtue will either be reduced to

thievery or be captured and enslaved.” Mengzi became vigilant, and from dawn to dark he studied diligently with the great master Zisi*,

and went on to become a known scholar within the country. After Mengzi had married, one day

when entering the chamber, he saw his wife walking around naked. He was displeased and left without entering. His wife demanded that she be allowed to return to her parental home and said farewell to Meng Mu. She justified her action, saying: “I heard that the relationship between a married couple could be broken within the private

chamber. I secretly relaxed in my room; my husband saw me and became infuriated. He treated me as if Iwere a guest. Now this guest wants to go live with her parents because a refined lady never sleeps elsewhere.” Meng Mu summoned her son and said to him: “As a well mannered gentleman, you should ask before entering through a door

to show respect; raise your voice before stepping into a hall to warn those inside, and look down

while walking in so that you do not witness what is unbecoming. Now you have violated that rule

‘See the Confucians’ attitude in regard to “secondary pursuits” (source 28). >The Chinese have turned this story into the aphorism “Meng Mu, three moves” (Meng Mu san gian),as a way of expressing the need to place children into a proper learning environment. Propriety (etiquette), music, archery, charioteering, writing, and mathematics. 7She supported her son and herself by weaving. SZisi, Confucius’s sole grandson, supposedly lived from 481 to 402. Given these dates, it is unlikely that he was Mengzi’s teacher.

©

The Ancient

World

of etiquette but blame another.

How far is it [that

lies within the household and not beyond its

you are from being a sage]?” Mengzi thanked her

border. The Book of Changes'* says, ‘She prepares

and invited his wife back. Gentlemen say Meng

sustenance and avoids leaving her family’s prop-

Mu understood propriety and the relationship be-

erty. The Book of Songs'* says, ‘For her, let there

tween a mother and her daughter-in-law. When they were living in the state of Qi,’ one

be no credit nor fault; food and wine be her only thought.’ Women know they have no power to

day Meng Mu noticed an air of sadness in her son and asked: “You seem concerned. Why?”

rule, but a duty to follow. Proper behavior is that

“Nothing,” said Mengzi. Sometime later when they were at home, Mengzi again sighed, holding

obedient to their husbands while married, and obedient to their sons while widowed. Today you

onto a pillar. His mother asked: “That other day you said “nothing.” Why are you still holding onto that pillar and sighing today?” Then Mengzi

have grown mature,

replied: “I, Ke, know that a gentleman should be

The Book of Songs says, “A good education is done

qualified when acquiring a position, neither at-

with kindness and a smile, without anger or con-

ladies are obedient to their parents while young,

and [ am

old. You should

honor your responsibility and I mine.” Gentle-

men say that Meng Mu knew a lady’s boundary;

taining material gains for nothing nor craving

descension,” and that was how Meng Mu edu-

honor and fortune. When the authorities do not

cated her son.

listen, he will not force himself upon them; when

Contemporaries praised her, saying the mother

the authorities listen but do not follow, he will

of Meng Ke of Zou was decisively influential in

refuse to set foot in the court. Now, Qi doesn’t

the education of Mengzi. For her son to learn the

follow the Way.'° I desire to travel elsewhere, but

liberal arts and, more importantly, life principles,

my mother is old. That is what has concerned

she relocated three times; when her son failed to

me.”

advance in his education, she taught a lesson by

Meng Mu said to him: “The proper conduct for a lady is no more than cooking five grains,'! brewing inviting wine, mending clothes, and car-

cutting through the woven fabric. Mengzi thereafter perfected his virtue and became the most honored scholar of his generation.

ing for her father- and mother-in-law. Her duty °A powerful and warlike state in Shandong not far from Mengzi’s native Zou state. 'See source 21. ''Traditional China had two complementary cosmological theories: Yin/Yang, which we saw in source 23, and the Five Elements. According to this latter explanation of nature, the world consists of five elements: water, wood, fire, earth,

and metal.All foods correspond to one or more of these elements. Salty foods correspond to water, sour foods to wood, bitter foods to fire, sweet and starchy foods to earth, and savory foods to metal.

"See note 9 of source 28. "See source 8.

Central Asia in the Age of Empires Central Asia,

a vast region that extends

from

the Caspian

Sea in the west to

Manchuria and southern Siberia in the east, largely consists of steppe (grasslands) desert, and mountains. For reasons

>

of convenience, the land west of the Pamir

Mountains, which separate present-day Tajikistan and Afghanistan from China, is

Chapter

5

Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian

Interchange

often labeled “western Central Asia,” and eastern Central Asia is on the other side of the Pamirs. Much of Central Asia is unsuitable for farming. Contrary to popular perception, however, although many of its areas are inhospitable,in historic times, it was never an empty wasteland inhabited only by a handful of nomads and used simply as an area of transit between the two geographic extremities of Eurasia. During the seven centuries under present consideration, it was largely inhabited by persons speaking various Eastern Iranian languages (such as the Scythians in source 24), but later it would be dominated by Turks and Mongols. During this period, major portions of Central Asia fell under the sway of four regional empires, but this was not the entire story. Its various pastoral peoples were not simple pawns in the hands of their imperial neighbors. Rather, in addition to following the age-old, seasonal pathways that nomadic pastoralism demanded, they also traded with their settled neighbors, served as mercenaries in their armies, extorted protection money and goods from nearby states, as well as from individuals passing through their lands, invaded and pillaged settlements and states as opportunities arose, and even carved out their own empires, often within the frontiers of what had been neighboring states. What is more, Central Asia was not populated solely by nomads. Buddhist monasteries, towns, and cities took root in the fertile soil of its mountain-fed oases and served as religious, economic, cultural and political centers along the numerous and often shifting caravan routes that constituted the Silk Road. Two of the four empires that managed to extend their authority over a sizeable portion of Central Asia were themselves fashioned by people out of Central Asia, the Parni and the Kushans. Sometime in the first half of the third century B.c.e., the Parni, a tribe that inhab-

ited lands just to the east of the Caspian Sea (present-day Turkmenistan), expanded southwest into Parthia, an ancient Persian province in northern Iran, which they con-

solidated into a state around 200 B.c.e. The Parni were soon absorbed by the settled peoples of Parthia and disappeared as a separate, identifiable people, but before their disappearance, the Parni set Parthia on the road to empire.After 190 8.c.c., the Parni-Parthian state expanded westward at the expense of the Seleucid Empire, the easternmost Hellenistic state. Around 147 8.c.£., the Parthians conquered Babylon in Mesopotamia and were well on their way to carving out an empire that at its height stretched from east of the Caspian Sea to northern Syria and aggressively stood along the Roman Empire’s eastern frontier. The Parthians not only fought the Romans but also traded with them. The Parthians gave way in 224 c.£. to the Sassanians, a native Iranian dynasty that was militantly Zoroastrian (source 18) and dominated the same region of western Central Asia as the Parthians, as well as most of Southwest Asia, until the Sassanian Empire’s conquest by Arab-Islamic forces in 651. As with the Parthians, the Sassanians were the late Roman Empire’s bitterest foe.

4

« The Ancient World

The Kushans, who spoke an Indo-European language, were a confederation of nomadic peoples whom the Chinese knew as the Yuezhi. They had been pushed west from the borders of China in the second century B.c.£. by the Xiongnu (source 28) and settled down in a region centered on what are today the nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan. There, they established a Central Asian empire that expanded into the northern plains of India. Kushan history remains to be reconstructed, but our fragmentary sources indicate that their empire flourished from the early first century c.e. to the late third century and served as an important conduit for Indian goods on their way to China and the West. It is also clear that the Kushans adopted and transmitted far beyond their borders some forms of Indian culture. Many of the Kushan aristocracy and their subjects became Buddhists, especially Mahayana Buddhists, and under Kushan rule, a region of presentday Pakistan known as Gandhara, as well as an area of north-central India called Mathura, became dual centers of exciting new forms of Buddhist art (see Multiple Voices IV, source 4). Although much of the Kushans’ interaction with a larger world was the peaceful exchange of goods and ideas, Chinese annals also tell how General Ban Chao destroyed a Yuezhi army in 90 c.e., when the Kushan emperor launched a retaliatory strike against the Chinese after he was refused the hand of a Han princess. As already suggested when we looked at Han China, the First Chinese Empire was the fourth imperial power to exert its hegemony over a major portion of Central Asia. The armies of Han Wudi and his immediate successors drove far to the west, establishing frontier garrisons and even colonial outposts along the northern and southern fringes of the Taklamikan Desert in an effort to control both border nomadic tribes, such as the Xiongnu, and the caravan routes that led west to lands beyond the Pamirs and south to India.

The Treasures of Begram 30° A PAINTED A TORANA

GLASS

GOBLET AND TWO WOMEN

UNDER

Ancient Begram, the ruins of which are located in present-day northeastern Afghanistan, grew rich from the trade on the east-west and north-south caravan routes that ran through it. Its economic importance became evident in the late 1930s with the excavation of a large collection of finely crafted items that originated in distant lands to the south, east, and west. The treasures, which were stored in two sealed-off rooms, date from the first century c.£.and appear to have been part of a merchant’s commercial stock.

Included among them are several painted glass goblets, of which a single example is shown here, and an ivory plaque depicting two women standing under a torona, or ceremonial archway. The question is: Where did these two items originate?

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange * 135 QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Compare the figure shown on the goblet with the works of art that appear in source 34. What or who is the figure depicted on this goblet, and in which general area of Afro-Eurasia was the glass goblet crafted? 2. Some might think that the two female figures are yakshis (female earth spirits of fertility), but it is far more likely that they are dancers. What clues lead us to this conclusion? Those clues also allow us to know the land from which this ivory plaque came. What is that land of origin? In addressing these two issues, review the works of art from earlier chapters. 3. Describe the social and economic status of the merchant’s intended clientele.

NY Resource, Orti/The Archive/Art Dagli Gianni Art

Painted Glass Goblet

aasSN\/|ooyos “Jawing‘sued | /Uopnesig/aoue 3y uewebpug syuy Meigh

*

ueybyy

136 The Ancient World

Two Women

under a Torana

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange

Images of a Homeric Myth 3! *

A BACTRIAN

EWER

IN NORTHERN

CHINA

Ancient Begram was located in a region then known as Bactria (present-day northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, and southern Tajikistan).As the artifact that appears here illustrates, Bactria was producer and exporter as well as importer of exotic decorative arts, and some of those exports made their way far to the east. China’s present-day Ningxia Hui (pronounced “ningshah way”) Autonomous Region was part of the Middle Kingdom’s northwest frontier since the time of the Qin Dynasty in the late third century 8.c.£.,and the Han Dynasty established several cities there to secure imperial hold over this strategically important area of Central Asia. In the early fourth century c..,a time of political fragmentation following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220,a nomadic people from southern Manchuria known as the Xianbei (pronounced “‘shawnbay”) moved into northern China, where they established several important kingdoms, each claiming Chinese imperial legitimacy. One Xianbei dynasty, the Northern Zhou (557-581), played the pivotal role of unifying North China and building the army that would reunify all of China in 586 under a successor dynasty, the Sui (58!-618). One of the generals who served the Northern Zhou was Li Xian (502-569 c.c.), himself of Xianbei ancestry but whose family had become sinicized (adopted Chinese culture) over the course of several generations. Excavation of his and his wife’s tomb resulted in discovery of a number of artifacts that demonstrate the rich interplay of cultures along the Silk Road, even after the fall of the Han Empire. One of the most interesting items is a silver-and-gilt ewer (water or wine jug) that had been fashioned probably during the fifth or early sixth century c.e.in Bactria,a partially Hellenized region that had been successively ruled by Greek successors of Alexander the Great, Parthians, Yuezhi (Kushans), Sassanians, and Hepthalites (a nomadic confederation that probably originated in eastern Central Asia). The vessel was inspired by contemporary Sassanian ewers produced in lran and Iraq, but its differences clearly mark it as a Bactrian product. The ewer’s beading is late Greco-Roman, and its fluting and the human head are Central Asian in inspiration. More significant are the embossed images, which are straight out of Hellenic mythology but with several interesting twists. In the first scene, we see a youth, whose clothing and hairstyle are Greek, handing two items, which appear to be pomegranates,to a woman. She is clearly Aphrodite, the goddess of love, wearing her distinguishing crown and magic girdle, which are, according to Greek mythology, golden, but here are silver. In the second scene, we see the same youth, now largely nude but wearing a Greek hat, with another woman. He stands astride a rock, and his left hand encircles her right wrist. With his right hand, he affectionately touches her chin—a gesture that Greek artists employed to signify love. On her part, she raises her right foot and leg into empty space. The first image surely is the Judgment of Paris, when Paris, prince of Troy, awarded the Apple of Discord to Aphrodite, thereby signifying she was more beautiful than Hera and Athena. Aphrodite won the contest by having bribed Paris with the

«

yn

] Bs d/

‘38

¢ The Ancient World promise of the world’s most beautiful woman, Helen. The second scene, therefore, is the Abduction of Helen, as Paris takes her on board his ship.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. There are at least three clues that indicate the artisan did not fully (if at all) know the story. What are those clues? 2. The first question implies that a process of “iconographical transformation” had taken place. Whatever does that mean, and what does it suggest about the transit of culture across the Silk Road?

Guyuan in Museum Municipal Ningxia Autonomous Hui Region

Guyuan Ningxia of Museum Municipal Region Autonomous Hui

The Judgment of Paris

Guyuan Museum Municipal Autonomous Hui Ningxia in Region

The Abduction of Hele

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange «

India in the Age of Empires Between the third century 8.c.e.and the sixth century c.e., India witnessed the rise of two native empires, each of which participated in the general interchange of goods, ideas, and peoples that characterized this age of Afro-Eurasian interchange. The first was the Mauryan Empire (ca. 315-183 8,c.£.), which controlled all but the southernmost portions of the subcontinent. Centuries later, the Gupta Empire (320—ca. 550 c.£.) arose, centered on the Ganges River in the northeast but exercising authority over most of northern and central India. Although neither equaled the Han and Roman empires in size, military power, or longevity, both Indian empires provided peace and general prosperity based, at least in part, on energetic administration and benign social intervention.At the height of the Gupta Empire, under Chandragupta II (r. ca. 376-415), India was possibly the most prosperous and peaceful society in Afro-Eurasia. China was then immersed in an interdynastic time of troubles; the Greco-Roman world was undergoing severe stresses at every level; and the Sassanian Empire of Persia was embroiled in internal religious turmoil and wars On its frontiers. Between these two homebred imperial periods, India underwent a series of invasions from the northwest that resulted in portions of northern India falling under the domination of alien rulers and being joined to important Central Asian kingdoms and empires. First came Greeks from Bactria (sources 30 and 31), who arrived in the early second century 8.c.£. and established a number of competing kingdoms in northern India. The Greco-Bactrians soon gave way to various nomadic invaders from East and Central Asia, whose lives had been disrupted by the emergence of Chinese imperialism in the late third and second centuries 8.c.e. and also by intertribal conflicts. The most significant of the new invaders were the nomadic people who created the Kushan Empire, whom we have already seen. During the Kushans’ several centuries of empire, they provided India with connections to Southwest Asia, the Mediterranean, and China.

Sacred Law in Classical India 32

° THE

LAWS

OF

MANU

The Mauryan Empire in the age of Asoka (r. ca. 315-281 8.c.£.) patronized and protected all religions, but it vigorously promoted the Dharma, or Law, of the Buddha and sought to spread it within and far beyond India. As a consequence, Buddhist monasteries proliferated and flourished throughout northern India during India’s Age of Empires. Regardless of these efforts, the majority of India’s population, especially in the south, remained true to more traditional Hindu ways and beliefs, which,

primarily in north and central India, included acceptance of an ever-evolving caste system and the notion that dharma defines caste duties, as Lord Krishna taught in the Bhagavad Gita (source 15). For most Hindus, dharma was made concrete in

FAN)

j}

@

The Ancient

World

religious rituals, especially those practiced within the confines of a household, and in numerous forms of mandated social behavior. Faith, worship, and social duty all sprang from dharma. The earliest extant codification of the Sacred

Law of dharma

is the Laws of

Manu, which was compiled between the first century B.c.e. and the second or third century c.e. In Hindu mythology, Manu was the primeval human being, the father of humanity, its first king, the founder of all human social order, and the first teacher of dharma, having been instructed in the Sacred Law by its creator, Brahman, the Universal Spirit (source 14). The anonymous compilers of the Laws of Manu claimed that the rules and regulations contained in this code were timeless, universal, and unchanging. In reality, it mirrors 2,500 years of Indian social history and religious thought, and consequently contains what seem to the outside observer to be numerous contradictions. These discrepancies, however, are readily integrated in a cultural complex predicated on the principle that spiritual truth has infinite manifestations. The selections here illustrate the two major determinants of classical Hindu society: caste and gender. As far as we can ascertain, class and gender distinctions were common to all ancient civilizations, but the caste system was unique to India. The English word “caste” derives from the Portuguese casta, which means “pure,” signifying the correct perception of sixteenth-century Portuguese travelers to India that maintaining ritual purity through a strict segregation of castes was an integral element of this religious-social hierarchy. The Sanskrit (therefore correct) word for caste is varna, which means “color.” The reason why this word was applied to each of the four major divisions of Hindu society is unclear, but one popular theory is that the strict partition of Indian society originated out of the Aryans’ attempt to separate themselves from the darker-skinned natives whom they had come to dominate. Whatever the rationale behind this word-choice, as we saw in the Hymn to Purusha (source 9), four castes evolved within Hindu society: Brahmins (priests); Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors); Vaisyas (farmers, artisans, and merchants); and Sudras (workers and servants). Additionally, within or beneath the four castes are numerous jatis. Today more than three thousand are identifiable. The word jati means “birth,” and it refers to the myriad ethnicities, clans, tribes, linguistic groups, communities, sub-communities, occupations, and even religious sects into which one is born. Persons born into a jati incur certain social and religious obligations, normally may marry only within that jati, and, at least in theory, are bound to their jati for life. The term and concept were universal throughout traditional India and used across all religious boundaries. Thus Buddhists, Jains, and even Christians had their jatis. For persons whom we identify as “Hindus” (although Hinduism is a huge family of religious beliefs and practices and not a single religion as “religion” is understood in the West), each jati had its own dharma. For this reason, although it is somewhat misleading, it is convenient to think of jatis as subcastes, as long as we are aware that probably many jatis existed long before the four Indo-Aryan varnas came into being.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange + 141 QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. The lowest-ranking jatis are composed of Untouchables. Why are they called that, and what manner of life do they lead? What is there about the occupations of Kandalas that other Hindus find so offensive? 2. Under what circumstances might a person engage in the work appropriate to a lower varna? How far may one go in this regard, and what are the consequences? May one legitimately assume the duties of a higher varna? 3. Each varna and jati has its own dharma, but is there evidence ofa universal dharma common

to all Hindus?

4. This code presents a complex picture of the place and status of women in Hindu society. Taking into account these complexities and even apparent contradictions, compose an essay on “The Status and Role of Women according to The Laws of Manu.”

Varna

Lower Jatis and Outcastes?*

The Brahmin, the Kshatriya, and the Vaisya castes

From

are the twice-born ones,! but the fourth, the Sudra,

Kshattri,’ and a Kandala,° the lowest of men, by

has one birth only; there is no fifth caste... .

Vaisya, Kshatriya, and Brahmin females respectively, sons who owe their origin to a confusion

To Brahmins he’ assigned teaching and studying the Vedas, sacrificing for their own benefit and for others, giving and accepting of alms. The Kshatriya he commanded to protect the people, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study

the Vedas, and to abstain from attaching himself to sensual pleasures; The Vaisya to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to

offer sacrifies, to study the Vedas, to trade, to lend money, and to cultivate land. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the

a male

Sudra

are

born

an

Ayogava,‘

a

of the castes. ... Their [Kandalas] dress shall be the garments of the dead, they shall eat their food from broken dishes, black iron shall be their ornaments, and

they must always wander from place to place. A man who fulfills a religious duty, shall not seek intercourse with them; their [Kandala] trans-

actions shall be among themselves, and their mar-

riages with their equals. .. . At night they shall not walk about in villages

Sudra, to serve meekly . . . these other three castes.

and in towns.

Source: Laws of Manu, G. Buehler, trans., in Max Mueller, ed.,

between persons of different castes. The greatest profanation of all was when a male Sudra defiled (had sexual intercourse with) a female Brahmin. The result was the Kandala (more commonly spelled Candala) jati.

The Sacred Books of the East, 50 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon ' Press, 1879-1910), Vol. 25, pp. 24, 69, 84-85, 195-197, 260-326, 329-330, 343-344, 370-371, 402-404, 413-416, ‘420, 423, passim. 'Becoming “twice born” is one’s initiation into recitation of the Vedas, which is reserved to men alone. ?Brahman. >This explains the existence of low-born, or unclean, jatis; they originated in mythic time as the result of illicit unions

‘Carpenters. °A tightly knit clan of warriors in the Punjab region. ®A jati of outcastes and untouchables. The constraints placed on Kandalas are enumerated below.

> « The Ancient World

By day they may go about for the purpose of

For women

no rite is performed with sacred

their work, distinguished by marks at the king’s

texts, thus the law is settled. Women who are des-

command, and they shall carry out the corpses of

titute of strength and destitute of the knowledge of Vedic texts are as impure as falsehood itself; that

persons who have no relatives; that is a settled rule.

By the king’s order they shall always execute the

is a fixed rule.

criminals, in accordance with the law, and they shall take for themselves the clothes, the beds, and

Honoring Women

the ornaments of such criminals.

Where women

Dharma

pleased; but where they are not honored, no sacred

A king who knows the sacred law must inquire

rite yields rewards. Where the female relations live in grief, the

into the laws ofjatis, of districts, of guilds, and of families, and settle the peculiar law of each... .

Among the several occupations the most commendable are, teaching the Vedas for a Brahmin, protecting the people for a Kshatriya, and trade

for a Vaisya. But a Brahmin, unable to subsist by his peculiar occupations just mentioned, may live according to

the law applicable to Kshatriyas; for the latter is next to him in rank... . A man of low varna who through covetousness lives by the occupations of a higher one, the king

shall deprive of his property and banish. It is better to discharge one’s own duty incompletely than to perform completely that of another; for he who lives according to the law of

another varna is instantly excluded from his own. A Vaisya who is unable to subsist by his own duties, may even maintain himself by a Sudra’s mode of life, avoiding however acts forbidden to him,

and he should give it up, when is able to do so... .

are honored, there the gods are

family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers.

Female Property Rights A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property; the wealth which they earn is

acquired for him to whom they belong... . What was given before the nuptial fire, what

was given on the bridal procession, what was given in token of love, and what was received from her brother, mother, or father, that is called the six-

fold property of awoman. Such property, as well as a gift subsequent and what was given to her by her affectionate husband, shall go to her offspring, even if she dies in the

lifetime of her husband... . But when the mother has died, all the uterine® brothers and the uterine sisters shall equally divide the mother’s estate.

A Woman's Dependence

Abstention from injuring creatures, veracity, ab-

stention from unlawfully appropriating the goods ofothers, purity, and control ofthe organs,’ Manu has declared to be the summary of the law for the four castes.

The Nature of Women It is the nature of women

world;

for that reason

to seduce men in this

the wise are never

un-

In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons;

a woman must never be independent.

She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both her own and her husband’s families contemptible. . . . Him to whom her father may give her, or her

guarded in the company of females. . . .

brother with the father’s permission, she shall obey

7Control of all the senses and especially sexual drives.

SAll natural siblings (born from her uterus).

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange + 143 as long as he lives, and when he is dead, she must

not insult his memory. Betrothal

Drinking

spirituous

liquor,

associating

with

wicked people, separation from the husband, ram-

bling abroad, sleeping at unseasonable hours, and dwelling in other men’s houses, are the six causes

No father who knows the law must take even the

of the ruin of women... .

smallest gratuity for his daughter; for a man who,

Offspring, religious rites, faithful service, high-

through avarice, takes a gratuity, is a seller of his

est conjugal happiness and heavenly bliss for

offspring. . . .

the ancestors and oneself, depend on one’s wife alone. ...

Three years let a damsel wait,’ though she be marriageable,'® but after that time let her choose

for herself abridegroom of equal caste and rank.

“Let mutual fidelity continue until death”. . . may be considered as the summary of the highest

If, being not given in marriage, she herself seeks a husband, she incurs no guilt, nor does he whom

law for husband and wife.

she weds.

stantly exert themselves, that they may not be disunited and may not violate their mutual fidelity.

Marriage and Its Duties To be mothers were women created, and to be fathers men; religious rites, therefore, are ordained in the Vedas to be performed by the husband to-

gether with the wife. ... No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed

by women apart from their husbands; if a wife obeys her husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in heaven.'!... By violating her duty towards her husband, a

wife is disgraced in this world, after death she en-

ters the womb of a jackal, and is tormented by diseases as punishment for her sin. .. .

Let the husband employ his wife in the collec-

Let man and woman,

united in marriage, con-

Divorce

For one year let a husband bear with a wife who hates him; but after a year let him deprive her of

her property and cease to cohabit with her... . But she who shows aversion towards a mad or outcaste'* husband, a eunuch,'’ one destitute of manly strength, or one afflicted with such diseases

as punish crimes," shall neither be cast off nor be deprived of her property... .

A barren'® wife may be superseded'® in the eighth year, she whose children all die in the tenth, she who bears only daughters in the eleventh, but

tion and expenditure of his wealth, in keeping

she who is quarrelsome without delay. But a sick wife who is kind to her husband

everything clean, in the fulfilment of religious du-

and virtuous in her conduct, may be superseded

ties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking

only with her own disgraced.

after the household utensils. . . . °To be offered in marriage by her father or brother. '"Twelve was the common age of marriage for a woman; men tended to wait until their twenties. ''While awaiting the next incarnation on the karmic journey of release from the bonds of matter,asoul is assigned to one of an infinite number heavens or hells, depending on how ‘well or poorly that person had followed dharma. Indeed, one received a double reward or punishment: a heaven or hell followed by incarnation into a higher or lower caste or even a lower life form.

"In addition to being born into an outcaste jati (see note 6), one can be cast out of his/her varna, thus becoming an outcaste

consent and must never be

(an outcast outcaste, presumably). For example, a Brahmin who knowingly receives food or a gift from a Kandala or other “unclean” person can become an outcaste.

"Sexually impotent—what TV ads euphemistically refer to as ED.

'*A disease incurred by reason ofa sin in a previous incarnation (the law of karma). Hindu society developed complex and lengthy lists of diseases and their corresponding sins in a previous life.

'SChildless. 'Replaced as primary wife by a second wife.

¢ The Ancient World

Gupta India through Chinese Buddhist Eyes 33 °

FAXIAN,

TRAVELS

As Buddhism expanded in China (Chapter 8, Multiple Voices VII), devotees of the new religion, particularly monks, avidly sought to add to the available body of Buddhist literature, which meant tracking down various Buddhist holy books, or sutras, in India and translating them into Chinese. They also desired to journey to pilgrimage sites, to acquire more authentic images of the Buddha, and to bring home relics of the Buddha and his disciples, if they could be acquired. The result was a small but steady stream of Chinese travelers to India during the age of the Gupta Empire and thereafter. The earliest known Chinese pilgrim to travel to India and return with sacred books and images was the monk Faxian (337?—422?), who, around the age of sixtytwo, set out from North China in 399 along a difficult overland route. Once in India, he confined himself to areas in the north sacred to the memory of the Buddha, although he sailed south to Ceylon on his homeward journey (Multiple Voices IV, source 5). In 414, he returned home, where he spent the rest of his days translating the texts he had obtained in India. In addition to the translations, Faxian left behind a record of his travels, in which he described northern Indian society in the reign of Chandragupta II. Although he was mainly concerned with pilgrimage sites and holy books rather than with providing a detailed description of Indian culture, his travelogue gives us an outsider’s view of northern India at the height of Gupta prosperity. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What was the state of Buddhism in northern India at this time? 2. Describe in detail the social, religious, and political situation in Gupta India as reported by Faxian. 3. In describing Gupta India, does Faxian inadvertently tell us something about the China that he knew?

[T]hey' traveled southeast, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After

of the Poona River’ on the banks of which, left

passing all these places, they came

the Law of Buddha was still more

to a country

and right, there were twenty monasteries, which

might contain

three thousand

monks;

and here

flourishing.

named Mataoulo.’ They still followed the course

Everywhere, from the Sandy Desert,‘ in all the

Source: James Legge, trans., A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886), pp. 42-45, 77-79. 'Faxian and his fellow pilgrims. *Mathura, which was a major center of Buddhist piety and art. See Multiple Voices IV.

>The Jumma River. *The Thar Desert in the northwest.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange countries of India, the kings had been firm believers in that Law. When they make their offerings to

a community of monks, they take off their royal

« 145

In that country they do not keep pigs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are

the ground, and sits down on it in front of the

no butchers’ shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink. . . . Only the Kandalas are fishermen and hunters, and sell flesh meat. After [the] Buddha attained to pari-nirvana’ the kings of the various countries and the heads

leader of the monastery;—they dare not presume

of the Vaisyas® built viharas’ for the monks, and

to sit on couches in front of the community. The

endowed them with fields, houses, gardens, and

laws and ways, according to which the kings pre-

orchards,

sented their offerings when

Buddha was in the

and their cattle, the grants being engraved on

world, have been handed down to the present day.

plates of metal, so that afterwards they were

All south from this is named the Middle King-

handed down from king to king, without any one

caps, and along with their relatives and ministers,

supply them with food with their own hands. That done, the king has a carpet spread for himselfon

dom... . The people are numerous and happy; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the gain from it. If they want to go, they go; if they want to stay on, they stay. The king governs without decapitation or other corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined, lightly or heavily, according to the circumstances of each case. Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion, they only have their right hands cut off. The king’s bodyguards and attendants all have salaries. Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Kandalas.° That is the name for those 5

along with

the resident

populations

daring to annul them, and they remain even to

the present time. The regular business of the monks is to perform acts of meritorious virtue, and to recite their

Sutras and sit wrapt in meditation. . . .

Where a community of monks resides, they erect stupas!’ 10 to Sariputtra, to Mahamaudgalyayana, and to Ananda,'' and also stupas in honor of the Abhidharma,

the Vinaya, and the Sutras.'? A

month after the annual season of rest, the families which are looking out for blessing stimulate one another to make offerings to the monks, and send round to them the liquid food which may be taken out of the ordinary hours.'’ All the monks come together in a great assembly, and preach the Law; after which offerings are presented at the stupa of

and live apart

Sariputtra, with all kinds of flowers and incense.

from others. When they enter the gate ofa city or a themselves known, so that men know and avoid

All through the night lamps are kept burning, and skillful musicians are employed to perform. . . . By the side of the stupa of Asoka,'* there has

them, and do not come into contact with them.

been made a Mahayana monastery, very grand and

who are held to be wicked men,

market-place, they strike a piece of wood to make

’Majhimadesa in Pali—‘‘the Middle Country,” an Indian term ~ that refers to north-central India, the region of the Buddha’s early activities.

“See source 32. ’The Buddha’s release from the bonds of matter—his final death. ®The caste of merchants and prosperous farmers. °A hermitage for a recluse or a little house built for a holy

person.

'°A stupa is a large, domed structure built to house a relic of the Buddha or of one of his early disciples. ''Three of the Buddha’s principal disciples. "The Tipitaka, or “Three Baskets”—the three major collections of Buddhist scripture. See the introduction to source 17. '8Solid food was prohibited between sunrise and sunset. One of the stupas outside present-day Patna. Asoka (r.ca. 315-281 B.c.£.) was an avid promoter of Buddhism.

»

© The Ancient

World

beautiful; there is also a Hinayana'® one; the two

grandly blended and having silken streamers and

together containing six hundred or seven hundred

canopies hung out over them. On the four sides

monks. The rules of demeanor and the scholastic

are niches, with a Buddha

arrangements in them are worthy of observation.

a Bodhisattva~” standing in attendance on him.

Shamans'° of the highest virtue from all quarters,

and students, inquirers wishing to find out truth and the grounds ofit, all resort to these monasteries. There also resides in this monastery a Brahmin

seated in each, and

There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On the day mentioned,

the monks and laity within

the borders all come together; they have singers

teacher, whose name also is Manjusri,'’ whom the

and skillful musicians; they pay their devotions

shamans ofgreatest virtue in the kingdom, and the

with flowers and incense. The Brahmins come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so

Mahayana bhikshus'® honor and look up to. The cities and towns of this country are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom. ‘The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month

they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of five

in order, and remain two nights in it. All through

the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The heads ofthe

Vaisya families?! in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans,

stories by means of bamboos tied together. ‘This is supported by a kingpost, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a stupa. White and silk-like cloth of hair is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colors. They make

widowers, and childless men, maimed people and

figures of devas'’ with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli

they go away of themselves.”

'SMahayana (the Great Vehicle) and Hinayana (the Small

»Traditional Indian medicine, known as ayurveda (the science of longevity), was a holistic form of medical preven-

Vehicle), or, more correctly, Theravada (the Way of the Elders), were the two major branches of Buddhism at this time. Both are treated in Chapter 6. 'He means Hindu holy persons. '7Manjusri is the name of one of the most popular Mahayana Bodhisattvas. (See Chapter 6.) Hence, Faxian points out that this Hindu “also” bears that name.

'SBuddhist monks. "Gods and goddesses. 20See Chapter 6, sources 38 and 39. *!See note 8.

cripples, and all who

are diseased, go to those

houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and

are made to feel at ease; and when they are better,

tion and intervention that prescribed a vast pharmacopeia of medicinal plants and animal products, specified certain diets as a means of warding off or curing specific diseases, and employed a wide variety of “hands-on” therapies that included massage, enemas, and surgery. Because all aspects of life in India were inextricably intertwined with religion in its broadest sense, ayurvedic physicians also used charms and incantations. Ayurveda continues to be taught, licensed, and practiced today in the Republic of India.

The Greco-Roman World Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 B.c.£.,and several of his Macedonian-Greek generals divided the Hellenistic world into a number of rival successor states. The two mightiest and most brilliant were the kingdom of the Seleucids, centered on Anatolia

Mesopotamia, and Syria, and the kingdom of Egypt, which fell to the family of Ptolemy.

‘]

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange Ptolemy and his successors lavished money on their capital, Alexandria, transforming this new city, located in Egypt’s northern delta region, into the most cosmopolitan setting in the Hellenistic world. Two of the city’s glories were the Museum, which functioned as a center of advanced research, and the Library. In an attempt to gather under one roof the entire Hellenistic world’s store of written knowledge, it contained perhaps as many as half a million separate scrolls. Both institutions enjoyed the continuous and generous patronage of the Macedonian god-kings of Egypt and served as focal points for scientific and literary studies that were Greek in form and substance but cosmopolitan in scope and clientele. Educated Persians, Jews, Mesopotamians, Syrians, Italians, and members of many other ethnic groups flocked to Alexandria, where they formed an ecumenical community of scholars and artists whose common tongue and intellectual perspective were as Greek as that of their Ptolemaic hosts. In 30 8.c.e., Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, died in Alexandria, and Egypt passed under the direct control of the rising imperial power of Rome. By this time, Rome had already seized control of Italy, Greece, major portions of Anatolia (which it termed Asia Minor), Syria, most of North Africa, all of the major Mediterranean islands, Spain, and the area north of the Alps and Pyrenees known as Gaul. The Mediterranean had truly become Rome’s Mare Nostrum (Our Sea), and the Roman Empire now controlled a large portion of the Hellenistic world.As inheritor (largely by conquest) of eastern Mediterranean lands and culture, Rome would disseminate a Greco-Roman form of Hellenistic culture throughout the western Mediterranean, as well as among various iron-age peoples living in European lands well beyond the Mediterranean coastline. Before the end of the first century c.e., Roman legions were erecting Greek-style temples dedicated to the Persian god Mithras along the Rhine and in Britain, and Greek literature was being studied in schools throughout lands recently wrested from Gallic tribes.

Images of the Hellenistic World 34°

FIVE HELLENISTIC WORKS

OF ART

The Hellenistic Ecumene was exceedingly cosmopolitan, but cosmopolitanism carries a price. Parochial societies—such as fifth-century 8.c.e. Hellas, which centered on small, fairly homogeneous poleis—offer their inhabitants the security that comes from living in a friendly and understandable environment. Conversely, societies open to the world and filled with a bewildering array of different and often contradictory cultural stimuli can be frightening and alienating. Such alienation and confusion can have profound effects on artistic expression. But even when people are comfortable with cultural differences and at home in a universal city (the literal meaning of cosmopolis), they tend to view the world and themselves differently from people whose horizons are more limited. This comfort with a wider world also finds expression in the arts. As we saw in Multiple Voices III, Hellenic artists of the fifth century B.c.e. idealized the human body and placed the human being securely in the center of an ordered

«

©

The Ancient

World

world—a world that they saw reflected in the poleis in which they were citizens. The following five works of art suggest that Hellenistic artists had different visions. They further point to the fact that the Hellenistic Ecumene moved westward, in large part due to the expansion of Roman authority into the eastern Mediterranean. By the mid-second century B.c.£., Hellenistic culture had made deep inroads within the ranks of Roman Italy’s intellectual and artistic leaders. Our first item is a Roman copy of a marble sculpture known as Sleeping Ariadne. The original, which was crafted in the eastern Mediterranean in the early second century B.C.E., is lost, but from what we know of Roman copies of Greek sculptures (and they are numerous), there is every reason to assume that this is a faithful reproduction. According to Greek mythology, Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, had run away with Theseus of Athens, after having helped him kill her halfbrother, the Minotaur, in the Labyrinth. Much like Medea (source 26), she was then abandoned by her Greek “hero,” in this instance while she was sleeping on the island of Naxos. Note her delicate, diaphanous garment, known as a chiton, and her elegant sandals.We shall see similar items in another sculpture. The second work of art is a bronze boxer by the Athenian sculptor Apollonius. Created around 60 B.c.e. in Italy, possibly for some rich fan of the Greek sport of pugilism, the work shows us a veteran boxer, whose broken nose, battered face and ears, muscular body, and leather gloves with bands of lead at the knuckles clearly indicate his profession. The third sculpture is The Old Woman, a Roman

work in marble that dates from

the mid-first century c.. It is not at all clear if this is a Roman original or a copy of a now-lost Greek work.A previously popular interpretation of the sculpture was that the woman is a market vendor depicted in the act of calling out to potential customers, hoping that they purchase the chicken and basket of vegetables and fruits that she holds in her left hand. For this reason, the sculpture was once known as The Old Market Woman. Recently that title has been discarded along with the theory on which it was based. Her thong sandals and chiton indicate that she is a person of some wealth—possibly a retired courtesan. Moreover, the wreath of ivy on her head strongly suggests that she is offering the goods as part of a religious festival in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. The fourth work of art is a pavement mosaic (a floor-picture composed of pieces of colored stone and glass known as tesserae) that dates from around 100 c.e. Floor mosaics were an innovation of the Hellenistic world, probably first emerging in various royal courts during the third century .c.e. By the middle of the second century B.c.E., they could be found in the homes of the well-to-do from Spain and Britain to the easternmost reaches of the Hellenistic Ecumene. The rise in available wealth and concomitant living standard for a growing number of people gave employment to numerous artisans who practiced this craft. This work of art, one of five extant mosaics excavated from the dining room of a wealthy citizen of the Syrian city of Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey), was the first to greet guests as they entered for an evening of drinking and feasting. It portrays a drinking contest between Dionysus, the god

Chapter

5

Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian

Interchange

of wine, and the demi-god and hero Heracles (Hercules). Dionysus, who reclines in the center of the mosaic, with his signature thyrsus (staff) held loosely in his left hand, has won the contest, signified by his empty wine cup, defeating the kneeling Heracles, who has not finished his drink. The god’s victory is proclaimed by Silenus, an aged spirit of wildlife who has horse-ears, and a youth who probably represents both Ampelius, the personification of the grapevine, and Eros (Cupid), the god of carnal love. On the far left of the scene,a slave girl plays the double flute, a musical instrument favored by the cultic devotees of Dionysus. In the foreground are various drinking vessels, and a large krater,in which wine was mixed with water. According to tradition, following his defeat, Heracles joined, for a short while, a thiasus, or group of worshippers of Dionysus. Many readers might wonder why two of the preceding four works of art are associated with the cult of Dionysus. The fact is that Dionysus, or Bacchus as he was also known, and similar gods and goddesses who supported and gave meaning to the emotional, physical,and pleasurable aspects of human life, were far more popular deities in the Greco-Roman world than the lofty Olympians, such as Zeus orJupiter. The same phenomenon was true for most, but not all, cultures throughout Afro-Eurasia. The fifth and last example is a bronze statue of a gladiator that was sculpted in Italy around 150 c.e. Although he is not fully equipped, his belt and loincloth, the wrapping of leather and metal on his right arm and shoulder, and his greaves (shin guards) mark him as a secutor (chaser). Carrying a sword and also wearing a large helmet, these heavily armored gladiators would pursue the lightly armored net-men known as retiarii (singular retiarius), who carried a weighted net, trident, and dagger. Although the combat might seem unequal, if the secutor did not catch and defeat his opponent quickly, he likely would succumb to heat exhaustion and be easy prey for the net-man. Secutores occupied one of the lowest levels of the gladiatorial ranks because their specialty presumably took little skill and their won—lost ratio was unimpressive. In your study of the four sculptures, pay particular attention to three artistic elements: facial expression, drapery, and contrapposto (the turning of the hip and leg away from the shoulders and the head). Hellenistic sculptors employed all three to add psychological insight, dramatic effect, and a sense of movement to their art.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Compare the physical features, posture, and body language of Ariadne, the boxer, the old woman, and the gladiator with those individuals portrayed in the Hellenic works of art of Multiple Voices II]. What conclusions follow from your study? 2. Some commentators have characterized Hellenistic art as an attempt to create psychological portraits. Do any or all of these five works seem to fall into that category? If so, what was there about the Hellenistic world that might have led some artists to emphasize the individual human psyche? 3. Leaving aside its medium, how is The Drinking Contest Between Dionysus and Heracles different from these other works of art, and what does that suggest about the Hellenistic world, or at least one stratum of it? 4. If art is a window on the society that produces it, what do the four sculptures allow you to infer about the Hellenistic world?

°

Archive/Art Vanni Resource, NY

© Metropolitan The NY Resource, Art/Art of Museum

The Boxer

(C hapte l

}

)

gional I mpires and Af 7 ‘0-Eurasian Interchange

Jajsavoyy/(gy LY

Aaah ol Sere nee see aecrsneeT

Ainjues

TAS

‘(d!esoW)uewoypuz)

SOLERO

‘yooNUY ‘9 O01 Gy

RUC

‘wnasny| ‘shasnysesseyy /WSN

bite tatiad

ay] ayy

BuIyuG s9}U09 jo sNsAuOIg pue uewabpig uy Meigi]

‘sajdeJa} PUNO Je

sae

The Drinking Contest Between Dionysus and Heracles

The Ancient World

Fine of USA Museum Massachusetts, Boston, Arts,

The Gladiator

The Roman

Peace

» CAESAR AUGUSTUS, THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS DEIFIED AUGUSTUS

OF THE

Following its total victory over Carthage in the Second Punic War (218-201 8.c.£.), the Roman Republic was the sole major power in the Mediterranean and an empire in fact, if not in name. Rome’s acquisition of an empire had major repercussions at home, and the resultant strains triggered more than a century of class discord and

Chapter

5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange

civil war. The civil wars ended in 30 B.c.c. when Octavian, the great-nephew and adopted son ofJulius Caesar (ca. |00—44 B.c.£.), defeated Mark Antony and became sole master of the Roman world. In 27 B.c.£., the Senate accorded him the title Augustus (Revered One), implying he possessed superhuman authority. Posterity remembers him as Caesar Augustus (63 8.c.£.—14 c.e.), the man who created and presided over the early years of the Pax Romana—the Roman Peace. Augustus maintained the forms of traditional oligarchic republicanism while creating a political entity in which all real power was concentrated in the hands of a single individual—himself. The system he established, known as the Principate (from one of his favorite titles, Princeps, or First Citizen), worked fairly well for nearly two centuries. It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of Caesar Augustus’s Roman Peace. The several centuries of relative stability that his system gave the empire proved to be an important incubation period for the quickening of Hellenistic culture in the West. Perhaps without the Roman Peace a new religion, Christianity, would have had much less success in establishing itself in the western regions of the Mediterranean. The importance of the Pax Romana was not lost on the Romans, and this was especially true of Augustus. In 13 c.£.,an aged Augustus deposited a number of documents with the vestal virgin priestesses of Rome. Among them was the following account of his accomplishments, which he ordered inscribed on two bronze pillars that were to stand before his mausoleum. He died on August 19 of the next year, and on September 1|7, the Senate decreed he should be worshipped as one of the gods of the Roman state. The cult of the Deified Augustus was promoted throughout the empire and became especially popular in the East, particularly in Asia Minor, where there was a long tradition of worshipping god-kings. Over the centuries, Augustus’s mausoleum pillars were lost, but copies of his last testament were preserved in eastern temples raised in his honor. The best extant copy comes from an inscription on the temple of Rome and Augustus in present-day Ankara, Turkey.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What picture emerges of the Roman Empire's size, wealth, and power? 2. What evidence is there that the empire expanded under Augustus’s leadership? 3. Is there any evidence of the empire’s dark side? 4. How does Augustus manage to disguise the extent and nature of his power? Why would he want to do so? How extensive was his power? [Ca]. What image does Augustus wish to project in his last testament? 6. Augustus established a model to be followed by his imperial successors for the next two centuries. Judging by what he claims to have done, what were a Roman emperor's chief responsibilities? 7. What does this document tell us about Augustus’s foreign policy and the empire’s relations with the peoples of Kush, Germany, Arabia, the Parthian Empire, and India?

«

102

S34

AA

© The Ancient World

At nineteen years of age, on my own authority

assist me in this power, five times I asked for and

and at my own cost, I raised the army with which

received a colleague from the Senate.’ .. .

I liberated the Republic from the oppression of

In my sixth consulship,*

. . . I carried out a

a tyrannical faction.’ . . . | waged civil and for-

census of the people. . . . In this count 4,063,000

eign wars on land and sea throughout the entire

Roman citizens were recorded. ... A second time,

world; in victory I showed mercy to all surviving

in the consulship of Gaius Censorinus and Gaius

citizens, and I preferred sparing conquered for-

Asinius,’ I acted alone to take a census, invested as

eigners, rather than wiping them out, whenever

I was with consular authority,'? and at this second

I could safely offer them pardon. About 500,000

census 4,233,000 Roman citizens were recorded.

Roman citizens were bound to me by military

For a third time I completed a census . . . and

Oaths.

4,937,000

se

In the consulship of Marcus Marcellus and Lu-

Roman

citizens

were

recorded.''

By

passing new laws, I restored many of our ances-

cius Arruntius,’ I refused the office of dictator? of-

tors’ traditions which we were neglecting, and I

fered to me by the People and the Senate.’ . . . At that same time, I refused the consulship when it

personally handed down precedents in many areas for posterity to imitate. ...

was offered to me as an annual office for life... Even though the Senate and Roman People were

Quirinus,'* which our ancestors desired to be shut

totally agreed that I should be elected superintendent of the laws and public morals with supreme

authority, | declined to accept any office inconsis-

According to the records, the gateway ofJanus

whenever victorious peace should be secured on sea and land throughout the entire empire of the

Roman People, was closed only twice in the entire period from the founding of the city’® to my birth.

tent with our ancestors’ traditions. I achieved the domestic measures which the Senate desired that

Three

I carry out by virtue of the tribunician power.° To

decreed it should be shut... .

Source: Caesar

office, while he retained ultimate authority in all important matters. See the next two sentences and note 10. The tribune was the ancient protector of the plebs, or common people, and possessed the power of veto over acts of the Senate that threatened the well-being of the people. Augustus held the office continuously from 30 8.c.£., and it served as the constitutional basis for much of his power. “Augustus accepted the responsibility for establishing moral and social codes, claiming he did so at the direction of the Senate. Further, he claimed he did so only by virtue of his being a tribune, and he insisted on having co-tribunes on five separate occasions.

Augustus,

The Accomplishments

of the

Deified Augustus, translated by A. J. Andrea. Copyright

© A. J. Andrea, 2014. All rights reserved. 'Mark Antony and his allies. *In 22 B.c.e. The consuls were the Roman Republic’s chief magistrates. Two were elected annually. Under Augustus, the consulship remained Rome's chief constitutional office, but see note 5. *The dictatorship, a constitutional office that was rarely filled before the time of Julius Caesar, carried with it

unlimited power and was bestowed on an individual by the Senate for a stipulated period of time, in order to meet an extraordinary crisis. Julius Caesar had been named dictator for life, and this was one of the reasons supporters of the Republic assassinated him in 44 B.c.e. (at the Theater of Pompey which is mentioned elsewhere in this source; see note 23). ‘In theory, sovereignty still lay in the hands of the Senate and the Roman People: SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) being the standard Roman acronym to express this supposed power-sharing. *Augustus held the consulship only 13 times. After he was secure in his power,he preferred to allow others to hold the

times

during

my

principate

the Senate

828 B.c.e. 98 B.C.E. '°Note that he exercises consular power, although he does not hold the office. "In 14 ce. This indicates the account was reworked after Augustus deposited it with the Vestal Virgins. "The ancient Italian two-faced god of gates and beginnings and ends. (Hence, January is the month dedicated to Janus.) A passageway dedicated to Janus stood in the Forum, which was Rome's civic center. "According to Roman tradition, 753 B.c.e.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange « 155 In accordance with the testament of my father," I paid out to every Roman commoner 300 ses-

terces,"” in my fifth consulship!’ I gave 400 sesterces to each person in my own name and out of the spoils of war; again, in my tenth consulship" I paid out a gratuity of 400 sesterces to every person from my own patrimony; in my eleventh consulship'* I distributed twelve special allowances of grain purchased with my own funds; and in the twelfth year of my tribunician power,!” for the third time, I gave everyone 400 sesterces. These gifts which I gave out never went to fewer than 250,000 persons. In the eighteenth year of my tribunician power and my twelfth consulship” I gave each of 320,000 urban commoners the sum ofsixty denarii.” . . . Four times I came to the aid of the public treasury. with my own money, transferring to the treasury officials 150,000,000 sesterces. . . . Out of my own patrimony I paid out 170,000,000 sesterces to the military treasury, which was established on my advice to provide bonuses for soldiers who had served twenty or more years. I repaired the Capitol** and the theater of Pompey’’ with an enormous outlay of funds on both

names of my sons and grandsons; at these shows about 10,000 men fought. . . .

‘Twenty-six times I provided the people . . . with hunting exhibitions of African wild animals .. . in which about 3,500 animals were killed. I gave

the people the spectacle of a naval battle on the spot across the Tiber River where the grove of the Caesars

now

stands, excavating a site 1,800 feet

in length and 1,200 feet wide. In this space thirty beaked ships, all triremes or biremes,” and a large

number of smaller craft, fought one another. In addition to the rowers, there were about 3,000 combatants on board the contending fleets. I pacified the sea by suppressing piracy. In that struggle I handed over to their masters for punish-

ment nearly 30,000 fugitive slaves who had taken up arms against the state. . . . | extended the frontiers of all the provinces of the Roman People on

whose boundaries were located peoples not subject to our rule. I restored peace to the provinces of Gaul and Spain and to Germany.”° . . . My fleet sailed the ocean from the mouth of the Rhine as far east as the borders of the land of the Cimbrians,*”” where no Roman

before that time had

projects, and without having my name inscribed

penetrated either by land or sea. The Cimbrians

on either. I repaired the aqueduct channels” which in many spots were falling into decay because of age... . Three times I sponsored a gladiatorial show in my own name and five times in the

.. and other German peoples of the region used envoys to seek my friendship and that of the Roman

‘Julius Caesar, his adopted father. 'SSesterces were small bronze coins, four of which at this time equaled a silver denarius, the empire’s basic monetary

250,000 persons” and 320,000 “urban commoners” were

recipients likely were the heads of households. The city at that time probably had a population of somewhere between one and two million, including citizens, foreigners, and slaves. Slaves might have made up half the population. The temple ofJupiter Capitolinus, Rome's chief civic deity. A massive multi-use complex built by Pompey the Great (106-48 B.c.e.). Inspired by Greek theaters, it became the model for all subsequent Roman theaters in the West. *The massive brick structures that carried fresh water into Rome from the outlying highlands. Warships with three and two tiers of rowers, respectively. This is a convenient bending of facts inasmuch as the Germans had annihilated three Roman legions, some 18,000 soldiers, in the Teutoberg Forest in 9 c.e. 7In 5 c.e.a Roman fleet sailed to the coast of southern Denmark.

given only to the commoners of the city of Rome, and the

®Around 25-24 B.c.e.

standard. At the time of Augustus, a legionnaire annually earned nine hundred sesterces.To be eligible for admission to the Senate, a person’s wealth had to be minimally equal to one million sesterces.

1629 B.C.E. 724 B.ce. 12231B:GE. UNPATewerles 705 BCE. 2'The plural of denarius. See note 15. This sentence makes it clear that these gifts that went to “never ... fewer than

People. At my command

and under my auspices,

two armies were led almost simultaneously,”* one

» © The Ancient World

into Ethiopia, the other into that part of Arabia

through ambassadors sent by the Bastarnians and

called Felix.*? Large numbers of enemies in each

Scythians and by the kings of the Sarmatae, who

country were killed in battle, and numerous towns

live on both sides of the Don River.*’. . . Dur-

were taken. In Ethiopia the army advanced as far

ing my principate, numerous other peoples, with

as the town of Napata, which is next to Meroé.”°

whom previously there had existed no diplomatic ties or friendship, sampled the good faith of the

...

L added Egypt to the empire of the Roman

Peopleve. I established

colonies

of retired

soldiers

in

Roman People... . In my sixth and seventh consulships,” 8 after I

Africa,*! Sicily, Macedonia, both provinces in Spain,

had ended the civil wars, having attained supreme

Achaea,”

Gaul,** and

power by universal consent, I transferred the state

Pisidia.” Italy, moreover, possesses twenty-eight colonies of retired soldiers established under my auspices, which grew large and prosperous in my

ate and Roman People. For this service I received

Asia,** Syria, Narbonese

lifetime. I recovered a number of military standards lost by other leaders,

after defeating enemies

Spain, Gaul, and Dalmatia.°°

I compelled

from

the

Parthians to restore to me the spoils and battle

from my own power to the free control of the Sen-

the title Augustus by decree of the Senate, and the doorposts of my house were publicly decked with laurel leaves. The civic crown was fixed above my doorway, and a golden shield set up in the Julian senate chamber,

which, as its inscription testifies, was granted to me by the Senate and Roman

standards of three Roman armies and to seek the

People to recognize my valor, clemency, justice,

friendship of the Roman People as suppliants. . . .

and devotion. From that time onward I excelled

Envoys from Indian kings, never before seen in the presence

of any Roman

military leader,

everyone in moral authority, but I possessed no

more actual power than those who served as my

were often sent to me. Our friendship was sought

colleagues in various magisterial offices.

Southern Arabia. In the kingdom of Kush (Multiple Voices |, image 7), not

A western province of Anatolia/Asia Minor (see note 32). 6Dalmatia is the northern half of the eastern coast of the Adriatic, largely present-day Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Various nomadic peoples on the eastern fringe of the empire. Regarding earlier “Scythians,” see source 24. 3828-27 B.c.e.

Ethiopia, which lay south of Kush. Nothing much came of these expeditions. 3'The region around Carthage. Southern Greece.

The westernmost province in Asia Minor, which is what the Romans called Anatolia. *Southern, or Mediterranean, Gaul (present-day southern France).

The symbol of triumph and peace and worn as a crown by the god Apollo. See the Cameo of Caesar Augustus (source 36).

The Revered Emperor 36 » CAESAR AUGUSTUS CAMEO PORTRAIT

AS PONTIFEX

MAXIMUS ANDA

Every culture seeks to express in its art the force of sacred authority, and Multiple Voices | showed how the ancient Egyptians did so. The following images indicate how Caesar Augustus was portrayed during and after his lifetime. The first, a marble sculpture carved by an unknown eastern Mediterranean artist

around 20 B.c.£., presents Augustus in the fullness of his civil and religious power. As head of state, Augustus held the office of Pontifex Maximus (Chief Priest) and was responsible for maintaining the pax deorum, “peace with the gods.” The work is

Chapter 5 Regional

:

Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange

*

157

typically Romano-Hellenistic, and Augustus’s appearance, especially his attire, pose, and facial expression, conform to accepted Hellenistic norms for portraying deities, priests, and other sacred persons. Even while Augustus lived, statues such as this one were erected in temples throughout the empire, but particularly in the East, for the worship of his divine spirit. The second is a cameo fashioned in the period 41—54 c.e. from sardonyx, a semiprecious quartz gem, portraying Augustus wearing the laurel crown of Apollo and an aegis, a cape usually associated with the deities Jupiter and Minerva. The aegis bears the images of Medusa, a snake-haired gorgon from Greek mythology, and that of a wind god. Medusa’s head was considered an evil-averting talisman. The wind god probably represents the summer winds that propelled ships carrying essential grain from Egypt to Rome.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Consider Augustus’s expression, posture, and dress as depicted in the statue. How has the sculptor evoked a sense of sacred authority? 2. Consider the cameo. How has its carver evoked a sense of sacred authority? 3. The cameo, crafted more than a quarter century after Augustus’s death, was owned by an individual and had no public function. What do you think was its purpose? Defend your answer. 4. Refer to source 35. In what ways, if at all, do these two artifacts support or make graphic any claims, statements, or implications made in that last testament?

NY Resource, Art/Art of Museum Metropolitan The ©

Resource, Archive/Art Vanni NY

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus

Cameo of Caesar Augustus

¢

The Ancient World

Multiple Voices IV

Sea Routes and Silk Roads BACKGROUND At the beginning of the first millennium c.£., two major trade networks, one by water and the other by land, linked the First Afro-Eurasian Ecumene, making it possible for commodities and ideas (as well as diseases) to circulate from Southeast to Southwest Asia, from China to the Greco-Roman Mediterranean, and from India to all of the above. A series of sea routes extended from China and the lands of Southeast Asia in the east and from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf in the west to India, which served as a central meeting point for merchants from both directions. There merchants from the Mediterranean exchanged gold and silver coins, bronze statuettes, glass objects, and a variety of other goods for spices, jewels, and muslin cloth, as well as for Chinese manufactured commodities, such as ceramics, lacquered boxes, ironware, and silk. The Hellenistic geographer Strabo (ca. 64 B.c.e.—25 c.£.) claimed that, in his day, |20 vessels made the annual voyage from Egypt to India. There is even a record of a group of Roman merchants (probably Romanized Syrians or Egyptians) who sailed from India to south China in the middle of the second century c.e., but such adventures were rare. For most merchant mariners, India was the main terminus and marketplace where East met West. The other network connecting the East with the West was the so-called Silk Road (or,as some prefer, Silk Roads),a complex system of linked and often shifting caravan routes that ran from the heartland of China to the Mediterranean (a distance of more than five thousand miles), to India, and to the lands of continental Southeast Asia. As the name implies, Chinese silk was a major commodity along these roads, but many other high-end trade items, including Central Asian horses and Baltic amber, moved along these overland routes.Although their lands were linked by this vast complex of routes, very few Mediterraneans traveled all the way to China, and fewer Chinese ventured even to the borders of the Roman Empire. Instead, a series of merchant intermediaries passed along the silk, cotton, brocades, spices, plants and

animals, manufactured goods, gold, silver, ideas, and even killing diseases that traveled along this great network of divergent and convergent pathways.

THE SOURCES The first source comes from the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (23-79 c.e.), the greatest Roman scholar of his day. Completed in the year 77, the work covers a wide range of natural phenomena. He claimed to present twenty thousand items

of importance carefully culled from the works of one hundred selected authors, as well as his own observations. The excerpts that appear here discuss Central Asia, the

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange « land of the Seres (China), Roman trade with India, and a wondrous people who lived at the far eastern end of Asia. Combined, they illustrate the extent and limitations of the Roman world’s participation in long-distance Afro-Eurasian commerce during the first century c.e. and allow insight into the Roman view of the world beyond its imperial borders. The second source is a Chinese chronicle describing the lands and peoples that lay to the west. Composed in the second century c.e., Chronicle of the Western Regions provides evidence of Han China’s growing contacts with the western half of Eurasia and, in the excerpt included here, contains the first known Chinese account of the Roman Empire and its people. The third source consists of two paintings. The first is a mural from the oasis city of Miran, which was located along the major Silk Road route that skirted the southern edge of the Taklamikan Desert. Miran’s high point of prosperity occurred during the third century c.e., when it served as a major center of commerce and Buddhist devotion. Apparently, environmental factors led to the city’s decline and ultimate collapse sometime after 300 c.c. Early in the twentieth century, Sir Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-British explorer, discovered, amid Miran’s long-forgotten ruins, a set of stunning Buddhist wall paintings that gave witness to Miran’s former glory. All appeared to be by the same hand or group of hands, and one inscription bore the attribution “Tita.” Stein surmised that this was a Sanskrit or Prakrit variation of the Latin name “Titus.” Both Sanskrit and Prakrit were languages of Indian origin used in Buddhist centers throughout Central Asia. If Stein was correct, either a Roman citizen or a Hellenized Central Asian had been at work in Miran.

The second image,

dating from the first half of the second century c.e., is a Coptic-Roman funerary portrait of a woman, probably from Thebes on the Nile. Such mummy portraits of the dead became popular in Romanized Egypt in the middle of the first century c.e. and remained in vogue for several centuries. The fourth source consists of three sculptures of the Buddha and two of Bodhisattvas (see Chapter 6, sources 38 and 39), which collectively illustrate the transit of Buddhism and its motifs and styles across the Silk Road. As we saw in source 34, Hellenistic sculptors employed the elements of expressive faces, drapery that defined the body, and contrapposto (the turning of the hip and leg away from the shoulders and the head) to impart a sense of drama, motion, and reality to their work.As the heirs and continuators of Hellenistic culture, artists throughout the Roman Empire employed these same techniques, thereby creating an empire-wide style that we call Greco-Roman, and we saw this in the statue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (source 36). Many of those Greco-Roman techniques traveled east, but were adapted in different ways. In or around the first century C.e., artists in two important political and commercial centers of the Kushan Empire, the province of Gandhara, which today comprises southern Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, and Mathura in north-central India (see source 33), began portraying the Buddha as a human. Earlier IndianBuddhist sculptors, who otherwise carved highly realistic images of human bodies

The Ancient World

in narrative scenes depicting the life of the Buddha, had used symbols, such as a pair of footprints, an empty space beneath a parasol, or the Wheel of the Law, to represent the Buddha himself. This early tradition of Buddhist aniconism (avoiding or forbidding images in human form of a deity or other sacred being) was apparently based on the belief that the Buddha had instructed his followers not to depict his body in any image once he had attained Nirvana and had escaped rebirth. The reason why this taboo was abandoned seems to be a classic example of cultural contact and exchange. Gandhara’s and Mathura’s centuries-long interaction with Hellenistic culture, which began with the campaigns and conquests of Alexander the Great in the late fourth century 8.c.£.and continued into the era of the Roman Empire, had apparently resulted in their eventual adoption of the Greek artistic tradition of freely depicting “god-men.” It is impossible to say whether Gandhara or Mathura was the first to depict the Buddha in human form. What we can say is that even though the artists of these two centers interacted and influenced one another, the styles of Mathura and Gandhara were essentially different to the point that one cannot be mistaken for the other. Our first sculpture of the Buddha is from Gandhara and probably dates to the first or second century c.e. Many of his features are distinctively Buddhist and Indian. The topknot on his head is known as the ushnisha and represents his cosmic consciousness. His pierced, distended earlobes symbolize his former royal life; he wears a monk’s

robe known

as a sanghati; the halo, or solar disk, that frames his

head is typical of all Gandharan statues of the Buddha and represents his sanctity. His missing right hand undoubtedly was raised, with fingers up and palm outward, in the mudra (symbolic hand gesture) of “fear not,” and the other missing hand would have had the corresponding mudra of left palm facing out and fingers pointing down in a gesture symbolizing charity and compassion (note the left palm in the Mathuran Buddha). The lotuses, or water lilies, carved into the base of the statue are a Buddhist symbol of purity and peace, therefore Nirvana. Despite all of these Indo-Buddhist features, it is the general consensus of scholars that the style and majesty of the Greco-Roman imperial sculptures that emanated from the workshops of the Mediterranean deeply influenced the creators of the Gandharan statues of the Buddha. Whereas Gandharan sculptures were carved out of hard gray schist, Mathuran Buddhas were crafted out of a softer red sandstone. But the differences did not stop there, as the Mathuran sculptures depicted here demonstrate. The Mathuran style, not the Gandharan, became the classic form of Indian Buddhist art that reached its peak of sophistication in India’s Gupta era (320—ca. 550 c.e.). The Mathuran Buddha shown here is from the fifth century, but it does not differ in any meaningful way from statuary that was being produced in Mathura in the first century c.e. To underscore the differences in style between these two forms of Buddhist art, our third and fourth sculptures are two side-by-side, disembodied heads of Bodhisattvas—one from Gandhara and one from Mathura. Both date from around

Chapter

5 Kegional Empires ana Afro-Eurasian Interchange

the second century c.e. Note the small hole in the forehead of the Gandharan Bodhisattva.A gem once resided there, representing a third,or inner, eye—a symbol of spiritual awakening and all-seeing wisdom. The Mathuran Bodhisattva’s third eye is a small, fairly indistinct circle. The Hindu deity Shiva (Chapter 6, source 37) has a similar third eye.

The fifth sculpture depicts the Buddha standing on a lotus flower. Composed of gilded bronze, it was crafted in 477 in the region of China ruled by the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535). The Northern Wei, a Xianbei people from Manchuria (source 31) who had conquered much of northern and western China, adopted the trappings of Chinese aristocratic culture but added a new element. They were deeply devoted to Mahayana Buddhism (Chapter 6) and patronized its rapid spread throughout their kingdom and beyond. The fifth and last source is from a traveler we have already encountered, Faxian (source 33),who describes his homeward voyage from Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). Faxian’s plan was to reach the southern Chinese port of Guangzhou (Canton), but when he finally set foot on Chinese soil, he found himself far up the northeast coast in Shandong Province, which lies across the Yellow Sea from Korea. His adventures on this voyage shed light on the interesting nature of early-fifth-century C.£. oceanic travel between India and China. Indeed, the source suggests why overland travel was often preferred at this time.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. How well did Pliny understand the peoples and lands of Central and East Asia? What do you infer from your answer? 2. How might one best characterize mercantile travel and trade between India and the Mediterranean in the first century C.e.? 3. Evaluate the accuracy of the description of the Roman Empire by the author of the Chronicle of the Western Regions. What inferences follow from your evaluation? 4. Why has the mural from Miran been juxtaposed with the Egyptian funerary portrait? What conclusions follow from your answer? 5. When host societies receive foreign elements, they usually adapt them to fit into the framework of their own cultures. This process of adaptive adoption is termed syncretism. Compare the Gandharan Buddha with the statue of Caesar Augustus in source 36. Can you see any influences? What are they? To what extent have they been modified? 6. Compare the Mathuran sculptures with the Two Women under a Torana (source 30) and the Gandharan sculptures. What conclusions follow from your analysis? 7. Compare the Northern Wei Buddha with the other two Buddhas. Does it appear to have borrowed stylistic elements from any of them? What do you conclude from this analysis? 8. Based on Faxian’s experiences, describe the state of sea travel between India and Southeast Asia and India and China in the early fifth century c.e. 9. Based on these five sources, how would you characterize the extent, level, and significance of long-distance communication and exchange across the Afro-Eurasian Ecumene during this era?

«

¢

The Ancient World

| ¢ Pliny the Elder, Natural History Travel to the Land of the Seres! From the Caspian Sea and the Scythian Ocean,’ our course bends toward the Morning Star, as the coast turns toward the east. The first part of the

coast after the Scythian Promontory? is uninhabitable because of snow, and the neighboring region is

uncultivated because of the savagery of its people. Here the Scythian cannibals live who feast on

are certainly a gentle people, they are like wild animals insofar as they flee the company of the rest of humanity and wait for trade to come to them. Commerce with India It is appropriate to explain the entire journey from Egypt now that reliable knowledge of it is available

for the first time. It is a worthy subject because in no year does India draw off less than fifty mil-

human bodies.‘ Consequently, the lands adjacent

lion sesterces* from our empire, sending back merchandise that is sold to us at one hundred times its

are vast wastelands inhabited by multitudinous

original price.

wild beasts that lie in wait for humans who are no less bestial than the beasts themselves. Then we

Two miles from Alexandria’ there is the town ofJuliopolis. From there one sails up'® the Nile

come to more Scythians and to more deserts teem-

to Coptos, a journey of 309 miles that takes twelve days when the midsummer trade winds blow. From Coptos the journey is made with

ing with beasts, until we come to a mountain range

that runs up to the sea and is called Tabis.’ It is not until we have traversed almost half the length of the coast that faces northeast that we come to a region that is inhabited. The first people we encounter are called the Seres. They are famous for the wool that is found in their forests.° After soak-

ing it in water, they comb the white strands of the leaves and so give our women the double task of unraveling the threads and reweaving them again.’ Such is the substantial labor involved and from such a distant part of the globe is this material fetched—all so that a Roman matron might wear a transparent garment in public. Although the Seres

Source: Translated by A. J. Andrea from Pliny the Elder, Historia naturalis. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved. 'This subtitle and the two that follow are editorial creations for the readers’ ease of comprehension. They do not appear in any manuscript copies of the text. Pliny and geographers before him imagined that a great northern ocean, here called the Scythian Ocean, bordered Asia just a few degrees north of the Caspian Sea. Its shores were the presumed place of origin of the Scythians (source 24). Probably an imaginary place, but possibly Siberia or northern Russia.

camels,

located

along

the way. The first, located twenty-two

with

watering

stations

miles

along the way, is called Hydreuma.''

The sec-

ond is in the mountains, a day’s journey away. The third is in another place called Hydreuma,

eighty-five miles from Coptos. The next is in the mountains. Then we come to Apollo’s Hydreuma, 184 miles from Coptos. Again there is one in the mountains. Then we get to New Hydreuma, 230 miles from Coptos. There is also another old Hydreuma, which is called Trogodyticum, where a garrison keeps watch over a

“Herodotus, whom we saw in source 24, reported elsewhere in his Histories that the Scythians allied with a tribe of cannibals in their fight against an invading Persian army. There probably was no truth to that statement.

>Possibly Tibet. Probably Chinese silk. ’The Romans reworked Chinese silk, unraveling and reweaving it.

8Source 35, note 15. °A port city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. 'Sails south. Because the Nile flows north, upriver lies to the south. "Literally, “watering-place” in Greek.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange + 163 caravansary'* that can accommodate 2,000 trav-

Neacyndi people. Pandion ruled there and dwelled

elers. It lies seven miles from New

in a town called Modura, which is located far inland, a long way from the market place. The region from which they transport pepper to Becare in boats made from a single tree is called Cottonara. All of these names of peoples or ports or towns are not to be found in the work of earlier authors, which suggests that local conditions are changing. Those sailing home from India begin in the Egyptian month of Tybis (our December) or, at the latest, before the sixth day of the Egyptian Mechir,

Hydreuma.

Then comes the town of Berenice, where there is

a port on the Red Sea, 257 miles from Coptos. Because the major part of the journey is done at night on account ofthe heat and days are spent at the stations, the entire journey from Coptos to Berenice takes twelve days. Sea travel begins in midsummer before the Dog Star? rises or immediately after its rising. After

about thirty days they arrive at Ocelis or else at Cane in the incense-producing region of Arabia." There is also a third port named Muza, which is

not called at on the voyage to India, not unless they are merchants trading in the incense and perfumes of Arabia. In the interior there is a town, the residence of the local king, which is called Sap-

phar. And there is another called Save.

which works out to before our January 13. This makes it possible for them to return home in the same year. They set sail from India with a southeast wind and after entering the Red Sea, continue with a southwest or south wind.

The People of the Far East

the Hippalus”’ is blowing, sailing time is forty days

To the east, at the far end of the borders of India near the source of the Ganges, Megasthenes'” places the Astomi,'* a people who have no mouth

to the first trading station in India, Muziris, an undesirable port of call because of the pirates in the

and a body that is totally covered in hair. They dress in wool made from leaves'? and subsist only

neighborhood who occupy a place called Nitrias. It is also not rich in trade articles. Furthermore, the

by breathing and through the scent that they draw in through their nostrils. They have no food or

place where ships anchor is located far from shore,

drink except for the various aromas of the roots,

and cargoes are brought in and ferried out in little

flowers, and wild apples that they carry with them on their longer journeys, lest they lack a supply of scent. He writes that they can easily be killed by an odor that is a bit stronger than usual.

The most advantageous route, however, for those

intent on reaching India is to set out from Ocelis. If

boats.'® The person ruling there as I wrote this was Caelobothras.

There is another, more

serviceable

port which is called Becare and belongs to the

"A place of refuge for caravans. Sirius, or the Dog Star, the brightest star in the heavens, rises and sets with the sun from early July to early September. '4Yemen, in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

'SThe wind from the west. '© Regardless of its unfavorable location, recent excavations ' ata site identified as ancient Muziris have uncovered a large hoard of Roman coins and significant numbers of Roman “amphorae, or large jars for transporting olive oil and wine.

'7Megasthenes (ca. 350-290 B.c.e.), a Greek diplomat and scholar, served for ten years as ambassador to the Mauryan court in India, representing the interests of Seleucus I, king of Hellenistic Syria. Megasthenes’ Indika, a firsthand account of the geography, people, governments, religions, legends, and history of India, is lost, but fragments survive in the writings of later authors, such as Pliny.

'SLiterally, “mouthless” in Greek. "Silk. See note 6.

« The Ancient World

2° Chronicle of the Western Regions The kingdom of Da Qin' is . . . found to the west of the sea.’ . . . Its territory extends for several thousand /i.° It has more than four hundred walled towns. There are several tens of smaller dependent kingdoms. The walls of the towns are

made of stone. They have established postal relays at intervals, which are all plastered and whitewashed.‘ There are pines and cypresses,’ as well as trees and plants of all kinds. The common people are

ten /i from the other. Moreover, in the rooms of

the palace the pillars and the tableware are really made of crystal. The king goes each day to one of his palaces to deal with business. After five days, he has visited them all. A porter with a sack has the job of always following the royal carriage. When somebody wants to discuss something with the king, he throws a note in the sack. When the king arrives at the palace, he opens the bag, examines

the contents, and judges if the plaintiff is right or wrong. Each [palace] has officials {in charge of the] written documents.

[A group of] thirty-six leaders'' has been estab-

farmers. [hey cultivate many types of trees, breed silkworms and grow mulberries.° They shave

lished to meet together to deliberate on affairs of

their heads, and their clothes are embroidered.’

state. Their kings are not permanent. They select

They have screened coaches for women and small carriages

and appoint the most worthy man. If there are unexpected calamities in the kingdom, such as

are beaten and flags and

frequent extraordinary winds or rains, he is uncer-

standards raised.” ‘The seat of government’ is more than a hun-

emoniously rejected and replaced.'* The one who has been dismissed quietly accepts his demotion and is not angry.

white-roofed come

one-horse

and go, drums

carts.* When

dred /i around. In this city are five palaces each

Source: “Chronicle on the Western Regions” from the Hou Hanshu, translated by John E. Hill, Through the Jade Gate to Rome: An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on

the “Western Regions” in the Hou Hanshu, 2009, pp. 23, 25, 27, passim.

'“Great China,” the Roman Empire. ?The Indian Ocean, apparently. The Chinese at this time called Egypt Haixi (West of the Sea). 3At this time the li seems to have been approximately 1/5 of a mile. Later it would equal about I/3 ofa mile. ‘Rome's cursus publici were postal relay stations established at intervals throughout the empire for the rapid transmission of information and official dispatches. >Pines are Italy's most common tree, and its long-lived cypresses are almost as common, especially in present-day Tuscany—ancient Etruria. °There was small-scale production of wild silk,and the native black mulberry was known throughout the Mediterranean. It seems unlikely, however, that there was any commercial cultivation of silkworms in the Roman Empire at this time.

Likewise, the Chinese white mulberry had probably not yet been introduced there. 7Roman men wore their hair short but generally did not shave their heads. Togas and tunics, the two items of male dress, were decorated with colored bands to indicate high office or status. Likewise, high-born women decorated the stola, the basic feminine garment, with embroidered bands to indicate their status. ®The coach for women was the richly decorated carpentum,

which usually had curtains, often of imported silk. *Wealthy Romans were preceded by retainers who publicly announced their progress through a city and cleared the path for them. 'Rome. ''Possibly a reference to former consuls (source 35, note 2), known as consulares, who enjoyed positions of authority in the Senate. They often served as imperial legates to the provinces. "This was not the case. The author seems to have taken the Chinese principle of the Mandate of Heaven (source 7) and applied it to Da Qin.

Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange + 165 The people of this country are all tall and honest. They resemble the people of the Middle Kingdom and that is why this kingdom is called Da Qin.

The country produces plenty ofgold [and] silver. ... They also have a fine cloth which some people say is made from the down of“water sheep,”!? but which is made, in fact, from the cocoons of wild

kingdom arrive at their border, they use the courier stations to get to the royal capital, and when they arrive, they are given gold coins.

The king of this country always wanted to send envoys to Han,” but Anxi wishing to control the trade in multi-colored Chinese silks, blocked the

route to prevent getting through.” In the ninth Yanxi year,” during the reign of

silkworms."* . . . They make gold and silver coins. Ten silver coins are worth one gold coin.’” They trade with Anxi'® and Tianzhu”’ by sea. The profit margin is ten to one.'® The people of this country are honest in busi-

was communication.”’ The tribute* brought was

ness; they do not have two prices. Grain and food-

neither precious nor rare, therefore raising suspi-

stuffs are always cheap.'? The resources of the state are abundant. When envoys from a neighboring

cions that the accounts [of Da Qin] might have

The Romans made some textiles from fibers known as “sea silk,’ which are produced by the pinna, a genus of mollusks. ; '4See note 6. 'SThe relative value of the gold aureus to the silver denarius (source 35, note |5) fluctuated, depending on the weight of gold and silver in each. Often emperors, facing economic difficulties, would order the debasement of one or both by reducing the percentage of precious metal in the coin. ‘Parthia. '7Northwestern India. '8Compare what Pliny the Elder states on the subject. 'The imperial government subsidized grain imported into Italy from Egypt, Sicily, and elsewhere. See source 35 and 36.

*!Parthia (Anxi) required merchants coming from any direction to trade within its lands, rather than passing through to markets beyond the empire. In return, the Parthian state offered policed roads and supervised markets.

20To the Han court of China. See note 4 to Faxian, the fifth source in this Multiple Voices exercise.

Emperor Huan,” the king of Da Qin, Andun,”

sent envoys from beyond the frontiers through Rinan” to offer elephant tusks, rhinoceros horn,

and turtle shell.® This was the very first time there

been exaggerated.

2166. 3Huandi (r. 146-168). **Marcus Aurelius (r. 16!—180). 5On the central Vietnamese coast, then held by Han China. ®All were traded for at East African ports. In China, they would be crafted into ornaments and, in the case of the turtle shells and rhinoceros horn, also ground up by physicians as medicines. *7Direct, official contact between Rome and China. “8A basic principle of Chinese imperial ideology was the fiction that all diplomatic gifts were “tribute” offered to the Son of Heaven by subservient vassal states and their leaders who came to the emperor as his obedient children.

The Ancient World

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The Ancient World

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Chapter 5 Regional Empires and Afro-Eurasian Interchange + 169

5 ¢ Faxian, Travels

of the tide, the place of the leak was discovered,

and it was stopped, on which the voyage was reFaxian abode in this country! two years. . . . Having obtained these Sanskrit works,’ he took pas-

sumed. On the sea [hereabouts] there are many

sage in a large merchantman, on board of which there were more than 200 men, and to which was

great ocean

attached by a rope a smaller vessel, as a provision against damage or injury to the large one from the

ing the sun, moon, and stars was it possible to go

perils of the navigation. With a favorable wind,

they proceeded eastwards for three days, and then they encountered a great wind. The vessel sprang a

pirates, to meet with whom is speedy death. The spreads out,

a boundless

expanse.

There is no knowing east or west; only by observ-

forward. If the weather were dark and rainy, [the ship] went as she was carried by the wind, without any definite course. In the darkness of the night, only the great waves were to be seen, breaking on

leak and the water came in. The merchants wished to go to the smaller vessel; but the men on board

one another, and emitting a brightness like that of

it, fearing that too many would come, cut the con-

deep [all about]. The merchants were full of ter-

fire, with huge turtles and other monsters of the

necting rope. The merchants were greatly alarmed,

ror, not knowing where they were going. The sea

feeling their risk of instant death. Afraid that the

was deep and bottomless, and there was no place

vessel would fill, they took their bulky goods and

where they could drop anchor and stop. But when

threw them into the water. Faxian also took his

the sky became clear, they could tell east and west,

pitcher and washing-basin, with some

other ar-

and [the ship] again went forward in the right di-

ticles, and cast them into the sea; but fearing that

rection. If she had come on any hidden rock, there

the merchants would cast overboard his books and images, he could only think with all his heart of Guanshiyin,* and commit his life to [the protection of] the Buddhist congregation of the land of Han,‘ [saying in effect], “I have traveled far in

would have been no way of escape. After proceeding in this way for rather more than ninety days, they arrived at a country called Java-dvipa,’

where

various

forms

of error

and

Brahminism are flourishing,® while Buddhism in

search of our Law. Let me, by your dread and su-

it is not worth speaking of. After staying there for

pernatural [power], return from my wanderings,

five months,’ [Faxian] again embarked in another

and reach my resting place!” In this way the tempest continued day and night, till on the thirteenth day the ship was car-

large merchantman,

ried to the side of an island, where, on the ebbing

Source: James Legge, trans., A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886). 'Ceylon. 2Four sutras to add to those he had collected in India. *3“Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” or “One Who Hears the Cries of the World,” this Bodhisattva is better known in China as Guanyin. (See Chapter 6, sources 38 and 39, for

a fuller treatment of this Mahayana Buddhist intermediary.) 4The Han Dynasty had collapsed in 220 c.c., but the Chinese still referred to China as the “land of Han.” 5The island of Java (see note 6), which lies to the east of Sumatra. If Faxian wanted a direct voyage home, Java was

which

also had on

board

more than 200 men. They carried provisions for fifty days, and commenced the voyage on the sixteenth day of the fourth month.

off course, and his putting in there was probably an unforeseen consequence of the storm. Sumatra, which forms the southern coast of the narrow Strait of Malacca, makes more sense as an intermediary stopping point. The strait connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea. °As part of “Greater India,’ Java had already been deeply influenced by Hindu culture, as had all of coastal Southeast Asia (Chapter 6, source 37). Indeed, its name, Jawadwip, is Sanskrit in origin (meaning “island shaped like a barley corn”) and was given it by Indian navigators.

’Probably waiting for favorable trade winds.

‘0 «

The Ancient World

Faxian kept his retreat on board the ship. They

honors the bhikshus.” The merchants hereupon

took a course to the north-east, intending to reach

were perplexed, and did not dare immediately to

Guangzhou. After more than a month, when the

land Faxian.

night-drum sounded the second watch, they encountered

a black wind

and tempestuous

rain,

which threw the merchants and passengers into consternation. Faxian again with all his heart di-

rected his thoughts to Guanshiyin and the monkish communities of the land of Han; and, through

their awesome

and mysterious

protection,

was

At this time the sky continued very dark and gloomy,

and the sailing-masters

looked

at one

another and made mistakes. More than seventy days passed [from their leaving Java], and the provisions and water were nearly exhausted. They used the salt-water of the sea for cooking, and carefully divided the [fresh] water, each man get-

preserved to daybreak. After daybreak, the Brah-

ting two pints. Soon the whole was nearly gone,

mins® deliberated together and said, “It is having

and the merchants took counsel and said, “At the

this Sramana’ on board that has occasioned our misfortune and brought us this great and bitter

ordinary rate of sailing we ought to have reached Guangzhou, and now the time is passed by many

suffering. Let us land the bhikshu'® and place

days;—must we not have held a wrong course?”

him on some island-shore. We must not for the

Immediately they directed the ship to the north-

sake of one man allow ourselves to be exposed to such imminent peril.” A patron of Faxian, how-

west, looking out for land; and after sailing day and night for twelve days, they reached the shore

ever, said to them, “If you land the bhikshu, you

on the south of mount Lao,''. . . and immediately

must at the same time land me; and if you do not,

got good water and vegetables. They had passed

then you must kill me. If you land this Sramana,

through many perils and hardships, and had been

when I get to the land of Han, I will go to the

in a state of anxious apprehension for many days

emperor, and inform against you. The emperor

together; and now suddenly arriving at this shore,

also reveres and believes the Law of Buddha, and

... they knew indeed that it was the land of Han. ,

*He probably means all Hindus on board, not just members of the Brahmin caste. °A Buddhist monk; as noted in source 16, originally the term was applied to Hindu mendicant ascetics.

'Another term for a Buddhist monk; it is also spelled as bhikkhu (source |7). ''On the Shandong Peninsula.

PART TWO

Faith, Devotion, and

Salvation: World Religions to 1500

Y ABOUT 200 B.c.£., two overarching religious traditions had taken shape in Eurasia. Indian civilization produced a wide variety of cults and religions, most important of which were Buddhism and

Brahminical Hinduism. Regardless of differences, all of India’s home-grown religions denied the reality of this world and sought release from it.And in Southwest Asia, two faiths emerged, Judaism and Zoroastrianism—

each of which focused on a single God of righteousness, whose believers saw themselves as agents in the transformation of the world according to moral precepts decreed by their God.

During the next 1,700 years, all four religions underwent significant changes. Zoroastrianism largely disappeared after the ninth century C.E.,

except for remnant communities in Iran, India, Central Asia, and China. Before it passed away as a major religion, Zoroastrianism had a profound impact on the teachings of several new faiths: Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. Judaism, which also exhibited Zoroastrian influences, survived, continued its historical evolution, and served as a major source for two

new religions: Christianity and Islam. Meanwhile, one school of Buddhist thought, the Mahayana sect, evolved into a faith that offered its believers

personal salvation. Mainstream Brahminical Hinduism never developed a clearly articulated doctrine of heavenly salvation as it is understood in the religious traditions of Christianity and Islam, but it did evolve a form of worship centered on an intensely personal and deeply emotional devotion to a single, select deity. 171

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universal, or world, religions. That is,

they found homes in a wide variety of cultural settings and claimed to offer salvation to all humanity. Of the four, Buddhism took up abode in the vast, heavily populated lands of South, Central, and East Asia. Islam was more widespread. By 1500, Islam dominated Southwest Asia and the entire breadth of North Africa. It further had deeply penetrated the east coast of Africa and the trading empires of interior West Africa

as well as the northern and central portions of India. It had spread through

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root

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regions of Southeast Asia, and touched many parts of China. It had even penetrated Europe. Islamic rulers controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula from the early eighth to the early thirteenth century, and it

was not until 1492 that Christian powers were able to conquer the final Islamic state in Spain. Meanwhile, during the fourteenth century,

Islam arrived in Europe’s Balkan region, where it has remained a vital force down to today. Christianity in its various forms took up residence in every part of the

Mediterranean, in Ethiopia and Nubia in northeastern Africa, in Armenia and Georgia in the southern Caucasus, throughout Western Europe, and among the Slavs of Eastern and Central Europe. In addition, small groups of Christians inhabited portions of western and eastern Central Asia, northern and western China, and the western shores of India. With the new age of European transoceanic explorations, fifteenth century and accelerated in the centuries erners transplanted Christianity throughout the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts of Africa, and, in a parts of East and South Asia.

which began in the that followed, WestAmericas, along the limited way, in various

Manichaeism, or the Religion of Light, which traced its origins to a

third-century Persian prophet from Babylonia named Mani (216-276), also claimed a world mission. Drawing deeply from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian elements, Mani articulated a religion

that postulated two coeternal, coequal principles: Light and Darkness.

Whereas Light is harmony, peace, and the spirit, Darkness is disorder, strife, and physical matter. Mani called upon all humanity to earn salvation by taking part in the cosmic struggle between

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Darkness—a struggle that must end in the triumph of Light and the end of the material world—and his missionaries went forth to preach a faith that they declared was the perfect completion of the messages of Mani’s three prophetic predecessors: the Buddha, Zarathustra, and Jesus the Messiah. Manichaeism

penetrated the Roman

and Chinese

empires, but it was never more than a minority movement in either. It essentially disappeared in the Mediterranean by the end of the sixth century, due to persecution by the Christian Roman

Empire, and in China, it eventually died out, unable to compete with Buddhism in its many forms. More serious, the triumph of Islam in Mesopotamia and lran in the seventh century led to its rapid eclipse in the land of its birth. Regardless of these setbacks, Manichaeism did not die an early death. Traveling east along the Silk Road, it made major inroads in eastern Central Asia, where it remained for almost an additional millennium, until it was drowned out there by the rising tide of Islam. By the seventeenth century, few living vestiges of this once-significant world

religion remained. Meanwhile, Judaism and Hinduism

expanded

beyond the confines

of their ethnic and geographic origins. The most notable example of conversion to Judaism was when the ruling families of the Khazars, a Turkic people inhabiting the upper Volga region between the Black and Caspian seas, embraced Judaism toward the middle of the eighth

century, possibly under the influence of Jewish refugees from Persia. Yet conversions of this sort were rare in Jewish history, and generally Jews

did not attempt to spread their religion beyond their ethnic boundaries.

Indian merchants and Brahmin teachers were more active disseminators of culture and religion than their Jewish counterparts. As we saw in

Chapter 5, Indians traveled in significant numbers across the waters of the Bay of Bengal, bringing Hindu culture, particularly that of southern India, to the coastal regions of Southeast Asia. The cults of Shiva and Vishnu were welcomed and patronized by local rulers in these lands

across the sea, but in the process, the cults were modified to fit their new host cultures. Despite this expansion, however, both Judaism and Hinduism remained far less universal in scope or appeal than Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, and maybe even Manichaeism.

if

Md

Chapter 6

Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World: 1600 2@ar URING THE FIRST AGE of Afro-Eurasian interchange, Buddhism and Hinduism experienced profound changes. The most far-reaching from the perspective of world history was a new form of Buddhist belief and devotion—the

Mahayana sect,

which offered the promise of salvation through the intermediacy of divine saviors. The message attracted many people suffering from the chaos of the breakdown of the first Afro-Eurasian Ecumene. During the first century 8.c.e., Mahayana Buddhist ideas began to enter China from Central Asian lands as far away as Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and in the centuries that followed, the Mahayana doctrine swept through East Asia, becoming the dominant form of Buddhist devotion (but in a wide variety of versions) in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Within Hinduism, a new movement known as bhakti, or the Way of Devotion, chal-

lenged the caste system, not surprisingly because it sprang up and was strongest in India’s Tamil regions of the south, which were far less touched by the Indo-Aryan castes that had originated in the north. Likewise, it was this new form of Hindu religion, not the caste system, that South Indian merchants transplanted among the emerging civilizations of Southeast Asia in the early centuries c.e. Without the Way of Devotion, Hinduism probably would not have spread significantly beyond the Indian subcontinent. In Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean, equally profound spiritual and religious changes were taking place. The mystery religions, which had roots deep into antiquity and in regions as distantly removed from one another as Egypt and Iran, swept through the Roman Empire’s many social classes, but especially those that were at least moderately well off. Some of the mystery religions were exclusive, so far as membership was concerned; others were fairly all-embracing. All, however, in one way or another, offered their devotees a special, personal relationship with a 175

¢ Faith, Devotion,

and Salvation:

World Religions to 1500

protector deity. Such gods and goddesses largely fell into two categories: deities of resurrection and rebirth, such as Dionysus (source 34);and mother goddesses, such as Cybele (source 24) and Isis (sources |, 34,and 40 and Multiple Voices I). Whereas the mystery religions promised individual transcendence from the normal human condition, a new form of Judaism, Rabbinical Judaism, continued to emphasize the entire community’s special relationship and Covenant with its God in the here-andnow, but it did so now in new and fruitful ways that placed greater moral responsibility on individuals. Indeed, its rabbis (teachers) placed a permanent stamp on Judaism as a religion and a culture that has persisted into the twenty-first century. In essence, the Judaism that exists today is post-biblical Rabbinical Judaism. Beyond the intrinsic value that they had for their devotees, both the mystery religions and Rabbinical Judaism proved to be wellsprings that fed a new religion: Christianity.To be sure, Christianity developed out of Judaism and shared in the intense religious atmosphere that gave rise to Judaism’s new religious elite—the rabbis.At the same time, however, in breaking away from its Judaic parent, Christianity focused on a deity of resurrection and rebirth, who promised salvation to all who accepted Him as savior.

Bhakti: The Way of Devotion In one of the Bhagavad Gita’s most famous scenes (which does not appear in the excerpt quoted in source 15), Krishna, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, teaches Arjuna that bhakti, or unconditional devotion to a god, is one of several yogas, or paths of selfless, god-focused action, by which a person can win release from the cycle of rebirth. Such a path to liberation appealed to many low-caste and casteless persons (as well as many women), who found strict and selfless conformity to the laws of dharma (the Yoga ofAction) unattractive. It likewise appealed to persons who lacked the temperament or leisure to attain release from the shackles of matter through asceticism, study of the sacred scriptures, and meditation (the Yoga of Knowledge). The Yoga of Devotion, in which one passionately adores a savior god, offered a promise of immediate liberation to everyone. In the Gupta Age (320—ca. 550 c.£.) and thereafter, there was an increasing tendency among many Hindus to reduce the myriad divine personifications of Brahman, the One,to three: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. Of this trinity, Brahma (not to be confused with Brahman, the Universal Soul) was the least widely worshiped because he was perceived as a remote kingly god who, after completing the process of creation, had retired from worldly affairs. However, Hindus, especially in South India, widely adored Vishnu and Shiva, and they became two of the great gods of Asia. The exported cult of Shiva was especially popular in Southeast Asia, where he merged with several local native deities and was adopted even by some Buddhist sects. Hindus who concentrated their worship on Vishnu or Shiva did not deny the existence of the many other divine and semidivine personalities who were part of the

Ty

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « traditional pantheon of India. They simply chose Shiva or Vishnu as gods of special devotion because each, in his way, was a loving personification of the totality of Divine Reality. Vishnu’s worshipers, for example, believed that he had selflessly blessed and taught humanity on a number of critical occasions in descents (avataras) from Heaven. On each occasion he took on either human or animal form and intervened on behalf of the forces of goodness to redress the equilibrium between good and evil. In fact, Vishnu’s worshipers regarded the Buddha as one of Vishnu’s nine chief avataras. Of all his various incarnations, however, the warriors Krishna and Rama enjoyed the widest devotional popularity. As Lord Krishna exemplified in the Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu’s emergence into this world provided humanity with a model of divine perfection. By offering exclusive and unqualified devotion to such a god, a worshiper hoped to share in that perfection. The development of bhakti, which met so many of the needs of members of India’s lower castes and social levels, helped Hinduism to counter successfully the challenge of Buddhism, especially that of the Mahayana school. Faxian, whom we saw in source 33, reported that Buddhist monasteries and festivals were an integral part of the cultural landscape of early-fifth-century India. A millennium later, all that had changed. By 1500 c.e., Buddhism,as a religion with an identity separate from Hinduism, had largely disappeared from the heartland of India. Many factors contributed to its disappearance, but one important reason was a Hindu renaissance during the Gupta Age that began and was strongest in the Tamil area of southern India. Tamil religious teachers and poets taught and sang about devotion to either Vishnu or Shiva, and their teachings and hymns traveled throughout India and across the waters of the Bay of Bengal to the coastal regions of Southeast Asia.

Shiva, Auspicious Destroyer 37 * TWO

IMAGES

OF SHIVA

Many people, especially those whose religions spring from the Southwest Asian tradition of ethical monotheism, might find it hard to accept the notion that a god whose primary function is destruction and death is regarded as a loving deity. Yet Shiva, the name of the Hindu god of destruction, means “auspicious.” Indeed, contradiction is central to the cult of Shiva. He is celebrated as the divine patron of holy persons and is often portrayed as Mahayogi (the Great Ascetic)—deep in meditation, with matted hair and covered with ashes, all of which are signs of those who have renounced the pleasures of the world. At the same time, he is celebrated as a fertility deity with an insatiable sexual appetite and is often portrayed as a sensuous lover. The first artifact illustrated here is a bronze statue of Shiva Nataraja (Shiva, Lord of the Dance) from the Chola kingdom of southern India (ca. 850-1250), an area of fervent devotion to this deity. The statue, cast probably in the eleventh century, represents the god engaged in an ecstatic cosmic dance by which he brings to an end one of the cosmos’s cycles of time and ushers in a new era. The statue’s symbols offer numerous clues as to how Shiva’s worshipers perceive him. Here he is dancing

Hi

§ © Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 within a circle of fire, but his face presents a countenance of absolute equanimity. His hair is piled up in a crown-like style, such as is worn by ascetics; flowing from the sides of his head are strands of hair intertwined with flowers and forming the shape of wings. According to one tradition, the sacred River Ganges, the Mother of India and the source of all life, flows from Shiva’s head. His crown-like head bun contains a crescent moon that represents both the cyclical nature of the cosmos and Kama, the god of nightly love. He wears two large earrings—one in the style of a man and the other in the style of a woman. His upper-left hand holds a devouring flame; his upper-right hand clasps an hourglass-like drum for beating out the endless rhythm of the universe, for he is also Lord of Time. The lower-right arm is entwined by a cobra, but the hand is raised in a mudra that we saw in Multiple Voices IV. The lower-left hand points to his raised left foot as a sign of release from the bonds of the material world. The other foot is planted firmly on the writhing body of Apasamara, the dwarf demon of ignorance and heedlessness. The second artifact comes from the kingdom of Champa that dominated southern and central Vietnam and flourished from the seventh through fourteenth centuries, largely due to its important role in the trade that passed through the waters of Southeast Asia. As often happens, religion accompanied trade goods, and Mahayana Buddhism and Shaivism (devotion to Shiva) equally became significant elements in Champa culture. The sandstone statue depicted here was carved in the eleventh or twelfth century and portrays Shiva in a seated yoga position. Originally he had ten arms, most of which were broken off long ago. Several elements identify the god as Shiva: the high hair bun with a crescent moon depicted in it; the two earrings; the snake coiled across his torso; and the skull goblet that barely survives in his top-left hand. We leave it for you to find a fifth characteristic. It is part of his body, and you might need a magnifying glass to see it clearly. Question 4 below provides a hint.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Consider first Shiva Nataraja. What double function does fire serve, especially in an agricultural society? Keeping in mind your answer and the fact that Shiva uses a drum to beat out the rhythm of the universe, what do you think the circle offire and the flame in his left hand represent? 2. If fire presents a double message, what other symbols in this statue give a similar double message? 3. Consider the demon of ignorance. How would an ignorant person regard death? What do you think Shiva’s triumph over this demon represents? 4. Compare Shiva’s physical attributes and gestures with those of the Buddha as portrayed in the various sculptures shown in Multiple Voices IV. What do you conclude from your study of these two sets of sculptures? 5. One of the primary doctrines of the bhakti movement is that a chosen savior god, Vishnu or Shiva, exercises all of the primary functions of the Godhead—creation, destruction, regeneration, preservation, and release. Can you find the appropriate symbols in this first statue that illustrate this belief? 6. Consider the second statue. What qualities of Shiva does it portray?

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « 179 7. Why do you think that Shiva has four and ten arms respectively in these statues? 8. Compare the two statues.Which are more striking, the similarities or the differences? Be specific in addressing this issue. Now, what do you conclude from your answer?

Shiva Nataraja

Champa Shiva

Indian School/Private Collection/Photo © Heini Schneebeli/The Bridgeman Art Library

© RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

Mahayana Buddhism: A Religion of Infinite Compassion Around the turn of the first millennium—ca. 50 B.c.£. to ca. 50 c.e.—a new form of Buddhism, Mahayana, or the Great Vehicle, emerged. The title is metaphorical: Mahayana sectarians, who follow many different traditions, share a common image of Buddhism as a great ferry that, under the guidance of enlightened pilots known as Bodhisattvas, carries all of humanity simultaneously across the river of life and suffering to salvation on the opposite shore. Conversely, Mahayanists term the older, more traditional form of Buddhism Hinayana, or the Small Vehicle. The image is of a one-person raft because Hinayana Buddhism centers on the single arahat, or perfected disciple, who individually attains Enlightenment and Nirvana through solitary meditation, normally within a monastic setting. Followers of this form of Buddhism—which today predominates in the island nation of Sri Lanka and several countries of mainland Southeast Asia, especially Burma and Thailand—dislike the term Hinayana, because it implies inferiority, and call their

80

¢ Faith, Devotion,

and Salvation:

World Religions to 1500

sect Theravada (the Teaching of the Elders), maintaining that their form of Buddhism preserves the faith’s earliest traditions. Evidence indicates that Mahayana Buddhism emerged in northwest India, far from the Buddha’s homeland and the regions in which he had taught, and quite possibly it was influenced by ideas regarding savior deities emanating from Hellenistic Southwest Asia and Parthia.According to Mahayana belief, the historical Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama, who came from the Shakya clan) was not unique. There have been many cosmic Buddhas who lived before and after Gautama and who now preside over countless heavens that serve as way stations to Nirvana. Additionally, there are infinite numbers of Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva means “an enlightened being.” Although they have attained Enlightenment, these compassionate perfected beings delay Buddhahood and Nirvana in order to lead all humanity to salvation, drawing upon the countless merits they accumulated in their perfect lives of selflessness to achieve this task. Those whom they save become, in turn, Bodhisattvas, who then delay their entry into Nirvana in order to help others. Through this pyramid of selfless compassion, ultimately all humanity will cross together into Nirvana,a state of perfect bliss. This comforting, nonexclusive doctrine was destined to become the basis of aworld religion, and during the first millennium of the Common Era, it spread throughout most of Central and East Asia.

Perceiver of the World’s Sounds:

A Bodhisattva for All Emergencies 38 ¢ TALES OF GUANSHIYIN When faced with disaster on the high seas, the Chinese monk Faxian sought the protection of Guanshiyin (Multiple Voices IV, source 5). Guanshiyin was (and is today) the Chinese version of the Indian Bhodhisattva Avalokitesvara, whose name in Sanskrit means “The Lord who perceives the sounds of the world,” the sounds being cries of anguish and prayers for help. The cult of Avalokitesvara entered China as early as 255 c.e., thanks to an early Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra, the primary text for the cult of this Bodhisattva. In this Mahayana scripture, the Shakyamuni Buddha promises that because of his infinite compassion and merit, Avalokitesvara will miraculously intervene on behalf of anyone in distress who simply utters his name, and he will take on any form to effect whatever relief is needed. Moreover, Avalokitesvara vowed not to rest until he has freed all sentient beings from reincarnation and carried them to Nirvana. When brought to China, Avalokitesvara’s name was initially translated into three characters: Guan (observe)

Shi (world) Yin (voices). In the age of turmoil that followed the collapse of the Han regime, this doctrine proved quite comforting, and devotion to Guanshiyin spread throughout China and beyond into Tibet, Korea, and Japan. In China, scriptures relating to him, such as the Lotus Sutra and the later Guanshiyin Sutra, were far and away the most popular of all

} Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World «

7 8

i

} i

Buddhist texts, and paintings of Guanshiyin’s saving people from every sort of danger covered the walls of Buddhist shrines. It is safe to say that Guanshiyin became the most popular Bodhisattva by far in China and enjoyed equal popularity throughout the rest of East Asia, where he/she was known by a variety of names (see source 39). The period from the late fourth century to the late sixth century was particularly hard on the people of northern China. Various non-Chinese nomads, whom the Chinese called caitiffs (base and despicable people), invaded and exploited the region north of the Yangzi River.To make matters worse, periodic floods, famines, and plagues devastated the land, and rebellions and civil wars were endemic throughout all of China. In the midst of this chaos, a small number of pious monks and laypeople began to collect and record stories of Guanshiyin’s miraculous interventions. They believed that by so doing they would earn merit by spreading the cult of aBodhisattva who was available to all who called upon him. Roughly 470 such stories exist in known manuscripts produced before the seventh century. The following four tales are part of that devotional literature. QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What are the criteria for Guanshiyin’s bestowing mercy on a recipient? In other words, what does a person have to be or do? What inferences follow from your answer?

2. What happened to Wang Tao after he had been saved by Guanshiyin? What insight do you reach based on your answer? 3. Buddhism faced a good deal of opposition from Chinese traditionalists during these centuries (Chapter 8, Multiple Voices VII). Does knowing that help you place these stories into a fuller context? Explain your answer.

The Widow Li There was a widow surnamed Li who lived in Liang Province.' Her family had long been Buddhist;

a moonless night, and Li could not bear to send

they faithfully kept every fast day and attended

her away. Soon officials came to register Li [on the population list], and their report stated that she

meetings. Each time she would listen to sutra read-

was harboring a rebellious female slave.* Once this

ings; as soon as they were over, she could recite the

register was submitted [to the authorities], Li was

sutra herself. Later, a [Chinese] woman who had

jailed. Then with a perfect mind she recited the

been made a princess among the caitiffs suddenly . [showed up and] sought refuge in Li’s home. It was

Source: From Dofiald S. Lopez Jr., ed., Religions of China in Practice (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996),

pp. 86-89, 90-91. Copyright © Robert Campany. 'Present-day Gansu Province along China’s northwestern border. The Gansu Corridor is a narrow defile between

Guanshiyin Sutra and was able to keep reciting it continuously for over ten days.

mountains and desert that served as an avenue of incursion for invading nomads from the western steppes. 2A rebel against the non-Chinese lords who controlled the

area.

182 * Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 Suddenly in the middle of the day she saw Guanshiyin. He asked her why she did not leave {her cell]; she replied that it was impossible. He

then said: “Just get up.” On doing so she found that her shackles were already unfastened, and

then she quickly found herself back at home. The warden and the guards were all completely unaware of her departure. Later when the caitifts learned of her escape, they sent someone to ques-

tion her and find out how she had managed to return home. She told them everything that had

happened. She was not rearrested.

The Birth of a Son Sun Daode . . . was a Daoist and a libationer.* He still had no son even after passing the age of fifty. In the year 423 a [Buddhist] monk who lived in a

monastery nearby told Daode: “If you are determined to have a son, you must

respectfully and

with a perfect mind recite the Guanshiyin Sutra.

You may then hope for success.” Daode then gave up serving the Dao; with single-minded sincerity

he took refuge in Guanshiyin. Within a few days he had a dream-response. His wife was indeed pregnant, and subsequently she gave birth to a boy.’

Two Rebels

Formerly, when the bandit Sun stirred up rebellion,? many people living near the coast, both aristocrats and commoners, fled the destruction.

A Conversion

Wang Tao came from the Zhaodu district of the capital. He was by nature violent and cruel, and in

A group of a dozen or so people were about

his youth he was leader of aband of young toughs.

to be executed in the eastern marketplace. Only

After reaching the age of thirty he settled down in a forest. Once he encountered a tiger eating its

one among them respected the Dharma, and this man began chanting [the name of] Guan-

captured prey. He drew his bow and shot it, and it

shiyin with perfect sincerity. Another man who

fled, injured; but there was another tiger that chased

was sitting with him asked him what he was doing. He replied: “I have heard that the scriptures of the Buddha’s Dharma mention a Bodhisattva Guanshiyin who saves people from distress. So I am taking refuge in him.” The other man then followed his example. When the

him down and crushed both his arms with its fangs, and still would not let him go. Tao suddenly remem-

hour of execution

was still angry and resentful, roaring as it circled around him. Tao once more tempered his heart and perfected his thoughts. The tiger then finally went away. Tao returned home and swore that if he did not die from his wounds he would revere the

arrived,

the official list [of

those to be executed] was found to be lacking just the names of these two people. This created shock

and panic in the crowd,

and everyone

fled in different directions. These two men followed the crowd and were thus able to escape

bered having once heard a monk speak of Guanshiyin, so he now took refuge in and meditated on [the Bodhisattva] with a perfect mind. The tiger at once let him go, and he was able to get up. But it

Buddha and undertake the [lay] precepts.° He soon

execution.

recovered and so in the end became a devout man.

Sun En led a Daoist-inspired peasant rebellion in 399-400. *He was a leader for communal affairs and rituals of a Daoist religious movement known as the Way of the Celestial Masters This particular cult traced its origin to the prophet Zhang Daoling, who in 142 claimed a revelation from the Most High Lord Lao—the now-deified Laozi (source 20).

°Guanshiyin became increasingly associated with fertility and childbirth and slowly metamorphosed into a female Bodhisattva. See source 39. *He would live as a devout Buddhist layman. The precepts he vowed to follow included refraining from killing all living beings (see source |7, notes 8 and 9).

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World «

Portraying Compassion 39

* FOUR

IMAGES

OF PERCEIVER

OF THE WORLD’S

SOUNDS

Mahayana Buddhists spread their faith through every available medium, which in China included mass printing of the sacred texts, beginning in the era of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The oldest extant printed book known today is a Chinese copy of the Diamond

Sutra, which

dates from

868. But sutras were

not enough. Peo-

ple, especially the illiterate, needed artistic representations of the Bodhisattvas to whom they prayed. Statues and paintings of Bodhisattvas became fixtures wherever Mahayana beliefs took root, and as the following four images of Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, whom we encountered in source 38, demonstrate, representations of Bodhisattvas took many different forms. In India, Avalokitesvara was portrayed in several different ways, but one of the more popular forms was as an androgynous young man, and he carried that image to China, where, as we have seen, he was initially known as Guanshiyin. Early in the Tang era, the name was shortened to Guanyin. In China, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds underwent a sex change. This probably was due to two factors.As noted in the previous source introduction, in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha remarks that this Bodhisattva will assume any form whatsoever in order to save a devotee. In China, Guanyin took on the dual functions of making women fertile (especially so that they could bear male children) and protecting women in childbirth. Consequently, a few artists began, as early as the late sixth century, to portray the Bodhisattva as a woman. Two images of the Bodhisattva, male and female, coexisted for quite a while, but the female became increasingly popular by the beginning of the twelfth century and totally won out by the sixteenth century. Whether called Guanyin or Kannon, her Japanese name, she became the most widely beloved and prayed-to Bodhisattva in East Asia.A pure and benevolent spirit, she was the gateway to the Pure Land, or Western Paradise, a heavenly way station of bliss on the road to Nirvana presided over by the Amitaba Buddha, one of the great cosmic Buddhas, whose image Guanyin bore on his/her crown. Our first image is a painting on a silk banner discovered among a hoard of paintings and texts at a site known as the Mogao Caves outside of the oasis town of Dunhuang, China’s far-western gateway to the Silk Road. Dated August 22,910, it depicts a male Avalokitesvara/Guanyin standing on a lotus blossom and wearing an ornate gown, jewelry, and a tasseled crown, typical accoutrements for Bodhisattvas. He holds a flask of heavenly dew and a willow sprig.A touch of the willow sprinkled with the dew cures all physical and spiritual disorders. The lotus,or water lily, which has iconographic origins in ancient Egyptian art, where it symbolized eternity,isone of the most common Buddhist symbols of Nirvana, chosen because this flower, rooted in mud, rises through stagnant water to free itself in purity and beauty. (Compare the statues of the Buddha in Multiple Voices IV.) Flanking the Bodhisattva are two deceased persons: the Very Reverend Nun Yanhui (on the left as we view the painting) and Probationary Chamberlain Zhang Youcheng, who is presenting a lotus. The dedication inscription in the green cartouche in the upper right corner reads:"Praise to the great merciful, great compassionate savior from hardship, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,

84 « Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

in perpetual offering. Offered in the hope that the empire may be peaceful and that the Wheel of the Law [Dharma] may be continually turned therein. Second, on behalf of my elder sister and teacher [the nun Yanhui] and on behalf of the souls of my deceased parents, that they may be born again in the Pure Land, | reverently made this Great Holy One and with whole heart dedicated it.’ The patron, the elder brother of Zhang Youcheng, believed that the merit incurred by his outlay of funds for this expensive votive banner would aid the souls of his siblings and parents in reaching the Pure Land and would help ensure peace for the empire. Unbeknownst to the patron, who was in far-off Dunhuang in the Gobi Desert, China’s Tang Dynasty and its empire had collapsed four years earlier. The second artifact is a tenth-century gilded and lacquered wooden statue depicting Avalokitesvara with a Thousand Arms and a Thousand Eyes. This statue has only three heads, but often the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara is depicted with eleven heads. Neither eleven nor three heads could contain a thousand eyes, so an eye is imprinted on each hand, making for a symbolic count of one thousand. The third artifact is an ivory statuette of Guanyin as Songzi (the Child-Giver), dating from the early Ming era (1368-1644). Images of Guanyin holding a child only began to appear in China in the early fourteenth century. The fourth representation of this Bodhisattva is a painting on silk with gold and silver highlights of Bato Kannon (The Horse-Crowned Bodhisattva of Compassion), from mid-twelfth-century Japan. During the Heian era (794-1185), Kannon, the Japanese version of Guanyin, was worshipped in many guises. Here, as the Horse-Crowned, or Horse-Headed, Bodhisattva, a cult that originated in eighth-century China and traveled to Korea and Japan, Kannon presides over the animal realm. Each of the Six Realms of Reincarnation, into which the reborn souls of all sentient creatures pass as they journey from body to body, has its own protecting Kannon.As the Kannon of the animal realm, he is the protector of animals, especially horses and cattle, and warriors. He is also the Bodhisattva to whom one prays to escape rebirth as an undesirable animal. A large number of symbols are incorporated into the painting, but only a few concern us. Each of Kannon’s three heads has a crown into which is set an image of a horse. As noted above, normally Kannon, Guanyin, and Avalokitesvara wear a crown bearing the image of the Amitaba Buddha. Two mudras are displayed among his eight hands. In the center, two hands create the horse-mouth mudra, which represents “sprinkling the nectar of immortality” and promises protection and salvation. His lowest right hand with open palm symbolizes welcoming, charity, and blessing. As you study this last Bodhisattva, be aware that his image displays the worldview of a branch of Mahayana Buddhism known as Tantrism (or Esoteric Buddhism). Tantrism, which originated in Hindu beliefs and practices, emphasizes magic, esoteric rituals, and iconic symbols that have multiple, often hidden meanings. Beyond that, Tantrism stresses the doctrine of non-dualism, a rejection of the notion that apparently contradictory elements—such as life and death, female and male, goodness and evil—are truly opposed to one another. Tantric Buddhism was (and remains) particularly prevalent in Tibet and Mongolia, and this statue displays some markedly Tibetan influences, but it is decidedly and totally Japanese.

\

QUESTIONS

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FOR ANALYSIS

|. What is the message of the first image shown here? 2. Why does Guanyin have a thousand hands and eyes? 3. This is a question best answered after you have studied several sources in Chapters 10 and ||. Can you think of any religious images from a far-distant culture that are similar to the Child-Giving Guanyin? Does that answer help explain why this particular image emerged in the fourteenth century? 4. Why do you think the Horse-Crowned Kannon looks so fearsome and fierce? In addressing this issue, compare the painting with the two sculptures of Shiva in source 37. What do you conclude from your analysis? 5. Compare the four Bodhisattvas.What do their similarities and differences suggest about Mahayana beliefs and devotion?

NY Resource, Museum/Art British the of Trustees The ©

Avalokitesvara with the Nun Yanhui and Zhang Youcheng

Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

De Library/G. Picture Orti/The Agostini Dagli Library Art Bridgeman

Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin

Child-Giving Guanyin

Caluatt

Vitel

tbe

OF

World Religions to

1500

Japanese (12th School century) /Museum Arts, Fine of Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Bato Kannon

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World «

Two Different Religious Visions:

The Mystery Religions and Rabbinical Judaism Just as Mahayana Buddhism, a foreign import, provided solace to many millions of Chinese who sought a deeper and more personal spiritual experience than was provided by traditional household and state religious rituals, so also the mystery religions of the eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia helped many Romans and non-Romans alike to cope with the stresses of life. The attractions of these religions became pronounced in the first century c.e. when the Greco-Roman world became increasingly vast and complex, thereby contributing to a heightened level of anxiety and alienation.As the empire began to undergo frightening challenges from the late second century onward, conversions to the empire’s many mystery religions multiplied many times over. The shared assumption was that through a process of initiation, a devotee was transformed into a new person. By virtue of that transformation, or rebirth, the new member was admitted to the religion’s mysteries, or secret knowledge, and participation in its equally secret rites. Such knowledge and rituals were believed to lead to everlasting tranquility. Membership in this select body of worshippers also provided a believer with the immediate support of a community of like-minded individuals and the promise of prosperity in this world and of salvation after death. As exclusive as these communities of believers might seem to have been, however, they did not demand exclusive devotion to a particular deity. Conversion and initiation did not preclude one’s being initiated into another or even several other mystery religions. After all, if devotion to one savior deity was desirable, service to two or more was more so. One could never have enough salvation insurance. Because they were, paradoxically, both secret and non-exclusive at the same time, many historians prefer to refer to them as mystery cults. The distinction between “religion” and “cult” seems overly subtle. They were religions in every sense of the term. There was nothing secret about Rabbinical Judaism, although the mental gymnastics and logical hair-splitting of some of its rabbis might appear mysterious to those not of the faith. At the same time, Rabbinical Judaism was exclusive insofar as it was the religion of a Chosen People who had a Covenant with its God (sources 13 and 19). Although it received some converts from “God-fearing” gentiles who were attracted to monotheism, in the early centuries of the Common Era its membership tended to be exclusively drawn from one ethnic group—people who claimed direct descent from the ancient Israelites. The sacred homeland of these latter-day Israelites, or Jews, a land they believed had been given them in perpetuity by their God, came under direct Roman rule in 6 c.£. when it was transformed into the province of Judea. Many Jews chafed under

190

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

the rule of non-believers whose very presence they believed was an affront to their faith and religious practices. Consequently, in 66 c.e. the Jews of Palestine broke out in general rebellion against Roman occupation, and it took the Roman armies seven bloody years to root out the last vestiges of insurgency. In the process, Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed in the year 70. Again in 132, another Jewish revolt against Roman authority flared up, and when it was finally suppressed in 135, the rebuilt remnants of ancient Jerusalem had been transformed into a Roman military camp that was closed to Jewish habitation. Long before the destruction of the Temple and their sacred city, Jews had established prosperous communities throughout the Greco-Roman, Persian, and Arabic worlds. After these two unsuccessful rebellions, the Jewish flight from Palestine reached the proportions of a folk migration, and the vast majority of Jews now resided outside of their ancestral lands. The Great Dispersion, or Diaspora, was under way. Regardless, Judaism survived as a living faith and culture because wherever Jews settled, they remained faithful to the memory of their special Covenant with God and their dream of returning to the Promised Land. Moreover, despite its innate conservatism, born of a need to maintain contact with the ways of the past, Judaism continued to be flexible. Jews proved adaptable to a variety of alien settings, and over the centuries Judaism continued its historical development in response to the needs of its various scattered communities. The primary agents responsible for cementing dispersed Jewish communities together and keeping alive Judaism's distinctive traditions were its religious teachers, or rabbis. The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem occasioned a shift in religious emphasis and leadership. The old priesthood that had performed Temple sacrifices lost its primacy, giving way to rabbis who presided over congregations that met to pray and study in synagogues (places of assembly). Unlike the priests of old, rabbis did not inherit their positions by birth; they achieved prominence because of their reputations for piety and mastery of the Law. During the first six centuries of the Common Era, rabbis, especially groups of them residing in Palestine and Babylon, articulated a vision of Judaism that recognized only prayer and righteous conduct as legitimate forms of communication with the Divine. There were no heavenly saviors and no magical rituals. This was to become the core of mainstream Judaism down to the present.

Isis: The Goddess Who 40

e LUCIUS

APULEIUS,

Saves

METAMORPHOSES

The mystery religions offered a variety of savior deities who promised salvation to their worshipers. They included Mithras, an Iranian sun god whose cult was open only to men; Cybele, or the Great Mother, a fertility goddess from Anatolia; and Demeter, a Greek goddess of fertility and agriculture, who was intimately connected with the Eleusinian mysteries that were celebrated annually at Eleusis in Greece and had roots that went back to about 1600 8.c.e. The most popular savior deity of all in

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « the early Roman Empire was Isis, an Egyptian goddess of resurrection whose origins go back to the earliest days of Egyptian civilization. Her cult as a loving mother of all humanity began to become Mediterranean-wide in the second century 8.c.€. In the first several centuries C.e.,her temples were to be found throughout the empire. Save for the fact that Isis’s followers were not prevented from worshiping other deities, her cult might almost be termed monotheistic, so all powerful was she believed to be. Once Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, some of her titles, attributes, and symbols were transferred to Mary, mother ofJesus.

Our single most important source for the cult of Isis is the Metamorphoses, also known as The Golden Ass, a multi-layered, allegorical novel by Lucius Apuleius (ca. 123-185 c.e.), a native of the city of Madauros in North Africa (in present-day Algeria). In this work, Apuleius, through a sophisticated blending of bawdy comedy and moral instruction, traced his personal spiritual journey to Isis. In the following selection, the goddess miraculously appears to the novel’s hero, Lucius.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What does Isis promise her devotees, and what does she demand of them? By implication, what happens to those who do not serve her? 2. Question 5 of Multiple Voices IV (Chapter 5) defines syncretism as “adaptive adoption.” Another way of defining it is:“the combination or reconciliation of differing cultural values, traditions, and modes of belief or opinion.” What evidence is there of this phenomenon in the present document? What does the evidence of syncretism in this source suggest about the Greco-Roman Ecumene of the second century C.E.? 3. There was a tendency in the Greco-Roman world of late antiquity for many pious individuals to search for a common, unifying Divine Reality behind all of the different religious beliefs and practices of their day. Can you find evidence of this phenomenon here? Why do you think there was this tendency? 4. Compare the view of the afterlife presented in this work with that of the Odyssey (source |10). What has changed, and what has remained the same? Which seem more significant, the continuities or the changes? What factors do you think might have influenced the changes? 5. Refer back to source 37, question 5. Can the same be said of Isis that is said of Shiva?

“Behold, Lucius, here

1am, moved by your prayers.

I am the Mother of all Nature, the Mistress of all

the elements, the First-Born of the ages, the Supreme Deity, Queen of the dead, the foremost Source: Translated by A. J]. Andrea. Copyright © 2014 A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved.

heavenly being, the unchanging manifestation of all the gods and goddesses. By my will, I govern the lofty stars of heaven, the health-giving breezes of the sea, and the bitter silence of those in the

192

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 is worshiped

Through my providence, a day of salvation is now

worldwide in various forms, in different rites, and

dawning for you. . . . But above all remember and understand deep in the recesses of your heart

Underworld.

My single godhead

under a variety of names. Thus the Phrygians,’ the earliest race of people, call me Pessinuntia, Mother

that the remaining course of your life, right to the

of the gods; the aboriginal natives of Attica® call

limit of your last breath, is pledged to me. It is not

me

wrong that you render to her, through whose favor

Cecropian

Minerva;

the people of Cyprus,

who travel the sea, call me

Paphian Venus;* the

archer Cretans call me Diana of Mount Dicte;’ the

trilingual® inhabitants of Sicily call me Ortygian Proserpina;’

the

Eleusinians

know

me

as

the

you shall return to human company,” the remainder of your life. You shall live as one of the blessed. You will live in full glory under my protection, and when you have completed the span of time allot-

ancient goddess Ceres;* some know me as Juno,’

ted to you, you will pass down to the Underworld.

others as Bellona.!® . . . Those, however, who are

There also, in that subterranean hemisphere, you

illuminated by the first rays of the rising sun god,

shall often worship me, whom you now see as the

the Ethiopians, the Africans, and those who excel

honor with my distinctive rites and call me by my

one who favors you, shining amid dark gloom of Acheron’ and reigning in the Stygian'* depths, while you dwell amidst the Elysian Fields.” If by

true name, Queen Isis.

diligent obedience,

Here I am, taking pity on your miseries; here I am, benevolent and protective. Put aside your tears. Cease your lamentations. Stop grieving.

purity

in ancient lore, the Egyptians,''

1

all these do me

'An ancient people of Anatolia. The peninsula on which Athens is located. *Cecrops was the legendary founder and first king of Athens, who devoted the city to the goddess of wisdom, Athena (Minerva in Latin). ‘Paphos, a seaside town on Cyprus, was the reputed birthplace and center of the cult of Aphrodite (Venus in Latin), goddess of love. *Diana was the Latin counterpart to Artemis, the Greek goddess of light, the moon, and hunting. Mount Dicte is in eastern Crete. °Greek, Latin, and Sicilian, their native tongue. 7Proserpina (Persephone in Greek) was queen of the Underworld; Ortygia is an island off the Sicilian city of Syracuse. ®Eleusis was a town on the Attic peninsula dedicated to Demeter (Ceres in Latin), goddess of agriculture and mother of Persephone/Proserpina.

16

pious service,

and steadfast

you prove worthy of Our godhead, know

that I alone have the power to prolong your life even beyond the span prescribed by your destiny.” ‘Juno (Hera in Greek) was sister, consort, and female counterpart to Jupiter (Zeus in Greek), king of the gods. Hence, she was queen of Heaven. ‘Roman goddess of war. "Apuleius distinguishes among the black-skinned peoples of the south (the Ethiopians), the lighter-skinned Mediterranean peoples of North Africa (the Africans), and the Egyptians. "In this allegory, Lucius had been magically metamorphosed into an ass, the symbol of sexual debauchery and an unspiritual life. Now, through Isis’s intervention, he is being returned to human form. "Several rivers that were thought to be connected in the lower world.

The Styx was the river that encircled the nether regions seven times.

‘The others '*Keep ingless

area of the Underworld reserved for heroes and beloved by the gods (source 10, note 18). in mind that Isis is saving Lucius from a life of meancarnal pleasures (note |2).

A Commentary on the Law 41 ° THE The

BABYLONIAN

Talmud, which

means

TALMUD

“instruction”

or “learning,”

is a collection

of post-

biblical laws, customs, moral teachings, and edifying stories compiled in Jerusalem

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « /

’

‘

’

’

’

r

and Mesopotamia during the first six centuries c.e.As far as Rabbinical Judaism is concerned, it is second in authority only to the Tanakh, or Bible. Indeed, the Talmud is Rabbinical Judaism, inasmuch as it preserves the oral law and traditions of the early synagogues, where learned sages interpreted the Law of Moses in ways that accorded with changing circumstances. Thus, the Talmud became and remains the basis for interpreting a living law that regulates all aspects of Jewish life. Rather than being the final word on a legal question, it is the starting point for learned debate. The Talmud consists of two major divisions. The Mishnah (Repetition, or Study), which was edited around 200 c.e. in Palestine, is a compendium of rabbinical teachings regarding aspects of the Law. The Gemara (Explanation, or Teaching) consists of two separate collections of commentaries on the Mishnah.An earlier, shorter, and less authoritative edition was completed in Palestine sometime before 400 c.e. A larger and richer edition was completed sometime before 600 c.e. in Babylonia, the Mesopotamian region of the Sassanian Empire. When combined with the Mishnah, the former is known as the Palestinian Talmud, and the latter is known as

the Babylonian Talmud. Our selection, which comes from the Babylonian Talmud, illustrates the type of debate that Talmudic scholars engaged in. The issue under consideration here is the duty of every Jew to marry and raise a family. The Mishnah sets out the problem by first stating the traditional Jewish understanding of this obligation and its biblical foundation. It then informs the reader of how the two major schools of early rabbinical thought, the Beit Shammai and the Beit Hillel, interpreted the obligation. It then presents a third opinion—that of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, an early rabbinical sage. Following this comes the commentary of the Gemara.

QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS |. Rabbi Nathan’s citation of the opinions of the Beit Shammai and the Beit Hillel, as

2.

3. 4. 5.

set down in the Gemara, seems to contradict the opinions of those two schools as they appear in the Mishnah.Why do you think the Gemara includes this apparent error or contradiction? What does your answer suggest about the Gemara and its sources? Likewise, the Gemara cites Rabbi Joshua’s opinion, with which the Mishnah does not agree. Why do you think Rabbi Joshua’s opinion appears here? What does your answer suggest about the nature and purpose of the Gemara? What does the story about Ben Azzai suggest, and why do you think it was preserved? How do these rabbis use Scripture to support their arguments? What does your answer suggest about their view of the Bible? What is the main weight of opinion regarding marriage and procreation, and what does this suggest about Judaism?

* Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

A person should not abstain from carrying out the obligation to “be fruitful and multiply”! unless he already has two children. The Beit Shammai* ruled: This means two sons, and the Beit Hillel’

ruled: A son and a daughter, because it is written: “Male and female He created them.”* The duty of procreation applies to a man, but not to a woman. R. Yohanan b. Beroka said: Concerning both it is written: “And God blessed them and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply.” Mishnah

has a son and a daughter, and according to the

Beit Hillel if he has a son or a daughter. Said Rava: What is the reason for the view of the Beit Hillel? It is written: “He created it not to be a waste, He formed it to be inhabited,’* and [by

having a son or a daughter] he has already contributed to making it a place of habitation... . The Mishnah does not agree with the view

of R. Joshua, for it was taught that R. Joshua stated: If aperson married in his youth he is also to marry in his old age; if he had children in his youth, he is also to have children in his old age,

This means that if he has children he may abstain from the duty of procreation but he may not abstain from the duty of living with a wife. This supports the view of R. Nahman who reported a ruling in the name of Samuel,° that even though

a person has many children, he may not remain without a wife, as it is written: “It is not good for a man to be alone.”” Others held the view that if he had children, he may abstain from the duty of procreation and he may also abstain from the duty of living with a wife. Shall we say that this contradicts what was reported by R. Nahman in the name of Samuel? No. If he has no children, he is

for it is written: “Sow your seed in the morning and do not withdraw your hand in the evening,

for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Said R. Tanhum in the name of R. Hanilai: A person who is without a wife is without joy, with-

out blessing, without good. Without joy—as it is written: “You shall rejoice, you and your household”;'® without blessing—as it is written: “That

a blessing may rest on your house”! [“house” in such a context has generally been interpreted to mean one’s wife]; without good—as it is written:

“It is not good for a man to be alone.”"? In Palestine

capable of having a child, but

they said: He is without Torah,'’ and without pro-

if he already has children, he may marry a woman who is incapable of having children. Elsewhere it was taught: R. Nathan said: Ac-

tection [from the ravages of life]. Without Torah— as it is written: “In truth, I have no one to help me [a wife], and sound wisdom [Torah] is driven

cording to the Beit Shammai,

a person satisfies

from me’;'*

the obligation to “be fruitful and multiply” if he

“A woman

Source: Excerpts from The Talmud, translated by Ben Zion Bokser, Copyright© 1989 by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/ Mahwah, N.J. Used with permission of Paulist Press. www -paulistpress.com. 'The Bible, Genesis 1:28. “Literally, “the House of Shammai,’ namely the school that followed the teachings of Rabbi Shammai, a teacher who lived at the turn of the millennium—the late first century B.c.e. and the early first century C.E.

‘The Bible, ®A prophet the source ’The Bible, ®The Bible,

to marry a woman

*Along with Shammai, Hillel (ca. 70 8.c.e.—ca. 10 c.£.) was the dominant interpreter of the Torah, or Law, of his day and had a school of disciples. ‘The Bible, Genesis 5:2.

14

without protection—as

it is written:

protects a man.””’ R. b. Ila said: He

Genesis 1:28. of the eleventh century 8.c.e. Citing Samuel as gives the opinion greater authority. Genesis 2:18. Isaiah 45:18.

*The Bible, Ecclesiastes | 16. ‘The Bible, Deuteronomy 14:26. ''The Bible, Ezekiel 44:30. "The Bible, Genesis 2:18. 'The Law, the first five books of the Bible, ascribed to Moses.

'sThe Bible, Job 6:13. 'SThe Bible, Jeremiah 31:22.

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « is without peace—as it is written: “And you shall know that your tent [when presided over by one’s wife] is at peace, and you will visit your habitation and you will not sin.”'®. The rabbis taught: When one loves his wife as himself, and honors her more than himself, and trains his sons and daughters in the right path and arranges for their marriage at a young age— concerning such a person does the verse say: “And you shall know that your tent is at peace.” Said R. Eleazar: A man without a wife is not a complete man, as it is written: “Male and female created He them, and He called their name adam, ‘man,* It was taught: R. Eliezer said: A person who does not share in propagating the race is as though

he were

guilty of bloodshed,

for it is

written: “Whoever sheds the blood of a person, by man shall his blood be shed,”'* and following this is the verse “and you be fruitful and multiply.”"? R. Jacob said: Ir is as though he '®The Bible, Job 5:24. '7The Bible, Genesis 5:2. '8The Bible, Genesis 9:6.

diminished

195

the divine image, for it is written:

“For in the image of God He made man.””? Ben Azzai said: It is as though he shed blood, and diminished the divine image, for after both the reference to bloodshed and the divine we have the admonition: “And you be fruitful and multi-

ply.” They said to Ben Azzai [who was unmarried]: Some preach well and practice well, some

act well but do not preach well, but you preach well but do not act well. Ben Azzai answered

them: What can I do, I am addicted to the study

of the Torah. ‘The continuity of the world can be assured through others.

Other Sages say: He causes the divine presence to depart from Israel. Thus it is written: “[I

will keep my covenant] to be God to you and to your descendants after you.”*! When there are descendants after you, the divine presence will be with them, but when

there are not de-

scendants after you, with whom

will the divine

presence be? With sticks and stones? ''The Bible, Genesis 9:7. °The Bible, Genesis 9:7. 2!The Bible, Genesis |7:7.

Christianity Judaism’s special covenant with God bound it body and soul to the Lord of the Universe. Most Jews, therefore, believed that the Lord had given them, His Chosen People, a sanctified homeland, and when they were dispossessed of that inheritance and scattered among the gentiles, they believed it was because of their sins. They further believed that should they reform their ways and observe their holy Covenant with God, they would regain sovereign possession of Palestine. For it was by divine mandate that this Holy Land and its Chosen People be ruled according to the Law given through Moses (source |3). Not all Jewish sects, however, accepted this interpretation of the Covenant. One dissident element was a small body of religious Jews who gathered around a prophet from Nazareth called Joshua, or, in Greek, Jesus (ca. 4 8.c.e.-ca. 30 c.£.). The heart of Jesus’ message was that the promised messianic Kingdom of God was at hand. The Messiah (the Anointed One)—God’s promised deliverer—was generally expected to be a political and military leader, who would re-establish Israel as a free state.

> © Faith, Devotion,

and Salvation:

World Religions to 1500

Jesus, to the contrary, expanding upon themes in the teachings of Second Isaiah (source 19), preached that the Messiah would usher in a spiritual age of judgment and redemption. As his ministry developed, Jesus became convinced that he was the Messiah. Although he claimed, “My kingdom is not of this Earth,” local Roman and Jewish authorities were disquieted by the apparent threat to the establishment posed by Jesus and his followers, and they collaborated to execute him by crucifixion. Jesus’ followers believed, however, that he rose from the dead, appeared to a number of his friends, and then ascended to Heaven with the promise of returning soon to sit in judgment of all humanity. Believing that his resurrection proved Jesus’ messiahship, his disciples proceeded to spread the Gospel (Good News) of redemption. Initially the disciples preached only to Palestinian Jews. Soon, however, they began to spread the faith throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, welcoming Jew and gentile alike to receive the New Covenant proclaimed by Jesus. Before the end of the first century c.£., Christians (called so because of Jesus’ title Christos, which is Greek for Messiah) had established their religion in every major city of the Roman Empire and had penetrated the Parthian Empire, non-Roman Africa, Arabia, and the west coast of India. During Christianity’s early centuries, its adherents had to define the religion to which they gave their allegiance. Just as important, they had to confront the issue of what Christianity was not. Were they Jews? Were they something else? If something else, what set their religion apart from Judaism and all of the other religions that flourished within the Greco-Roman world? In essence, what did they believe, and how should they organize themselves? In resolving these issues, Christians had the guidance of several great teachers. First and foremost was Jesus himself. His call for spiritual perfection was the foundation of the Christian faith and has remained so for almost two thousand years. Following Jesus’ departure from the world, his followers had to grapple with many unresolved questions: Who was Jesus? What was his relationship with God and humanity? What was the nature of the community he had left behind? Among the many leaders who tried to answer these questions, none was more influential than Paul of Tarsus, known to Christians as Saint Paul. Saint Paul, and other first-century teachers, such as the authors of the Gospels, provided a basis for the development of the faith but they did not create a unified body of doctrine accepted by all Christians. Indeed, from its earliest days Christianity was divided into a number of competing sects and schools of belief.

Becoming Spiritually Perfect 42 * THE GOSPEL

OF SAINT

MATTHEW

Tradition ascribes authorship of the Gospels, the four major Nazareth’s life and teachings, to authors known as Matthew, The early Christian Church believed that Matthew had been Apostles, or major companions, and accepted his Gospel

accounts of Jesus of Mark, Luke, and John. one of Jesus’ Twelve as the authoritative

Chapter 6

Universal Re ligions of Salvation in an Uncertain

World

«

197

remembrances of a divinely inspired author. Modern scholarship dates the work to the period around 85 or 90, or approximately fifty-five to sixty years after Jesus’ ministry. Its author appears to have been a Christian of Antioch in Syria and possibly a disciple of the Apostle Matthew, but probably not the apostle himself. The author clearly was trained in the rabbinical tradition (source 41) but was equally comfortable with the Greek language and Hellenistic culture, and he seems to have addressed his Gospel to a cosmopolitan Christian community composed of former Jews and gentiles. The central theme of the Gospel of Matthew is that Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promises made by God through Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. For Matthew, Second Isaiah (source 19) was the greatest of the prophets, the one who had most clearly foretold Jesus’ mission of salvation and who had preached that the universal reign of the Lord was imminent. In the following selection, Matthew presents what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus instructs his followers about what the Kingdom of God requires of all its members. In all likelihood, this is not a verbatim account of a specific sermon that Jesus delivered on some mountainside but a distillation of Jesus’ core moral and theological teachings. As you read this excerpt, keep in mind that Jesus lived in the fluid environment that produced Rabbinical Judaism and was, himself, considered a rabbi, or teacher. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

. In what ways does Jesus emphasize the spiritual relationship of each believer to God? 2. How does jesus regard Judaism and especially the Law of Moses? In what ways does he claim that his teachings complete, or perfect, the Law of Moses? . To whom would Jesus’ message especially appeal? Ww 4. Compare the message and spirit behind the Sermon on the Mount with that of the Buddha’s first sermon, “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law” (source 17). Which strike you as more pronounced, their differences or similarities? What do you conclude from your answer?

Seeing the crowds,

he went

up on

the moun-

tain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain

_ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be

mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see

comforted.

God.

‘kingdom of Heaven.

Source:

Bible.

From

the New

Copyright ©

Revised

1989

Standard

Version

by the National

Churches of Christ in the USA.

of the

Council

of

98 ¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for

enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? .. .

your reward is great in Heaven, for so men perse-

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly

cuted the prophets who were before you. . . . “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish

Father is perfect... . “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be

them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you,

heard for their many words. Do not be like them,

till Heaven and Earth pass away, not an iota, not

for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven; but he who

does them and teaches them shall be called great

in the kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees,' you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be

liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment;

whoever

insults his brother

shall

be liable to the council,’ and whoever says, “You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are

said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your

Our Father who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. . . .

offering your gift at the altar, and there remem-

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on

ber that your brother has something against you,

Earth, where moth and rust consume and where

leave your gift there before the altar and go; first

thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves

be reconciled to your brother, and then come and

treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust

offer your gift. . . . You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to

consumes and where thieves do not break in and

him the other also. . . . You have heard that it was

or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek

'The scribes were nonpriestly professionals who copied, interpreted, and applied the oral traditions that supplemented written biblical Law. The Pharisees were members of a Jewish religious party that stressed that all of this nonscriptural, oral law had to be observed equally and

as fully as the written Law of Moses. Eventually this Oral Torah, as it was often called, became codified in the Talmud (source 41). *The Sanhedrin, Judaism’s chief religious and judicial body.

steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . Therefore do not be anxious, say-

ing, “What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World + 199 all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure

yours as well....

you get.”

The Path to Righteousness: [he Law or Faith? 43 * SAINT

PAUL, EPISTLE TO THE

ROMANS

Our earliest Christian sources are not the Gospels but rather the epistles, or letters, that Saint Paul (ca. 3 8.c.e.—64 or 67 c.£.) wrote to a number of Christian communities. Paul, or to give him his Hebrew name, Saul, was a Hellenized Jew and rabbinical scholar from Tarsus in southeastern Anatolia and has often been called the second founder of Christianity. Prior to his becoming a Christian, Paul was a member of the Jewish elite of the eastern Mediterranean. Moreover, he was a Roman citizen, which was rare for Jews of his day. Converted dramatically to Christianity by a blinding revelation while traveling to Damascus in Syria in the pursuit of Christians whom he was persecuting, Paul became the leading opponent of Jewish-Christian conservatives who wished to keep Christianity within the boundaries of Judaism. From roughly 47 to his death in Rome in either 64 or 67 (ancient authorities differed on the date),

Paul was an indefatigable missionary, converting gentiles and Jews alike in many of the major cities of the eastern Mediterranean. Most important of all, Paul transformed Jesus’ messianic message into a faith centering on Jesus as Lord and Savior. Paul developed his distinctive theology in his epistles, his only extant writings. Although each epistle was addressed to a specific group of Christians and often dealt with local issues, they were revered as authoritative pronouncements of general interest for all believers.As a result, copies were circulated, and in time, some of his letters (as well as some Paul never composed but that were ascribed to him) were incorporated into the body of scriptural books known to Christians as the New Testament, the Old Testament being the pre-Christian, or Jewish, portion of the Bible. Around 57 c.t., probably while residing in Corinth, Greece, Paul planned to establish a mission in Spain and decided to make Rome his base of operations. In preparation, he wrote to the Christians at Rome to inform them of his plans and to instruct them in the faith. The result was the Epistle to the Romans, the most fully articulated expression of Paul’s theology of salvation.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. According to Paul, who was Jesus? 2. For Paul, how can gentiles also be called the Children of Abraham? 3. This epistle centers on the issue of how one becomes righteous in the eyes of God. According to Paul, can the Law of Moses or any other body of law put one right with God? Why or why not? What role does faith play in putting one right with God? Faith in what or whom?

200 + Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 4. Compare this epistle with the Sermon on the Mount. Do they agree, disagree, or complement each another? Be specific. 5. What do you infer from the evidence about the role of women in the early Church?

6. What parallels, if any, can you discover between devotion to Jesus as taught by Paul and the forms of piety and belief exhibited in the non-Christian sources in this chapter? 7. Do you see any significant differences between Christian faith and practice as taught by Paul and the beliefs and practices exhibited in the non-Christian sources in this chapter? Which strike you as more significant, the parallels or the differences? Why?

a man is justified’ by faith apart from works of law.? Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not

Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,' set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David’ according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection

Abraham’ and his descendants, that they should

from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through

inherit the world, did not come through the Law

whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about obedience to the faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: . . . | am eager to preach the Gospel to

you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”. . . For we hold that Source: From the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1989 by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. 'Paul claimed apostolic status because he believed he had been miraculously called and converted by the Risen Christ, who appeared to him in a vision. Some of the close friends and earliest followers of Jesus were reluctant to recognize Paul as an apostle (“one sent forth [by Jesus]”). >The prophetic tradition maintained that the Messiah would be descended from the line of King David. Consequently, Christian Jews stressed Jesus’ Davidic lineage.

the God of gentiles also? Yes, of gentiles also, since

God is one; and he will justify the circumcised® on the ground of their faith and the uncircum-

cised because of their faith. . . . The promise to

but through the righteousness of faith. . . . That is

why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have

made you the father of many nations.” .. . Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace

in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. . . . God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died >Greek means any non-Jew, or gentile, because Greek was the common tongue of educated people in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. *Made just, or righteous, in the eyes of God. °The Law ofJudaism. ‘The Law of Moses prescribes circumcision for all Jewish males; gentiles are, therefore, the uncircumcised. ’The ancient patriarch from whom all Jews were descended and with whom YHWH entered into a covenant.

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World + 201

for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we

were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we

be saved by his life... . There is therefore now no ¢gondemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law ofsin and death. . . . If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. . . . For there is no

with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says

the Lord.” No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. .. . Owe

no one anything, except to love one an-

other; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled

distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord

the Law.

is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who

commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not

call upon him. For, “everyone who calls upon the

steal, You shall not covet,” and any other com-

name of the Lord will be saved.” . . .

mandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living

wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling

The

commandments,

“You

shall not

shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no

hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love

ofthe Lawn: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae,® that you may receive

one another with brotherly affection; outdo one

her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her

another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be

in whatever she may require from you, for she has

aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in

been a helper of many and of myself as well.

sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which

is

your spiritual worship. . . . Let love be genuine;

your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant

Greet Prisca and Aquila,’ my fellow workers in

in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints,

Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to

practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not

gentiles give thanks; greet also the church in their

curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep

house.

8A community in the Greek Peloponnesus. Deaconesses and their male counterparts, deacons, were assistants to the presbyters (elders) who supervised the various churches. The duties of these assistants consisted of baptizing, preaching, and dispensing charity.

*A married couple of Hellenized Jewish-Christians who figured prominently in the Christian community of Rome. Prisca was the wife, Aquila the husband.

whom not only I but also all the churches of the

Establishing a Canon of Faith 44 * THE CREED

OF NICAEA

During the first five centuries c.e., Christians found themselves grappling with a number of basic doctrinal issues as they endeavored to establish a canon, or standard set,

of beliefs that fully and correctly articulated the teachings of Jesus and his apostles.

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

It was not easy. The road to establishing an orthodoxy (correct thinking) that could be embraced by a majority of Christians was filled with pitfalls, heated disputes, and mutual condemnations as groups of Christians denounced one another as heretics (false believers) who were guilty of perverting the faith and leading themselves and others to damnation. Two of the major versions of Christianity that flourished in the Mediterranean world but ultimately lost out and largely disappeared were Arianism and Gnosticism. Arianism, which initially arose in third-century Egypt and was popularized by the preaching of a priest named Arius (hence, it had no connection whatsoever with the ancient Aryans), maintained that Jesus was not coeternal or equal in nature with God the Father, being only God by adoption, as the Father’s First Creation. Gnosticism was nota single sect or religion. Rather, it is an all-encompassing term for a Hellenistic religious philosophy based on the belief that salvation is attainable through a secret, mystical knowledge, which is called gnosis in Greek. Gnosticism predated Christianity and manifested itself in numerous varieties. There were many different Gnostic sects, most of which were pagan, but there were also Jewish Gnostics, and likewise Gnosticism made deep inroads into early Christianity. One element common to all Gnostics, Christian and non-Christian alike, was a belief that the material world is intrinsically evil and that one must escape it and return to the world of pure spirit through knowledge of the spark of divinity that lies in bondage within one’s corrupt body. This knowledge is imparted by a “spiritual redeemer,’ who has been sent down from Heaven but is not incarnate (made flesh). Hence, Gnostic Christians believed that the material world was not created by God, but rather by an evil demigod. They further viewed Jesus as pure spirit and only an apparent man. Our source is the creed, or statement of faith, articulated by the Council of Nicaea of 325. Held at the Anatolian city of Nicaea, not far from Constantinople, this gathering of bishops, who assembled at the invitation and under the patronage of Emperor Constantine | (see Multiple Voices V), is recognized as the first Ecumenical, or General, Council of the Church. Convened to settle several doctrinal controversies, the council was believed (by those who accepted its authority) to speak infallibly for the entire Church. Brief confessions of faith were commonly used in liturgical services, especially baptisms, by the middle of the second century, but they foliowed no standard form. The Council of Nicaea witnessed the first attempt to craft an official creed for the entire Church that clearly separated orthodox from heterodox (different-thinking) doctrine. The Creed of Nicaea was not universally accepted and did not end the Church’s doctrinal controversies, but it did signal the beginning of a clearly articulated orthodox faith that enjoyed Roman imperial patronage. An amplified form of this creed was approved and reaffirmed by the next two ecumenical councils—Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451 )—thereby firmly establishing it as the definitive statement of True Belief as accepted by the bishops of the major churches within the empire, especially Rome and Constantinople and as supported by almost all of the Roman Christian emperors. Eventually, other forms of Christian belief that deviated from the Nicene Creed and the proclamations of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787) were either quashed or driven into or beyond the margins of the Roman Empire.

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Some elements of the Creed of Nicaea were aimed at rejecting Arianism. Where do you find those elements? 2. Some elements were aimed at countering Gnostic teachings. Where do you find those elements?

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker ofall things visible and invisible:—and in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten of

arose again the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and will come again to judge the living

God of God and Light of light; true God of true

and the dead. We also believe in the Holy Spirit.’ But the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church® anathematizes those who say that there was a time

God; begotten, not made, consubstantial with the

when the Son of God was not, and that he was not

Father': by whom all things were made, both which

before he was begotten, and that he was made from

the Father, that is of the substance of the Father;

are in heaven and on earth: who for the sake of us men, and on account of our salvation, descended, became

incarnate,

and was made man;

suffered,

Source: The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), p. 21. 'Of the same essence as the Father. _ *God, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Divine Holy Trinity—the Sanctifier and Consoler, whom Jesus promised to send to His Church. 3Catholic means “universal,” and in this sense it meant the worldwide Church. Roughly three hundred bishops out of about |,800 Christian bishops were able to travel to Nicaea and participate in the council. The vast majority of attendees came from the eastern half of the Roman Empire and very

that which did not exist; or who assert that he is of

other substance or essence than the Father, or that he was created, or is susceptible of change.* few came from the West. Fewer still were those bishops who came from outside of the Roman Empire. Notwithstanding, the bishops assembled at Nicaea saw themselves as representing and speaking for the entire Church. An Apostolic Church claims to retain the pure teachings of the Apostles— the persons to whom Jesus had entrusted the Church. ‘This creed was preserved in the Church History by Socrates (ca. 380-450), who composed a continuation of Eusebius’s history of the Church (Multiple Voices V), carrying the story from 306 to 439.

Multiple Voices V

Christianity within and beyond the Roman World BACKGROUND Roman authorities were generally tolerant of the deities and religious practices of the empire’s subjects and tried to foster loyalty to the empire by merging foreign gods and goddesses into the Roman pantheon, or assemblage of recognized deities. Normally all that Rome required was that the various cults and their devotees not

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

threaten public order or morality and that each religion help guarantee the gods’ continued favor toward the state. That stipulation, as liberal as it was in Roman eyes, was a serious impediment for Christians. Because of their uncompromising monotheism, Christians generally did not participate in any of the ceremonies that celebrated the divinity of the empire and its emperor and that were believed to be necessary for the empire’s continued prosperity. Rejection of the imperial religion and its rituals was perceived as a threat to the state and civil order. The first imperial persecution of Christians apparently took place in Rome under Emperor Nero (r.54—68) around the year 64.Writing more than four decades later, the historian Tacitus (ca. 55—after 116) noted that, following a massive fire that devastated the city, Christians became convenient targets of attack because they were “hated for their abominations.” Because of those putative abominations, Christianity became a prohibited cult, and adherence to it was technically a capital offense. Although some Christians were imprisoned, tortured, and executed by Roman authorities between roughly the mid-first and mid-third centuries, persecution of Christians during these two centuries was sporadic, local, and often half-hearted. When persecutions occurred, it was usually when provincial governors found themselves forced to bow to local sentiment in order to keep a discontented populace quiet. Crop failures and other natural disasters often seemed to demand a few Christian victims as propitiation to the gods, the theory being that the Christians were atheists who had angered the gods by refusing to worship them. This policy of largely overlooking the Christians’ supposed immorality and hatred of religion changed around the year 250 when, in the midst of a Time of Troubles that threatened the very existence of the empire, Emperor Decius embarked on a short but bitter empire-wide attack on Christians. In 303, the empire launched its last and greatest persecution of Christianity; the attack continued until 311, when Emperor Galerius, in the grips of a frightening disease, decided to strike a bargain with the Christian god. His edict of toleration granted Christians freedom of worship, in exchange for their prayers for him. A few days after issuing the edict, Galerius was dead. The following year, Constantine | (r. 306-337), a claimant to the imperial throne, was campaigning in Italy against a rival.According to a Christian source, prior to the battle, Constantine had a vision in which the Christian god promised him victory. Shortly thereafter he won a decisive victory, thereby becoming uncontested emperor in the West. In 313,a grateful Constantine and his co-emperor, Licinius, who ruled the eastern half of the empire, granted freedom of worship to all persons in the empire and recognized the full legal status of each local Christian church. Christianity had weathered the storm of Roman persecution. Constantine never wavered in his patronage of Christianity, and the consequences were momentous for the empire, for Christianity, and for the subsequent civilizations of western Eurasia.A faith that probably commanded the belief of not more than ten or fifteen percent of the empire’s population in 313 was, by century's end, the empire’s official state religion. This meant that it was practiced, in one form or

Chapter 6

Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain

World

another, by the vast majority of eastern Mediterranean urban dwellers and was making rapid advances among the region’s rural populations. In the western half of the empire, the progress of conversion was slower but steady. Christianity did not stop at the Roman Empire’s borders. In the Gospel of Mark, composed probably sometime between 65 and 75 c.e.and written with a gentile, or non-Jewish, audience in mind, the Risen Jesus instructs his followers to “go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15—16), and such was the case. In the early fourth century, Christianity was adopted as the state religion in Armenia, Ethiopia, and Georgia and took root among a number of German tribes beyond the northeast borders of the Roman Empire. In the seventh century, agroup of dissident Christians known (incorrectly) as Nestorians established themselves in western China. This otherworldly faith was waging a successful campaign of spiritual conquest in a fair portion of Afro-Eurasia.

THE SOURCES Our first source is a graffito (an image or words drawn, painted, scribbled, or scratched onto a surface; plural graffiti) that was scratched onto a plaster wall in a house in Rome that served as a boarding-home for imperial page boys. The graffito’s date is uncertain, but it was probably scratched into the wall in the second or early third century. More clearly seen in its accompanying modern drawing, it depicts a crucified being with the head of an animal (compare this with source 40) and a man standing before the crucifixion. Three Greek words are crudely (and somewhat ungrammatically) scratched below the crucifixion. They are best translated as ‘“Alexamenos worships [his] god.” The character in the upper-right corner that looks like a Y is probably either the Greek letter upsilon or a Tau Cross, an ancient symbol with many mystical connotations. It might be the signature of the “artist” or the mark of some mystery religion (source 40). Significantly, a second graffito was discovered on the wall of another room.Written in Latin, it states “Alexamenos fidelis” (Faithful Alexamenos). The great Christian apologist Tertullian (ca. |60—after 220), writing about the same time that this graffito was drawn, stated that “You [opponents of Christianity] foolishly say that our God has the head of an ass.” It is to Tertullian that we turn for our second source. Born the pagan son of an army centurion, Tertullian initially enjoyed a brilliant career as a lawyer. Around the year 195, he converted to Christianity and soon thereafter turned his considerable talents and energy to an outpouring of passionate, eminently quotable, and deliciously sarcastic writings that advocated an austere vision of Christianity emphasizing a life of self-denial. Around the year 197, he composed A Defense of Christians against the Pagans, in which he defended Christian practices and beliefs before the court of public opinion. Addressed to the empire’s provincial governors, his apologia develops the argument that persecution of Christians is inconsistent with the principles of Roman law, morality, and reason. Our selection provides evidence of the accusations leveled against Christians, the

«

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

extent to which they were sought out and brought before courts of justice, and the manner in which they were tried. The third source is by an eyewitness to the revolution initiated by Emperor Constantine |, Eusebius (ca. 260-339 or 340), bishop of Caesarea in Palestine. Bishop Eusebius was a prolific writer, but his single enduring work is the History of the Church, which traces the fortunes of the Christian Church from earliest times to his

own day. Eusebius had been imprisoned during the Great Persecution of 303-31 | and had seen many of his friends tortured and martyred, but he lived to see Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. Following his elevation to the bishopric of Caesarea around 313, Eusebius enjoyed the emperor's patronage and friendship. Earlier, before the Great Persecution, Eusebius had begun a history of the Church

down to his own day, completing the task in seven books around 303.The events of 312 and following necessitated his updating the work. Consequently, he enlarged the history to ten books in order to include the history of Christian fortunes down to 324, thereby demonstrating how Divine Providence had triumphed over the forces of evil. Our excerpt comes from Book 10, which deals with the victory in 324 of Constantine over Licinius. Our fourth source, known both as The Emperor Triumphant and the Barberini Ivory (named after its later owners), gives us insight into the way in which the Christian Roman emperors perceived themselves and their faith. The sculpture consists of five interlocking ivory panels and was probably crafted in sixth-century Constantinople, the “New Rome” on the Bosporus that Constantine had transformed into the

capital of the empire in 330 (see Chapter 10). The carving portrays either Emperor Anastasius | (r. 491-518) or Emperor Justinian | (r. 527-565) receiving the submission of various Asian peoples. The triumphant emperor emerges on horseback out of the panel, while a female personification of Earth supports his right foot. Beneath the horse’s hooves, Scythians (source 24) and Indians, led by a winged female spirit ofVictory, offer tokens of submission. The Scythians, who no longer existed as an identifiable people, represented all of the pastoral peoples of Inner Asia who dwelt beyond the Black Sea. Behind the lance that the emperor holds, a soldier dressed in Scythian garments raises his hand in surrender. Farther to the emperor’s right, a Roman general approaches, bearing a statuette of the spirit of Victory, who herself carries a laurel crown.A third winged Victory hovers over the mane of the emperor’s horse. Crowning the composition is a medallion supported by two angels, within

which is a youthful, beardless Christ in majesty offering the gesture of benediction with his right hand. (That same gesture—the ring finger and thumb forming a circle with the other three fingers upright—is the Buddhist mudra of discord. We can only guess at possible lines of transmission and misunderstanding.) Within the medallion, which can also be viewed as a nimbus, or halo, are symbols for the sun, the moon,

and the stars. The Constantinopolitan artist has preserved Greco-Roman ism, particularly in regard to the bodies of humans and animals, and has also several traditional pagan symbols and motifs, such as the allegorical figures and Victory. At the same time, as we see in the figures of Christ and his

naturalretained of Earth flanking

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « angels, the sculptor has transformed certain pre-Christian artistic types into figures representing Christian beliefs. This adaptation was certainly not new. Christians had been adapting pagan artistic conventions to their own needs since the first century C.E.,and by the sixth century such Christ in Majesty scenes as we see at the top of the panel were quite common.

Christian gravesites in the Caucasus region—the area between the Black and Caspian seas that today includes southwest Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia—date from as early as the second and third centuries. It was only in the fourth century, however, that two of its peoples, the Armenians and the Georgians, who lived outside of the boundaries of the Roman Empire but not so far as to be immune to its influences, accepted the faith as a state religion. The earliest account of the Georgians’ acceptance of Christianity, our fifth source, was composed by Tyrannius Rufinus (ca. 345—410/411),a Christian Roman from Aquileia in northeast Italy. Rufinus’s history, which brings the history of the Church down to 395, has a triumphal motif that emulates the tone of its model, Eusebius’s History of the Church. In Rufinus’s case, his history ends on an upbeat note with the reception into Heaven of the pious emperor Theodosius | (r. 379-395) and the Christian Roman Empire established on a firm foundation. Unhappily for him, Rufinus lived long enough to learn of the sack of the city of Rome by the Visigoths in 410. The fifth century was an era ofgreat stress for the Christian Roman Empire, and that stress might well help explain the large number of doctrinal disputes that took place during the century. A major issue, from which several controversies arose, was how Jesus, the god-man, should be understood.A group of Christians in Syria, who have inaccurately been termed Nestorians (after their presumed leader, Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople), drew a sharp distinction between the human and divine natures of Jesus and were subsequently declared heretics by the imperial Roman Church. The condemnation for heresy was motivated more by political considerations than theological doctrine, but the result was no less devastating. Moving east, these persecuted Christians found a home in the Sassanian Empire of Persia, where they established the home of the Church of the East (the present-day Assyrian Church of the East). From Persia, their form of Christianity traveled farther east to the Turkic peoples of Inner Asia and finally to China, where their Christian faith was known as Jingjiao (the Luminous Religion). In 635, Bishop Aluoben (Abraham?), arrived in Chang’an, China’s capital city, from Persia. He was not the first Eastern, or Assyrian, Christian to reach China, but he is the first of whom we have any record. In 781, a scholar-bishop named Adam, who also bore the Chinese name Jing Jing, composed a short history of the early fortunes of the Church of the East in China, our sixth source.Adam’s history was then inscribed on a nine-foot-high stone memorial that bears the heading “A Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Dagin [Roman Empire’s] Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom [China].” Christianity’s measure of success in China did not last. By tying its fortunes to the patronage of the Tang emperors, this minor foreign religion suffered irreversible losses when the empire waged an assault on foreign religions between 840 and 846

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to

1500

(Multiple Voices VII). Although some small communities possibly survived, Christianity essentially disappeared in China by the late tenth century, although it would be reintroduced

during the twelfth, thirteenth, and early fourteenth

centuries, as we

shall see in Chapter I].

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What were the major crimes, misdemeanors, and forms of foolishness with which Christians were charged, and why were these putative deeds and errors attributed to them? 2. Based on evidence supplied byTertullian, what was the attitude of Roman authorities toward Christians and the policies that followed from it? 3. Consider evidence provided by Eusebius, the Barberini Ivory, and Rufinus. What possible benefits motivated monarchs to embrace Christianity? 4. Conversely, the accounts by Rufinus and Bishop Adam demonstrate how Christian missionaries used monarchs and their families in their attempts to propagate the faith. What were the advantages and disadvantages of that tactic? 5. Four of the five Christian sources share a note of triumphalism. Choose any one of the four, dissect its reasons for that sense of victory, and discuss whether or not, in the light of history, that mood was warranted.

| © The Alexamenos Graffito

© Collection/Photo Private Radovan/The Zev Library Art Bridgeman

Alexamenos Graffito

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World +

2° Tertullian, A Defense of Christians against the Pagans

It is against the law to condemn anyone without a defense and a hearing. Only Christians are for-

bidden to say anything in defense of the truth that would clear their case and assist the judge in avoiding an injustice. All that they care about (and

209

about what Trajan, the that, other sacrifice, he

to do in the future. So he consulted reigning emperor. Pliny explained than their obstinate refusal to offer had learned nothing else about their religious ceremonies, except that they met before daybreak to sing hymns to Christ and God and to bind themselves by oath to a way of life that forbids murder, adultery, fraud, treachery, and all

this by itself is enough to arouse public hatred)

other crimes. Trajan then wrote back that people

is a confession to bearing the name “Christian,” not an investigation of the charge. Now, let us

ofthis sort should not be hunted down, but, when

assume you are trying any other criminal. If he confesses to the crime of murder, or sacrilege, or

sexual debauchery, or treason—to cite the crimes of which we stand accused—you are not content to pass sentence immediately. Rather, you weigh

brought to court, they should be punished.’ What a decision! How inevitably selfcontradictory! He declares that they should not be hunted down, as though they are innocent. Then he prescribes that they be punished, as though they are guilty. He spares them, yet he

the relevant circumstances: the nature of the deed;

directs his anger upon them. He pretends to shut

how often, where, how, and when

it was com-

his eyes, yet he calls attention to them. Judges,

mitted; the co-conspirators and the partners-in-

why do you tie yourself up in knots? If you

crime. Nothing of this sort is done in our case. Yet, whenever that false charge is brought against

condemn them why not hunt them down? If you

us, we should equally be made to confess: How

innocent?

many murdered babies has one eaten? How many illicit sexual acts has one performed under cover

diers are assigned by lot to hunt down bandits. When it comes to traitors and public enemies

of darkness? Which cooks and which dogs were

each person is a soldier. Inquiry extends even to one’s associates and confederates. The Chris-

there?' Oh, how great would be the glory of that

do not hunt them down, why not also find them Throughout

all the provinces,

sol-

governor who should bring to light a Christian who has already devoured 100 babies!

be brought to court, as if hunting down led to

To the contrary, we find that it is forbidden

anything other than being haled into court. So,

to hunt us down. When Pliny the Younger was a

you condemn someone who is haled into court,

provincial governor and had condemned

although no one wished to seek him out. He has not merited punishment, I suppose, because he

some

Christians to death and had intimidated others to abandon the steadfastness of their faith, he was

tian alone may not be hunted down, but he may

is guilty, but because, forbidden to be looked for,

still concerned by their sheer numbers and worried

he was found!...

Source: Translated by A. J. Andrea from Tertullian, Apologeticus adversus gentes pro Christianis, in F. A. March, ed.,

*This famous exchange of letters between Pliny the Younger, nephew of Pliny the Elder (Multiple Voices IV), and Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117) took place around the year 112 and concerned Christians in the provinces of Bithynia and Pontus along the Black Sea Coast of Anatolia. The letters have been preserved.

Douglass Series of Christian Greek and Latin Authors, Vol. III,

Tertullian (New York, Harper & Bros, 1875), pp. 28-46, passim. Copyright © A. J. Andrea, 2014. All rights reserved. 'Which cooks to cook the murdered babies? The dogs are explained in footnote 4.

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

A person shouts out, “I am a Christian.” He says what he is. You want to hear what he is not. You

that follows the banquet, where dogs are our pimps in darkness when they overturn candles and

preside to extort the truth, yet in our case alone

procure a certain modesty for our impious lusts.4

you take infinite pains to hear a lie. “I am,” he says,

We are always spoken of in this way, yet you take

“what you ask if 1am. Why torture me to twist the

no pains to investigate the charges that you have

fact around? | confess, and you torture me. What

made against us for so long. If you believe them, investigate them. Otherwise, stop believing what

would you do if I denied?” Clearly when others deny you do not readily believe them. In our case, when we deny, you immediately believe us... . Inasmuch as you treat us differently from all other criminals, which you do by concentrating on disassociating us from that name

(for we are

cut off from the name “Christian” only if we do what non-Christians do),*> you must know that there is no crime whatsoever in our case. It is only a Mame. 7... So much

you do not investigate. The fact that you look the other way suggests that the evil that you yourselves dare not investigate does not exist... .

You say, “You do not worship the gods, and you

do not offer sacrifices for the emperors.” It follows

logically that we do not offer sacrifices for others because we do not do so even for ourselves. All of

this is a consequence of our not worshipping the gods. So we are accused of sacrilege and treason.

for my preface, as it were, which is

This is the chief case against us. In fact, it is the

intended to beat into submission the injustice of the public hatred felt for us. Now I take the stand to plead our innocence. ... We are said to be the worst of criminals because of our sacramental baby-killing and the babyeating that accompanies it and the sexual license

whole case. . . . Your gods we cease to worship from the moment we recognize they are not gods.

*Namely, sacrificing to the gods of the empire, thereby “proving” they are not Christians. ‘The story was that strings were tied to dogs’ tails and to candles that illuminated the room. When food

3 ° Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History

So that is what you ought to require us to prove — that those gods do not exist and for that reason should not be worshipped because they deserve

worship only if they are gods. (presumably cooked babies) was tossed to the dogs, they leaped at it, overturning the candles and plunging the room into darkness.

Let us proceed to show that after those terrible and morbid spectacles that we described,' we are

be to God, the All-powerful Ruler and

now permitted to see and celebrate things that so

King of the universe, and the greatest thanks to

many righteous people and martyrs of God who

Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of souls. To Jesus we pray that peace might be ever preserved for us, firm and undisturbed troubles from without and by troubles of mind... .

lived before us desired to see on Earth but did not

Thanks

Source: History Graeca, right ©

our for-

see, desired to hear but did not hear. . . . Acknowl-

by

edging that such things are greater than we deserve,

the

we have been struck speechless at the grace mani-

Translated by A. J. Andrea from Eusebius of Caesarea, of the Church, Book X, in J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Eusebius, Book 2 (1857), cols. 842-906, passim. CopyA. J. Andrea, 2014. All rights reserved.

fested by the Author of these great gifts, and rightly

'In his earlier books of the Church History, Eusebius had described in detail “the much-tried fortitude of the athletes of religion,” namely the persecutions bravely endured by Christian martyrs.

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World « are we in awe of Him, worshiping Him with the whole power of our souls, and testifying to the truth of the words uttered by the Prophet: “Come

underscored for us the generosity of God through

and see the works of the Lord, the wonders that He

along with honors and gifts of money. . . .

has done on Earth. He ends war to the far reaches of the world; He shall break the bow and snap the spear in half, and shall consume shields with fire.”” Rejoicing in those things that have been clearly fulfilled in our day, let us proceed to our account. Consonant with what we have said, the whole wicked congregation of God’s enemies was destroyed and was suddenly swept away from human sight. . .. And finally, on a bright and splendid

day that was cloudless, heavenly rays illuminated the churches of Christ throughout the entire world. Not even persons outside of our commu-

their repeated edicts on behalf of Christians, and the emperor’ sent personal letters to the bishops, To him, therefore God granted, from Heaven

above, the deserved rewards of piety—trophies of victory over the unfaithful—and He cast the guilty one with all his counselors and friends prostrate at the feet of Constantine. For when Licinius carried his madness to its ultimate form, the emperor, thinking he could no longer be tolerated, . . . min-

gling the firm principle of justice with humaneness, gladly decided to protect those who were

oppressed by the tyrant and undertook, by disposing of a few destroyers, to save the majority of humanity.° . . . Consequently, the protector of the

nity’ were prevented from sharing in the same

virtuous, mixing hated of evil with love of good,

blessings, or, at least, from coming under their

went forth with his son Crispus,’ . . . and extended a saving right hand to all who were perishing. Both

influence and enjoying a portion of the benefits that God bestowed on us. Indeed, all human

of them, father and son, under the protection of

beings were freed from ty-

God, the Universal King, with the Son of God, the

rannical oppression, and being released from the evils that had earlier beset them, one person in one

Savior ofall humanity, as their leader and ally, drew

way and another in another way acknowledged

God and won an easy victory. .. . And the things that Licinius had seen with his own eyes happen to the former, impious tyrants he himself likewise

the Defender of the Faithful to God. . . . Church buildings rose foundations to immense heights dor far greater than that of the

be the only True again from their and with a splenformer churches

that had been destroyed. The supreme rulers‘ also *The Bible, Psalms 46: 8-9. 3Non-Christians and Christian heretics. ‘Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305) had created the Tetrarchy

up their forces on all sides against the enemies of

suffered. . . . Having followed the same path of impiety that they had trod, he justly was hurled over the same precipice. And so he lay prostrate.*

however was an uneasy one. °Constantine. In 316 Constantine attacked Licinius’s lands on the pre-

violation of their agreement in 313 to treat Christians benevolently. Constantine proved victorious and confiscated a major portion of the rich Balkan Peninsula. In 324 Constantine returned to complete the job, on the same pretext. Licinius capitulated and surrendered his remaining half of the empire, on the promise that his life would be spared (see note 8). Constantine now was master of the entire Roman world. 7Crispus was Constantine’s eldest son and presumed heir, holding the title of Caesar (see note 4) since 317.See note 9. ®Despite promising to spare Licinius’s life, Constantine ordered Licinius’s execution in 325. These circumstances forced Eusebius to transform Licinius from a hero to a villain in the last edition of his Church History, which he revised around the year 325 and probably before Crispus’s death in

text that the eastern emperor was persecuting Christians in

326 (next note).

(Rule by Four), whereby he divided the empire in half—East and West—with each half governed by a senior emperor, or Augustus. Each half was further divided in half, with a subordinate emperor, or Caesar, placed over one of those halves of a half and the Augustus directly ruling the other. The system began to break down when Diocletian retired in 305, and civil wars ensued. By the end of 313, two co-emperors, Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East, ruled unopposed in their respective halves of the empire. Their alliance,

12

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

On his part, Constantine,

the mighty victor

in every place by the victorious emperor. So, after

who was adorned with every virtue of piety, along

all tyranny had been wiped away, the empire that

with his son Crispus, a most God-beloved prince, who was like his father in all respects, recovered the

a rival for Constantine and his sons alone. Having

East, which belonged to them, and they formed

obliterated the godlessness of their predecessors

one united Roman Empire as in the past, bringing

and recognizing the benefits conferred on them

under their peaceful rule the whole world.’. . . Edicts full of clemency and laws containing the mark of benevolence and true piety were issued

by God, they exhibited their love of virtue and of God, as well as their piety and gratitude to God, by the actions that they performed in view of all.

*In 326, Crispus, who was then about twenty-one, was accused of plotting treason by the Empress Fausta (probably falsely so) and executed by Constantine’s order. Fausta probably denounced Crispus to advance the imperial chances of

her own son (Constantine’s second son), Constantius. The plan succeeded: Constantius || became emperor in the East upon Constantine’s death in 337 and ruled to 361, becoming sole emperor in 353.

belonged to them was preserved firm and without

4° The Barberini Ivory

SS

Aig \e

Library/G. Picture Agostini De Bridgeman Orti/The Dagli Library Art

Barberini lvory

Chapter 6 Universal Religions of Salvation in an Uncertain World «

5° Rufinus of Aquileia, Church History It was at this time! too that the Georgians, who dwell in the region of Pontus,’ accepted the word of God and faith in the kingdom to come. The cause of this great benefit was

a woman

captive?

who lived among them and led such a faithful,

sober, and modest life, spending all of her days and nights in sleepless supplications to God, that

the very novelty of it began to be wondered at by

213

the ears of the queen, who was suffering from a

bodily illness of the gravest sort and had been reduced to a state of absolute despair. She asked for the woman captive to be brought to her. She declined to go, lest she appear to pretend to more than was proper to her sex. The queen ordered that she herself be brought to the captive’s hovel. Having placed her likewise on her hair shirt and invoked Christ's name, no sooner was her prayer done than she had her stand up healthy and vigor-

the barbarians. Their curiosity led them to ask what she was about. She replied with the truth:

ous, and taught her that it was Christ, God and

that in this manner she simply worshiped Christ

upon her, and advised her to invoke him whom

Son of God most high, who had conferred healing

as God. This answer made the barbarians wonder

she should know to be the author of her life and

only at the novelty of the name, although it is true,

well-being, for he it was who allotted kingdoms

as often happens, that her very perseverance made the common women wonder if she were deriving some benefit from such great devotion.

home

Now a child to each proven

it is said that they have the custom that, if falls sick, it is taken around by its mother of the houses to see if anyone knows of a remedy to apply to the illness. And when

to kings and life to mortals. She returned joyfully and disclosed the affair to her husband,’

who wanted to know the reason for this sudden return to health. When he in his joy at his wife’s

cure ordered gifts to be presented to the woman, she said, “O king, the captive deigns to accept none of these things. She despises gold, rejects sil-

one of the women had brought her child around to everyone, according to custom, and had found

ver, and battens on fasting as though it were food.

no remedy in any of the houses, she went to the

remedy, but declared that Christ her God, whom

as God the Christ who cured me when she called upon him.” But the king was not then inclined to do so and put it off for the time, although his wife urged

she worshiped, could give it the healing despaired

him often, until it happened one day when he was

of by humans. And after she had put the child on her hair shirt* and poured out above it her prayer

hunting in the woods with his companions that a

to the Lord, she gave the infant back to its mother

removed there was no longer any way for his blind steps through the grim and awful night. Each of his companions wandered off a different way,

woman captive as well to see if she knew of anything. She answered that she knew of no human

in good health. Word of this got around to many people, and news of the wonderful deed reached

Source: From R. Philip and S. J. Amidon, The Church History of Rufinus of Aquileia: Books 10 and 1, 1991, pp. 20-23. © 1997 by Philip Amidon. By permission of Oxford University Press, USA. 'The establishment of a Christian Church in India during the reign of Constantine |. Contrary to the more popular tradition, Rufinus does not credit the Apostle Thomas with bringing Christianity to India in the first century. Rather, he

This alone may we give her as a gift, if we worship

thick darkness fell upon the day, and with the light

credits Frumentius, a captive turned missionary, with having planted the seeds of Christianity in India in the early fourth

century. The Black Sea. 3A later Georgian tradition accords her the name Nino. ‘A shirt worn as penance because of the discomfort it causes. Legend identifies him as Mirian, and he is usually identified with King Menbanes, a contemporary of Emperor Constantine I.

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

rounded him, did not know what to do or where

The king therefore called together all of his people and explained the matter from the begin-

to turn, when suddenly there arose in his heart,

ning, what had happened to the queen and him,

which was near to losing hope of being saved, the thought that if the Christ preached to his wife

taught them the faith, and before even

while he, left alone in the thick darkness which sur-

by the woman captive were really God, he might now free him from this darkness so that he could from then on abandon all the others and worship him. No sooner had he vowed to do so, not even

being

initiated into sacred things became the apostle of his nation. The men believed because of the king, the women because of the queen, and with

everyone desiring the same thing a church was put up without delay. . . . Now after the church

verbally but only mentally, than the daylight re-

had been magnificently built and the people

turned to the world and guided the king safely to

were thirsting even more deeply for God’s faith,

the city. He explained directly to the queen what

on the advice of the captive an embassy of the entire people was sent to the emperor Constan-

had happened. He required that the woman captive be summoned at once and hand on to him her manner of worship, insisting that from then

on he would venerate no god but Christ. The captive came, instructed him that Christ is God, and

explained, as far as it was lawful for a woman

to

disclose such things,° the ways of making petition

and offering reverence. She advised that a church be built and described its shape.

tine,’ and what had happened was explained to

him. They implored him to send priests who could complete God’s work begun among them. He dispatched them with all joy and honor, made far happier by this than if he had annexed to the Roman Empire unknown peoples and kingdoms.

®In other words, she was not a (male) priest. 7Rufinus tended to ascribe to Constantine and his time events that actually took place during the reign of his son Constantius II (r. 337-361).

6° Bishop Adam, The Christian

his way (to China) through difficulties and perils.

Monument

Thus . . . he arrived at Chang’an.? The Emperor*

And behold there was a highly virtuous man named Aluoben in the Kingdom of Dagin.'. . . He decided to carry the true Sutras’ with him, and observing the course of the winds, he made

with a guard of honor, to the western suburb? to

Source: Bishop Adam, “The Christian Monument,” in P. Y. Saeki, The Nestorian Documents and Relics in China (Tokyo Maruzen, 1951), pp. 56-61, passim (modified). 'The Roman Empire. Aluoben came from the west with a form of Christianity that had been shaped initially in the eastern regions of the late Roman Empire and later in the Sassanian Empire of Persia.

*Tang China’s capital, Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), was probably the largest and richest city in the world in the seventh century. ‘Emperor Tang Taizong (r. 626-649), who was open to religious and cultural novelties from outside China. *The western quarter of Chang’an was reserved for foreigners from the west. Its Western Market was where merchants from Central Asia and beyond resided and carried on a flourishing trade.

dispatched

>The Bible.

his Minister,

Duke

Fang Xuanling,

meet the visitor and conduct him to the Palace. The Sutras were translated in the Imperial Library. (His Majesty) investigated “The Way” in his own

Chapter 6 Universal Religions ofSalvation in an Uncertain World + 215 forbidden apartments,° and being deeply convinced ofits correctness and truth, he gave special orders for its propagation. In the twelfth year of the Zhenguan Period

The sacred

(63856

succeeded most respectfully to his ancestors; and

.. the following Imperial Rescript

was issued:—

. The

features

(thus preserved)

conferred

great blessing (on the monastery), and illuminated

the Church for evermore... . The great Emperor Gaozong

(650-683

c.z.)

giving the True Religion the proper elegance and

Way’ had not, at all times and in all

finish, he caused monasteries of the Luminous Re-

places, the selfsame name; the Sage had not, at all

ligion to be founded in every prefecture. Accordingly, he honored Aluoben by conferring on him

times and in all places, the selfsame human body.’ (Heaven) caused a suitable religion to be instituted for every region and clime so that each one of the

races of mankind might be saved. Bishop Aluoben of the kingdom of Dagin, bringing with him the Sutras and Images,® has come from afar and

presented them at our Capital. Having carefully examined the scope of his teaching, we find it to

be mysteriously, spiritual and of silent operation. Having observed its principal and most essential points, we reached the conclusion that they cover all that is most important in life. . . . This Teaching

the office of the Great Patron and Spiritual Lord of the Empire. The Law (of the Luminous Religion) spread throughout the ten provinces, and the Em-

pire enjoyed great peace and concord. Monasteries were built in many cities, while every family enjoyed the great blessings (of Salvation). During the period of Shengli (698-699 c.z.),”

the Buddhists, taking advantage of these circumstances, and using all their strength raised their

voices Eastern

(against the Luminous Zhou,!?

Religion)

in the

and at the end of the Indian

is helpful to all creatures and beneficial to all men.

Period (712 c.s.)!! some inferior scholars” ridi-

So let it have free course throughout the Empire.” Accordingly, the proper authorities built a Dagqin monastery . . . in the Capital and twenty-

culed and derided

it, slandering

and speaking

against it... . But there came the Head-priest (or Archdeacon)

Luohan,'*

Bishop

Jilie,'* and

one priests were ordained and attached to it... .

others, as well as Noblemen

Immediately afterwards, the proper officials were

region’? and the eminent priests who had forsaken all worldly interests. All these men co-operated in restoring the great fundamental principles and

again ordered to take a faithful portrait of the Emperor, and to have it copied on the walls of

the monastery. The celestial beauty appeared in its

from the “Golden”

variegated colors, and the dazzling splendor illumi-

united together to re-bind the broken ties. The Emperor Xuanzong, '6 who was surnamed

nated the Luminous “portals” (i.e., congregation).

“the Perfection of the Way,” ordered the Royal

The private imperial chambers. 7Compare Dao Dejing’s definition of the Way (source 20). Artistic representations, or icons, of Jesus and the saints. °One of several periods in the reign of Empress Wu, who ruled the empire in her own name from 690 to 705. She gained effective control over the state around 654 but at first used several puppet emperors to mask her power. ‘Empress Wu changed the name of her short-lived dynasty to Zhou and moved her primary capital east to Luoyang, the capital city of the ancient Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 B.C.£.). She declared Buddhism the official state religion in 691 and seems to have encouraged persecution of Christianity, although persecution did not become an articulated

state policy. In 698 a mob sacked the Christian church in Luoyang. ''The last year of disorder following Empress Wu’s retirement in 705. "Probably Confucians, but possibly Daoists. Maybe both. Abraham. Gabriel? 'SFrom the West, the source of so much gold and silver that flowed into Tang China by virtue of China’s favorable balance of trade across the Silk Road. 'éIn the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756), Tang China reached the heights of its greatness and prosperity but also began its precipitous decline. See Chapter 8, source 53.

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500

prince, the King of Ningguo and four other Royal princes to visit the blessed edifices (i.e., monastery) personally and to set up altars therein. Thus

perform services to cultivate merit and virtue with

the “consecrated

rafters,” which had been tem-

ten by the Emperor himself, began to appear on

porarily bent, were once more straightened and

the monastery gates; and the front-tablets to bear

strengthened, whilst the sacred foundation-stones

the Dragon-writing (i.e., the Imperial handwrit-

which for a time had lost the right position were restored and perfected. .. . In the third year of the same period (744 c.k.) there was a priest named Jihe'” in the Kingdom of

this Bishop Jihe in the Xingqing Palace. ‘Thereupon the monastery-names,

composed and writ-

ing).'” The monastery was resorted to by (visitors)

whose costumes resembled the shining feathers of the king-fisher bird whilst all (the buildings) shone

forth with the splendor of the sun. The Imperial

Dagin. Observing the stars, he decided to engage

tablets hung high in the air and their radiance

in the work of conversion; and looking toward the sun (i.e., eastward), he came to pay court to

flamed as though vying with the sun. ‘The gifts of the Imperial favor are immense like the highest

the most honorable Emperor. The Imperial or-

peak of the highest mountains in the South, and

ders were given to the Head-priest (Archdeacon)

the food of its rich benevolence is as deep as the

Luohan, priest Pulun'® and others, seven in all, to

depths of the Eastern sea.

'7George. 'SPaul?

"The emperor composed an inscription to be fixed above the monastery’s door. Almost all public buildings in China had similar inscriptions.

Chapter 7

Islam Universal Submission to God HE LAST OF THE GREAT MONOTHEISTIC FAITHS to arise in Southwest Asia was Islam, which emerged in Arabia during the early seventh century. Islam means “submission” in Arabic, and a Muslim is anyone who submits to the Will of God. The Prophet of Islam was a merchant of Mecca known as Muhammad ibn (son of) Abdullah (ca. 571-632), who around 610 began to receive visions in which he was called to be the Messenger of Allah—a divinity whose Arabic name (al-Llah) means “the God.” Muhammad’s mission was to preach a message that is reflected in large part in our first source. Because most Meccans were initially unmoved by Muhammad’s message, in 622, he and the majority of his small band of converts journeyed over two hundred miles northeast to an oasis settlement that would become known as Medinat al-Nabi (City of the Prophet) or, more simply, Medina. By this act, known as the hijra (breaking of ties), these first Muslims abandoned their tribal bonds—bonds that defined traditional Arabic society—and opted for membership in an Islamic community of faith, or umma. This migration was so pivotal in the history of Islam that Muslims later designated it as the starting point of the Islamic Era—the Year | of the Islamic calendar. Circumstances at Medina forced Muhammad to add the duties of statesman and warrior to that of prophet, and he proved successful at all three. After more than seven years of struggle, Muhammad and a reputed ten thousand followers were able to enter Mecca in triumph in January 630. The Messenger of Allah was now the most powerful chieftain in Arabia, and most of the tribes of the peninsula soon were united under his leadership. When Muhammad died in 632, his closest friend, Abu Bakr, assumed the title and office of caliph (deputy [of the Prophet]), thereby accepting leadership over the family of Islam.Abu Bakr, however, did not claim to be a prophet. His view, which became the dominant theological position within Islam, was that God’s revelation had ceased with Muhammad’s death. Thanks to Abu Bakr’s efforts at combating secessionist elements that arose after Muhammad’s death, Islam under his stewardship (632-634) remained a largely unified community ready to explode out of its homeland, which it did under the second caliph, Umar (r.634—-644). 217

ee” OE R

diaThe dwelling of a Christian hermit or monk. 4Muslims

greet one

another with certain

Quranic

verses

and other affirmations of their faith. 5Dhimmis wore leather or cord belts; Muslims wore silk and

other types of cloth belts.

« Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 that we will not take any slaves who have already

protection from you in exchange; and if we violate

been in the possession of Muslims or spy into their

any of the conditions of this agreement, then we forfeit your protection and you are at liberty to

houses; and that we will not strike any Muslim.

All this we promise to observe, on behalf of ourselves

and

our

co-religionists,

and

treat us as enemies and rebels.

receive

3 ¢ Al-Nawawi, Manual of Islamic Law

pass. He must not be treated as a person of importance nor given the first place at a gathering. He

An infidel’ who has to pay his poll-tax should be

should be distinguished by a suit of colored cloth

treated by the tax-collector with disdain; the col-

and a girdle’ outside his clothes. If he enters a

lector remaining seated and the infidel standing

bathing-house where there are Muslims, or if he

before him, the head bent and the body bowed. The infidel should personally place the money

undresses anywhere else in their presence, the infidel should wear round his neck an iron or leaden necklace or some other mark of servitude. He is

in the balance, while the collector holds him by the beard and strikes him on both cheeks. These

forbidden

practices, however, according to most jurists, are

them hear his false doctrines or by speaking aloud

merely commendable, but not obligatory, as some

Ginko If the capitulation’ is to the effect that the infi-

of Esdras° or of the Messiah,’ or by ostentatiously drinking wine or eating pork.’ And infidels are forbidden to sound the bells of their churches or

dels continue to be owners of the land, they may

of their synagogues

not only continue to make use of their churches or synagogue but may even build new ones. Some jurists merely recommend, but the major-

their sacrilegious rites. When

to offend Muslims,

either by making

or celebrate ostentatiously

the infidels do not observe the condi-

tions imposed on them, the agreement made with

ity declare it obligatory, that the infidels should be

them remains nonetheless intact, but they must be

forbidden to have houses higher than those of

forced from that time to fulfill their engagements

their Muslim

more strictly. It is only when they make war upon us or refuse to pay the poll-tax or to submit to our

neighbors, or even as high; a rule,

however, that does not apply to the infidels who

inhabit a separate quarter.’ An infidel subject to our Sovereign may not ride a horse, but a donkey or a mule is permitted him, whatever may be its

laws that the agreement is ipso facto broken, and we are freed from our obligations in that respect. When an infidel commits the crime of fornication

value. He must use . . . wooden spurs, those of

with a Muslim woman

iron being forbidden him, as well as a saddle.‘ He

must go to the side of the road to let a Muslim

shows our enemies the places where our frontiers are exposed; or seeks to turn a Muslim from the

Source: Minhaj et Taliban:

Belt.

A Manual

of Muhammadan

Law

according to the School of Shafii by Mahiudin Abu Zakaria Yahya ibn Sharif en Nawawi, translated into English from the French edition of L.W. C.Van den Berg and E. C. Howard (London: W. Thaker & Co, 1914), pp. 467 and 469. 'An unbeliever, namely a non-Muslim. *The articles of submission, namely the dhimma. *An area of the city set aside solely for Christians or Jews.

‘Is also forbidden him.

or makes her his wife; or

*Esdra is an apocryphal book of the so-called Old Testament

(the Tanakh) that was accepted as canonical by the Roman Church but was not included in the Jewish Tanakh. Here, however, it apparently means all of the books of the Bible, whether Jewish or Christian. ’See source 45 regarding Jesus. Christians must not publicly proclaim their “errors” regarding Jesus. ®Both are forbidden to Muslims.

Chapter 7 Islam

faith or speaks insultingly of Islam or of the Quran or defames the Prophet—the agreement, so far as it concerns him, is ipso facto broken, provided that this penal clause has been expressly stipulated. An infidel who breaks the agreement by armed force should be at once resisted and killed. An infidel

« 239

who breaks the agreement in any other way . . . the Sovereign may have him killed or reduced to slavery or may pardon him or release him for a ransom, as may seem to him most advantageous. He cannot, however, be made a slave if he embraces

Islam before the Sovereign decides upon his fate.

In the dhimma.

4° Benjamin of Tudela, Book of Travels

of the Emir al-Muminin, the Lord of Islam. For

Baghdad [is] . . . the royal residence of the Caliph

and his descendants; and he granted him a seal of

Emir al-Muminin

office over all the congregations that dwell under

thus Muhammad®

al-Abbasi'

of the family of

Muhammad.’ He is at the head of the Muslim religion, and all the kings of Islam obey him... . {H]e is kind unto

Israel, and many

commanded

his rule, and ordered

concerning him

that every one,

whether

Muslim or Jew, or belonging to any other nation

belonging

in his dominion, should rise up before him and

to the people of Israel are his attendants; he knows

salute him, and that anyone who should refuse to

all languages, and is well versed in the Law of

rise up should receive one hundred stripes.’

Israel. He reads and writes the holy language

And every fifth day when he goes to pay a visit

[Hebrew]. . . . He is truthful and trusty, speaking

to the great Caliph, horsemen, gentiles as well as

peace to all men....

Jews, escort him, and heralds proclaim in advance,

In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews,

“Make way before our Lord, the son of David, as

and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honor

is due unto him.” . . . He is mounted on a horse,

under the great Caliph, and among them are great

and is attired in robes of silk and embroidery with a large turban on his head. . . . Then he appears

sages, the heads of Academies engaged in the study

of the Law.’ In this city there are ten Academies. ... And at the head of them all is Daniel the son of Hisdai, who is styled “Our Lord the Head of the Captivity of all Israel.” He possesses a book of pedigrees going back as far as David, King of

before the Caliph and kisses his hand, and the Caliph rises and places him on a throne which Muhammad had ordered to be made for him, and all the Muslim princes who attend the court of the Caliph rise up before him. And the Head of

Israel.4 The Jews call him “Our Lord, Head of the

the Captivity is seated on his throne opposite to the

Captivity,” and the Muslims call him “Saidna ben

Daoud,” and he has been invested with authority

Caliph, in compliance. . . . The authority of the Head of the Captivity extends over all the com-

over all the congregations of Israel at the hands

munities of Shinar,® Persia, Khurasan? and Sheba

Source: Benjamin Ben Jonah, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, trans. Marcus N. Adler (London: H. Frowde, 1907), pp. 35-42, passim. * 'Also known as al-Mustanjid (r. | 160-1170). 2The Abbasids claimed descent from the Prophet's uncle Abbas. 3Academies for the study of Scripture and the Talmud (source 41). These scholars served as the rabbis, or religious teachers and judges, of their community.

‘King of Israel around 1000 8.c.e. >The Lord son of David. ®Not the Prophet Muhammad

but possibly al-Abbasi’s

predecessor, Muhammad el-Moktafi. 7A public flogging in which the person receives one hundred blows. 8Southern Mesopotamia (ancient Sumer and Akkad). *Northeastern Iran.

¢ Faith, Devotion, and Salvation: World Religions to 1500 which is El-Yemen,'® and Diyar Kalach'! and the

rich, and wise in the Scriptures as well as in the

land of Aram Naharaim,'’’ and over the dwellers

Talmud,”

in the mountains of Ararat’ and the land of the Alans." . . . His authority extends also over

every day.

the land of Siberia,’? and the communities in the land of the Togar-mim'® 16 unto the mountains of

much money to the Caliph, to the Princes, and to the

Ministers. On the day that the Caliph performs the

Asveh and the land of Gurgan, the inhabitants of

ceremony of investing him with authority, he rides in

and many

Israelites dine at his table

At his installation, the Head of the Captivity gives

which . . . follow the Christian religion.'’ Further

the second of the royal carriages, and is escorted from

it extends to the gates of Samarkand,"* the land of

the communities power to appoint Rabbis and Ministers who come unto him to be consecrated and to receive his authority. They bring him offerings and gifts from the ends of the earth.

the palace of the Caliph to his own house with timbrels and fifes. The Exilarch*! appoints the Chiefs of the Academies by placing his hand upon their heads, thus installing them in their office. The Jews of the city are learned men and very rich. In Baghdad there are twenty-eight Jewish Synagogues. . . . The great synagogue of the

He owns

in

Head of the Captivity has columns of marble of

his

various colors overlaid with silver and gold, and

fathers, and no one can take his possessions from arising from the hospices of the Jews, the markets

on these columns are sentences of the Psalms? in golden letters. And in front of the ark are about ten steps of marble; on the topmost step

and

are the seats of the Head of the Captivity and of

Tibet, and the land of India. In respect of all

these countries the Head of the Captivity gives

Babylon,'?

hospices, gardens, and plantations and much

land

inherited

from

him by force. He has a fixed weekly revenue the merchants,

apart

from

that which

is

brought to him from far-off lands. The man is very

the Princes of the House of David.

'Southern Arabia, the presumed land of the tenth-century

'©One of a number of people of the central Euphrates in biblical times (the Bible, Genesis |0:3). “Apparently he means the African Christian civilizations of Nubia (present-day Sudan) and Ethiopia.

B.c.£. queen of Sheba, who visited Israel’s King Solomon (the Bible, | Kings 10:1—13).

"Anatolia. "Northern Mesopotamia (present-day northern Syria).

'SA major commercial city that today is located in Uzbekistan,

"Armenia.

in Central Asia. See Chapter | 1, source 82.

'*An Indo-European people inhabiting the southern Caucasus Mountain region of Georgia. 'SHe probably means Iberia, not Siberia. If the reference is to Iberia, he does not mean the Iberian Peninsula, where the present-day nations of Spain and Portugal are located, but rather the land that today roughly corresponds to the nation of Georgia (Multiple Voices V, source 5).

"The region around Baghdad. 0See source 41. *'The ruler of the exile—Daniel, the son of Hisdai. *Sacred hymns that constitute one of the books of the Bible.

5 ¢ The Deeds of Sultan Firuz Shah

creature Firuz. . .. His impulse for the maintenance of the laws of His religion, for the repression of her-

Praises without end, and infinite thanks to that

esy, the prevention of crime, and the prohibition of

merciful Creator who gave to me his poor abject

things forbidden; who gave me also a disposition for

Source: H. M. Elliott and John

Dowson,

The History of India as Told by Its Own

eds. and trans. Historians,

8 vols.

(London: Truebner, |867—1877), Vol. 3, pp. 374-388, passim.

Chapter 7 Islam

discharging my lawful duties and my moral obliga-

«

* servant with an earnest desire to repress irreligion

families enjoyed security. These people now erected new idol temples in the city and the environs in opposition to the Law of the Prophet which declares that such temples are not to be tolerated. Under Divine guidance I destroyed these edifices, and I killed those leaders of infidelity who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to stripes and

and wickedness, so that I was able to labor diligently

chastisement, until this abuse was entirely abolished.’

until with His blessing the vanities of the world, and

... 1 forbade the infliction of any severe punishment

things repugnant to religion, were set aside, and the

on the Hindus in general, but I destroyed their idol

true was distinguished from the false. In the reigns of former kings’ the blood of

Where infidels and idolaters worshiped idols, Mus-

tions. . . . First | would praise Him because when

irreligion and sins opposed to the Law prevailed in Hindustan,' and men’s habits and dispositions were inclined towards them, and were averse to the restraints of religion, He inspired me His humble

many Muslims had been shed, and many varieties

of torture employed. . . . The great and merciful God made me, His servant, hope and seek for His

mercy by devoting myself to prevent the unlawful killing of Muslims, and the infliction of any kind of torture upon them or upon any men....

By God’s help I determined that the lives of Muslims and true believers should be in perfect immunity, and whoever transgressed the Law

should receive the punishment prescribed by the book? and the decrees ofjudges. .. . The sect of Shias . . . had endeavored to make proselytes.* They wrote treatises and books, and

gave instruction

and lectures

upon

the tenets

temples, and instead thereof raised mosques.

. . .

lims now, by God’s mercy, perform their devotions to the true God. Praises of God and the summons to prayer are now heard there, and that place which was formerly the home of infidels has become the habitation of the faithful, who there repeat their creed and

offer up their praises to God... . I encouraged my infidel subjects to embrace the religion of the Prophet, and I proclaimed that

everyone who repeated the creed® and became a Muslim should be exempt from the jizya, or polltax. Information of this came to the ears of the people at large, and great numbers of Hindus presented themselves, and were admitted to the honor of Islam. Thus they came forward day by

of their sect, and traduced and reviled the first

day from every quarter, and, adopting the faith,

chiefs of our religion (on whom be the peace of

were exonerated from the jizya, and were favored with presents and honors. .. . My object in writing this book has been to express my gratitude to the All-bountiful God for the many and various blessings He has bestowed

God!). I seized them all and I convicted them of their errors and perversions. On the most zealous I inflicted punishment, and the rest I visited with censure and threats of public punishment.

Their books I burnt in public, and so by the grace

upon me.

of God the influence of this sect was entirely suppressed... . The Hindus and idol-worshipers had agreed to

good and prosperous may read this and learn what

pay the money for toleration, and had consented to the poll tax, in return for which they and their

ance: Men will be judged according to their works,

'The north-central region of India inhabited largely by Hindus. 2Muhammad ben Tughlug (r. 1325-1351), his predecessor,

“Converts. >Compare this with The Pact of Umar. *“There is no god but the God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

had been noted for his cruelty. Sharia according to the dictates of the Quran.

Secondly, that men

who desire to be

is the proper course. There is this concise maxim, by observing which, a man

may obtain God’s guid-

and rewarded for the good that they have done.

PARTTHREE Continuity, Change apt “ Interchange: 900- 1500 | ae INDUISM, BUDDHISM, CONFUCIANISM, imperial systems of govern-

ment and bureaucracy, Christianity, and a multitude of other major world traditions were firmly in place by 500 c.c., and despite vicissitudes, they remained integral elements of global history _for the next one thousand years and beyond. Continuity of culture, especially in China and India, is one of the major features of the period

500-1500.A Chinese of the Han Dynasty would find much that was familiar in Ming China (1368-1644), although the changes that had taken place would have been equally striking. Likewise, even while Islam was making a deep impact on northern India after 1000, Hindu culture con-

tinued to flourish and develop along lines that reached back at least to Indo-Aryan antiquity and probably all the way back to the civilization of the Indus Valley. At the same time, this millennium witnessed radical

changes from which even the essentially conservative societies of China and India were not immune.

Many of the changes were a result of the movement and interchange of peoples. Germans and other so-called fringe groups (because they came from beyond the fringe, or borders, of the empire) infiltrated the Roman Empire and became a major factor in the radical transformation of society in the empire’s western regions. The rise and spread of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries created a new cultural bloc that

stretched from western North Africa and Spain to Central Asia. The later movements

of Turkish and Mongol nomads out of Central Asia

resulted in empires that severely strained but also richly cross-pollinated

almost all of Afro-Eurasia’s older civilized societies. Likewise, Arab and Persian merchants and settlers, as well as Indian and Malay traders, had

243

#

* Continuity, Change, and I.nterchange: 500-1 )00 *

ee

=

s

e

2

m3

=

a substantial impact on the course of East African society, and Hindu,

Chinese, and Arab merchants deeply influenced the development of civilization in Southeast Asia, one of their common meeting grounds. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the impact that China had on the development of Korean and Japanese cultures, but regardless of their debts

to China, both evolved distinctive cultures that were anything but slavish copies of Chinese civilization. The Byzantine world, the Eastern heir of the Roman Empire that was centered on Constantinople, became the model and civilizer of Eastern and Southern Slavs, most notably the Rus-

sians and the Serbs. Western (or Latin) Christian Europe expanded into Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, the lands of the Baltic Sea, Poland, and Hungary. It even established a brief presence in North America around the year 1000 and, more significantly, set up overseas colonies in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea during the Age of the Crusades. By 1500, Christianity, in its Latin and Byzantine forms, provided spiritual direction to Europeans from Iceland to the Volga. Well

before 1500, major portions of sub-Saharan Africa had become integral parts of the Islamic world, and toward the end of the fifteenth century, Europeans were making their presence known along the African coast. Of all of Eurasia’s civilizations,

Western Europe underwent the most

radical changes during this thousand-year period. Out of the chaos that

ensued following the collapse of Roman society in the West, a new civilization emerged: Western (or Latin) Christian Europe. By | 100, it was an aggressive, expansionistic power, as the crusades bear witness. Despite a number of crises in the fourteenth century, which occasioned a momentary retrenchment, Western Europe never abandoned its spirit of expansion. In the fifteenth century, it was ready to resume explorations across the Atlantic. One consequence of this transoceanic expansion

was the virtual destruction of almost all Amerindian cultures and their absorption into the fabric of Western European civilization. A second consequence

of Western

Europe’s transoceanic

adventures

was the

inauguration of the First Global Age. Both of these phenomena are treated in depth in Volume 2.

Chapter 8

Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition SIA WAS HOME to the world’s oldest and most complex civilizations, and as such, its deeply rooted cultures were the most tradition-bound. Even Asia’s newer civilizations, such as Japan, exhibited an innate conservatism, in part because they had borrowed so heavily from their well-established neighbors. Change, of course, comes to all societies, old and new, and Asia was no exception. Occasionally, it arrived in dramatic fashion, as in the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258 or the establishment of the hated Yuan Dynasty (1264-1368) in China. More often than not, however, change arrived clothed in the guise of tradition. Even Khubilai Khan, Mongol emperor of China (r. 1260-1294), adopted a Chinese name for his dynasty, performed the Confucian imperial rites, and tried to re-establish the civil service examination system. When in | 192 Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) transferred all real political and military power to himself as shogun, he left Japan’s imperial court and structure in place and allowed local lords to retain a good measure of their old feudal autonomy. A reverence for tradition did not mean a lack of dynamism. The great urban centers of Asia—Baghdad, Cambay, Chang’an, Delhi, Hangzhou, Nara—were prosperous and cosmopolitan. China in the eleventh century had several cities with populations of a million or more, and the volume of commerce in those urban centers eventually necessitated the creation of imperially guaranteed paper money. Economic prosperity also meant artistic patronage, and artistic expression flourished from Southwest Asia to Japan.As European travelers learned, the riches of Asia were no empty fable.

DENS)

» © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Japan: Creating a Distinctive Civilization Composed of four main islands, the Japanese archipelago’s closest continental neighbor is Korea, which at its closest point is about 120 miles away across a stretch of often tempestuous water. This insularity has benefited Japan to the point that it is close enough to the East Asian mainland to receive the stimulation of foreign ideas but far enough away to be free to choose what it wished to adopt from abroad. Around the end of the fourth century 8.c.£., agriculture based on rice cultivation arrived in Japan from South China, probably by way of Korea. Given Korea’s relative proximity, the peninsula proved to be a major conduit for cultural imports from mainland East Asia. Around 200 c.e., the Japanese were working iron, a Chinese process received from Korea. The Japanese were illiterate until, as the story goes, a Korean scribe arrived in 405 c.e. to offer instruction in Chinese script. The Japanese quickly adapted the script to their own language, which is unrelated to Chinese but distantly related to Korean. In the middle of the sixth century, a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism made its way to Japan from Korea, and in 646, it was officially acknowledged as the religion of the aristocracy. The coming of Buddhism sharpened the desire of Japan’s leaders to adopt Chinese culture, and during the seventh and eighth centuries, the imperial court of Japan dispatched numerous sons of noblemen to China’s imperial court at Chang’an, where they could observe firsthand the governmental system of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) before returning home to assume important official positions. These visitors to Chang’an brought back with them not only the forms of Chinese government but also some of the spirit that infused Chinese culture. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were woven into the fabric of Japanese civilization during these centuries of tutelage. What is more, many Chinese tastes, artistic styles, and artifacts were adopted as well. Never, however, did Chinese influences destroy native Japanese culture. Shinto (the way of the gods), Japan’s original animistic religion, remained a vital force within Japanese culture despite attempts by some Japanese leaders to suppress it as a backward religion. Just as important, clan descent and inherited status remained vital social and political determinants in Japan. Unlike China, where tightly organized governmental structures passed increasingly into the hands of a professional class of scholar-officials, Japan’s society and government remained in the control of feudal clan lords and hereditary aristocrats. Japan experimented with but chose not to adopt the Chinese civil service examination system. In 794, Emperor Kammu moved his capital from Heijo (present-day Nara), which had been modeled physically on the Tang capital at Chang’an,to Heian-kyo (presentday Kyoto) in order to end what seemed to him to be a slavish imitation of everything Chinese. Tang China was now in turmoil, and it was a good time to modify and even discard some aspects of Chinese culture that earlier Japanese sinophiles (lovers of all things Chinese) had adopted so enthusiastically. During the Heian Period

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition (794-1185), the culture of the imperial court soared to unprecedented levels of refinement, and Japanese civilization reached a level of mature independence it

would never relinquish. The Japanese became more selective in their assimilation of Chinese influences and increasingly discovered inspiration for creative expression in their own land and people.

The Constitution of Prince Shotoku 50

*«CHRONICLES

OF JAPAN

According to Japanese reckoning, a single imperial dynasty has reigned over Japan and its people for more than two and a half millennia. Known as the Sun Line, the family claims descent from the sun-goddess Ameterasu through her great-great-grandson Jimmu Tennu (Divine Warrior), the mythic first emperor of Japan who, according to legend, began to rule in 660 8.c.£. The historical truth is less grand. The Yamato clan, which became the Sun Line, seems to have established its hegemony over the western regions of the island of Honshu no earlier than the third century c.e. The range of the Yamato clan’s authority grew in the course of its first several centuries of state building, thanks to fortunate alliances, conquests, and the development of a literate bureaucracy. By the sixth century, Yamato emperors and empresses had become living symbols of Japanese religious and cultural unity. However, even though it claimed divine origins, the Yamato family could not control several of Japan’s powerful clan chieftains. Indeed, the opposite was more the case: several powerful clans vied to control the imperial family. One of the most powerful late sixth-century clans, or uji, was the Soga family, headed by Soga Umako. In addition to struggling successfully against rivals for influence over the imperial court, Soga Umako also supported the policy of actively welcoming Chinese influences on a massive scale into Japan as a way of extending the authority of the imperial family, which his family controlled, and increasing the overall prosperity and power of the island empire. After engineering the assassination of one emperor, Soga Umako chose Empress

Suiko (r. 592-628) as nominal ruler. To guide her along lines that he considered correct, Soga designated an imperial prince to serve as regent. Under the direction of this crown prince, known as Shotoku (Sovereign Moral Power), Japan embarked on a course of deliberate cultural borrowing that was unprecedented in history. In 604, Prince Shotoku issued the Constitution of Seventeen Articles, which laid out the ideological basis for the reforms that he, Empress Suiko, and Soga Umako were

championing. Our knowledge of Shotoku’s constitution comes from the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), one ofJapan’s two oldest collections of legend and history. Composed in its final form in 720, the Nihongi traces the history of Japan back to the mythological age of the gods. By the time the Nihongi reaches the sixth century C.E., its narrative has largely left the realm of myth and become more reliable history.

+

* Continuity,

QUESTIONS

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What kind of constitution is this? Is it a code of institutional rules and regulations, or is it something else? What does your answer suggest? 2. What does this constitution allow you to infer about Shotoku’s ideals and goals? 3. Review sources 7 and 8, 20-22, and 28 and 29.What Confucian principles do you find in this document? Can you find any Daoist ideas? What about Legalist elements? 4. What native, or non-Chinese, elements do you find in this document? What do they suggest about Japanese society? 5. Can you perceive in this document any inherent contradictions or tensions between native Japanese cultural values and those imported from China?

The Prince Imperial in person prepared for the

their due course, and the powers of Nature obtain

first time laws. There were seventeen clauses as follows:—

their efficacy. If the Earth attempted to overspread,

1. Harmony is to be valued, and an avoidance of

that when the lord speaks, the vassal listens; when

wanton opposition to be honored. All men are influenced by class-feelings, and there are few who are intelligent. Hence there are some who disobey their

the superior acts, the inferior yields compliance. Consequently when you receive the Imperial commands, fail not to carry them out scrupulously. Let

Heaven would simply fall in ruin. Therefore is it

lords and fathers, or who maintain feuds with the

there be a want ofcare in this matter, and ruin is the

neighboring villages. But when those above are harmonious and those below are friendly, and there is

natural consequence. 4. The Ministers and functionaries should make

concord in the discussion of business, right views of

decorous behavior their leading principle, for the

things spontaneously gain acceptance. Then what is

leading principle of the government of the people

there which cannot be accomplished!

consists in decorous behavior. If the superiors do

2. Sincerely reverence the three treasures. The three treasures:

the Buddha,

the Law, and the

Priesthood,' are the final refuge . . . and are the

supreme objects of faith in all countries. What man in what age can fail to reverence this law? Few men

not behave with decorum, the inferiors are disor-

derly: if inferiors are wanting in proper behavior, there must necessarily be offenses. Therefore it is that when lord and vassal behave with propriety, the distinctions of rank are not confused: when the

are utterly bad. They may be taught to follow it. But if they do not go to the three treasures, how shall

people behave with propriety, the Government of

their crookedness be made straight?

3. When you receive the Imperial commands, fail

7. Let every man have his own charge, and let not the spheres of duty be confused. When wise

not scrupulously to obey them. The lord is Heaven,

men are entrusted with office, the sound of praise

the vassal is Earth.’ Heaven overspreads, and Earth

arises. If unprincipled men hold office, disasters and tumults are multiplied. In this world, few are born

upbears. When

this is so, the four seasons follow

Source: Chronicles of Japan, in W. G.Aston, trans., Nihongi Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697, 2 vols. (London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Truebner, 1896),Vol. 2, pp. 128-133, passim. 'The Buddha, the Law of Dharma, and the Sangha, or order of male and female monks, are the three treasures, or key elements, of Buddhism.

the Commonwealth proceeds of itself. . . .

*Lord and vassal mean in this context not just emperor and subject but local clan chieftains and their retainers.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition + 249 with knowledge: wisdom is the product of earnest meditation. In all things, whether great or small,

find the right man, and they will surely be well managed on all occasions. . . . In this way will the State be lasting and the Temples of the Earth and of Grain? will be free from danger. Therefore did the _ wise sovereigns of antiquity seek the man to fill the office, and not the office for the sake of the man... . 10. Let us cease from wrath, and refrain from angry looks. Nor let us be resentful when others differ from us. For all men have hearts, and each heart has its own leanings. Their right is our wrong, and our right is their wrong. We are not unques-

tionably sages, nor are they unquestionably fools. Both of us are simply ordinary men. How can any one lay down a rule by which to distinguish right from wrong? For we are all, one with another, wise and foolish, like a ring which has no end. There-

15. To turn away from that which is private, and to set our faces toward that which is public—this is the path of aMinister. Now if a man is influenced by private motives, he will assuredly feel resentments, and if he is influenced by resentful feelings, he will assuredly fail to act harmoniously with others. If he fails to act harmoniously with others, he will assuredly sacrifice the public interest to his private feelings. When resentment arises, it interferes with order, and is subversive of law. . . . 16. Let the people be employed [in forced labor] at seasonable times. This is an ancient and

excellent rule. Let them be employed, therefore, in the winter months, when they are at leisure. But from Spring to Autumn, when they are engaged in agriculture or with the mulberry trees,* the people should not be so employed. For if they do not attend to agriculture, what will they have to eat? If

fore, although others give way to anger, let us on the

they do not attend to the mulberry trees, what will

contrary dread our own faults, and though we alone

may be in the right, let us follow the multitude and act like them. 11. Give clear appreciation to merit and demerit, and deal out to each its sure reward or punishment.

they do for clothing? 17. Decisions on important matters should not be made by one person alone. They should be discussed with many. But small matters are of less consequence. It is unnecessary to consult a number of people. It is

In these days, reward does not attend upon merit,

only in the case of the discussion of weighty affairs,

nor punishment upon crime. You high functionartask to make clear rewards and punishments. . . .

when there is a suspicion that they may miscarry, that one should arrange matters in concert with others, so as to arrive at the right conclusion.

3Shinto shrines dedicated to the kami, or spirits, of agriculture— probably a metaphor for prosperity in this context.

‘The cultivation of silkworms that ate mulberry leaves. The technique of silk production was an import from China.

ies who have charge of public affairs, let it be your

Lives and Loves at the Heian Court 51 » MURASAKI

SHIKIBU, DIARY

The centralized administrative system modeled on Tang China’s imperial structure that Japanese reformers tried to establish during the seventh and eighth centuries failed to function as intended. By the middle of the ninth century, power in the provinces rested in the hands of local clan chiefs and a new element, Buddhist monasteries, both of which had private armies. The imperial government continued to appoint provincial governors, who theoretically administered their regions in the name of the emperor, but most governors resided in the imperial court at Kyoto, far away

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

from their areas of nominal responsibility. The court itself became an increasingly elegant setting for emperors and empresses, who were regarded as sacred beings and theoretically stood at the summit of all power. The elaborate ceremony that surrounded these people, who claimed to rule the world, masked, at least at close hand, the fact that effective power lay elsewhere. While the imperial court was increasingly losing touch with the center of political authority, a group of aristocratic women at court were developing Japan’s first native literature. Unlike Japan’s male Confucian scholars, who continued to study the Chinese classics along fairly rigid lines established a millennium earlier in a foreign land, the court women gave free play in their prose and poetry to their imaginations, emotions, and powers of analysis. Japan’s greatest literary artist of the Heian Period was Murasaki Shikibu (973?— after 1025?),a lady-in-waiting at the court of Second Empress Shoshi (also known as Akiko). Murasaki Shikibu had been brought into the service of the young empress by the Second Empress’s father, Prime Minister Fujiwara no Michinaga, the most powerful man in Japan. The prime minister had assembled a coterie of talented women to serve as the artistic nucleus of his daughter’s court and as her literary mentors. The masterpiece that earned Muraski Shikibu her post at the imperial court was the massive Tale of Genji,a romance noted for psychological insights that have merited it universal recognition as the single greatest piece of classical Japanese literature and one of the world’s immortal novels. Focusing on the love affairs and emotions of Prince Genji, the work brilliantly captures the changing moods of people and nature. Recognized in her lifetime as the author of a great work of art, Murasaki Shikibu is today a shadowy figure about whom we know so little apart from what we might infer from her writings. Her birth and death dates are uncertain, and we do not know her birth-name. Murasaki Shikibu was a name bestowed on her at the court in dual recognition of a title her father held (Shikibu) and the heroine of the Tale of Genji (Murasaki). In addition to the Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu’s extant works are a set of poetic memoirs and a diary. The diary covers only two years in her life, and it is not a secret, day-to-day account of those two years. Rather, it is a carefully crafted literary text consisting of a series of memorable events punctuated by her reflections. lt was meant to be read by others. Despite its limited scope and artificiality, the diary provides a privileged view into both imperial court life and the psyche of this complex genius. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What was expected of court women? How did male aristocrats look upon and treat women of their class? 2. Consider the role of ceremony at the Heian court. How significant does it appear to have been? What do you infer from your answer? 3. What does this diary allow us to infer about the level of refinement, learning, and sophistication among Japan’s privileged classes? What does it suggest about Japanese upper-class aesthetics in this era?

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context ofTradition * 4. Is there any evidence in this source to suggest that the real power in Japan at this time lay with the Fujiwara clan, headed by Fujiwara no Michinaga, and not with the emperor?

As the autumn season approaches the Tsuchimi-

kado'

becomes inexpressibly smile-giving. The near the pond, the bushes near the

* tree-tops

stream, are dyed in varying tints whose colors grow deeper in the mellow light of evening. The murmuring sound of waters mingles all the night

fun is gone!” and I seize the chance to run away to the writing-box, hiding my face — Flower-maiden in bloom — Even more beautiful for the bright dew, Which is partial, and never favors me.

through with the never-ceasing recitation of sutras

“So prompt!” said he, smiling, and ordered a writ-

which appeal more to one’s heart as the breezes

ing-box to be brought [for himself].

grow cooler. The ladies waiting upon her honored presence are talking idly. The Queen hears them; she must

find them annoying, but she conceals it calmly.

His answer:

The silver dew is never partial. From her heart The flower-maidens beauty. . . .

Her beauty needs no words of mine to praise it,

ful a queen will be the only relief from my sorrow.

On the fifth night the Lord Prime Minister celebrated the birth.* The full moon on the fifteenth

So in spite of my better desires [for a religious life]

day was clear and beautiful. Torches were lighted

I am here. Nothing else dispels my grief’—it is

under the trees and tables were put there with riceballs on them. Even the uncouth humble servants who were walking about chattering seemed to

but I cannot help feeling that to be near so beauti-

wonderful! .. .

I can see the garden from my room beside the entrance to the gallery. The air is misty, the dew is

enhance the joyful scene. All minor officials were

still on the leaves. The Lord Prime Minister is walk-

there burning torches, making it as bright as day.

ing there; he orders his men to cleanse the brook.

Even the attendants of the nobles, who gathered

He breaks off a stalk of omenaishi [Hower maiden]

morning [not yet painted and powdered] face. He

behind the rocks and under the trees, talked of nothing but the new light which had come into the world, and were smiling and seemed happy as if their own private wishes had been fulfilled. Happier still seemed those in the Audience

says, “Your poem on this! If you delay so much the

Chamber,’ from the highest nobles even to men of

Source: Annie Shepley Omori and Kochi Doi, trans., Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920),

>Her husband had died seven years earlier in 1001.According to tradition, their marriage had been filled with love, even though he had three other wives. In 999, Murasaki bore a daughter, who later became a great poet in her own right. ‘A curtain of bamboo three or four feet high to separate the room from outside. °Of his imperial grandson, Prince Atsuhira. 6The courtiers who were allowed to be in the presence of the emperor, from the highest nobles to persons who were “scarcely to be counted among the nobility.”

which is in full bloom by the south end of the

bridge. He peeps in over my screen!* His noble appearance embarrasses us, and I am ashamed of my

7-73, 86-87, 89-90, | 30-134. 'This was the residence of Prime Minister Fujiwara no Michinaga. Following tradition, the empress had returned to her father’s estate to give birth to her first child in 1008. 2The moods and colors of autumn figures prominently in Murasaki Shikibu’s writings. In preparation for the child’s birth, Buddhist monks are constantly reciting the sacred sutras, or scriptures, to ensure an easy delivery and the birth of a male child.

» © Continuity,

Change, and Interchange. * 500-1500

the fifth rank, who, scarcely to be counted among the nobility, met the joyful time going about idly, and bending their bodies busily [i.e., obsequiously].

To serve at the Queen’s dinner eight ladies tied their hair with white cords,’ and in that dress

brought in Her Majesty’s dining-table. The chief lady-in-waiting for that night was Miya-noNaishi.* She was brilliantly dressed with great formality, and her hair was made more charming

by the white cords which enhanced her beauty. I got a side glance of her when her face was not screened by her fan.’ She wore a look of extreme PULICY.

eae

These were all young and pretty. It was a sight worth seeing. This time, as they chose only the best-looking young ladies, the rest who used to

tie their hair on ordinary occasions to serve the Queen's dinner wept bitterly; it was shocking to see thems... The court nobles rose from their seats and went to the steps [descending from the balcony]. His Lordship the Prime Minister and others cast da.'° It was shocking to see them quarrelling about paper.'' Some [others] composed poems. A lady said, “What response shall we make if some one

offers to drink sake with us?” We tried to think of something.” Shijo-no-Dainagon’’ is a man of varied accomplishments. No ladies can rival him in repartee, much less compete with him in poetry, so they were all afraid of him, but [this evening] he did not give 7Protocol dictated that women put up their hair when serving the empress. ®A lady-in-waiting to the empress, she appears throughout the diary. *Women of a certain class were expected to hide their faces behind fans.

'°A game of dice. ''Colored paper was a precious commodity, and sometimes it was awarded as a prize in games of chance. "The person to whom a drink had been offered was then challenged to compose an impromptu poem. '5A noble of the Junior Second Rank, which was a high level in the nobility. Fujiwara no Michinaga was a noble of the Senior Second Rank.

a cup to any particular lady to make her compose poems. Perhaps that was because he had many things to do and it was getting late. At this ceremony the ladies of high rank are given robes, together with babies’ dresses presented by the Queen. The ladies of the fourth rank were each given a lined kimono,

and those of the sixth rank were given

hakama.'* So much I saw... . The Great Adviser’ is displeased to be received by ladies of low rank, so when he comes to the Queen’s court to make some report and suitable ladies to receive him are not available, he goes away without seeing Her Majesty. Other court nobles, who often come to make reports, have each a favorite lady, and when that one is away they are displeased, and go away saying to other people, that the Queen’s ladies are quite unsatisfactory. . . . Lady Izumi Shikibu corresponds charmingly, but her behavior is improper indeed.'° She writes with grace and ease and with a flashing wit. There is fragrance even in her smallest words. Her poems are attractive, but they are only improvisations which drop from her mouth spontaneously. Every one of them has some interesting point, and she is acquainted with ancient literature also,'’ but she is not like a true artist who is

filled with the genuine spirit of poetry. Yet I think even she cannot presume to pass judgment on the poems of others. The wife of the Governor of Tamba Province is called by the Queen and Prime Minister Masa '4A trouser-skirt worn by women and men. Fujiwara no Tadanobu (967-1035), a noble of the Junior Second Rank (see note 13), is believed to have been the lover of Sei Shonagon (note 19). 'SOne of Japan’s greatest poets, she was also the author of a famous diary. Murasaki Shikibu refers here to several notorious love affairs that Izumi Shikibu had with various members of the imperial family and the poems that resulted from them. '’Chinese literature, especially from the Tang Era.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

Hira Emon.'* Though she is not of noble birth, her poems are very satisfying. She does not compose and scatter them about on every occasion, but so far as we know

them, even

her miscel-

laneous poems shame us. Those who compose poems whose loins are all but broken, yet who _are infinitely self-exalted and vain, deserve our

contempt and pity. Lady Sei Shonagon. A very proud person. She values herself highly, and scatters her Chinese writings all about. Yet should we study her closely, we should find that she is still imperfect. She tries to be exceptional, but naturally persons of that sort give offence. She is piling up trouble for her future. One who is too richly gifted, who indulges too much in emotion, even

e 253

solitude, but something impels me, and sitting a little withdrawn I muse there. In the wind-cooled

evening I play on the koto,”” though others may not care to hear it. I fear that my playing betrays the sorrow which becomes more intense, and | become disgusted with myself—so foolish and miserable am I. ...

A pair of big bookcases have in them all the books they can hold. In one of them are placed old poems and romances. They are the homes of worms we

which

come

frightening

turn the pages, so none

us when

ever wish to read

them.*' As to the other cabinet, since the per-

son’ who placed his own books [there] no hand has touched it. When I am bored to death I take out one or two of them; then my maids

aside from anything she is interested in, in spite

gather around me and say: “Your life will not be favored with old age if you do such a thing! Why

of herself will lose self-control. How can such a vain and reckless person end her days happily? "”

do you read Chinese? Formerly even the reading of sutras was not encouraged for women.” They

(Here there is a sudden change from the Court

rebuke me in the shade [i.e., behind my back].

when she ought to be reserved, and cannot turn

to her own home.]

I have heard of it and have wished to say, “It is

Having no excellence within myself, I have passed my days without making any special impression on any one. Especially the fact that I have no man who will look out for my future makes me comfortless. | do not wish to bury myself in dreariness. Is it because of my worldly mind that I feel lonely? On moonlight nights

far from certain that he who does no forbidden

in autumn,

when

I am

hopelessly sad, I often

thing enjoys a long life,” but it would be a lack

of reserve to say it [to the maids]. Our deeds

vary with our age and deeds vary with the individual. Some are proud [to read books], others

look over old cast-away writings because they are bored with having nothing to do. It would not be becoming for such a one to chatter

go out on the balcony and gaze dreamily at the moon. It makes me think of days gone by. People say that it is dangerous to look at the moon in

away about religious thoughts, noisily shaking a

'8She is one of the reputed authors of the Story of Splendor, which quotes liberally from Murasaki Shikibu’s Diary and tells the story of the life and exploits of Prime Minister Fujiwara no Michinaga and his clan. '°9One of the leading literary figures of her day, Sei Shonagon , (ca.965—?) had served at the court of the First Empress, until the empress’s death in 1000. In this passage, Muraski Shikibu probably refers to Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book, a collection of witty but often caustic observations that she began writing while serving at the imperial court. Tradition records that

Shikibu probably wrote these words after 1010, it is possible that Sei Shonagon had already died and Murasaki Shikibu was aware of that rumor. 204 stringed instrument. 2!This bookcase probably holds her romances and poems. *Her late husband had been a scholar of Chinese literature. Literally “a garland of roses.” The rosary is an aid to prayer that consists of beads strung in a circle, allowing one to count prayers. Created by Hindus, the rosary spread among Buddhists and later to Muslims and Christians.

Sei Shonagon had an unhappy old age. Given that Murasaki

rosary.”’ I feel this, and before my women

keep

myself from doing what otherwise I could do

54

© Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

easily. But after all, when I was among the ladies with those who criticize from a feeling of supeof the Court I did not say what I wanted to say __riority. Especially one-sided persons are troubleeither, for it is useless to talk with those who some. Few are accomplished in many arts and do not understand one and troublesome to talk most cling narrowly to their own opinion.

Art of the Kamakura 52

e REMOVAL

OF THE

Era

IMPERIAL

FAMILY TO RUKUHARA

While imperial court women at Kyoto devoted their talents to crafting new forms of literature that focused on human emotions and the moods of nature, Japan’s warlords engaged their energies in carving out independent principalities backed by the might of their private armies of samurai (they who serve). In the course of the twelfth century, the Fujiwara clan lost control over the imperial court, was decisively defeated in battle by the rival Taira and Minamoto clans, and increasingly abandoned politics to concentrate on the arts.

The early thirteenth-century painting shown here depicts a dramatic moment in the Tale of Heiji, an epic that recounts the Heiji Rebellion of 1159-1160 fought between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of the emperor. Our scene depicts the escape of Emperor Nijo (r. | 158-1165) and his family from the imperial palace and their flight to Kyoto’s Rokhura district, where they found refuge with their Taira supporters. The rebellion resulted in the temporary crushing of Minamoto forces, a twenty-year exile of the new clan-leader, the young Minamoto no Yoritomo, and two decades of military rule by the Taira family. With the end of Yoritomo’s exile in | 180, the Gempei War ensued, which devastated the heartland of the main island of Honshu. In 1185, the Minamoto house destroyed its Taira rival, thereby becoming the supreme military power in Japan. Following the example of his Fujiwara and Taira predecessors, Minamoto no Yoritomo did not seize the imperial office for himself. Rather, in 1192, he accepted the title of shogun (imperial commander in chief) and elected to rule over a number of military governors from his remote base at Kamakura, while a puppet emperor reigned at Kyoto. This feudal system, known as the bakufu (tent headquarters), shaped the pollitics and culture of Japan for centuries to come. The Kamakura Shogunate ended in 1333, but the shogunate system persisted down to 1868, with only two brief periods of hiatus.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Describe the scene depicted in the scroll-painting of the removal of the imperial family, paying particular attention to the cart transporting the family and the actions of the various samurai. Now interpret that scene.What does the artist tell us about the emperor and his Taira supporters? 2. This painting depicting a successful retreat by enemies of the Minamoto clan was created during the Kamakura era. How are those foes depicted, and what does your answer suggest about the official values of the Kamakura Shogunate?

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition +

Rukuhara Family Imperial the of Removal to © TNM Image Archives. Source: http://TNMArchives.jp/

° Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

China: The Ages of Tang and Song China in the period from 500 to 1500 experienced a variety of momentous changes: renewed imperial greatness; philosophical and technological innovations; economic expansion and a rapidly growing population; new modes of artistic expression; rebellions, invasions by various nomadic peoples, conquest by Mongol invaders, and recovery, retrenchment, and renewal. Through it all, Chinese civilization managed to retain its basic institutions and ways of life, even as these developments and events propelled the people of the Middle Kingdom along new lines of cultural expression. The Time of Troubles that followed the fall of the House of Han was over by the end of the sixth century, and under the Tang Dynasty (618-907), China was again a great imperial power, with a restored Confucian civil service in power. At the end of the seventh century, China’s borders reached to Korea and Manchuria in the northeast, to Vietnam in the south, and to the Aral Sea in the western regions of Central Asia, where China met and was checked by the new Islamic Empire at the Battle of the Talas River in 751. The almost simultaneous creation of these two massive empires, which together once again connected the Atlantic with the Pacific, resulted in a dramatic increase of traffic along the Silk Road and through the waters of South Asia. Foreign goods, precious metals, peoples, and ideas flowed into China's cities. As a consequence, lang China enjoyed the richest, most cosmopolitan culture on the face of the Earth, until its empire began to deteriorate in the middle of the eighth century. Between 755 and 763, China was torn apart by a rebellion initiated by An Lushan, a general of Sogdian (source 54) and Turkic origin. In the wake of the resultant devastation, Tang imperial strength rapidly disintegrated, and with it went an earlier openness of spirit to outside influences. Fifty-three years of disunity followed Tang’s official collapse in 907, but, in fact, the previous half-century of nominal Tang rule had been equally anarchic. In 960, the Song (pronounced Soong) Dynasty (960-1279) reunited most of China, which it ruled from its northern capital at Kaifeng. In | 126, however, Kaifeng, along with all of North China, fell to invaders from the steppes, the Jurchen (Ruzhen) Tatars. A younger brother to the Song emperor escaped to the south, where he re-established a truncated Song Empire centered on the port city of Hangzhou (pronounced Haang-joe). For almost half of its more than three-hundred-year-long reign, theSong Dynasty was cut off from the Yellow River, the ancient heartland of China. Despite this, Song-Era China reached and maintained levels of economic prosperity, technological advancement, and cultural maturity unequaled anywhere else on Earth at the time. By the middle of the eleventh century, the production of printed books generated from handcut wood blocks had become such an important industry that artisans were experimenting with movable type—four hundred years before the creation of a similar printing process in Europe. The thousands of books and millions of pages printed in Song China before and after | 126/1127 are evidence that a remarkably high percentage of its population was literate.

Chapter 8 Asia:

Change in the Context of Tradition

In addition to this dramatic rise in basic literacy, there were significant developments in advanced philosophy. Intellectuals reinvigorated Confucian thought by injecting into it metaphysical concepts borrowed from Buddhism and Daoism. This new Study of the Way, or Neo-Confucianism, provided fresh philosophical insights clothed in traditional forms and enabled Confucianism to topple Buddhism from its position of intellectual preeminence. The fine arts also reached new levels of achievement. Landscape painting, particularly during the era of Southern Song, expressed in two dimensions the mystical visions of Daoism and Chan Buddhism (which, when brought to Japan, became Zen Buddhism) and captured the ethereal beauty of southern Chinese landscapes. On a three-dimensional plane, the craft of porcelain-making became a high art, and large numbers of exquisitely delicate pieces of fine ceramic-ware were transported in caravans along the ancient pathways of the Silk Road and carried in even larger quantities across oceanic trade routes from Japan to East Africa. Advanced ships and navigational aids enabled Chinese traders to take to the sea in unprecedented numbers, especially in the direction of Southeast Asia, thereby transforming China into the greatest merchant marine power of its day. Government policies and new agricultural techniques (source 55) made it possible to feed a population of about one hundred and twenty million, about double that of the Age of Tang. Although most of this massive population was engaged in traditional, labor-intensive agriculture, some Chinese were employed in industries—primarily mining, iron and steel production, and textile and porcelain manufacture—that used advanced technologies unequaled anywhere else in the world. Song’s age of greatness was brought to a close by Mongol invaders, who by 1279 had joined all of China to the largest land empire in world history. Mongol rule during what is known as the Yuan Dynasty (1264-1368) was undisguised military occupation. Both the Mongols and the many foreigners whom they admitted into their service largely exploited and oppressed the Chinese, although certainly there were exceptions to that rule. Moreover, the Mongols encouraged agriculture and trade, but few Chinese benefited from a prosperity that was largely confined to a small circle of landlords. Times of trouble can also be ages of intellectual and artistic innovation, and such was the case in Mongol-dominated China. Perhaps because so many Chinese intellectuals retreated from public service and found refuge in the domain of the imagination, new art forms took shape, especially drama and opera performed in the various dialects of this multilingual land. The performing arts often provide a momentary release from hard reality, but could not and did not cause the Chinese to forget the burden of their Mongol yoke. By the middle of the fourteenth century, China was in rebellion, and in 1368, a commoner, Zhu Yuanzhang, re-established native rule in the form of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). This new imperial family restored Chinese prestige and influence in East Asia to levels enjoyed under Tang and provided China with stability and prosperity until the late sixteenth century. Under the Ming, traditional Chinese civilization attained full maturity. Toward the middle of the Age of Ming, however, China reluctantly established relations with seaborne

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3 «© Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Western European merchants and missionaries, and the resultant challenge of the West would result, but only centuries later, in major transformations in Chinese life. Chapter || will deal with aspects of the Yuan and Ming eras. In this chapter, we will concentrate on the Tang and Song eras.

Imperial Greatness and Disaster in Eighth-Century China 53 « DU FU, POEMS The first half of the eighth century was dominated by the seesaw reign of Emperor Tang Xuanzong (r. 713-756), known popularly as Tang Ming Huang (Brilliant Emperor of Tang). In these forty-three years, China’s empire went from heights of grandeur to debasement and disaster.A gifted artist and generous patron of the arts, he created a court known for refined elegance. Continuing the expansionistic policies of his predecessors, he drove his armies to overextension along China’s far western and southwestern frontiers. His passionate love for a young concubine, Yang Guifei, finally led him to neglect imperial duties. One result was the rebellion of General An Lushan in 755 and the seizure and sacking of the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang’an. In the confusion that followed, the grieving emperor was forced to order his lover’s death, and shortly thereafter he abdicated, a broken man. Although An Lushan was killed in 757, the rebellion continued to rage across China. Tang rule was nominally restored in 763, but for the next 144 years Tang power remained weak and China was beset with local insurrections and incursions from outside. One witness to these events was Du Fu (712-770), a Confucian man of letters who is generally regarded as China’s greatest poet. Born a year before Xuanzong assumed the throne, Du Fu enjoyed the peace and prosperity of an apparently successful empire during his youth. By the late 740s and early 750s, however, Du Fu became increasingly aware of the cracks and imperfections in the imperial system. The Great Rebellion, which broke the back of Tang power, brought numerous hardships to Du Fu and his family. Despite intermittent impoverishment, constant wandering in search of employment and security, and poor health, he composed some of his greatest poems during this time of trials. Far from home, he died in late 770, but not before leaving behind works

of poetry that

provide vivid insights into the vicissitudes of fortune that China experienced during his eventful life. Our first selection was composed around 741.The second poem, written around 750, describes the consequences of China’s border conflicts with such peoples as the Tibetans and the Uighurs, a Turkic people from Mongolia. The third poem was composed in late 755, apparently before word of An Lushan’s rebellion had reached the poet. The last poem refers to another military rebellion that broke out in mid770 in Hunan Province in south-central China, where his family had found refuge for a short while. Du Fu probably died in December 770.

Chapter § Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

QUESTIONS

«

FOR ANALYSIS

. What is the tone and message of“The Ferghana Horse of Officer Fang”? . What is the theme, tone, and message of “A Song of Military Parading’”? . Compare this poem with the second song in the Book of Songs (source 8). What does your analysis suggest about continuous themes and realities in Chinese history and literature? . “Five Hundred Words about My Journey to Fengxian” is replete with deep introspection and self-criticism, which makes it revolutionary in the history of Chinese poetry, but the poem goes beyond that into the area of social commentary. What is that message? . What artistic devices does Du Fu employ to convey his messages? How effective are they? . Compare “White Horse” with “The Ferghana Horse of Officer Fang.”To what do you ascribe the differences? . According to testimony supplied by these poems, what were the “cracks and imperfections in the imperial system’?

The Ferghana Horse’ of Officer Fang?

Parents, wives, and children follow; the

Skinny and bony but keen and sharp, Ears pointy like bamboo slices,

dust never settles. No sight of Xianyang Bridge*® when looking back. Pulling at the clothes of the soldiers and

Strong hooves that seem to ride the wind; Riding into the bleak desert,

Families cry out while falling down,

One of the horses coming from the West, Sharing this celebrated name of Ferghana;

disturbing the march,

Your life could be trusted upon

breaking the peace of the heavenly

A horse that soars with courage,

clouds;

There’s no distant land you cannot see. A Song of Military Parading War carts squeaking, horses whinnying,

The newly enrolled parading through, with arrows and bows; Source: Translated by Liu Xu from Du Fu Shi Xuan Zhu, edited & annotated by Xiao Difei (Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 1979), pp. 4-338, passim. Copyright © Liu Xu, 2014. All rights reserved. 'The Ferghana Valley, in present-day eastern Uzbekistan and adjacent lands, was the breeding ground for the majority of “ Tang China’s most highly prized horses. Tang China had a love affair with the superior horses of the Ferghana Valley— horses that the Chinese called tian ma (heavenly horses) and also dawan ma (Ferghana horses). Horses and equestrian sports (including polo, a game that came into China from Central Asia in the Tang Era and was played by court ladies)

Being asked, Why the wail? they say its all-too-often unwanted conscription.

Fifteen-year-olds defend the banks of the Yellow River in the north,‘

Forty-year-olds work on garrison farms far in the west;’ were favorite subjects of Tang artists, particularly its ceramic sculptors. *Fang Bingcao.A bingcao was a local, mid-level military officer.

Fang was his family name. 3A bridge that spans the Wei River. The Wei, the largest tributary of the Yellow River (note 4), had originally been the ancient boundary between the heartland of China and the untamed Xiyu (Western Lands). The troops are on their way to a western outpost.

‘The traditional heartland of China. *Self-sustaining outpost-farms garrisoned along the quieter frontier areas by older, semi-retired soldiers.

260

+ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

They leave while teenaged, honored by the village officials,

They come back white-haired, defending yet another borderland. Blood spilling into a sea, Emperor Wu's® conquering is far from ceasing. Have you heard? Throughout the eastern

villages of our Han Empire’ Farms are abandoned and lands are overrun by weeds. Sturdy women work behind the plows, But the crops are tangled, without proper

lines and rows.

Battle-hardened soldiers from the land of Qin® are driven like dogs and fowl. Now, you care, and you ask about this,

but how could we dare complain? This winter, recruits stationed west of the

Gate’ have not yet returned. Officials extort new taxes, but how can we pay?

If we knew for sure how bitter raising boys could be, we'd rather have girls; Girls marry in the neighborhood, while

boys die young and are buried in grasslands;'° Have you seen the lake'' where bones have not been collected since ancient times? °Here the poet identifies Tang Xuanzong with Han Wudi (r. 141-87 8.c.e.), the “Martial Emperor of Han,” whose aggressive policies expanded the First Chinese Empire’s frontiers deep into Central Asia. ’The Chinese continued to refer to their land as the “land of Han” long after the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 c.c., but this is also a sly reference to Tang Xuanzong’s emulation of Han Wudi’s imperial ambitions (note 6). ®Another way of saying “the Chinese Empire,” by reference to the first empire established by Qin Shihuangdi in the third

century B.C.E. ?Guanxi, which means “Western Gate” or “Western Pass”

and was also known as Jiayuguan (Excellent Valley Gate). The fort that controlled traffic at this pass was located in the Hexi Corridor, the westernmost outpost of land held by Tang Chinese forces.To the Chinese, it was the entry point to the “wild west.” '"The steppe grasslands of Central Asia.

The newly dead mourn; the long dead cry out,” and the rain makes a dreadful

symphony in the cloudy sky.

Five Hundred Words about My Journey to Fengxian'’ Coming from Duling"* as a commoner,

Getting no better, struggling through advancing years,

Stubborn and even stupid as I am, still

trying to rank myself alongside sage ancestors,'”

Ambitious and laboring in vain, grey hair is the badge of my past failures. Dreams and goals will not be put aside, until the day I set foot into

the tomb.

Throughout the year, I sigh for the poor and feel for them. I laugh at the ridicule of my peers, and this determination never fades. I too desire a life of seclusion, watching the sun and moon wax and wane. But His Majesty is as wise as Yao and Shun,'® and leaving and betraying his

vision will be unwise.

The royal court is filled with talents. Who am | to build an edifice that is this realm? ''Koko Nor, Mongolian for “Blue Lake.” Known today as Qinghai in Mandarin Chinese (which also means “Blue Lake”), it stood on the frontier between Tang China and Tibet and was the site of fierce struggles between Tibetan and Chinese forces for hegemony over several major routes of the Silk Road. "The spirits of the unburied or improperly buried dead will not rest as long as their bodies remain in that state and without the proper funeral rites. Indeed, these “hungry ghosts” can and will bring misfortune on the living.

"Du Fu was returning from the capital at Chang’an to his family, which he had settled at Fengxian, about eighty miles away. 'Du Fu’s hometown. ''He has pursued a career as a Confucian civil servant. 'STwo legendary pre-dynastic Sage Emperors, who supposedly ruled in the third millennium B.c.c. and were noted for their wisdom and moral perfection.

Chapter 8 Asia: Sunflowers and beans turn to the sun; it is in my very being to serve His Majesty. Think about the little people who strive for comfort like ants. Why do I envy the whales who dive into the ocean so deep?

Change in the Context of Tradition

+ 261

Those in the hot spring are all nobles, and

those attending the feast will not be commoners;

Fine silks awarded by His Majesty come from weavers down below, Their husbands and elders are whipped, so

Hating flattering dignitaries, my

that precious goods can be gathered and

livelihood has thus suffered. Hating living in the dust, I have remained in obscurity till this day. Ashamed that I am not like the hermits Chaofu and Xuyou,"” but how could I be, with my resolution unchanged? Only drinking relieves my sorrows, and

shipped to the capital;

singing poems lifts my spirit.

A year comes to an end, the grass turns

yellow, and a high wind passes over mountain tops, Night clouds lowering, I set offin the

midnight, Covered in frost, a frozen finger could

hardly tie a broken belt. Passing Lishan'* at dawn, upon which lies

the winter palace of His Majesty; Fog-bound winter, I stumble through the

frosted valley roads. The paradise of Huaqing Palace,'” thick

steam rising and the weapons of the royal guards clinking, Music vibrating through the rocks, the

emperor and his ministers immersed in

joy and pleasure.

Two hermit sages who advised Emperor Yao (note 16) and were noted for their incorruptibility and contempt for gain and advancement.

'8Mount Li, which lies about nineteen miles east of Chang'an * (Xi'an). '°An imperial palace at the foot of Mount Li that was known for its geothermal springs and was associated with Emperor Xuanzong’s romance with Yang Guifei.

20Two relatives by marriage to Emperor Han Wudi (note 6), they were highly successful generals in the empire’s wars

Given by the emperor in baskets, they are

to celebrate the ministers’ contributions to the state and people. When subordinates don’t honor their

duty, that which is precious has been cast away. Among this many ministers, the honorable

ones should be respectful and dedicated; However golden plates that belong to the palace are stored in the houses of Wei and Huo,””

In their halls women with goddess-like beauty dance, soft skin visible through thin cloth; Guests wearing marten fur, orchestral

music in the ear, camel-pad soup in the mouth, even kumquats and oranges

from far south. Delicious aromas are smelled outside the red gates;! lesser souls perish from

hunger and cold. Fate differs a short distance apart; melancholy as I am, how could I tell more?

against the Xiongnu confederation of nomadic peoples. According to their second-century-8.c.e. biographies, they were noteworthy for their humility, incorruptibility, and generosity of spirit as well as military brilliance. Here they serve as counterpoint allusions to Yang Guozhong, a notorious gambler and wastrel who rose to the position of imperial chancellor largely due to his being Yang Guifei’s second cousin. 2'Red gates were reserved exclusively for the residences of the high-born.

» * Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Traveling north to the Jing and Wei,” turn again at its ferry landing.

There is a good harvest this fall, but sudden

Icebergs floating like mountains, as if from

Working as a government official, I have

death remains the destiny for the poor. been exempt from taxes and military

the heavens. I fear it's Kongtong”? drifting afar, dashing

service.

It is hard to imagine the fate of those who

into the Great Pillars. Bless Heaven that the bridge still stands,

havent.

Thinking of farmers who own no property,

though its piers shake with frozen

thinking of soldiers who guard our

foam;

Travelers pass over holding one another, for one has no other way to cross the

frontier, Worries burden me like a mountain, a mountain that never ends.

river.

Leaving wife and children in Fengxian,

White Horse

my family is separated by wind and snow.

White horse coming from the northeast,

Two arrows pierced through an empty

How could | ignore their pain and

saddle;

poverty? Thus hoping to share a common fate,

The rider saddens me. What was his story of valor? His commander was killed in a recent

I entered to screaming cries; | did not

anticipate my little son’s death of

battle;

starvation.

He was wounded while fighting through

My grief is without boundaries, and

the night.

neighbors weep, too.

Families wiped out in such chaos, How could I hold back my tears?

It is shameful for a father who is unable to

feed his family and save his baby son.

Regarding the Wei, see note 3. The Jing is a tributary of

*The four pillars that hold up Heaven. The emperor is the

the Wei River.

Son of Heaven.

3A range of mountains sacred to Daoists.

China and Its Neighbors 54° A SOGDIAN WINE MERCHANT, THE AND A NOMAD ENCAMPMENT

BEZELIK

MUSICIANS,

China has never been totally isolated from the rest of Afro-Eurasia, a fact reflected in the work of many of its artists. One of the eras in which China was open to the world was early-to-middle Tang (618-750). Chinese artists during these years displayed an absolute fascination with foreigners and exotica of every sort, and this was especially true of northern Chinese ceramicists. Northern Tang China produced a distinctive form of polychrome

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context ofTradition (multicolored) ceramic art known as Tangsancai (Tang tri-color), so named because of the three or more differently colored glazes used on each piece to produce a dazzling effect. The sancai technique was used for high-end utilitarian pottery of every sort, some of which was exported across the trade routes of Asia and beyond. More significant than bowls and vases, however, were the large numbers of effigy-ceramics that were placed as funerary objects in the tombs of the well-to-do. These included representations of the magnificent heavenly horses from Ferghana; statuettes of Bactrian camels, the main beasts of burden along the eastern routes of the Silk Road; and figurines of various exotic people from “the West,” which for the Chinese meant the region from Central Asia to the eastern Mediterranean. Our first object is a late-seventh or early-eighth-century sancai effigy of a West Asian wine merchant, probably a Sogdian. The Sogdians, an Eastern Iranian people, inhabited a cluster of independent cities centered on land that constitutes presentday Uzbekistan. For centuries already, the Sogdians had served as the most important group of merchants along the Silk Road and had established themselves as resident merchants in a number of diaspora communities within China and along its borders.

The second object, dating from the ninth or tenth century, is a fragment of a largely lost mural from the Bezelik Caves, a complex of Buddhist cave shrines at a desert oasis not far from present-day Turpan (Turfan) in northwestern China—a province known as Xinjiang (New Frontier) because it was only fully and finally incorporated into the Chinese state in the late nineteenth century. When the mural was painted, the Bezelik Caves were on the far periphery of China in a region that continually changed hands over the centuries. The six persons depicted here are known as The Bezelik Musicians. The third artifact is a painting from a fourteenth-century copy of a mid-twelfthcentury Chinese scroll, which presents a view of a nomad encampment somewhere beyond the Chinese heartland, probably in what is today Inner Mongolia. This fortyfoot-long scroll, titled Eighteen Songs of aNomad Flute, consists of eighteen scenes, each of which illustrates an accompanying poem. Together, they narrate the story of Cai Yan, better known as Lady Wenji, who was abducted by Xiongnu nomads in the last decade of the second century c.e. and lived among them, as a captive wife and mother, for about twelve years, before she was ransomed and returned to her home in Chang’an.An accomplished poet (as well as musician), she composed several poems about her life among the Xiongnu, and her story became popular in literary and artistic circles. In the eighth century, Liu Shang composed Eighteen Songs of aNomad Flute, and it was that poetic retelling of Lady Wenji’s captivity that served as the basis for this scroll, which was painted by an unknown artist, probably in the mid-twelfth century. Extant fragments of that original masterpiece show that the fourteenth-century scroll is a faithful copy. In this scene,we see Lady Wenji and her Xiongnu husband,a high-ranking leader of the confederation, seated before their tent. Surrounding them are a number of other Xiongnu. But, in fact, the people represented here are not Xiongnu, a confederation

+

264 © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Image TNM Source: Archives. http://TNMArchive

ROM © Museum Ontario Royal the of permission With

A Sogdian Wine Merchant

Bezelik Musicians

that had passed out of history long before the twelfth century. The nomads whom the artist knew and depicted are the contemporary Qidan (Khitan) people, who created the Liao state (907-1125), which encompassed parts of Mongolia, Manchuria, and northern China. Archeological evidence strongly supports the conclusion that the costumes, artifacts, actions, and environment pictured in this scene reliably depict nomadic Qidan culture.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Why do scholars conclude that the sancai figurine depicts a West Asian wine merchant? 2. Crafted by a Chinese ceramicist and discovered in a Chinese tomb, what does this figurine suggest about the Chinese view of“VVesterners”? 3. Consider the six musicians in the Bezelik mural fragment. Can you identify any of their ethnicities? What does your answer suggest about life and society at this trade-route oasis along China’s northwestern frontier? 4. This mural was probably painted by either a Chinese artist or one who was sinicized. What does it seem to suggest about Chinese views of non-Chinese? 5. Study the encampment closely. Describe and explain in detail the environment and makeup of the camp, the costumes of the people, and the actions they are performing. What do they tell us about twelfth-century nomadic life and culture along China’s borders? 6. What seems to be the artist’s view of the Qidan people and their way of life?

Vv

pewoy

quauduwesuz

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY

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* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

The Dao of Agriculture in Song China 55 © CHEN PU, THE CRAFT OF FARMING AND A MURAL PAINTING FROM THE MOGAO CAVES OF DUNHUANG During the Song Era, China met the challenge of producing an adequate supply of food with reasonable success, despite the fact that its population of probably fifty to sixty million in the early 700s had at least doubled by around |200.This success was partially due to the central government’s encouragement of land reclamation through tax incentives and its promotion of the printing of illustrated handbooks that endorsed up-to-date farming techniques and tools. Another factor was improved rice cultivation due to new methods of water control and irrigation, improved plows, and the introduction of Champa rice, a high-yield, rapid-maturing grain from central Vietnam that was drought resistant. Areas where previously rice had failed could now be put into production, and early maturing allowed for double- and even triplecropping in some regions.

The following selections from a popular treatise written in 1149 by Chen Pu (1076?—1 154?) provide insight into the manner in which Song China approached the issue of feeding itself properly. The accompanying illustration, which also dates from the Song period, is part of a mural (wall painting) in one of the Mogao Grottoes, a mile-long complex of 492 Buddhist shrines outside of the oasis town of Dunhuang in the Gobi Desert, a major stopping point along the Silk Road.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Chen Pu focuses on several key elements that contributed to Song China’s agricultural success. What were they? 2. According to Chen Pu, which qualities set the superior farmer apart? 3. Identify the different strains of Chinese culture and ideology in this treatise. 4. The farmers in this mural are performing four different tasks.What are they, what is the crop, and what does this scene suggest about farming in this era? 5. Does the mural support the core message of Chen Pu’s treatise? If so, how?

Finance and Labor

In the farming business, which is the most difficult business to manage, how can you afford not to calculate your financial and labor capacities carefully? Only when you are certain that you have sufficient funds and labor to assure success should you launch an enterprise.

Source: Chen Pu, The Craft of Farming from Patricia Buckley Ebrey, ed., Chinese Civilization:A Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (New York:

Anyone who covets more than be can manage is likely to fall into carelessness and irresponsibility. . . . Thus, to procure more land is to increase trouble, not profit. On the other hand, anyone who plans carefully, begins with good methods, and continues in the same way can reasonably expect success and does

The Free Press,© 1993) (same text in Ist ed. copyright 1981), pp. 188-191, passim. Translation by Clara Yu.

Chapter 8 Asia:

Change in the Context of Tradition +

not have to rely on luck. The proverb says, “Own-

pinches. When the seedlings have grown tall, again

ing a great deal of emptiness is less desirable than

sprinkle the compost and bank it up against the

reaping from a narrow patch of land.” . . . For the farmer who is engaged in the management of

roots. [hese methods will ensure a double yield. Some people say that when the soil is ex-

fields, the secret lies not in expanding the farm-

hausted, grass and trees will not grow; that when

land, but in balancing finance and labor. If the

the qi! is weak, all living things will be stunted;

.farmer can achieve that, he can expect prosperity

and that after three to five years of continuous planting, the soil of any field will be exhausted. This theory is erroneous because it fails to recog-

and abundance. ...

Plowing

nize one factor: by adding new, fertile soil, en-

Early and late plowing both have their advan-

riched with compost, the land can be reinforced

tages. For the early rice crop, as soon as the reap-

in strength. If this is so, where can the alleged

ing is completed, immediately plow the fields

exhaustion come from?

and expose the stalks to glaring sunlight. Then add manure and bury the stalks to nourish the soil. Next, plant beans, wheat, and vegetables to ripen and fertilize the soil so as to minimize the

next year’s labor. In addition, when the harvest is good, these extra crops can add to the yearly income. For late crops, however, do not plow

Weeding The Book of Poetry’ says, “Root out the weeds. Where

the weeds

decay, there the grains will

grow luxuriantly.” The author of the Record

tough, it is necessary to wait until they have fully

of RituaP also remarks, “The months of midsummer are advantageous for weeding. Weeds can fertilize the fields and improve the land.” Modern farmers, ignorant of these principles,

decayed to plow satisfactorily. . . .

throw the weeds away. They do not know that,

until spring. Because the rice stalks are soft but

if mixed with soil and buried deep under the

Fertilizer At the side of the farm house, erect a compost hut. Make the eaves low to prevent the wind and rain from entering it, for when the compost is exposed to the moon and the stars, it will lose its

fertility. In this hut, dig a deep pit and line it

roots of rice seedlings, the weeds will eventually decay and the soil will be enriched; the harvest, as a result, will be abundant and of superior qualitye: .% Concentration

with bricks to prevent leakage. Collect waste,

If something is thought out carefully, it will suc-

ashes, chaff, broken stalks, and fallen leaves and

ceed; if not, it will fail; this is a universal truth. It

burn them in the pit; then pour manure

is very rare that a person works and yet gains nothing. On the other hand, there is never any harm in trying too hard. In farming it is especially appropriate to be concerned about what you are doing. Mencius*

over

them to make them fertile, In this way consider-

able quantities of compost are acquired over time. Then, whenever sowing is to be done, sieve and _ discard stones and tiles, mix the fine compost with

the seeds,

and

plant

them

sparsely

in

'Vital energy, or material force. 2Also known as the Classic, or Book, of Songs. See source 8.

3Also known as the Classic of Rites (liji), it is one of the five Confucian Classics.

said, “Will a farmer discard his plow when he

4See source 29.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 leaves his land?” Ordinary people will become idle if they have leisure and prosperity. Only those who love farming, who behave in harmony with it, who take pleasure in talking about itand

think about it all the time will manage it without a moment’s negligence. For these people a day’s work results in a day’s gain, a year’s work ina year’s gain. How can they escape affluence?

Gansu Dunhuang, Caves, Mogao China/The NW Province, Library Art Bridgeman

Farmers at Work

Southwest Asia: Crossroad of Afro-Eurasia Of all the significant developments that took place in Southwest Asia during the thousand-year period from 500 to 1500, the two most far-reaching were the rise and spread of Islam and the arrival of Turkish, European, and Mongol invaders after the year 1000. By approximately 750, Islam was firmly in control of most of Southwest Asia, except for the Anatolian Peninsula, which remained the heart of the East Roman, or Byzantine, Empire until late in the eleventh century, when Islamic Turkish forces began the process of transforming this land into Turkey. Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, European crusaders, Mongols, and the armies of Timur-i Leng (Timur the Lame), or Tamerlane, would invade and contest Southwest Asia for much of the period from 1000 to 1500. Chapter I! will deal with the Mongols and Tamerlane;

Chapter 8 Asia:

Change in the Context of Tradition

here we will focus on the impact of the Seljuk Turks and Western European crusaders in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Around the early sixteenth century, a clear pattern emerged. Most of Europe’s Christian crusaders had been expelled from the eastern Mediterranean, except for their precarious possession of a handful of island strongholds, such as Cyprus and Crete; the Mongol empire was only a fading memory; and Timur the Lame’s empire had crumbled upon his death in 1405. Two Islamic empires dominated Southwest Asia—the Shia Safavids of Persia and the Sunni Ottomans, whose base of power was Anatolia, but who also controlled Syria-Palestine, Egypt, and western Arabia and were driving deeply into Europe’s Balkan Peninsula. Although these two empires would quarrel viciously for control of Islam, and Sunnis and Shias would continue to shed each other’s blood, Muslim domination of Southwest Asia was secure. European attempts to counter the Ottoman Turkish menace by launching new crusades in the eastern Mediterranean generally proved feeble, and the Ottomans’ and Safavids’ pastoral cousins and neighbors on the steppes of Inner Asia were becoming less of a threat to the stability of Eurasia’s civilizations.

The Arrival of Seljuk Turks and Latin Crusaders

m Armenia

56°

OF

MATTHEW

EDESSA,

CHRONICLE

The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa, an Armenian monk whose birth and death dates are a mystery, covers the years 952 to | 136, of which only the period | 101 to 1136 is based on his observations. For the years 1051 to 1101, which encapsulate the events narrated in the excerpts that appear here, Matthew depended on the testimony of still-living eyewitnesses. His subject matter was anything that related to the Armenian people, an ancient culture whose members resided largely in two regions: Greater Armenia, which was located between the Euphrates River in the west and the Caspian Sea in the east, and Cilician Armenia in southeastern Anatolia. Their dual locations placed them squarely into the spheres of interest and dominance of both the Byzantine Empire (Chapter 9) and the various Muslim states of Southwest Asia. This also meant that large numbers of Armenian communities lay in the path of the Frankish crusaders from Latin Europe who, beginning with Baldwin of Boulogne’s adventures in Armenian Anatolia in 1098, had an increasing impact on these Eastern Christians. The Armenian Apostolic Church traces its origins to the early fourth century, and in the mid-fifth century it broke with the churches of Constantinople and Rome over issues of doctrine and authority. This schism colored Matthew's view of Byzantine and Latin Christians, but whether or not he was inordinately biased against them must be decided by the readers of the extracts that appear here. What is certain is that at times Byzantine—Armenian relations were strained and even hostile

+

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 because of religious, as well as political, differences, although there is also abundant evidence of moments of amity and cooperation. The same was true of the Armenians and their Muslim neighbors. The Arabs gained control of Greater Armenia in 645, wresting it from the Byzantine Empire, and ruled it until 885, whereupon an independent Armenian kingdom emerged. But in the mid-eleventh century the Byzantine Empire reestablished its hegemony over the western portions of Armenia, only to have that authority shaken and destroyed soon thereafter by invading Turks. During the ninth and tenth centuries, contacts between the Islamic world and the nomadic Turks of Central Asia increased substantially and resulted in the enrollment of Turkic warriors in Muslim armies and Turkic migration into the Islamic heartland.Around 985, a leader of the Oghuz confederation named Seljuk ibn Dugag, who had taken up residence in the province of Bukhara (in presentday Uzbekistan), converted to Islam, and his sons and grandsons quickly rose to prominence and power within the Islamic world. In 1055, his grandson Tughril Beg, who was already lord of most of Iran and Iraq, seized control of Baghdad and forced the already powerless Abbasid caliph to bestow on him the title of sultan (holder of power). Officially recognized as the defender of Sunni Islam, the Seljuk sultan was now its master.Abbasid caliphs would continue to reign as ceremonial and religious figures until 1258, but they had ceased to rule. From this time onward, Turks would be the driving force behind Islam throughout most of Southwest and Central Asia. Farther north, another Turkic confederation, known as the Cumans (also known as Kipchaks), who had migrated west from Mongolia, invaded southern Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary in the eleventh century and placed tremendous pressure on Byzantium’s northern frontiers. Unlike most other Turkic peoples who moved into western Eurasia from the steppes of Central and East Asia, the Cumans adopted Christianity, but their conversion did not initially make them less dangerous to the Christian states of Eastern and Central Europe. On its part, the Byzantine Empire, beset by Cumans and Seljuks, found itself caught in a Turkic pincer, and although the empire would last until 1453, the middle to late eleventh century was a major turning point in the fortunes of Byzantium. Our first selection relates the destruction of a Byzantine army near the Armenian city of Manzikert (present-day Malazgirt, Turkey) on August 26, 1071,by Sultan Alp Arslan, Tughril Beg’s nephew and successor. The Battle of Manzikert was precipitated by the sultan’s invasion of the Armenian region of eastern Anatolia and his capture of several key cities, including Manzikert. Desirous of asserting his command over the entire Muslim world of Southwest Asia and crushing the Shia Fatimid Empire of Egypt, Alp Arslan accepted the offer of a peace treaty by the Byzantine emperor, Romanus IV Diogenes.With this treaty in hand, the sultan marched into Syria to besiege Fatimid-held Aleppo. Romanus then quickly gathered together a massive army to rewin the Armenian lands taken by the sultan.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition + 271 Alp Arslan hurried north, met the Byzantines at Manzikert, and inflicted a crushing defeat on a numerically superior army. This disaster precipitated a crisis in the Byzantine Empire (Multiple Voices VIII). The second excerpt narrates the immediate impact of the First Crusade (1096— 1099) on the Armenian principality of Edessa in the Euphrates region of eastern Anatolia (the present-day city of Sanliurfa, Turkey). Repeated Byzantine requests for Western Christian aid against the Seljuks prompted Pope Urban II to set in motion in November 1095 a movement that became the First Crusade, and consequently about 100,000 Latin Christians marched or sailed east in the span of those few years. Known to all Easterners, Muslim and Christian alike, as “Franks,” these Westerners followed a variety of essentially independent leaders, one of whom was Baldwin of Boulogne. In late 1097, Baldwin broke off from the main crusader army to march into Armenia, reaching Edessa in February 1098.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. Why did Alp Arslan treat Emperor Diogenes in the manner that he did? 2. Baldwin of Boulogne has often been depicted in modern accounts of the First Crusade as a self-serving and treacherous adventurer. Would Matthew of Edessa have agreed with this assessment? 3. Please comment in depth, with specific reference to the evidence, on the following anonymous statement: “Seeing the history of Anatolia in the late eleventh century as solely the story of bloody struggles between peoples of different faiths is to ignore the many nuances and ambiguities that were inherent in the interchanges that took place.” Do you basically agree, disagree, or only accept this statement with some major reservations?

heard the

all this reached Alp Arslan,’ who was before the

news of this recent calamity [brought upon Ar-

city of Aleppo; and so he started back for the

When

the Greek emperor

Diogenes’

menial], roaring like a lion he commanded all his

East, since he was told that the Roman emperor‘

numerous forces be collected. . . . Going forth with a tremendous

was marching in the direction of Persia at the head of a very formidable army. The sultan had been besieging Aleppo during the winter, but had not been able to capture it because of the great number of the city’s forces. He had broken through the walls at a number ofplaces, yet he could not take over the city. So during the

number

of

troops, Diogenes went to the East, to Armenia,

and, descending upon the town of Mantskert,’

captured it. The forces of the sultan who were in the town

fled, and when

the emperor

cap-

_tured them, he slaughtered them. The news of

Source: Ara Edmond Dostourian, trans., Armenia and the Crusades: Tenth to Twelfth Centuries. The Chronicle of Matthew

of Edessa (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993), pp. 132-136 passim and 168-170. 'Romanus IV Diogenes (r. 1068-1071).

*Manzikert. >The nephew and successor of Tughril Beg, he ruled from 1064 to 1072. ‘Although we refer to them as Byzantines, these people called themselves Romaioi—Romans.

° Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500

of the emperor Diogenes, he left Aleppo and in

army of Khurasan? with the fervor ofa lion cub.'° When Diogenes learned of the advance of the

haste arrived at Edessa.’ The dux,° who resided

Persian army against him, he ordered the battle

in the city, provided him with horses, mules,

trumpet sounded and had all the Roman forces drawn up in orderly fashion. He appointed as commanders of his troops Khatap and Vasilak, Armenian nobles who were brave and were re-

spring, when Alp Arslan learned of the coming

and

victuals.

Taking

these,

the sultan

passed

through the confines of Edessa, unharmed, and

went in an easterly direction towards the mountain called Lesun. A countless number of horses and camels perished because a forced march had

garded as great warriors. A very violent battle

been maintained by the sultan; for he drove his

took place the greater part of the day, and the Roman forces were defeated. Khatap and Vasi-

troops as if they were in flight, wishing to reach

lak were killed, and all the Roman

Persia as soon

put to flight, being forced to fall back on the imperial camp....

as possible. As he was

return-

ing, a letter written by perfidious Romans from Diogenes’ army reached Alp Arslan, and it read

troops were

So the battle continued the next day. In the

as follows: “Do not flee, for the greater part of

morning hours the battle trumpet was sounded,

our forces is with you.”' Hearing this, the sul-

and heralds

tan immediately stopped. Then he wrote a very

wishes of the emperor

amicable

cerning the establishment of peace and harmony

honors, high positions, and jurisdiction over the towns and districts to all those who would cou-

between both sides; each side was to remain in

rageously fight against the Persian forces. Soon

letter to the emperor

Diogenes con-

went

forth and

proclaimed

Diogenes;

the

he promised

peace with the other, neither one ever harming

the sultan, very well organized, advanced

the other; moreover,

looked upon as friends, and thus there would be a perpetual peace and alliance between the

battle against the Roman troops. At that point the emperor Diogenes went forth and reached a place of battle near Mantskert, . ~ There be

Persians® and the Romans.

placed the Uz'! and Pecheneg'? mercenaries on

the Christians

would

be

When Diogenes heard these things, not only did he become arrogant and refuse to accept the sultan’s offer, but he became even more bellicose than ever... . So, when the sultan saw Diogenes’ inflex-

his his the the

into

right and left flanks and the other troops on van and rear. When the battle grew intense, Uzes and Pechenegs went over to the side of sultan.

ible and stubborn attitude, he went into battle

At that point all the Roman troops were defeated and turned in complete flight. Countless Roman

against the Roman forces, leading on the whole

troops were slaughtered and many captives were

Alp Arslan had unsuccessfully besieged Edessa earlier in the year. This Armenian city in the region of the upper Euphrates remained nominally a Byzantine possession but was in reality independent (note 20). °A Latin term that means “leader.” 7Apparently it meant “Most of our army is sympathetic to you.” See what the Uz and Pecheneg mercenaries did. ®Because the center of Seljuk authority was in Iran, Matthew refers to these Turks as Persians. Obviously they were not Iranians. Iranian influences, however, would pervade Seljuk culture in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, and they would even adopt Persian as their court language. The

same phenomenon of Persianization was at work for other Turkic-Muslim peoples of Southwest and Central Asia during these centuries and beyond. The Persian-style painting that is source 49 is an excellent example of this widespread phenomenon. °A vast region northeast of Iran.

'°A pun.Alp Arslan means “Brave Lion.” ''Oghuz Turks—the same confederation from which the Seljuks came. "A Turkic people who inhabited the steppe region north of the Black Sea. They were a threat to the Byzantine Empire between the tenth and early twelfth centuries.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

+ 273

an alliance of peace and friendship with the Roman

God, so this day the oath of peace and friendship taken by both the Persians and Romans is nullified; henceforth I shall consume with the sword all those people who venerate the cross, and all the lands of the Christians shall be enslaved.” When-

emperor. Then the sultan adopted Diogenes as his

ever

taken. The emperor Diogenes himself was taken prisoner and brought into the presence of the sultan in chains, together with countless and innumerable captives. After a short while the sultan made

the sultan

brought

Diogenes

to mind,

he

-blood brother and took an oath to God as a guar-

sighed heavily and lamented exceedingly, likewise

antee ofhis sincerity; moreover, with a solemn oath

all the Persians. Speaking to the Khurasanians, the

he pledged that there would be perpetual friend-

sultan said: “Henceforth all of you be like lion

ship and harmony between the Persians and the

cubs and eagle young, racing through the country-

Romans. After all this with great pomp Alp Arslan

side day and night, slaying the Christians and not sparing any mercy on the Roman nation.” After this speech Alp Arslan victoriously returned to the country of the Persians.

sent the emperor back to Constantinople,

to his

imperial throne. When Diogenes reached Sebastia,'* news came to him that Michael, the son of Ducas, occupied

the imperial throne.'* At this all the emperor's

Diogenes, in turn, because of the danger in which

In the year 547 of the Armenian era [1098-1099] a certain count named Baldwin went forth with one hundred horsemen and captured the fortress-town of Tell Bashir.'? When the Roman commander

he found

troops abandoned him and fled, and so he was

forced to take refuge in the city of Adana.”” The emperor

Michael’s

forces gathered against him.

himself, put on the garments

of an

T’oros, who resided in the city of Edessa, learned of

general who

this, he became exceedingly happy and sent to the

was the brother of Ducas,"” said: “You no longer need to worry about me, for henceforth | intend to live in a monastery; let Michael be emperor and may God be with him.” Notwithstanding all this, on that same day the Roman nation once again crucified God as had the Jews, for they tore out

Frankish count in Tell Bashir, summoning Baldwin

abeghay'® 5 and, going to the Roman

the eyes of Diogenes,'* their very own sovereign,

to his aid against his enemies; for he was continually being harassed by the neighboring emirs.*” So Count Baldwin came to Edessa with sixty horsemen, and the townspeople came to meet him and with great rejoicing brought him into the city. The presence of Baldwin brought much happiness

who then died from the intense pain [caused by

to the [Christian]

the blinding]. When

T’oros acted in a friendly manner towards the count, giving him presents and forming an alliance with him. The Armenian chief Constantine came from

Alp Arslan heard this, he

wept bitterly and regretted the death of Diogenes. Then the sultan said: “The Roman nation has no

'3Present-day Sivas, Turkey. '4Michael VII Ducas (r. 1071-1078). 'SToday a city in southern Turkey. '®A low-ranking monk. '7Andronicus. “8The blinding of a deposed emperor was a common practice in Byzantium, the theory being that a lack of sight made the person incapable of ruling.

"Also known as Turbessel, it was a former Byzantine stronghold that came under Armenian control in the late eleventh

century.

faithful, and the curopalates*'

0 T’oros (also Thoros) was a Byzantine (Greek) Christian and, therefore, unpopular in Armenian Edessa. Although he bore a Byzantine title (note 21) and was nominally subject to the emperor, he was an independent prince who found himself in a precarious position, as he played off neighboring

Turkish and Armenian commanders while trying to control his Armenian subjects. The emirs (commanders) referred to here were Seljuk lords. 21 A title meaning “protector of the court,” it was given to high-ranking Byzantine officials.

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange : 500-1500

Gargar,” and after a few days the curopalates sent him and Baldwin to attack Samosata*’ and its emir Balduk. The troops ofthe city and the infantry forces of the whole territory accompanied the Franks

[and

Constantine].

The

Christians

marched to Samosata with a considerable number

of troops and pillaged the houses outside its walls,

but the Turks dared not go forth in battle [against them]. Then all the Christian troops in a body began to pillage [everything in sight]. Now, when the Turkish forces saw this, three hundred oftheir horsemen made a sortie and defeated all the Christian troops, putting to flight the Franks to-

gether with the native infantry accompanying them. From Samosata right up to Tell Hamdun a

severe slaughter of as many as one thousand men occurred. After this Constantine and the count

approved of their vicious plot. They also implicated the Armenian chief Constantine. So during the fifth week of Lent these men incited

all the palates homes citadel.

inhabitants of the city against the curoToros. On Sunday they pillaged all the of T’oros’s officers and seized the upper On Monday they gathered against the

inner citadel where the curopalates was and violently assaulted it. Hard pressed, T’oros asked them to vow not to harm him on condition that he hand over the citadel and the city to them and together with his wife go to Melitene.” So the Holy Cross of Varag and that of Makenik’’® was brought forth, and the count swore by them in the Church of the Holy Apostles not to harm

the

curopalates

in any

way.

Moreover,

returned to the curopalates Toros in the city of

Baldwin vouched for his own sincerity in the presence of the angels, archangels, prophets,

Edessa. Now all of this happened during the second week of Lent. When Count Baldwin had re-

patriarchs, holy apostles, holy pontiffs, and all the host of martyrs—all of which was written

turned to Edessa, perfidious and evil-minded men

down by the count in a letter to T’oros. After

came upon the scene, who plotted in concert with

Baldwin had sworn

the count to assassinate the curopalates Toros. Indeed the meritorious service of the curopalates did not justify such action; for, because ofhis inge-

harm the curopalates|, Toros delivered the cita-

del into his hands, and so the count and the chief men of the city occupied this fortified

nious sagacity, skillful inventiveness, and vigorous

place. Then on Tuesday, the day of the celebra-

strength, he was able to deliver Edessa from tribute

tion of the Holy K’arasunk’,”’ the townspeople gathered against T’oros and, armed with swords and clubs, threw him down from the top of the ramparts into the midst of atumultuous crowd. The crowd rushed en masse upon T’oros and, cruelly inflicting him with countless sword wounds, killed the curopalates. Thus the townspeople committed a very great crime in the

and service to the vicious and cruel Muslims.

At this time forty men

plotted together to

accomplish this Judas-like act and during the night went to Count Baldwin, the one who was

the brother of Count Godfrey.” They persuaded him to accede to their evil designs and promised to deliver Edessa into his hands; Baldwin

Today a city in the Republic of Armenia. An ancient city on the bank of the Euphrates, today its ruins lie under the lake created by Turkey’s Atatiirk Dam in southeastern Anatolia. *Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine and one of the chief leaders of the forces of the First Crusade. Apparently Godfrey and the other leaders of the various contingents sent Baldwin into Armenian Anatolia with the

by all the saints [not to

objectives of securing their left flank, establishing bases from

which the crusaders could be provisioned, and liberating fellow Christians. *An ancient city whose ruins are near the city of Malatya, Turkey.

*6Two Armenian monasteries. 7The Tuesday of the sixth week of Lent.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition presence of God. Moreover, they tied the dead curopalates feet with a rope and ignominiously

dragged his body through the city. So on this

*8Baldwin established the first crusader state in the East, the county of Edessa, which lasted to 1150, although the scity was captured by the Turks in | 144. Baldwin ruled as its count until late | 100, when he rushed to Jerusalem following the death of his brother Godfrey (note 24) and secured

day the inhabitants of Edessa disavowed their oath and shortly thereafter delivered the city into the hands of Count Baldwin.”*

control over the city and its environs. He was crowned Baldwin | (r. | 100-1118), the first Latin king of Jerusalem, on Christmas, 1100, in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. See source 57 for a further investigation of these

crusader states.

mlosiins and Franks’in the Crusader stares 57 ¢ IBN

JUBAYR,

TRAVELS

Responding to overtures from Emperor Alexius | for help the Seljuks, who were threatening to conquer all of Anatolia, called for an expedition to the East on November 27, 1095, tion a movement that became known as the crusades—close of Western

Christian

involvement

in his struggle against Pope Urban II publicly thereby setting in moto five hundred years

in the lands of the Levant, or eastern

Mediter-

ranean. Between March 1098 and July 1109, the armies of the First Crusade (1096— 1099) and adventurers building upon the gains of their predecessors carved out four crusader states in lands that had recently been under Muslim domination: the county of Edessa (1098-1 150); the principality of Antioch (1098—1 268); the kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291); and the county ofTripoli (1 109-1289). In some respects, they were Europe's first major overseas colonies, but each was a state answerable to no mother country in Europe. Western

European settlers, known

«

as the Franj, or Franks, to the natives of the

region, were a decided minority in the land they called Outremer (the land across the sea).As we have seen, the population of Edessa and its surrounding lands was largely Armenian, and Antioch’s population was dominated by Greek (Byzantine) and Syrian Christians. Both states also had significant Muslim minorities, who probably outnumbered the resident Franks several times over. Probably eighty percent or more of the populations of the county ofTripoli and the kingdom ofJerusalem were divided about equally between Muslims and Eastern Christians of various sorts, with Western, or Latin, Christian settlers constituting the remainder—no

more than twenty

percent and probably far less. The only places where Franks probably outnumbered indigenous Eastern Christians and Muslims were key coastal towns, such as Acre, and the holy city of Jerusalem. These realities meant that the Frankish lords of the crusader states had to find ways of governing the indigenous populations of their states that took into account this overall numerical imbalance. In 1184, Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jubayr, a native of Valencia in Muslim Spain, on his way home after having completed the hajj to Mecca, spent thirty-two days in crusader territory. Throughout his two-year journey from Spain to the East and back, Ibn Jubayr kept a journal of his travels, which provides us with

6 * Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

vivid pictures of late-twelfth-century life and culture in Egypt, lrag, Arabia, SyriaPalestine, and other stopping places along the way. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Does Ibn Jubayr like the Franks? Support your answer. 2. What does he think is the worst aspect of Frankish rule? 3. What arguments can you adduce to support the proposition that Ibn Jubayr’s testimony is solid and trustworthy? 4. What counterarguments can you adduce that cast doubt on his testimony? 5. Where do you stand on the issue? Be specific in explaining your position. 6. Based on your study of this source, what do you conclude you can say with some degree of certainty about Frankish-Muslim relations in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem around | 184?

We left Damascus! on the evening of Thursday... ,

which was the 13th of September, in a large caravan of merchants traveling with their merchandise to Acre. One ofthe strangest things in the world is

thereon. He whom they seize on the Muslim side, be it by the length ofthe arms or a span, they capture; but he whom they seize on the Frankish side

that Muslim caravans go forth to Frankish lands,

at a like distance, they release. This is a pact they faithfully observe and is one of the most pleasing

while Frankish captives enter Muslim lands. . . .

and singular conventions of the Franks.

We ourselves went forth to Frankish lands at a time when Frankish prisoners were entering Mus-

A Note on the City of Banyas (Belinas)

lim lands.’ Let this be evidence enough to you of the temperateness ofthe policy ofSaladin.’ ... We

God Most High defend it! This city is on the frontier of the Muslim territo-

left, on the morning of Saturday, for the city of

ries. It is small, but has a fortress below the walls

Banyas. Halfway on the road, we came upon an oak-tree of great proportions and with wide-

of which winds a river that flows out from one of the gates of the city. A canal leading from it turns the mills. The city had been in the hands of the Franks, but Nur al-Din*—may God’s mercy

spreading branches. We learnt that it is called “The

Tree of Measure,” and when we inquired concerning it, we were told that it was the boundary on this road between security and danger, by reason

of some Frankish brigands who prowl and rob

Source: From The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, translated by R.J.C. Broadhurst, published by Jonathan Cape, 1952, pp. 313-325, passim. 'Damascus was the center of Islamic power in southern Syria. *The several thousand Franks who had been captured and enslaved during the successful campaign of | 184 against the crusader city of Nablus and its environs, which had been conducted by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria. 3Ibn Jubayr seems to be arguing here that Saladin’s reputation for fair-dealing and temperate behavior, even with the Franks, made this commerce possible.

rest upon

his soul—recovered

it [in 1165].

It

has a wide tillage in a contiguous vale. It is commanded by a fortress of the Franks called Hunin®

‘Nur al-Din, Turkish ruler of Syria (r. 1146-1174), initiated the first real jihad against the crusader states. Saladin continued his religious war, but both Nur al-Din and Saladin were willing to enter into periodic but time-limited truces with the Franks when it suited their needs. *Better known to the Franks as Chattel Neuf, the fortress

commanded the headwaters of the Jordan River and the fertile plain around Banyas, which is located in the Upper Galilee (present-day northern Israel).

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition « three parasangs® distant from Banyas. The cultiva-

are managed in this fashion, their rural districts, the

tion of the vale is divided between the Franks and the Muslims, and in it there is a boundary known

villages and farms, belonging to the Muslims. But

as “The Boundary of Dividing.” They apportion

unlike them in ease and comfort are their brethren

the crops equally, and their animals are mingled

in the Muslim regions under their (Muslim) gov-

together, yet no wrong takes place between them

ernors. This is one of the misfortunes afflicting the Muslims. The Muslim community bewails the in-

because of it.

their hearts have been seduced, for they observe how

We departed from Banyas. . Hee Wem ee came to

justice of a landlord of its own faith, and applauds

one of the biggest fortresses of the Franks, called

the conduct ofits opponent and enemy, the Frankish landlord, and is accustomed to justice from him.

Tibnin.” At this place customs dues are levied on the caravans. It belongs to the sow known as Queen* who is the mother of the pig who is the Lord of Acre’? may God destroy it.'° We camped at the foot of this fortress. The fullest tax was not exacted from us. . . . No toll was laid upon the merchants, since they were bound for the place of

He who laments this state must turn to God... .

On the same Monday, we alighted at a farmstead a parasang distant from Acre. Its headman is a Mus-

lim, appointed by the Franks to oversee the Muslim workers in it. He gave generous hospitality to all members

of the caravan, assembling them, great

the accursed king [Acre], where the tax is gathered."

and small, in a large room in his house, and giving

The tax there is a girat in every dinar” (worth of mer-

them a variety of foods and treating all with liberality. We were amongst those who attended this party,

chandise), the dinar having twenty-four girat.’?....

Our way lay through continuous farms and ordered settlements, whose inhabitants were all Mus-

lims,"* living comfortably with the Franks. God protect us from such temptation. They surrender their crops to the Franks at harvest time, and pay as well a poll-tax’” of one and five qirat for each person. Other than that, they are not interfered with, save for a light tax on the fruits of trees. Their

houses and all their effects are left to their full possession. All the coastal cities occupied by the Franks

®An ancient Persian unit of measurement—about 3.5 miles. 7Better known as Taron, this was one of the strongest crusader castles in the Galilee. 8Queen Agnes of Courtenay, widow of King Amalric. In a state noted for its powerful and strong-willed women, Agnes was one of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem’s most powerful and controversial queens. *King Baldwin IV (r. 1174-1185). ' !°Acre,a city on the Bay of Haifa in northern Israel, was the kingdom of Jerusalem’s premier port. Initially captured by ‘crusaders in | 104, it was recaptured by Saladin in 1187.The armies of the Third Crusade retook the city in 1191, and it remained in Frankish hands until 1291, when the Mamluk sultan of Egypt captured and razed the city’s defenses. With its fall, crusader presence along the Mediterranean coast of Southwest Asia essentially ended.

and passed the night there. On the morning of

Tuesday... , which was the 18th of September, we came to the city of Acre—may God destroy it. We were taken to the custom-house, which is a khan!'® prepared to accommodate the caravan. Before the door are stone benches, spread with carpets, where

are the Christian'” clerks of the Customs with their ebony ink-stands ornamented with gold. They

write Arabic, which they also speak. Their chief is the Sahib al-Diwan [Chief of the Customs], who

''The laws of the kingdom ofJerusalem specified | 11 items on which tax was due at Acre.

"A gold coin weighing 4.72 grams. 8A girat was one-twenty-fourth of anything. In this case, of a dinar.

Frankish, Eastern Christian, and Muslim farmers normally inhabited villages separate from one another. 'SA head tax. This was a Frankish variation on the jizya, or poll tax, that Islamic law prescribed for dhimmis, or tolerated People of the Book (Multiple Voices VI). Under Frankish law, Muslims were now the dhimmis. 'CAnother term for caravanserai—a place set aside for caravan traffic. ‘Syrian Christians whose native language was Arabic.

3 «©Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 holds the contract to farm the customs.'® . . . All

churches and minarets bell-towers, but God kept

the dues collected go to the contractor for the cus-

undefiled one part of the principal mosque, which

toms, who pays a vast sum [to the Government].

remained in the hands of the Muslims as a small mosque where strangers could congregate to offer the obligatory prayers. Near its mihrab* is the

The merchants deposited their baggage there and

lodged in the upper story. The baggage of any who had no merchandise was also examined in case it contained concealed [and dutiable] merchandise,

tomb of the prophet Salih**—God bless and pre-

after which the owner was permitted to go his way

serve him and all the prophets. God protected this part (of the mosque) from desecration by the unbe-

and seek lodging where he would. All this was done

lievers for the benign influence of this holy tomb.

with civility and respect, and without

harshness

and unfairness. We lodged beside the sea in a house which we rented from a Christian woman,

and

To the east of the town is the spring called Ayn alBaqar [the Spring of the Cattle], from which God

brought forth the cattle for Adam“—may

God

prayed God Most High to save us from all dangers and help us to security.

is by a deep stairway. Over it is a mosque of which

A Note on the City of Acre

there remains in its former state only the mihrab,

May God exterminate (the Christians in) it and restore it (to the Muslims)

Acre is the capital of the Frankish cities in Syria”. . . and a port of call for all ships. In its greatness it resembles Constantinople. It is the focus of ships and caravans, and the meeting-place of Muslim and Christian merchants from all regions. Its roads and streets are choked by the press of men, so that it is hard to put foot to ground. Unbelief and unpiousness there burn fiercely, and pigs’? and crosses abound. It stinks and is filthy, being full of refuse and excrement. The Franks ravished it from Mus-

lim hands in the first decade of the sixth century,” and the eyes of Islam were swollen with weeping for it; it was one of its griefs. Mosques became

'8As Ibn Jubayr makes clear below, a person who farms taxes pays the state a set fee for the contract. Whatever is collected in excess of the payment is profit. '"lt only became the capital of the kingdom of Jerusalem upon its recapture by Christian forces in 1191 (see note 10) because Jerusalem, the former capital, had been captured by Saladin in 1187.This anachronism might suggest later editing. More likely, it is due to Ibn Jubayr’s misunderstanding, but see note 27.

°The pig is the most unclean of animals in Islamic tradition. Here he uses the term to mean Christians. See his characterizations of Queen Agnes and King Baldwin IV. 7!Actually, the last decade of the fifth century of the Islamic calendar (March 24, | 104). ~The decorated niche in the mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca.

bless and preserve him. The descent to this spring

to the east of which the Franks have built their own mihrab,?> and Muslim and infidel assemble there,

the one turning to his place of worship, the other to his. In the hands of the Christians its venerableness is maintained, and God has preserved in it a

place of prayer for the Muslims. Two days we tarried at this place, and then, on Thursday . . . the 20th of September, we set forth across country to Sur [Tyre].°°... We lodged in a khan in the town prepared for the reception of pilgrims. A Note on the City of Sur (Tyre)

May God Most High destroy it This city has become proverbial for its impregnability, and he who seeks to conquer it will meet with no surrender or humility.” The Franks prepared it 3A prophet (nabi) and messenger mentioned only in the Quran (7:73 biblical Jonah, Salih was sent to warn 20 of source 45 discusses the titles

(rasul) of God who is and following). Like the an errant people. Note nabi and rasul.

*The Quran, 20:1 15.

*8Probably an altar niche facing Jerusalem. **Tyre (in present-day Lebanon) was held continuously by the Franks from 1124 to 1291.It was the northernmost and deepest of the kingdom ofJerusalem’s ports.

*7Either this is prophetic, or it was composed after Saladin failed to take the city—one of his few failures—during his campaign of |187—1188, when he almost (momentarily) swept the Franks out of Syria-Palestine. See note 19.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context ofTradition + 279 as a refuge in case of unforeseen emergency, mak-

ing it a strong point for their safety. Its roads and streets are cleaner than those of Acre. Its people are

During our stay in Tyre we rested in one of the mosques that remained in Muslim hands. One of

the Muslim elders of Tyre told us that it*® had been

by disposition less stubborn in their unbelief, and by nature and habit they are kinder to the Muslim

wrested from them . . . after a long siege and after hunger had overcome them. We were told that it

stranger. Their manners, in other words, are gentler.

had brought them to such a pass—we take refuge in

Their dwellings are larger and more spacious. The

God from it—that shame had driven them to propose a course from which God had preserved them. They had determined to gather their wives and children into the Great Mosque and there put them to the sword, rather than that the Christians should

state of the Muslims in this city is easier and more peaceful. Acre is a town at once bigger, more impious, and more unbelieving. But the strength and

impregnability of Tyre is more marvelous. . . . An alluring worldly spectacle deserving of record

possess them. They themselves would then sally

was a nuptial procession which we witnessed one

forth determinedly, and in a violent assault on the

day near the port in Tyre. All the Christians, men two lines at the bride’s door. Trumpets, flutes, and

enemy, die together. But God made His irreversible decree, and their jurisprudents” and some of their godly men prevented them. They thereupon de-

all the musical instruments, were played until she

cided to abandon the town, and to make good their

proudly emerged between two men who held her

escape. So it happened, and they dispersed among the Muslim lands. But there were some whose love

and women,

had assembled, and were formed in

right and left as though they were her kindred. She

was most elegantly garbed in a beautiful dress from which trailed, according to their traditional style, a long train of golden silk. On her head she wore a golden diadem covered by a net of woven gold,

of native land impelled them to return and, under

the conditions of a safeguard which was written for them, to live amongst the infidels. . . . There can be no excuse in the eyes of God, for

little steps of halfaspan, like a dove, or in the man-

a Muslim to stay in any infidel country, save when passing through it, while the way lies clear in Muslim lands. They will face pains and terrors such as the

ner of a wisp of cloud. God protect us from the seduction of the sight. Before her went Christian

more especially, amongst their base and lower orders,

and on her breast was a like arrangement. Proud she was in her ornaments and dress, walking with

abasement and destitution of the capitation®? and

their trains falling behind them. Behind her were

the hearing of what will distress the heart in the reviling of him [Muhammad] whose memory God has

her peers and equals of the Christian women,

sanctified, and whose rank He has exalted; there is

notables in their finest and most splendid clothing, pa-

rading in their richest apparel and proud of bearing in their superb ornaments. Leading them all were

also the absence of cleanliness, the mixing with the pigs, and all the other prohibited matters too numer-

the musical instruments. The Muslims and other Christian onlookers formed two ranks along the

ous to be related or enumerated. Beware, beware of

route, and gazed on them without reproof. So they

beneficent indulgence for this sin into which (our)

_ passed along until they brought her to the house of were given the chance of seeing this alluring sight,

feet have slipped, but His forgiveness is not given save after accepting our penitence. ... On Saturday . . . , being the 6th of October,

from the seducement of which God preserve us. . . .

with the favor of God towards the Muslims, we

®The city.

3° The head tax. See note I5.

the groom; and all that day they feasted. We thus

°Qadis, or Islamic jurists.

entering their lands. May God Most High grant His

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

came aboard. They had been on the pilgrimage to

were more grace and and bring tance and

Jerusalem, and were too numerous

be worshipped.

embarked on a large ship, taking water and provisions. The Muslims secured places apart from the Franks. Some Christians called “bilghriyin”®! to count, but

than two thousand. May God in His favor soon relieve us of their company us to safety with His hoped-for assisbeneficent works; none but He should

3!From the Italian pellegrini—Christian pilgrims.

Sinbad's First Voyage 58

* ATHOUSAND

AND

ONE ARABIAN

NIGHTS

Many would-be empire builders and invaders marched across this crossroad of AfroEurasia, and in the process, they destroyed and altered much. Notwithstanding these invasions, villages, towns, and cities prospered in large numbers, fed by the productive activities of peasants, artisans, and merchants alike. Farming, craft production, and even large-scale industrial manufacture contributed to a healthy economy, but all these activities paled in comparison with the economic impact of commerce, particularly transit trade. Evidence suggests that Southwest Asian production of commodities for export declined from the eleventh century onward, whereas trade in manufactured goods produced elsewhere, primarily China, India, and Western Europe, rose appreciably. Added to this was a booming trade in the raw materials of Africa and Southeast Asia, including slaves, ivory, and gold from Africa and exotic woods and spices from the central and eastern regions of the Indian Ocean. Merchants who engaged in long-distance commerce could become rapidly wealthy and rise to positions of eminence within their cities. This was especially the case with the merchants of Iraq. The ninth-century Arab geographer al-Yaqubi described Iraq as “the center of the world, the navel of the Earth.” Iraq’s centrality, and its consequent prosperity, was a function of its location at the head of the Persian Gulf, which afforded the merchants of Baghdad and Basra access to the rich markets of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. The potential for wealth was great for any Iraqi merchant who was enterprising, courageous, skilled, and lucky. Danger, however, lay around every corner, as the following tale from A Thousand and One Arabian Nights suggests. A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, one of the most celebrated collections of stories in the world, is a rich pastiche of Persian, Arabic, Greco-Roman, Indian, and Egyptian fables and legends. Its core is a now-lost ancient Persian collection known as A Thousand Tales. This Persian work served as the matrix around which numerous anonymous Arab storytellers wove additional tales, especially out of the rich folk traditions of lraq and Egypt, to create, by the fourteenth century, The Arabian Nights more or less as we know it today. ; A major Arab addition to this constantly changing treasury of tales was the Sinbad cycle—seven stories that related the merchant voyages of one of literature’s most celebrated adventurers. In the course of his seven voyages into the Indian Ocean,

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

°

Sinbad narrowly escaped death at the hands of pirates and cannibals, monster birds and huge serpents, storms and whirlpools, and the murderous one-eyed Cyclops and the Old Man of the Sea. In his travels, he discovered such fabled places as the valley of diamonds, the land where people were buried alive with their deceased spouses, and the ivory-rich elephant burying ground. Not only did he survive to tell his tales, but each voyage left him wealthier than before. Doubtless the professional storytellers who recounted the adventures of this fictional merchant-sailor deliberately employed hyperbolic flights of fancy because their purpose was to present thrilling entertainment. Yet the more fantastic elements within the stories also hint at some of the ways in which the world of the Indian Ocean was viewed from the perspective of Iraq. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. How did an Arab merchant of modest means undertake the expense of outfitting a ship and filling it with cargo? 2. What do the goods that Sinbad brought back with him suggest about the nature of commerce in the Indian Ocean?

3. Consider the wonders that Sinbad reported. What do they suggest about the level of Arab knowledge of the more distant regions of the Indian Ocean? What do they suggest about Arab attitudes toward the eastern Indian Ocean? 4. It has been said that this tale illustrates the ambivalence of the Iraqi world toward the vast region of the Indian Ocean. Do you agree? Why or why not? 5. What might we infer from this story about the role and status of merchants in Arab society?

I dissipated the greatest part of my paternal inheritance in the excesses of my youth; but at length, seeing my folly, I became convinced that riches were not of much use when applied to such purposes as | had employed them in; and I moreover reflected that the time | spent in dissipation was of still greater value than gold, and that nothing could be more truly deplorable than poverty in old age. I recollected the words of the wise Solomon, which my father had often repeated to me, that it is better to be in the grave than poor. Feeling the truth of all these reflections, I resolved to collect the small remains of my patrimony and to sell my Source: The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments (London: George Routledge, 1890), pp. | 13-116. 'Basra, located at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf and connected to Baghdad by the Tigris River, is Iraq's entry-way to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

goods by auction. I then formed connections with some merchants who had negotiations by sea, and

consulted those who appeared best able to give me advice. In short, I determined to employ to some profit the small sum I had remaining, and no sooner was this resolution formed than I put it into execution. I went to Basra,'! where I embarked with several merchants in a vessel which had been equipped at our united expense.

We set sail and steered toward the East Indies by the Persian Gulf, which is formed by the coast of

Arabia on the right, and by that of Persia on the left, and is commonly supposed to be seventy leagues” in °A league is three miles.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 breadth in the widest part; beyond this gulf the

should have found great difficulty in landing, had

Western Sea, or Indian Ocean, is very spacious,

not some roots of trees, which fortune seemed to

and is bounded by the coast of Abyssinia,’ extend-

have furnished for my preservation, assisted me. |

ing in length four thousand five hundred leagues to the island of Vakvak.* I was at first rather incommoded with what is termed sea-sickness,

more than half dead, till the sun rose.

but I soon recovered my health; and from that period I have never been subject to that malady. In the course of our voyage we touched at several

tigues I had undergone, I tried to creep about in search of some herb or fruit that might satisfy my hunger. I found some, and had also the good luck

islands, and sold or exchanged our merchandise.

to meet with a stream

One day, when in full sail, we were unexpectedly above the water, and which, from its green color,

contributed not a little to my recovery. Having in a great measure regained my strength, I began to explore the island, and entered a beautiful plain,

resembled a beautiful meadow. The captain or-

where I perceived at some distance a horse that was

dered the sails to be lowered, and gave permission it to go ashore, of which

grazing. | bent my steps that way, trembling between fear and joy, for I could not ascertain whether

number | formed one. But during the time that we

I was advancing to safety or perdition. | remarked,

were regaling ourselves with eating and drinking,

as I approached, that it was a mare tied to a stake:

by way of relaxation from the fatigues we had

her beauty attracted my attention; but whilst I was

endured at sea, the island suddenly trembled, and

admiring her, I heard a voice underground

we felt a severe shock.

man, who me, asked him; after me into a

becalmed before a small island appearing just

to those who wished

They who were in the ship perceived the earthquake in the island, and immediately called to us to re-embark as soon as possible, or we should all perish, for what we supposed to be an island was no more than the back of a whale. The most active of

the party jumped into the boat, whilst others threw themselves into the water to swim to the ship: as

threw myself on the ground, where I continued,

Although I was extremely enfeebled by the fa-

of excellent water, which

of a

shortly after appeared, and coming to me who I was. I related my adventure to which he took me by the hand and led cave, where there were some other per-

sons, who were not less astonished to see me than | was to find them there.

I ate some food which they offered me; and having asked them what they did in a place which

speaking, on the whale, when it plunged into the

appeared so barren, they replied that they were grooms to King Mihrage, who was the sovereign

sea, and | had only time to seize hold of a piece

of that isle, and that they came every year about

of wood which had been brought to make a fire with. Meantime the captain, willing to avail himself

that time with some mares belonging to the king,

for me, | was still on the island, or, more properly

for the purpose of having a breed between them

of a fair breeze which had sprung up, set sail with

and a sea-horse which came on shore at that spot.

those who had reached his vessel, and left me to

They tied the mares in that manner, because they were obliged almost immediately, by their cries,

the mercy of the waves. I remained in this situation the whole of that day and the following night; and on the return of morning I had neither strength

to drive back the sea-horse, otherwise he began

nor hope left, when a breaker happily dashed me on an island. The shore was high and steep, and |

with foal they carried them back, and these colts

>The horn of Africa—the region of present-day Ethiopia, Eretrea, Djibouti, and Somalia.

‘Possibly a reference to Sumatra.

to tear them in pieces. As soon as the mares were

were called sea-colts, and set apart for the king’s

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition + use. lo-morrow, they added, was the day fixed for

and customs of their different states, or whatever

their departure, and if Ihad been one day later |

appeared to merit my curiosity.

must certainly have perished, because they lived so

In the dominions of King Mihrage there is an is-

far off that it was impossible to reach their habitations without a guide.

land called Cassel. I had been told that in that island

Whilst they were talking to me, the horse rose out of the sea as they had described, and immediately attacked the mares. He would then have torn

which had given rise to the sailors’ opinion, that al-

there was heard every night the sound of cymbals, DajjaP had chosen that spot for his residence. I felt a great desire to witness these wonders, and during

them to pieces, but the grooms began to make such

my voyage I saw some fish of one and two hundred

a noise that he let go his prey, and again plunged into the ocean.

cubits in length,° which occasion much fear, but do

The following day they returned to the capital of the island with the mares, whither I accompanied them. On our arrival, King Mihrage, to whom

I

was presented, asked me who I was, and by what chance I had reached his dominions; and when |

no harm; they are so timid that they are frightened away by beating on a board. I remarked also some other fish that were not above a cubit long, and whose heads resembled that of an owl. After I returned, as I was standing one day near the port, I saw a ship come toward the land; when

had satisfied his curiosity, he expressed pity at my

they had cast anchor, they began to unload its

misfortune. At the same time, he gave orders that I should be taken care of and have everything I might

goods, and the merchants, to whom they belonged,

proved the king's generosity, as well as the exactness

took them away to their warehouses. Happening to cast my eyes on some ofthe packages, | saw my name written, and, having attentively examined

of his officers. As I was a merchant, | associated with persons

them, I concluded them to be those which I had embarked in the ship in which I left Basra. I also

want. These orders were executed in a manner that

of my own profession. | sought, in particular, such

recollected the captain; but as I was persuaded

as were foreigners, as much to hear some intelligence of Baghdad, as with the hope of meeting with some one whom | could return with; for the capital of King Mihrage is situated on the sea-

that he thought me dead, I went up to him, and

asked him to whom those parcels belonged. “I had on board with me,” replied he, “a merchant

of Baghdad, named Sinbad. One day, when we

coast, and has a beautiful port, where vessels from all parts of the world daily arrive. I also sought the

were near an island, at least such it appeared to

society of the Indian sages, and found great pleasure in their conversation; this, however, did not

be, he, with some other passengers, went ashore

prevent me from attending at court very regularly,

on this supposed island, which was no other than an enormous whale, that had fallen asleep on the surface of the water. The fish no sooner felt

nor from conversing with the governors of prov-

the heat of the fire they had lighted on its back,

inces, and some less powerful kings, tributaries of Mihrage, who were about his person. They asked

to cook their provisions, than it began to move

me a thousand questions about my country; and I,

and flounce about in the sea. The greatest part of the persons who were on it were drowned, and the

on my part, was not less inquisitive about the laws

unfortunate Sinbad was one of the number. These

‘The deceiver, or impostor, al-Dajjal is the false messiah who,

®A cubit varies from |7 to 22 inches.

according to Islamic belief, will appear shortly before Jesus returns to Earth to usher in the end of time. Jesus will destroy al-Daijjal, and the Day ofJudgment will follow.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange :

parcels belonged to him, and I have resolved to

500-1500 I selected the most precious and valuable things

sell them, that, if |meet with any ofhis family, I

in my bales, as presents for King Mihrage. As this

may be able to return them the profit I shall have made of the principal.” “Captain,” said I then, “I

prince had been informed of my misfortunes, he

you supposed dead, but

asked me where I had obtained such rare curiosities. I related to him the manner in which I had

who is still alive, and these parcels are my property and merchandise.” When the captain of the vessel heard me speak

recovered my property, and he had the complaisance to express his joy on the occasion; he accepted my presents, and gave me others of far

thus, he exclaimed,

greater value. After that, I took my leave of him,

am that Sinbad, whom

“Great God!

whom

shall I

trust? There is no longer truth in man. I with my own eyes saw Sinbad perish; the passengers I had on board were also witnesses of it; and you have the assurance to say that you are the same Sinbad? What audacity! At first sight you appeared a man of probity and honor, yet you assert an impious falsity to possess yourself of some merchandise which does not belong to you.” “Have patience,” replied I, “and have the goodness to listen to what

and re-embarked in the same vessel, having first exchanged what merchandise remained with that of the country, which consisted of aloes and sandal-wood,’ camphor,* nutmegs, cloves, pepper,

and ginger.’ We touched at several islands, and at last landed at Basra, from whence

I came here,

having realized about a hundred thousand dinars.'°

I returned to my family, and was received by them with the joy which a true and sincere friendship

I have to say.” “Well,” said he, “what can you have

inspires. I purchased slaves of each sex, and bought

to say? speak, and I will attend.” I then related in

a magnificent house and grounds. I thus estab-

what manner | had been saved, and by what acci-

lished myself, determined to forget the disagree-

dent I had met with King Mihrage’s grooms, who had brought me to his court.

able

He was rather staggered at my discourse, but

things

I had

endured,

and

to enjoy

the

pleasures of life... . I had resolved after my first voyage, to pass the rest of my days in tranquility at

was soon convinced that I was not an impostor;

Baghdad. .. . But | soon grew weary of an idle life;

for some people arriving from his ship knew me, and began to congratulate me on my fortunate

the desire of seeing foreign countries, and carrying on some negotiations by sea returned: I bought some merchandise, which I thought likely to an-

escape. At last he recollected me himself, and embracing me, “Heaven

be praised,” said he, “that

you have thus happily avoided so great a danger; I cannot express the pleasure I feel on the occasion. Here are your goods, take them, for they are yours, and do with them as you like.” | thanked

swer in the traffic I meditated; and I set off a second time with some merchants, upon whose

probity I could rely. We embarked in a good vessel, and having recommended ourselves to the care of

the Almighty, we began our voyage. .. .

him, and praised his honorable conduct, and by

way of recompense | begged him to accept part of the merchandise, but that he refused.

7Both are woods noted for their aromatic and medicinal properties.

8A medicinal drug and aromatic made from camphor wood. *Nutmeg and cloves were obtained from a few islands, known as the Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia. Black

>

And so the second voyage begins.

pepper came from southern India. Ginger, which apparently was native to India and South China, was cultivated in many parts of tropical Asia at this time. '°A gold coin weighing 4.72 grams.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

India: Continuity and Change Invasions from Central Asia by a nomadic people known as the Hunas, or White Huns, precipitated the collapse of the Gupta Empire around the middle of the sixth century. Northern India was again politically fragmented, but Indian culture, having reached maturity in the Gupta Age, continued to develop vigorously. Hinduism took on new vitality, thanks in large part to the bhakti movement out of southern India (source 37),and Buddhism was still a significant force, although it was steadily losing ground to a Hindu renaissance. Although transcendental spirituality has always been a primary concern of Indian culture, India’s cultural developments were not confined to religion. There was a significant literary revival both in the sacred language of Sanskrit and in such vernacular tongues as Pali and Tamil, and Indian comic drama emerged as a major art form. Music, dance, sculpture, and painting all flowered. In astronomy and mathematics, India was second to none. Indian astronomers borrowed and built upon Greek observations and theories, and Indian mathematicians formulated the principle of zero as a positive numerical value. India’s Arab neighbors happily adopted the base-ten concept, turned it into a tool of the marketplace, and passed it on. For that reason, Indian decimal mathematics became mistakenly known as the Arabic system of numeration in Western Europe. If India received scant or no recognition for its cultural brilliance in the Far West, the same was not true ofAsia, especially South and East Asia. Just as merchants from elsewhere in Asia and from East Africa flocked to its markets (see the Prologue’s Multiple Voices exercise), so scholars and religious persons sought out its schools, monasteries, and temples. It is no exaggeration to say that the history of classical India is largely the story of cultural continuity and evolution, in which political events and their chronology, although important, are less central to the story. The one significant exception to this rule in the period 500-1500 was the coming of Islam. Its impact was profound and permanent. Early in the eighth century,Arabs conquered the northwest corner of the Indian subcontinent, a region known as Sind, but advanced no farther. While Hindu civilization moved to its own rhythms, neighboring Muslims traded with it and freely borrowed whatever they found useful and nonthreatening to their Islamic faith. Islam did not make a significant impact on Indian life until the appearance of the Turks. These recent converts to the faith, whose origins lay in Central Asia, conducted a series of raids out of Afghanistan between 986 and 1030.After a respite of about 150 years, they turned to conquest. In 1192, the army of Mahmud of Ghor crushed a coalition of Indian princes, and the whole Ganges Basin lay defenseless before his generals. By 1206, the Turkish sultanate of Delhi dominated all of northern India, and by 1327, it had extended its power over almost the entire peninsula.Although these Turkish sultans were blocked by the Hindu state of Vijayanagara (1336-1565) from conquering the south, they controlled India’s northern and central regions until the

+ 285

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange:

500-1500

arrival of other Islamic conquerors: first, Timur the Lame’s (Tamerlane’s) plundering horde in 1398; then Babur, who established the great Mughal Dynasty (1526-1857), which ruled most of India until the middle of the eighteenth century. As the present-day Islamic states of Pakistan and Bangladesh bear witness, Islam became an important element in Indian society, but in the end, Hinduism, in its almost countless forms, prevailed as the way of life for the majority of the Indian subcontinent’s people. The coming and going of armies all but destroyed Buddhism in mainland India by 1400. Many factors had contributed to the decline of Buddhism in its homeland since the Gupta Era, but Islamic armies delivered the final blow. Its monasteries, the heart of Buddhism, were easy targets for marauders, especially Muslim raiders out to destroy every visible vestige of polytheism.At the same time, because Ceylon (Sri Lanka) escaped the ravages of Islamic attack, Buddhism continued to flourish there, as it does today, largely in its Theravada form. Despite similar attacks on Hindu shrines on the mainland, no amount of destruction could root out

the hold that the many varieties of Hindu belief and custom had on Indian life. In the final analysis, Hinduism is rooted not in temples and not in any class of specially trained clerics (despite the claims of Brahmin priests), but in family traditions and practices.

Islam and Hindu Civilization: Cultures [ge COmnict 59 ¢ ABUL

RAIHAN AL-BIRUNI, DESCRIPTION

OF INDIA

At the end of the tenth century, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazana (r. 998-1030), who bore the titles Sword of Islam and Image Breaker, began a series of seventeen raids into India from his base just south of Kabul in present-day Afghanistan. This Turkish lord made no serious attempt at conquering all of India, but he incorporated into his lands part of the subcontinent’s northwestern region of Punjab (an area that today is part of the Islamic state of Pakistan). For a century and a half after Mahmud’s death, Islam penetrated no farther into India, but the precedent of Islamic jihad against infidel Hindus had been established. The riches that Mahmud accumulated from his plunder and destruction of Hindu temples (he is reputed to have carried off six and a half tons of gold from one expedition alone) enabled him to turn his otherwise remote, mountain-ringed capital of Ghazana into a major center of Islamic culture. Scholars and artists gathered at Mahmud’s court. Many came willingly; others were forced to come. In 1017,Mahmud conquered the Central Asian Islamic state of Khwarazm, located west of Ghazana and just south of the Aral Sea. The conqueror brought back many of Khwarazm’s intellectuals and artisans to his capital, including the Iranian scholar Abul Raihan al-Biruni (973—ca. 1050). Known to subsequent generations as al-Ustadh (the Master), al-Biruni was primarily an astronomer, mathematician, and linguist, but his wide-ranging interests and

Chapter 8 Asia:

Change in the Context of Tradition

«

intellect involved him in many other fields of inquiry. For thirteen years following his capture, al-Biruni served Mahmud, probably as court astrologer, and traveled with him into India’s Punjab region. Shortly after his lord’s death in 1030, al-Biruni completed his Description ofIndia, an encyclopedic account of Indian civilization, especially Hindu science. The following excerpts come from the book's opening pages, in which the author deals with the essential differences that separate Hindus from Muslims.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. According to al-Biruni, what separates Muslims from Hindus? 2. Al-Biruni presents a critique of Hindu science and compares it with Greek science (and implicitly with Islamic science). In so doing, he faults Hindu scientists for certain basic failings. What are they? 3. What basic Hindu vision of reality might have influenced a scientific tradition that followed a path different from that of the Greeks and the Muslims? 4. What is the general tone of this entire excerpt, and what do you infer from it?

On the Hindus in General, as an Introduction to Our Account of Them [T]he reader must always bear in mind that the

Hindus entirely differ from us in every respect. ... First, they differ from us in everything which

other nations have in common. And here we first mention the language... . Secondly, they totally differ from us in religion, as we believe in nothing in which they believe, and vice versa. On the whole, there is very little disputing about theological topics among themselves; at the utmost, they fight with words, but they will never stake their soul or body or their property on religious controversy. On the contrary, all their fanaticism is directed against those who do not belong to them—against all foreigners. They call them mleccha, i.e. impure, and forbid having any connection with them, be it by intermarriage or any _other kind of relationship, or by sitting, eating, and

drinking with them, because thereby, they think, they would be polluted. . . . They are not allowed to receive anybody who does not belong to them,’ Source: Edward C. Sachau, trans., Alberum’s 1910), pp. |7-25, passim.

India (Delhi,

even if he wished it, or was inclined to their reli-

gion. This, too, renders any connection quite impossible, and constitutes the between us and them. In the third place, in all manners they differ from us to such a degree as

with them widest gulf and usages

to frighten

their children with us, with our dress, and our

ways and customs, and as to declare us to be devil’s breed, and our doings as the very opposite of all

that is good and proper. . . . [There

which national

are other causes,

the mentioning

of

sounds like satire—peculiarities of their character,

deeply rooted in them, but

manifest to everybody. We can only say, folly is an illness for which

there is no medicine,

and

the Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs,

no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature stingy in communicating that which they know, and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of another caste among their own people, still much 'Here al-Biruni describes Hindu caste separation and purity.

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 more, of course, from any foreigner. According

by the results of science, while the common crowd

to their belief, there is no other country on earth

will always be inclined to plunge into wrong-headed

but theirs, no other race of man but theirs, and

wrangling, as long as they are not kept down by fear

no created beings besides them have any knowledge of science whatsoever. . . . If they traveled

of punishment. Think of Socrates when he opposed

the crowd of his nation as to their idolatry and did

and mixed with other nations, they would soon

not want to call the stars gods! At once eleven of the

change their mind, for their ancestors were not as

twelve judges of the Athenians agreed on a sentence

narrow-minded as the present generation is. . . .

of death, and Socrates died faithful to the truth.’ The Hindus had no men of this stamp both capable and willing to bring sciences to a classical

The heathen Greeks, before the rise of Christianity, held much the same opinions as the Hindus; their educated classes thought much the same as those of the Hindus; their common people held the same idolatrous views as those of the Hindus. Therefore I like to confront the theories of the one nation

perfection. Therefore you mostly find that even the so-called scientific theorems of the Hindus are in a

with those of the other simply on account of their

state of utter confusion, devoid ofany logical order, and in the last instance always mixed up with the silly notions of the crowd, e.g. immense numbers,

close relationship, not in order to correct them. For

enormous spaces of time, and all kinds of religious

that which is not the truth* does not admit of any

dogmas, which the vulgar belief does not admit of

correction and all heathenism, whether Greek or

being called into question. . . . I can only compare

Indian, is in its heart and soul one and the same be-

their mathematical and astronomical literature, as

lief, because it is only a deviation from the truth. The

far as I know it, to a mixture ofpearl shells and sour

Greeks, however, had philosophers who, living in

dates, or of pearls and dung, or ofcostly crystals and

their country, discovered and worked out for them

common pebbles. Both kinds of things are equal in

the elements ofscience, not of popular superstition,

their eyes, since they cannot raise themselves to the

for it is the object of the upper classes to be guided

methods of a strictly scientific deduction.’

*The true faith of Islam.

of the fourth century .c.e. Aristotle’s logic, which had a profound impact on both Islamic and Western science and philosophical thought, was based on the principle of contradiction: An entity either is or is not; it cannot simultaneously be both. For reasons of comparison, revisit sources 14 and 37.

3Compare source 27 with al-Biruni’s description of the trial

of Socrates. ‘That is, logical argumentation, especially according to the system created by Aristotle, a Greek scientist-philosopher

A Sati’s Sacrifice 60 > VIKRAMA’S ADVENTURES One of the many myths regarding premodern Indian history is that a majority of widows performed ritual suicide by self-immolation on their late husbands’ funeral pyres and that those who refused to go willingly to their deaths were forced into the flames. !n fact, it was rare for widows to join their recently deceased husbands in death in ancient India. It was only during the Gupta Era, when female remarriage began to be discouraged and even prohibited, that the practice began to become something of a tradition. Even then, death by burning was not the fate of the vast majority of widows in that or any subsequent period. There were, however, enough incidents of widow suicide and murder to shock British colonial administrators, who

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

«

took over direct management of India in the mid-nineteenth century and managed to suppress the practice fairly effectively. Another myth shared by Western observers is that Indians call this practice suttee. There is no such word. Suttee is a British misunderstanding and mispronunciation of sati, which means “a virtuous woman.” According to the social and religious traditions that supported the practice of widow burning, a widow, no matter her caste, could not remarry, for this would entail her breaking her marriage vow and endangering her husband's spiritual welfare. She was expected to live out her life in severe austerity, shunned by all but her children, in the hope of remarrying her husband in some future incarnation. If she were especially virtuous, she would choose to join her deceased husband sooner rather than later and end her present life on his funeral day. Undoubtedly some satis committed suicide willingly. Probably far more were forced by their husbands’ relatives, for social and economic reasons, to perform this ultimate act of loyalty. The following legend, which sheds some light on this act of sacrifice, comes from an anonymous collection of stories recounting the adventures and wisdom of the semi-legendary King Vikrama (The Brave), or Vikramaditya (Brave as the Sun), who might have lived around 58 B.c.e. The stories, as we have received them, were probably collected between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. The arguments the widow puts forth appear to some modern commentators to be proverbs well known to the society in which this legend circulated. Does that seem to be a reasonable inference? If so, what do you conclude from that? 2. Can a widow who refuses to immolate herself achieve moksha (release)? 3. What proprietary interest do the families to which the sati belongs have in her sacrifice? 4. What impact does her act have on her husband’s soul? On her own? 5. What social and psychological factors make suicide appear so attractive? 6. “By her perfect selflessness, a sati perfects and redeems her husband.” What does this anonymous statement mean? How, if at all, does this story illustrate that attitude? 7. Some commentators have argued that this story is predicated on the assumption that a wife and husband fulfill each other and that without the other each is incomplete. Do you agree with this analysis? Why or why not?

King Vikrama, in the company of all his subor_ dinate princes, was

seated on his throne when

a magician entered and blessed the king by say‘ing, “Live forever!”

He then added:

“Sire, you

are skilled in every art and magicians have often Source: A modern paraphrase of a traditional story by A. J. Andrea. Copyright© by A.J.Andrea 2014.All rights reserved.

presented themselves to you and exhibited their tricks. Today, please grant the favor of your viewing an exhibition of my skills.” The king replied: “Now is not the time, for I must bathe and dine. I

will see it tomorrow.”

90

© Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500

On the following day the entertainer entered the king’s court but now in the guise of aman of noble bearing. He had a mighty beard and a commanding presence and held a sword in his hand. Moreover, he was accompanied by a beautiful woman. He then bowed before King Vikrama. Upon seeing this heroic figure, the ministers who attended the king

should I preserve my body? It is not right for you to say this. Even fools know that wives should follow their husbands. For this reason we have such sayings as:

‘The wife who enters the fire when her husband

dies . . . will enjoy heavenly bliss.’ ‘A woman can in no way find release from the

were astonished and asked: “Hero, who are you, and where do you come from?” He replied: “I serve Great Indra,' but it happened that my lord cursed me. I was cast down to Earth, where I now dwell. This is my wife. A great battle has begun today between the gods and the Daityas,* so I return to the heavens for this combat. King Vikramaditya, you are known for treating other men’s wives as your

coils of existence and rebirth until she immolates herself following the death of her husband.’ ‘Such a woman who follows her husband in

sisters, so before I go into battle | wish to leave my

wife in your care.” So the hero handed over his wife

fire shall dwell in Heaven for thirty-five thousand years—a number equal to the hairs on a human

to the king, and, sword in hand, flew up into the

body.’

heavens. Suddenly loud shouts emanated from the

this way purifies three families: her mother’s, her father’s, and the family into which she was given

in marriage.’ “From this it follows that: ‘A wife who follows her husband by entering the

‘A wife who follows this righteous law of burn-

sky, and the king and his court heard: “Kill them,

ing herself saves

kill them! Strike them down, strike them down!” Everyone in the court looked up in amazement.

wicked—indeed, even if he is guilty of every sort

After a minute, one of the hero’s arms, stained with

“Furthermore, Your Majesty, a woman who has no husband lives an empty life. And so it is said:

blood and still holding his sword, fell from the sky into the king’s court. Everyone in the court said:

her husband,

be he good or

ofall crime.’

‘A wretched woman

who has lost her husband

“Oh, no! This great hero has been killed; his sword

has a body that is as useless as a banyan tree in a

and an arm have fallen to earth.” Even as they were saying this, his head fell down followed by his torso.

cemetery.°

When his wife saw this, she said: “Sire, my husband

‘Although a woman is surrounded by relatives and even if she has kinsfolk, though she has many

has fallen on the field of battle, slain by his enemy.

sons, all of whom are endowed with excellent quali-

His arm, his sword, his head, and his torso have

ties, she is a miserable,

fallen here from the heavens. Now, to prevent my beloved’s being seduced by heavenly female spirits, I will go to him. Prepare a funeral pyre for me.” When Vikrama heard her say this he replied: “Daughter, why do you want to be consumed by fire? I will protect you as my own daughter and preserve your body.” She said: “Sire, what are you saying? My lord, for whom my body exists, was

when deprived of her husband.’ “And so it follows that:

killed on the battlefield by his foes. Now, for whom

'See source 9. *Demons.

poor wretched

creature,

‘What use does a widow have with perfumes, garlands of flowers, incense, and large amounts of

jewelry, clothes, and couches of ease?’ ‘A lute without strings makes no music, a wagon goes nowhere without wheels, and a wife cannot attain happiness without her husband, even though she might have a hundred relatives.’ *The dead have no need for its sheltering branches.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition ‘A womans greatest refuge is her husband, even if

} * 291

After having said this, she fell at the king's

he is a beggar or is vicious, old, infirm, crippled, an

feet, begging that a bonfire be provided for her.

outcaste,’ and stingy.’

The

“There is no relative, friend, defender, or place of

king, who

was

compassionate,

took

her

words to heart and ordered a funeral pyre of

refuge for a woman that compares to her husband.’

sandalwood? and gave her permission to immo-

“There is no other misery that compares to wid-

late herself. So she took her leave of the king,

ewhood. Happy is the woman who dies before her

and in his presence entered the fire along with

husband.”

her husband’s body.

“Having no caste, he is an “untouchable.” See source 32. °A fragrant wood that was used for religious and medicinal purposes.

Multiple Voices VII

Buddhism in China: Acceptance, Rejection, and Accommodation BACKGROUND Following branches of the Silk Road out of northwest India, Buddhism traveled into western Central Asia, taking deep root in Iran and Afghanistan. From there, it moved across the Pamirs into eastern Central Asia and on into the heartland of northern China, reaching the Middle Kingdom at least as early as the first century C.£. and probably earlier. Initially, Buddhism made little progress in China because some of its principles and practices ran counter to key Chinese values. In the time of troubles that followed the collapse of Later Han in 220, however, Buddhism, especially in its Mahayana form, achieved its own place in China as a religious doctrine offering comfort in the face of affliction. Even though it became an imperially sponsored religion in the first two centuries of the Tang Dynasty (618-906) and its monasteries became major centers of economic and political power, Buddhism did not lack detractors and enemies. Eventually, they were successful in orchestrating an attack on Buddhist monasteries in the middle of the ninth century that resulted in the shutting down of thousands of these centers of worship and the secularization of numerous monks

and nuns. As severe as this blow was, Buddhist beliefs and practices were not eradicated. The religion remained strong at the popular level, especially in a form of Mahayana devotion known as the Pure Land Sect, which centered on devotion to Amitaba,

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

the Buddha of Infinite Light, who presided over the Western Paradise, and his chief Bodhisattva, Guanyin (sources 38 and 39). Moreover, Buddhism increasingly merged with folk magic, Daoism, and Confucianism to become part of a uniquely Chinese religious complex. In essence, China assimilated Buddhism’s basic concepts, deities, rituals, artistic motifs, and festivals into its everyday culture and even into the ways of thought and behavior of its educated elites and in the process made these oncealien elements fully Chinese. But that was not the only way in which Buddhism persisted in China. In addition to the popular, syncretic forms of Buddhist devotion, many mainline schools of Buddhist thought and devotion, such as Chan Buddhism, continued to attract well-educated devotees, well-to-do patrons, and monks and nuns who were willing to devote their lives to the pursuit of Enlightenment. Indeed, under the Yuan (1264-1368) and Ming emperors (1368-1644), Chinese Buddhism would enjoy a new era of imperial patronage, as explained below.

THE SOURCES Our first source, contained in a collection of sixty-five biographies of eminent Buddhist nuns who lived between the fourth and sixth centuries, illustrates the inherent

tension between traditional Chinese social principles and Buddhist beliefs. It also shows us how Buddhist missionaries were able to accommodate Mahayana Buddhism to China’s prevailing values. The nun An Lingshou lived two hundred years before Shi Baochang completed this work in or around 516. Because of the time gap and because of the compiler’s avowed purpose to offer these holy women as models of Buddhist virtue, we would be naive if we did not wonder about the authenticity of the story, or at least the truth of its details. Yet there are aspects of the story that ring true. Even if the reported debate between An Lingshou and her father never took place, it certainly reflects opinions that were voiced during this era of Buddhist infiltration. Chinese Buddhism reached its first high point of popularity and influence during the early years of the Tang Dynasty. However, because so many aspects of Buddhism were at variance with the traditional culture of China, especially Confucian values, conflict was almost inevitable. One of the leaders in the Confucian counterattack on Buddhism was the classical prose stylist and poet Han Yu (768-824), who in 819 composed a polemic against Buddhism, which is presented as our second source. Offered as

a memorandum, or memorial, to Em-

peror Tang Xianzong (r. 805-820) on the subject of the emperor’s veneration of a relic of the Buddha’s finger, Han Yu’s elegant and witty essay so enraged the emperor that initially he wanted to execute the author. Eventually, the emperor contented himself with banishing his impudent civil servant to a frontier outpost.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition A champion of rationalism, Han Yu wished to suppress not only Buddhism but also Daoism, which had evolved into an organized religion that promised physical immortality through magic. lronically, it was due to the influence of Daoist priests that Emperor Tang Wuzong (r. 840-846) initiated a policy of state suppression of a number of foreign religious establishments in 842, culminating with his Proclamation Ordering the Destruction of Buddhist Monasteries in 845, our third source. The emperor died seven months after issuing the order, and with his death the full force of the edict was relaxed. But substantial damage had already been done to the institutional structures of Buddhism, and Chinese Buddhism never fully recovered the economic and political power that it had enjoyed under the early Tang emperors, but it did not die out. Through an already centuries-long process of adaptive adoption, which we call syncretism, Buddhist beliefs and values had increasingly become deeply embedded in Chinese society—too deeply to be rooted out—but the story did not end there. The Mongol Yuan emperors were avid patrons of Tantric forms of Buddhist piety (see Bato Kannon, source 39),a form of Buddhism translated from Tibet to Mongolia, where it remains a vital religion today. Under their successors, the Ming emperors, somewhat successful efforts were made to reconcile the various forms of Buddhism, and there was also an appreciable rise in the patronage of Buddhist monasteries, temples, and shrines by the well-to-do. The fourth source is a Ming-era ink and color drawing on silk that depicts Confucius (on our left) and the Buddha. The Buddha is cradling a qilin, a mythical horned anima! that is associated in East Asian tradition with wise and benevolent sages.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

. According to the story of An Lingshou, what was the classic Chinese objection to Buddhism? How did Buddhists answer this objection? 2. What was there about Buddhism, especially its Mahayana forms, that attracted women and provided support for female monasticism? . In Han Yu’s mind, what are the social, cultural, and political dangers of Buddhism? WwW. Compose Han Yu’s rejoinder to the story of the nun An Lingshou. bh 5. On what ideological basis did Emperor Wuzong order the suppression of monasteries and temples? Is there any evidence to suggest that there might also have been political and economic reasons for closing down and confiscating these establishments? 6. Compose a commentary on how the drawing of Confucius and the Buddha represents the place of Buddhism under the Ming emperors. 7. Using these sources as fully as possible, compose an essay titled “Buddhism in China: Acceptance, Rejection, and Accommodation.”

« 293

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

| ¢ Shi Baochang, Lives of the Nuns An! Lingshou’s secular surname was Xu. Her family was originally from Donghuan.* Her father Xu Chong served the non-Chinese dynasty of Latter Zhao* as an undersecretary of the provincial forces. When she was young, Lingshou was intelligent

and fond ofstudy.’ Her speech was clear and beautiful; her nature modest and unassuming. Taking

no pleasure in worldly affairs, she was at ease in secluded quiet. She delighted in the Buddhist teachings and did not wish for her parents to arrange her betrothal. Her father said, “You ought to marry. How can you be so unfilial?” Lingshou said, “My mind is concentrated on the

beings from suffering. How much more, then, do

I want to free my two parents!” Xu Chong consulted the Buddhist magician monk® from Kucha,’ Fotudeng,® who said, “You return home and keep a vegetarian fast, and after

three days you may come back to see me again.” Xu Chong obeyed him. At the end of the three days, Fotudeng

spread Xu Chong’s

palm with

the oil of sesame ground together with saflower. When he ordered Xu Chong to look at it, Chong saw a person who resembled his daughter dressed in Buddhist monastic robes preaching the Buddhist teachings in the midst ofa large assembly. When he told all of this to Fotudeng, the monk said, “This is a former incarnation of your daugh-

ter, in which she left the household life and benefited living beings—such were her deeds. If you

work of religion, and my thought dwells exclusively

consent to her plan, she indeed shall raise her fam-

on spiritual matters. Neither blame nor praise moves me; purity and uprightness are sufficient in

ily to glory and bring you blessings and honor; and she shall guide you [to Nirvana] on the far

themselves. Why must I submit three times before I am considered a woman of propriety?”

shore of the great ocean of suffering known as the incessant round of birth and death.”

Her father said, “You want to benefit only one

Xu Chong returned home and permitted his.

person—yourself. How can you help your father

daughter to become a nun.” Lingshou thereupon

and mother at the same time?”

cut off her hair, discarded secular ornaments, and

Lingshou said, “I am setting myself to cultivate

the Way exactly because I want to free all living

Source: From Lives of the Nuns: Biographies of Chinese Nuns from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries, pp. 20—21.A translation of Pi-ch’iu-ni chuan, compiled by Shih Pao-ch’ang. Translated by Kathryn Ann Tai, 1994. Romanization from Wade-Giles to Pinyin by A. J.Andrea. 'Her religious surname, An, indicates that she traced her spiritual lineage back to a Parthian Buddhist missionary. *In northeastern China. >Literally, ‘the illegitimate dynasty of Latter Zhao.” Between 304 and 431, sixteen kingdoms, largely dominated by foreigners of Mongol and Turkic ethnicity, emerged and vied with one another in northern China. Latter Zhao, which lasted from 319 to 350, instituted a reign of terror (see notes 12-14). ‘High-born women in Han and for centuries thereafter tended to be well educated. ‘Submit first to her father and elder brother, then to her husband, and after his death to her son.

received the rules of monastic life from Fotudeng and the nun Jingjian.'° She established Founding

®A number of Buddhist missionary monks in China enjoyed reputations as healers, magicians, seers, interpreters of dreams, and miracle workers. 7An oasis city that was the center of a Central Asian kingdom along the Silk Road. ®Zhu Fotudeng (232-348) was a Central Asian of Indian ancestry who arrived in northern China in 310. His disciples are considered the founding parents of Chinese Buddhism. *Buddhist monastic rules mandated parental consent for minors and young women who wished to enter the Sangha, or monastic community.

'°The subject of the first biography in this collection, Zhu Jingjian (ca. 292—ca. 361), whose secular name was Zhong Lingyi, was a well-educated widow. She is credited with founding China’s first female Buddhist monastery, Bamboo Grove Convent, in 317 in the city of Chang’an.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition + of Wisdom Convent, and Fotudeng presented her with a cut-flower embroidered vestment, a seven-

was no one who did not honor her. Those who left the household life because of her numbered

strip monastic

more

robe,''

and

an

elephant-trunk-

than

two

hundred.

Furthermore,

she

shaped water ewer that Shiluo, first emperor of the

built five or six monastic retreats. She had no

Latter Zhao Dynasty, had given him.'? Lingshou widely perused all kinds of books, and, having read a book through only once, she was always able to chant it by heart. Her thought extended to the depths of the pro-

fear of hard work and brought her projects to

found; her spirit intuited the subtle and divine. In the religious communities of that time there

''Traditionally, a garment made out of rags and scraps that symbolized rejection of worldly wealth. ?Shiluo reigned 319-333. Fotudeng’s magical powers gained him entry to the court of Latter Zhao, and he was able to use his influence to ameliorate somewhat its brutality (see note 3).

2° Han Yu, Memorial on Confronting Buddhism

Submitting as your humble servant, I perceive Buddhism

to be a barbarian

craft that pen-

etrated our Central Empire’ not before the Eastern Han Dynasty.’ In ancient times, there was not such a thing... . Our empire was at peace, and our people lived fulfilled, happy, and

long lives. . . . Because

the teachings of the

Buddha had not reached China then, this com-

fortable situation could hardly be ascribed to this foreign belief. The doctrines of the Buddha first appeared in Eastern Han when Emperor Ming? reigned; then

Source: Translated by Liu Xu from Han Yu, Lun Fo Gu Biao.

Copyright © Liu Xu, 2014.All rights reserved. ‘Zhongguo, which is translated as “Central Country,” “Central Empire,’ or “Middle Kingdom,” refers to China. The concept underlying the term is that China is the center of all civilization. 2The Later Han Dynasty (25 c.e—220). 3Han Mingdi (r. 57—75 c.e.). ‘Five fairly short-lived dynasties of the troubled fourth through sixth centuries. The Wei, who were foreign

completion. The Emperor Shihu,'? nephew of the late Em-

peror Shiluo, honored her and promoted her father

Xu Chong to the official court position of undersecretary of the Yellow Gate and administrator of the Qinghe Commandery. '8Shihu (r. 335-349), who had a reputation for psychopathic violence, gained the throne by killing off Shiluo’s son.

his short-lived administration of eighteen years was followed by disorder and instability, with ephemeral emperors and fleeting power. From the time of the Song, Qi, Liang, Chen and Wei dynasties,’ as they became more devout in the preaching of Buddhism, their time [of reign] proportionately short-

ened. The only exception was Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty, who reigned for forty-eight years.’ This pious monarch thrice abandoned worldly concerns and dedicated himself to serving the Buddha.° He refused to sacrifice animals in the ancestral ceremonies; his single meal during the day was never more than fruits and vegetables. In the end, Em-

peror Wu was imprisoned by General Hou Jing and starved to death in his palace; his empire collapsed

conquerors, used Buddhism’s universal message as an ideological buttress for their rule. See the Northern Wei Buddha in Multiple Voices IV.

SLiang Wudi (r. 502-549). ®A devout Buddhist, he entered the Dong Dai monastery for brief periods in 527,529, and 547. On each occasion, his becoming a monk was an act of both religious piety and a means of enriching the monastery. On each occasion, imperial ministers had to pay a rich “ransom” in order bring him back to his throne and duties.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 thereupon.’ He sought good fortune through the practice of Buddhism, but the misfortune that over-

that all temples [in the capital] were required to house and worship it in turn. Foolish as your ser-

took him was far greater. The lesson drawn from history is that it is not worth serving the Buddha. Taking over the abdicated throne from the Sui

vant is, | know that Your Majesty is not bewitched

emperors,

by this Buddha, nor does Your Majesty perform every practice of this sort to achieve good fortune.

Gaozu® at once proposed the abolish-

Merely because recent years have witnessed good

ment of Buddhism, but his chancellors and advi-

harvests and the people living in contentment, you

sors were short-sighted and unable to comply with the Way of the Former Kings? or with what is best for past and present. They were not able to comprehend Gaozu's true wisdom to prevent this cor-

indulge their general desire by putting on for the capital residents these spectacles, which are purely for amusement. How could a supreme brilliance like Your Majesty believe in such ignorant things? Your subjects, however, are stupid and blind; easy to deceive and hard to enlighten. If they see Your

rupted practice. Your humble servant consistently

regrets that this proposal never took effect. Your servant is truly aware that Your Imperial Majesty,

Majesty supporting [Buddhist] believers, they will

sacred and shrewd, with civil and military excel-

mistakenly believe that our Heavenly Son is sin-

lence, is beyond any comparison through the many

cerely serving the Buddha. All will say: “Wise as

centuries. When you first were enthroned, Your

the emperor is, he still serves Buddhism

whole-

Majesty issued a prohibition against any lay per-

heartedly.

people,

son becoming a monk, nun, or Daoist priest,'° nor

not surrender our lives [to the Buddha]?” Burning heads and scorching fingers in large masses,

would you allow the further establishment of temples. I always felt gratified that Gaozu’s unfulfilled

How

can

we,

the common

throwing away their clothes and coins,'” they em-

wish would be achieved through Your Majesty. But now, even though a prompt execution of that wish

fall behind; no matter old or young, people rush

is not feasible, how can turning the other way and

to join [a monastery], abandoning their occupa-.

encouraging it [Buddhism] be of any help?

tions. If immediate restrictions are not imposed, when the finger bone passes through more tem-

I hear that by Your Majesty’s command, a group of monks went to Fengxiang to favorably receive

ulate one another from dawn to night, fearing to

ples, there will be some who cut off their arms, or

Your Majesty personally viewed it from a tower

slice their own flesh as an offering for the Buddha. Such corruption of public morals and descent into

and had it carried into the imperial palace, and

ridicule is no trivial matter.

the Buddha's finger bone; '' that, upon its arrival,

7Hou Jing, in alliance with Liang Wudi’s son and future emperor, Jian Wendi (r. 550), rebelled against the emperor’s apparent neglect of his duties. Liang Wudi was allowed to live, but died soon thereafter, apparently of self-imposed starvation,

“High (or great) ancestor,’ an honorific title bestowed posthumously on several Chinese emperors, This high ancestor was Li Yuan, the first Tang emperor, who deposed the last Sui emperor, Gongdi (r. 617-618), and reigned from 618 to his abdication in favor of his son in 626. See the next source, note 5. °The legendary Five Sage Emperors of predynastic China who putatively established the basic elements of Chinese culture. See note |3.

'°The Daoist Church, which worships a deified Laozi (source 20), began to take shape in the mid-second century c.e. In addition to searching for the elixir of immortality, Daoist priests seek to cure illnesses, exorcise evil spirits, preside over the rites of passage in the lives of believers, perform regular rituals, and hold communal feasts. ''Fengxiang, a region west of Chang'an (present-day Xi’an), was where the Famen Temple was located, which claimed to have the Buddha’s finger bone. On seven occasions, the temple loaned the relic to emperors in return for large “donations.” The temple complex still exists, and one can view there a series of nesting gold reliquaries of decreasing size that encased the relic.

"Giving up the vanities of worldly life.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition The Buddha was a man of foreign origin. His lan-

guage differed from that of the Central Empire; his clothes were not in the slightest way similar to ours; his mouth did not pronounce the wise words of the

Former Kings; his body is not covered in the garments prescribed by the Former Kings.'* He did not honor his filial duty as son to father or as subject to mon-

«

visits of condolence. Now without any particular reason, putrification and filth have been brought here and viewed by the emperor; no exorcists or peach-wood branches were employed, nor did any chancellor or censor speak of its falsehood.'® Your servant is truly ashamed of their delinquency. I ask that this finger bone should be handed over

arch. For if he were an envoy to our capital on behalf

to officials and cast into fire or water, so that this false

of his kingdom, Your Majesty would welcome him in courtesy, but it would be only limited to a meeting at

belief can be cut off from its roots, leaving no room

rotten remains, to be carried into the imperial pre-

for subjects to be suspicious of Your Majesty, and so that future generations will not be bewitched. All under Heaven”’ will see how the deeds of a true great sage can surpass that of the average a million times over. Could it be any more magnificent? Could it be anything other than a cause for rejoicing? If the Buddha were a real spirit that causes mis-

cincts of the palace! Confucius once said, “The de-

fortune, may all fitting blame and bad fortune fall

ceased should be respected at a distance.”'” When ancient lords went to memorial services in their

upon my most humble flesh. I will not regret it, and Heaven is my witness. With endless gratitude

Xuanzheng Hall, a banquet at Linde Hall, and a gar-

ment as a gift.'* He would then be escorted beyond the border so that our people would not be misled. Now that he is long dead, how inappropriate it is for his dead and decayed bone, his withered and

states, an exorcist would be sent to counteract evil

and utmost sincerity, your servant presents this

spirits with peach-wood brooms. Only after such preparations had been made would they dare pay

petty petition that my concerns may be heard. Your servant is filled with reverence and awe.

'3Apparently beginning with the Qin Dynasty (221-210 8.c.e.),

garment was the usual reciprocal gift to envoys who had

imperial China evolved sumptuary laws that mandated which clothes persons of a certain rank could and could not wear. These rules were believed to have been handed down by the Sage Emperors in the third millennium B.c.e. 'Xuanzheng Hall, one of the Three Great Halls in Chang’an’s huge Daming Palace complex, was the site for imperial audiences. Linde Hall, a complex actually of three halls, was the site for banquets, performances, and religious rites.A silk

arrived bearing tribute for the emperor. Regarding tributary visits to the Court, see Chapter ||,source 83. 'SFrom the Analects (source 21). '€The chancellor was the emperor’s prime minister; censors had the responsibility of scrutinizing and criticizing the conduct of all imperial officials and the emperor. '’Tianxia—the people subject to the Son of Heaven.

3° Proclamation Ordering the Destruction of the Buddhist Monasteries

and Zhou.' After the dynasties of Han and Wei, the Image-Teaching*

gradually began to flour-

ish. And once established in that degenerate age, We learn that there was no such thing as Bud-

this strange custom prevailed far and wide, and

‘dhism prior to the Three Dynasties, i.e., Xia, Yin,

now

the people are soaked to the bone with it.

Source: From Ennin’s Travels in Tang China, Edwin O. Reischauer, pp. 225-227. Copyright © 1955. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 'China’s first three dynasties (Chapter 1). Yin is another name for the latter years of the Shang Dynasty.

Buddhism, which used statues and images for veneration and instruction (see source 39).

° Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Just now the national spirit begins to be spoiled

The right of ‘the pen’ (i.e., peaceful rule or civic

unconsciously by it; and, leading the heart of the

administration) and ‘the sword’ (i.e., war) belongs

people astray, it has put the public in worse condition than ever. In the country—throughout the

to the State, and they are the two weapons where-

nine provinces,

and among

the mountains

and

fields as well as in both the capitals*—the number of priests is daily increasing and the Buddhist temples are constantly winning support. Wasting human

labor in building, plundering

the people's purse by golden decorations, neglecting both husband and wife by their vigil-keeping, no teaching is more harmful than this Buddhism. In breaking the laws of the country and injuring the people, none can surpass this Buddhism.

with to govern the Empire. How dare the insig-

nificant Teaching of the Western Lands compete with ours? During the periods of Zhen-guan and Gaiyuan,° things were bettered once for all, but

the remnants were smoldering, and poverty began to grow bigger and wider and threatened to set the

country ablaze! “After closely examining the examples set by our Imperial predecessors, We have finally decided to

Moreover, if a farmer neglects his field, many suf-

put an end to such conspicuous evils. Do you, Our subjects at home and abroad, obey and conform to Our sincere will. If you send in a Memorial’ sug-

fer the pangs of starvation from his negligence; if

gesting how to exterminate these evils which have

a woman neglects her silkworm culture, many suf-

beset Us for many Dynasties, We shall do all We can to carry out the plan. Know that We yield to

fer the calamity of being frozen to death through her negligence. Now there are at present so many monks and nuns that to count them is almost impossible. They all depend on farming for their food, and upon silk-worms for their clothing! “The public monasteries and temples, as well as

none in fulfilling the laws of Our predecessors and in trying to be helpful to Our people and beneficial to the public. “Those

4,600

monasteries

supported

by the

Government shall be confiscated and, at the same

private chapels and shrines, are innumerable; and

time, 260,500 nuns

all of them so gigantic and imposing that they vie with the Imperial Palace in splendor! In Dynas-

the secular life so that they may be able to pay

and priests shall return to.

ties Jin (317-420 c.z.) and Song (420-476 c.z.),

the taxes. We shall also confiscate 40,000 private temples with the fertile and good lands amount-

Qi (479-501 c.£.), and Liang (502-557 c.z.), the

ing to several tens of millions of acres; and eman-

resources of this Empire were exhausted and the

cipate 150,000 slaves and make them into free,

country gradually declined, while its manners and

tax-paying people. Examining into the teaching

customs became flippant and insincere, solely because of this Buddhism.‘ “Our Imperial ancestor Taizong’ put an end to confusion and disorder by his arms, and built up the glorious Middle Kingdom and governed his people by his accomplished learning and culture.

from the foreign lands in the Empire, We have discovered that there are over 3,000 monks from

>The main capital was Chang'an (present-day Xi’an); the auxiliary, or eastern, capital was Dongdu (present-day Luoyang). “Compare Han Yu’s charges against Buddhism. *Tang Taizong (r. 626-649), the second Tang emperor (see the previous source, note 8) and the true founder of Tang imperial power. He actually became a generous patron of Buddhism after 645.

Daqin® and Muhufu;’ and these monks also shall return to the lay life. They shall not mingle and interfere with the manners and customs of the Middle Kingdom.

‘The throne names of Tang Taizong (see note 5) and Tang Xuanzong (r. 712-756), the dynasty’s two greatest rulers.

’7Memorandum. *The Roman Empire—a reference to Eastern Christianity (Multiple VoicesV,source 6). *Persia—a reference to Zoroastrians and Manicheans.

Chapter 8 Asia: Change in the Context of Tradition

“More than a hundred thousand idle, lazy people and busy bodies have been driven away, and numberless beautifully decorated useless temples have been completely swept away. Hereafter, purity of life shall rule Our people and simple and non-assertive rules prevail, and the

people of all quarters shall bask in the sunshine of Our Imperial Influence. But this is only the beginning of the reforms. Let time be given for all, and let Our will be made known to every one of Our subjects lest the people misunderstand Our wish.”

.

1° Confucius and the Buddha

USA/Gift Library Art Bridgeman Institution, Freer/The Lang Charles of sonian

S(1368—1644)/Freer Art, of Gallery Dynasty Ming School, Chinese

Confucius and the Buddha

+ 299

Chapter 9

Two Christian Civilizations Byzantium and Western Europe HE ROMAN EMPIRE was a Mediterranean civilization that encompassed the coastlands and peoples of three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Given this fact, it is best to think of it as the last and greatest of the Hellenistic empires, with all of the cultural variety that the term connotes. During the period from roughly 235 to 600, the Mediterranean world underwent a transformation. Many historians have characterized it as “the decline and fall of the Roman Empire,” but the phrase and all that it implies misses the mark. Rome and its empire did not suddenly collapse. What happened was more subtle and profound. The lands of the empire, which embraced the cultures of so many diverse peoples, metamorphosed over a period of centuries into three new civilizations: Byzantium; Western (or Latin) Europe; and Islam. Islam originated in Arabia, a land beyond Roman imperial boundaries, and in the mid-eighth century, it established its capital at Baghdad, in the heart of the former Sassanian Empire of Persia, far from lands that had been part of the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, by conquering the lands of Syria-Palestine, all of North Africa, and most of the Iberian Peninsula, Islam inherited a good deal of Hellenistic culture, including Greek science and philosophy, and in that sense it was an heir of the Roman Empire. We studied Islam in Chapters 7 and 8, and it needs no further comment here. Byzantium and Latin Europe, Rome’s two Christian heirs, are another matter. It is to these civilizations that we now turn. The civilization that we term Byzantium receives its name from the eastern Mediterranean city of that name (Byzantion in Greek; Byzantium in Latin), which Emperor Constantine the Great transformed into Constantinople (Constantine’s City) in 330, bestowing on it the honor of serving as the new Christian capital of the Roman Empire.The fact that Constantine chose to locate his capital in the East is testimony to the increasing unimportance of the West to the fourth-century

300

( hapter 9

Iwo Christian Civilizations

empire. Despite the city’s change in name, modern scholars have favored using the older name—Byzantium—to delineate the civilization that came to be centered on this new Roman capital. Actually, the Byzantines never called themselves anything other than Romaioi (Romans). From the early fourth century to 1453, when the city and its empire finally succumbed to the Ottoman Turks, Constantinople was the center of an empire and a civilization whose members viewed it as the legitimate heir of Roman imperial traditions. In fact, however, already by the late sixth century, Byzantium had become a distinctive civilization—a Greek-speaking civilization that retained many Hellenistic qualities but which also developed many new forms of expression and organization. Byzantine civilization resulted from the fusion of three key elements. First, there were the traditions of the Late Roman Empire, in which the emperor had been transformed into an autocratic ruler along the lines of the Persian shahs, or emperors. Then, there was Eastern Orthodox Christianity. As we saw in Multiple Voices V, orthodox is a Greek term that means “correct thinking,’ and in this context, it means the time-honored, officially sanctioned traditions of Eastern Mediterranean Christianity, which included folk practices as well as ecclesiastical ceremonies and the teachings of theologians and church councils. The third element was the cultural heritage of the Hellenistic past, itself a fusion of Greek, Western Asian, and Egyptian elements. Although Byzantium was an empire, with frontiers that expanded and contracted over the centuries, as a civilization, it transcended political boundaries. Byzantine traditions deeply influenced the cultures of a number of neighboring peoples, who adapted Byzantium’s religious faith, institutions, and traditions, as well as its political structures,to their societies and ways of life. In a real sense, even after the Byzantine Empire collapsed in the face of Ottoman Turkish assaults, its civilization lived on, in somewhat

altered

forms, among

such

Orthodox

Christian

cultures

as

Belarus,

Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine. The story in the western half of the Roman Empire was different. Continuities were less evident, and dramatic changes were more the norm. Whereas the empire’s eastern half evolved somewhat gently into a new cultural synthesis, the western half experienced a painful process of political breakdown and sweeping cultural transformation. Toward the end of the fourth century c.e., pressures on Rome’s western frontiers had become intolerable, and the western portion of the empire rapidly slid toward its unforeseen end, defeated and transformed by fringe peoples who came from beyond the borders of the Rhine and Danube rivers. By the end of the sixth century, precious little of the western half of the Roman world was ruled by imperial Roman authority. More profoundly, these newcomers played a key role in transforming culture in the West, thereby helping to usher out the old GrecoRoman order and to lay the basis for a new civilization that many historians call Western, or Latin, Europe.

«

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 One of the enduring clichés favored by writers of history textbooks is that Latin Europe emerged out of a fusion of three elements: the remnants of Greco-Roman civilization; Latin, or Western, Christianity; and the culture and vigor of the fringe peoples who migrated into the western regions of the late Roman Empire. As is true of so many commonplace notions, there is a good deal of truth to this statement, but it is not the complete story. These three elements differed radically from one another in many essential ways, and it took centuries for them to fuse into something resembling a coherent civilization. Even when they had achieved a level of integration, their differences continued to infuse into this emerging European civilization tensions that became identifying characteristics of the new order developing in the West. The dynamism born out of those tensions eventually drove Latin Europe into competition with Islam and Byzantium—a competition that had global consequences. Although there were many other Christian cultures and states that were neither Byzantine nor Latin, as sources contained in Multiple Voices V and Chapters 8, 10, and

|| demonstrate, between

them, Byzantium and the Latin West dominated the

religious, social, and political fortunes of vast regions of western Eurasia for many centuries, and their influence remains with us in the twenty-first century.

The Image of Empire and Emperors in Byzantium and the West Some eighteenth-century European historians regarded Byzantine civilization as an unoriginal and degenerate fossilization of late antiquity, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Although the Byzantines saw their state as a living continuation of the Roman Empire, by the late sixth century, Constantinople had become the matrix of a new civilization. The history of Byzantium is one of peaks and troughs. The pattern of triumph, decline, and recovery repeated itself continuously until Byzantium’s collapse in the mid-fifteenth century. One key to understanding this cycle is the power invested in the emperor (and occasionally the empress). Rarely does an individual singlehandedly alter in a radical way the historical course of an empire or any other large institution, but autocratic monarchs could and did play inordinately important roles in the unfolding of Byzantine fortunes. Our first source, a set of mosaics, sheds light on the person and reign ofJustinian the Great (r. 527-565) and the ideology that he embodied. Although Byzantine cuitural influences spread to independent states far beyond the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium was largely a civilization centered on a single empire with a single capital, Constantinople. In the West, to the contrary, a new civilization arose that was not identified with any single political entity, even though the West created its own empire in the year 800 and then

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations

recreated it in 962. Despite having its own Holy Roman Empire, as it was later termed, Latin European civilization was politically pluralistic and was never tied to any one state or one capital city. In many respects, youthful, dynamic Europe was an ever-expanding culture in the period from roughly 500 to 1500. Yet this dynamism was not obvious during the early centuries in which Western European civilization was taking shape. With the passing of Roman imperial order, Western Europeans were thrown back on their own resources and forced to create new social and political structures and a new civilization.As already noted, in fashioning this civilization, West-

erners melded together three elements: the vestiges and memories of Roman civilization, the moral and organizational leadership of the Roman Church, and the vigor and culture of the various fringe peoples who carved out kingdoms in Europe from the fifth century onward. The one act that most vividly symbolizes the new order that emerged from that fusion was Pope Leo IIl’s coronation of Charles the Great, better known as Charlemagne, as Roman emperor on Christmas Day 800. Beginning with his coronation as king of the Franks in 768, Charlemagne ruled a major portion of continental Europe for close to half a century, until his death in 814. During his lifetime, Charles’s fairly successful efforts to expand the boundaries of Christendom and to impose an order based on his understanding of Christian principles won him a reputation that extended all the way to the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad. The lands that passed under his rule included (in present-day terms) most of Germany and France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, northern and central Italy, and northeastern Spain—truly a sizeable empire. Charles’s successors were less fortunate and probably less able. In 843, Charles’s three grandsons divided the empire into three kingdoms, signaling continental Europe’s return to political pluralism—a pluralism that proved permanent and one of the major driving forces in European history. In addition to Europe’s abundance of different and often competing states, Western emperors and kings had to reckon with the another competing authority, the Roman Church and its pope, as our second source, also a set of mosaics, suggests.

Two Imperial Portraits: Justinian Ana mecodora 61

« THE

MOSAICS

OF

SAN

VITALE

The age of Justinian | (r. 527-565) was pivotal in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. The last of the emperors of Constantinople to speak Latin as his native tongue, Justinian attempted to reconquer the West from the various Germanic tribes that had divided it into competing kingdoms. Despite initial successes and the investment of vast human and material resources, in the end

«

303

Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 pireremnserentnnacehan

Emperor Court His and Justinian Scala/Art Resource, NY

Theodora Empress Court Her and Cameraphoto Arte, Venice/Art Resource, NY

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 his efforts largely failed, although Byzantium did manage to regain Sicily and southern Italy, which it held, respectively, until the mid-tenth and mid-eleventh centuries. After Justinian’s age, the Greek-speaking emperors and people of Constantinople were forced to look less to the West and more toward their eastern, southern, and northern borders, thereby accelerating the impact of Asian influences on Byzantium’s cultural development. Regardless of his large-scale miscalculations, Justinian ranks as one of Byzantium’s greatest emperors; indeed, he often is referred to as Justinian the Great, the last Roman and first Byzantine emperor.A measure of that greatness is seen in the portrait mosaics ofJustinian and Empress Theodora at the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy,an octagonal church constructed between 526 and 547 that was modeled on the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which had been built in the reign of Emperor Constantine | to enclose the presumed empty tomb of the Resurrected Jesus. Created in 548, the two mosaics flank the altar of the church. High above the altar is a mosaic of Christ in Glory. Below and to Christ’s right is Justinian’s mosaic; opposite and to Christ’s left is Theodora’s mosaic. In Justinian’s mosaic,we see the crowned emperor, his head surrounded by a nimbus, or halo, a sign of sacred power. He wears imperial purple and goid and carries, as an offering, the Eucharistic bread, which Orthodox Christians believed a priest would transform at Mass into the Body of Christ. On his left are four individuals: three churchmen and what appears to be a court official (the person in the background). The clerics are Maximian, archbishop of Ravenna (his name appears over his head, he holds a cross, and he wears around his shoulders an archbishop’s pallium, a long white cloth with an embroidered cross), and two priests. One priest holds a book of Gospels. Every Mass has a Gospel reading from the same side of the altar on which Justinian’s mosaic is located. The other priest holds an incense burner. On the emperor’s right stand two high-ranking imperial officials and six members of the imperial bodyguard. One of the guardsmen displays a shield with the chi-— rho monogram: the Greek letter X (chi) intersected by the Greek letter P (rho); combined in this manner, they represent the word Christos (Christ). Empress Theodora, Justinian’s wife, also appears with a crown, imperial purple and gold robes, and a halo. The hem of her robe has an image of the Three Kings bearing gifts to the Christ child. In her hands is a golden, bejeweled cup containing the Eucharistic wine, which sixth-century Christians believed a priest would transform at Mass into the Blood of Christ. On her left are seven court ladies, in descending order of rank; the one closest to her wears the purple of the imperial family. Two high-ranking civil officials stand on her right. One pulls back a curtain to reveal a baptismal font, the fountain in which persons are baptized into the Church. Directly behind Theodora is a dome, which probably represents the domed Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. This church stood close to the imperial palace and was built under the dual patronage ofJustinian and Theodora, whose monograms grace the structure’s columns.

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Theodora’s mosaic places her into a defined space: probably the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Justinian’s mosaic lacks any spatial points of reference. Does this seem significant? If so, how do you interpret the emperor’s lack of specific place? 2. Based on these two mosaics, describe the role that Empress Theodora apparently played within the empire. What was her theoretical position? What do you think were her actual powers? As always, be as specific as possible. 3. “The Byzantine emperor was acknowledged as the living icon, or image, of God on Earth, insofar as his imperial majesty was a pale reflection of the Glory of God. As such, he was the link between the Roman Christian people and their God.” In light of these mosaics, comment in depth on this anonymous statement. 4. Two titles borne by the emperor of Constantinople were isapostolos (peer of the apostles) and autokrator (one who rules by himself). Does the San Vitale mosaic of Justinian symbolize either or both of these titles? Please be specific in your answer. 5. Revisit the Barberini lvory (Multiple Voices V), which portrays either Emperor Anastasius | (r. 491-518) or Emperor Justinian |. Based on that source and this mosaic, compose an essay that analyzes the duties and authority of the Byzantine emperor.

Two Papal and Royal Portraits: Leo Ill and Charles the Great 62 * THE MOSAICS

OF THE LATERAN

PALACE

In 476 the western half of the Roman Empire lost its last resident Roman emperor. Theoretically, the emperors at Constantinople remained rulers of the western,as well as the

eastern, regions of the Roman Empire; in reality, the West was divided into a number of Germanic kingdoms—a process that had begun well before 476. If any single entity commanded the loyalties of all or most Europeans, it was the Roman Church, which centered on the person and office of the pope of Rome.The pope, whose title, papa, means “father” in Latin, was bishop of the city of Rome and claimed authority over all of Christendom, not just the Western Church, by virtue of being the heir of Saint Peter. According to arguments first put forward in the fourth century, Christ had given Saint Peter, the leader of the apostles, “the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” and, therefore, authority over the entire Church. Peter later became the first bishop of Rome, and it

was as bishop of Rome that he exercised his God-given authority over Christendom. When he died in office, all his power passed to his successor, and it continued to be handed on to each successive bishop of Rome. This vision of church history, which received a fair amount of acceptance in the West, failed to convince Christians in the East, including those who looked to Constantinople for spiritual guidance. Although the Western Church considered the bishop of Rome to be the successor of Saint Peter and, therefore, the holy father, the actual power that popes exercised over Western Christendom was severely limited, especially before the twelfth century. Certainly Pope Leo Ill (r. 795-816), a contemporary of Charles the Great, had a vision of papal authority that far exceeded the bounds of political and even ecclesiastical reality. In point of fact, he had very little authority outside of Rome and its environs,

«

©

Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

and even in Rome he was beset by enemies, some of whom plotted his deposition and even his assassination. In search of a protector, Leo III turned to the most powerful man of the day, Charles, king of the Franks and of the Lombards, whose lands covered much of western continental Europe by the late eighth century. Protection, however, usually comes with a price, and it is reasonable to conclude that Pope Leo had that in mind when he commissioned the mosaics that appear here. Late in the last decade of the eighth century, Pope Leo added a massive banquet hall to the papal residence known as the Lateran Palace. In the fashion of the day, a huge apse (arched vault) covered with mosaics towered over the diners who, in the style of the ancient Romans, reclined below it on couches. The building was torn down in the 1580s but the mosaics survived. They seriously deteriorated in the years that followed but were replaced with reproductions in the mid-eighteenth century. Evidence strongly points to their being reasonably faithful copies. The central mosaic, dominating the interior of the arch, portrays the Resurrected Christ commissioning his apostles to carry the message of salvation to the entire world. Flanking the arch are the two mosaics that appear here. On the left as one faces the apse, an enthroned Jesus presents the Keys of Saint Peter (The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven) to Pope St. Sylvester | (r. 314-335), who kneels on his right, and he presents a military standard surmounted by a cross to Constantine | on his left. Constantine’s name appears above his head. Strangely, perhaps, the inscription accords Constantine the title of R[ex] (king) and not Imperator (emperor).According to a pious (but untrue) legend circulated by the eighth-century papacy, Pope Sylvester had cured Constantine of leprosy and subsequently converted the emperor to Christianity, thereby transforming the empire into a Christian Roman Empire. On the right, Saint Peter hands a pallium, the symbol! of pontifical authority (see source 61), to Pope Leo and a lance with attached battle standard and a head shaped in the form of a fleur de lis to King Charles. The fleur de lis was undoubtedly an anachronistic embellishment by the eighteenth-century mosaicists, who transformed a lance head into the symbol of the French monarchy—a symbol that only emerged centuries after Charlemagne’s death, when finally there was a France. Both the pope and King Charles (and Constantine) have square nimbuses, or halos, conventional signs that they are (or were) especially sanctified or powerful people but not yet saints in Heaven. Christ, Peter, and Sylvester have round nimbuses (see Multiple Voices IV). The four Latin inscriptions accompanying this second mosaic read, from top to bottom and left to right: “Saint Peter”; “Most Holy Lord Pope Leo”;““To Lord King Charles”; and “Blessed Peter, You Give Life to Pope Leo and You Give Victory to King Charles.” Inasmuch as the mosaics were completed sometime between 798 and April 799, Charles undoubtedly saw these mosaics on his visit to Rome in 800/801, when the pope crowned him emperor and entertained him in this hall. One can surmise what Charles thought of the message inherent in the mosaics. He never returned to Rome in the almost fourteen remaining years of his life. In 813, Charles presided over a ceremony in which his son and successor, Louis, crowned himself co-emperor in the octagonal Palace Chapel at Aachen, which was modeled on the octagonal Church of San Vitale in Ravenna (source 61).

( hapter 9

QUESTIONS

Two Christian

Civilizations

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Consider the positions of Pope Sylvester and Pope Leo relative to Jesus and Saint Peter, respectively, as compared with the positions of Constantine and Charles. Is this significant? Explain your answer. 2. What do you make of the fact that it is Peter who gives Charles the lance and not Jesus? 3. The three mosaics form an artistic triptych (Greek for “three-fold”) that conveys a single, core message. What is that message? 4. After reviewing source 61, compose a Byzantine emperor’s commentary on the triptych. 5. In 796, shortly after hearing of Leo III’s election as pope, King Charles sent a letter to the new pope containing the following words:“‘It is our duty to defend the holy Church of Christ from the attacks of pagans and unbelievers from outside and to enforce within acceptance of the catholic faith. It is your duty, Most Holy Father, to assist us in the good fight by raising your hands to God [in prayer].”' Knowing this, now compose Charles’s commentary on this entire artistic scene. ' Translation from the Latin by A. J. Andrea.

Andrea J. Alfred of Courtesy

Jesus with Pope Sylvester | and Emperor Constantine |

«

Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Alfred of Courtesy Andrea J.

Byzantium and the West in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries: A Tale of Ambivalent Relations During the early tenth century, the imperial title died out in the West for lack of anyone strong enough to claim it, but on February 2, 962, Pope John XII (r. 955-964) anointed the Saxon king of Germany, Otto | (r. 936-973), as emperor, thereby resurrecting the Western imperial office. Like Charlemagne, upon whom he modeled himself, Otto was the most powerful monarch of his day in Western Europe, and he was remembered by posterity as worthy of the title “the Great.” Unlike Charles the Great, however, Otto carved out an empire largely centered on Germany and northern Italy that lived on for centuries after his death.Although longer-lived, Otto’s

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations empire was much smaller than Charles’s. Most of what had now become France, for example, and northeastern Spain, were never part of this empire.

Denied lands to the west of Germany, Otto and his son and grandson looked east. The Ottonian Empire (later known as the Holy Roman Empire) pushed out the boundaries of Latin Christianity as it subjugated and colonized Slavic lands to its immediate east and converted its new subjects in the process.What is more, imperially sponsored missionaries ranged into Poland, Bohemia, Croatia, and Hungary—all of which officially accepted Latin forms of the Christian faith by the year 1000 even as they remained politically independent of the Ottonian Empire. Meanwhile, Anglo-Saxon England was taking the lead in the conversion of Scandinavia, especially Denmark and Norway. At the same time that Western Europe was extending its cultural boundaries, Byzantium’s missionaries were bringing Byzantine forms of Christian culture to the Bulgars, Serbs, and Rus’ in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. By 1000, the Rus’ of Kiev, a people of mixed Slavic and Scandinavian origin, had officially accepted the ecclesiastical leadership of the Church of Constantinople, and the foundations for the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches had been laid. Farther south in the Balkans, Latin Christian Croats lived alongside Byzantine Christian Serbs. At times, the Churches of Rome and Constantinople and the respective empires that supported them cooperated in these missionary ventures; at times, they competed. This ambivalent spirit of a shared Christianity tempered by a realization of their differences and competing claims was also manifested in their diplomatic exchanges and in the writings of a number of their most eminent church and state officials.

One Man, Two Views of Imperial Constantinople 63 « LIUDPRAND REPORT ON THE

OF CREMONA, RETRIBUTION AND THE EMBASSY TO CONSTANTINOPLE

Liudprand of Cremona (ca. 920-972), son of a prominent Lombard family of northern Italy, initially served Berengar II, king of northern Italy, and later, having fallen out with Berengar, he turned his loyalties to King Otto | of Germany, who forced Berengar to surrender the kingship of northern Italy in 952. In 949-950, shortly before his falling out with Berengar, Liudprand represented the king at the court of Emperor Constantine VII (r. 913-959) in Constantinople. It was important for Berengar, and later the Ottonians, to have at least a working relationship with the Eastern Roman Empire because much of southern Italy was still in Byzantine hands and would remain so until the region was taken away from the empire by Norman French adventurers in the eleventh century. It was during this sojourn in Constantinople that Liudprand learned Greek. In 958, Liudprand began writing the Antapodosis,a Greek word that means “retribution.” Although he continued to revise this work until his death, it was largely completed in 962, shortly after his new master, King Otto |, had rewarded him with the rich bishopric of

«

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Cremona as payment for loyal service. Liudprand admitted that his main motive in composing the book, which examined the ways in which divine justice had manifested itself in the recent past, was to settle accounts with the tyrant Berengar and his wife Willa, whom Liudprand characterized as a latter-day Lamia, the child-eating witch of Greek mythology. Liudprand was not noted for having or expressing moderate judgments. In the first of the excerpts that appear here, our author describes the Battle of the Garigliano River of 915,in which a grand alliance of Italian and Byzantine troops, which was assembled and led by Pope John X (r. 914-928), defeated and dislodged a substantial Muslim force from North Africa that had occupied this area of southern Italy since 882. The emperor who supported this united front against a common enemy was Constantine VII. Inasmuch as the battle took place about five years before his birth, Liudprand depended on second- and third-hand accounts.The second excerpt from Retribution describes his treatment by Emperor Constantine VII in the days preceding Easter, 950. Following his unsuccessful attack on the Byzantine-held Italian port city of Bari, Emperor Otto | endeavored to lessen tensions with Byzantium by arranging a marriage alliance between a Byzantine princess and his son, heir, and nominal co-emperor, Otto II (ruled alone 973-983). Such a marriage would give Otto’s family greater imperial legitimacy and would ensure a claim to the entire Italian Peninsula for his son, who had been crowned co-emperor on Christmas Day 967 as a preliminary to the proposed wedding. His natural choice of ambassador to the court of Emperor Nicephorus Il Phocas (r. 963-969) was Liudprand, who arrived in Constantinople in 968. Liudprand’s embassy was a failure, and, worse, he felt insulted by the way he and other Westerners were treated by the Byzantines. Upon his return to the West, the bishop composed The Embassy of Liudprand, Bishop of Cremona, to the Emperor of Constantinople, Nicephorus, on Behalf of the August Ottos and Adelheid, more commonly known as The Report on the Embassy to Constantinople. Despite his bitterness, Liudprand returned to Constantinople in 970/971 and was successful on that occasion, returning in 972 with Theophanu, a niece of the new emperor of Constantinople as wife for Otto II. Although Theophanu was not an imperial daughter “born in the purple,’ this marriage signaled a momentary lessening of tensions between the Eastern and Western empires and their imperial families. Liudprand died on or shortly after his return journey home. The excerpts from Liudprand’s account of his misadventures in Byzantium begin with his arrival and continue to his exchanges with Leo, brother of Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas, some high-ranking officials, and the emperor himself. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. How does Liudprand portray the Byzantines and especially Emperor Constantine VIl in Retribution? Compare this with Liudprand’s treatment of the Byzantines and Emperor Nicephorus. 2. How might we explain the contrast? In addressing this issue, look beyond just the personalities of the two emperors. Consider the dates of Liudprand’s first two

Chapter 9

Two Christian Civilizations

« 313

visits to Constantinople. Clues are contained in both the excerpts and the editorial introductions.

3. How do the Byzantines look upon the Western Church? 4. What was the real reason that the Bulgarian envoy was accorded more honor than Liudprand? (Hint: Locate the land of the Bulgars on a map.) What does your answer to this question suggest about cultural-political realities at this time? 5. What do these excerpts suggest about Western—Byzantine relations in the tenth century?

with them. If we are victorious, let the victory

Retribution

And so, upon the aforesaid John’s having been made pope, a certain Landulf, a vigorous man who was an expert in the prosecution ofwar, shone forth

as prince of all the Beneventans and Capuans.' In the midst of the Phoenicians” weakening the

state of the Republic’ to a level beyond tolerable, Pope John consulted this eminent Prince Landulf regarding a course of action in response to what the

Africans were doing. When the prince heard this, he answered

the pope,

in this manner:

through

“This mattei,

intermediaries,

Spiritual Father,

should be looked into by great councils. Therefore, send word to the emperor of the Argives,* whose

land across the sea these people’ never cease to depopulate, as they do our own land. Invite the people of Camerino and even Spoleto® to help us.

With God protecting us, let us boldly go to war

Source: Liudprandi Cremonensis, Antapodosis; Homelia paschalis; Historia Ottonis; Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana,

ed. P. Chiesa (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1998), pp. 56-57, 149-150, 187-188, and 194-197, passim. Translated by A. J. Andrea. Copyright © A.J.Andrea, 2014.All rights reserved. 'Prince Landulf | of Capua and Benevento was one of the most powerful princes of southern Italy; he alternately allied with and fought the neighboring Byzantines. In theory he was a vassal of the emperor in Constantinople; in reality - he was an independent actor. See note 19.As his Germanic name indicates, he was (as was Liudprand) descended from the Lombards who had invaded Italy in the sixth century and established several states in the peninsula. 2Arabs from North Africa. The reference is to the ancient Carthaginians, a Punic (Phoenician) people from North Africa whom the Romans had fought in three Punic Wars between 264 and 146 B.c.e.

be ascribed not to our numbers but to God; if, instead, the Phoenicians are victorious, let it be

imputed to our sins and not to our slothfulness.” Upon hearing this, the pope immediately sent

messengers to Constantinople, humbly requesting that the emperor support him. Indeed, because the emperor was a most holy and God-fearing man, he ordered without delay that large

numbers of troops be conveyed by ship.’ When they disembarked® alongside the Garigliano River, Pope

John was there along with Landulf, the very powerful prince of Benevento, and also with the Camerinans and Spoletans. Finally a quite horrible battle ensued between the two sides. When, indeed, the Phoenicians noticed that the Christian side was winning,

they fled to the summit of Mount Garigliano and tried to defend only the narrow passes.

>The city and region of Rome. This is an anachronism. Alberic Il of Spoleto claimed to have revived the ancient Roman Republic in the Revolution of 932 that established a self-governing state with himself as its princeps, or First Citizen (r. 932-954). Regarding this title, see source 35. 4A Homeric term for the Greeks (source 10). Here Liudprand, as he often did, was showing off his Greek and classical learning.

>The Arabs. ®Two cities in north-central Italy. ’This large contingent of troops arrived from the Byzantine regions of Calabria and Apulia, respectively the toe and heel of the Italian peninsula, and not from Constantinople. ®The verb used here is conscenderent, which normally means

“they embarked,” but Liudprand must have intended it to mean “they disembarked.”

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 On that very day, the Greeks encamped on that slope that was more difficult to ascend and more suitable for a Phoenician retreat. Staying there, they kept the Phoenicians under observation, lest they escape, and engaging them in combat daily, they killed more than a few.

into the fourth,'® and finished up on the sixth and seventh days. . . . Thus, with my standing by and viewing the process with admiration, the

emperor asked through his /ogothete'' what had pleased me about the whole matter. I replied to him: “Certainly it would please me if it were

Therefore, with the Greeks and Latins fight-

profitable, just as Lazarus's lying at rest, which

ing daily, by the mercy of God, not one Phoenician was left who was either not cut down by the sword or not forthwith taken alive as a captive. Moreover, in that very battle the most holy apostles Peter and Paul were seen by the religiously faithful, and we believe that it was through their prayers that the Christians merited the fact that the Phoenicians should flee and they should gain

the rich man who was in torment saw, would have benefited the rich man, if it had come his

a victory.

way. Because it did not happen to him, how, I ask,

could it have pleased him?”'* Smiling and touched with a bit of embarrassment, the emperor, therefore,

motioned with his head for me to come to him. I more than willingly accepted a large cloak and a

pound of gold coins, which he willingly gave me. The Report on the Embassy to Constantinople

he wanted me to be present at this payout, he

We arrived at Constantinople on the 4th of June, were shamefully received—as an insult to you—and were miserably and dishonorably treated. We were confined in a palace sufficiently large and open so that it neither kept out the cold nor warded off the heat. Armed soldiers were stationed as jail guards, who prohibited all my people from leaving and others

ordered me to come... .

from entering. . . . To add to our troubles, we

I do not want you to think that it was concluded in a single day. In fact, the emperor began on the fifth day, from the first hour all the way

found Greek wine to be undrinkable because of

I think that I should not pass over in silence what else I witnessed there that was novel and wondrous. In that week before vaiophdron, which

we

call “Palm

branches,”’

the emperor

makes a payment in gold coins to both the soldiers and persons appointed to various offices in accordance with what their rank merits. Because

°The week preceding Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday immediately before Easter Sunday, commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion. Christians celebrate the feast day with processions in which they carry palm branches. 'Following the custom of Roman antiquity, days and nights were divided into twelve equal “hours.” The hours of the day began at dawn and ended at sunset, which meant that the length of an hour varied daily and depended on the season. Given that this was early Spring, the first hour of the day would begin around 6 a.m.and the fourth hour around 9 a.m.

''A senior minister of finance. This is a self-mocking reference to the parable in the Gospel of Luke (16:19-31), in which a former rich man, who

its admixture of pitch, resin, and plaster.'? The

house was without water and we could not even

is in Hell, begs that the former beggar Lazarus, who is in Heaven, dip his finger in water and cool his parched tongue. It is also a wry reference to a second Lazarus—the friend whom Jesus had raised from the dead. The Saturday before Palm Sunday (note 9) is celebrated by Eastern Orthodox

Christians as the Feast of Saint Lazarus. It was on this very feast day (the seventh day of the week) that Liudprand offered this witticism to the emperor. A resinated wine known as retsing has been popular in the Greek world since at least the first century c.e. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) was also an additive that ancient and medieval winemakers put into wine and beer as a preservative and to add clarity. Today most wines have added sulfites for the same reason.

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations

quench our thirst with water that we would have purchased with the funds given us. ... On the 6th of June.. . L was led into the presence of Leo, the emperor’s brother, coropalatus,'* and

debate your request. . . . They began their discourse

in the following

reason,

brother, for exhausting yourself to come

manner:

“Explain

the

logothete. Here we were exhausted by a massive

here.” When I told them that it was on account of a marriage alliance that would be the basis

argument regarding your imperial title. For he

of an endless peace, they said: “It is unheard of

referred to you not as “emperor,” that is Baotrea (Basiléa) in his language, but as pryya (rega),

a daughter born in the purple of someone born

that a porphyrogenita of a porphyrogenitus, that is

expressed differently, he said that I had come

in the purple,'® 16 should mix with foreigners. Still, because you seek such a rare thing, you shall have what you want, if you give what is proper: namely

not to make peace but to cause strife. And so,

Ravenna,'’ and Rome with all their adjoining ter-

that is “king” in our tongue.'? To which when I said that it means the same even though it is

rising in a rage, he received your letter in a truly

ritories that extend from there to us. If you truly

insulting manner—through

desire friendship without the marriage alliance, let

an interpreter and

not personally. ...

your lord permit Rome to be free,'* and hand over

into their former servitude the princes of Capua and Benevento, former servants of our holy empire >

Liudprand has fallen ill and feels quite mistreated

by the emperor, with whom

he

has dined and exchanged insults (if we can believe that the bishop had the courage to do so). In that mood, he ‘was banished to

his lodgings, from which he wrote to the emperor's brother, Leo, threatening to go home.

When he had read the letter, he ordered me to come to him after four days. In accord with their tradition, their wisest men

. . . sat with him to

4A title meaning “master of the palace.” This was the official who served as a chief of staff and was in charge of all palace functions. 'SThe Greek words for emperor and king are respectively basileus and anax. Basileia means “queen.” Either these are scribal errors or Liudprand’s command of Greek was not as deep as he pretended it to be. The Latin word for king is rex, which possibly explains some of the confusion. '’The daughter of a reigning emperor (who wore purple, the ‘imperial color), who himself was born the son of a reigning

emperor. See source 61. Ravenna had been the seat of Byzantine power in Italy until the city was captured by the Lombards in the eighth century.

who are now rebels.”"” I answered them: “Even you cannot be ignorant of the fact that my lord rules over Slavs’? who are more powerful than Peter, king of the Bulgarians, who

married the daughter of the emperor Christopher.” “But Christopher,’ they said, “was not born in the

purple.” “As for Rome,” I said, “for whose liberty you eagerly clamor: whom does it serve? To whom does it pay tribute? Was it not formerly serving whores? And while you were sleeping, in fact, not displaying any fortitude, did not my lord, the

'8From Otto’s control. ''Landulf, who appears above in Retribution, and his brother Pandulf. ln the northern Balkans, where both empires clashed. In 927 King Peter (r. 927-969) married Maria, daughter of Christopher, the eldest son and crowned co-emperor of Romanus | (r. 920-944). Christopher died in 931 before he could assume the imperial throne on his own. When Christopher was born, his father, Romanus, was not a member of the imperial family. Romanus | rose from humble origins.

316 © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 august emperor, free it from that foul servitude?” Constantine,

the august emperor

who

this city that he called after his own

founded name,

as

kosmocrator* made many offerings to the Holy Apostolic Roman Church, not only in Italy but in almost all the western kingdoms, as well as those

in the east and south, namely in Greece, Judaea, Persia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Egypt, Libya, as

avenge me upon my adversary.’ To whom the Lord said: ‘I will do so on the day when I shall render to each according to his deeds.’ But the man replied, ‘Quite late, indeed!’”

Then everyone, except the broke off the debate shaking ordered me to be taken back ings and to be closely guarded

emperor's brother, with laughter and to my hated lodguntil the feast day

his charters of privilege, which we possess, bear

of the holy apostles, which all religious persons

testimony.” And, rightly so, my lord has handed over to the most holy vicar of the apostles’? 26 whatever belonged to the Church of the holy apostles in Italy, in Saxony, in Bavaria, and in all his realms. If my master withheld anything from all of these

celebrate.** On that feast day I was quite sick, but nevertheless, the emperor commanded me and Bulgarian envoys, who had arrived the day before, to meet him at the Church of the Holy Apostles.” After some wordy chants and the celebration of

properties, be it cities, manors, soldiers, or a single

mass, we were

family, then I have denied God. Why does not your emperor do the same so that he restores to

end of the table, which was narrow and long, he placed above me a Bulgarian envoy, a fellow

the Church of the apostles its properties that are located in his realms and, thereby, make richer and

whose hair was cut in the Hungarian”

invited to table. At the farthest

30

fashion,

with a bronze chain around his waist and, as my

freer that Church, which is already rich and free,

mind suggested to me, a catechumen*'—clearly

thanks to my lord’s exertions and generosity?”

an insult to you, my august lords.°** On your ac-

“He will do so,” said the parakimomenos Basil,”’

count I was despised; on your account rejected;

“when Rome and the Roman Church are organized according to his wishes.” Then I replied: “A certain

on your account scorned. But I give thanks to Jesus Christ, whom you serve with your whole spirit, that | was deemed worthy to suffer insults in your name. In truth, my lords, I left the table

man, having suffered a good deal of injury from

another, approached God with these words: “Lord,

According to the Ottonian vision of history, Rome had been under the control of immoral men and women, including the evil Pope John XIl, until Otto | liberated the city and the papacy from this scourge. Liudprand in Retribution characterized several prominent women, who had exercised considerable power in the city in the early tenth century and, according to reputation, had made and unmade several popes, as “shameless harlots.”

*A Greek title meaning “Ruler of the Universe.” One of those putative charters was The Donation of Constantine, an eighth-century papal forgery that purported to be a grant from Constantine | to Pope Sylvester | ceding to the pope the right to wear all imperial insignia and bestowing on him and his successors dominion over Rome, Italy, and the “western regions.”

®The pope claims to be the vicar, or deputy, of Saint Peter, prince of the apostles. *7 Literally, “one who sleeps nearby.” This official slept in the emperor's bed chamber and usually functioned as the imperial chief minister.

8The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29th—one of the many holy days shared by the Churches of Constantinople and Rome. ~The Church of the Holy Apostles was one of the city’s grandest structures and served as the model for many Byzantine-style churches in the East and the West (e.g.,San Marco in Venice and Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow). *°*The Hungarians, whom Otto | had crushed in battle in 955, were still considered barbaric pagans. Their leader, Duke Vajik (renamed Stephen upon his conversion), accepted Latin Christianity and was crowned as their first king on Christmas Day 1000 with a crown sent him by Pope Sylvester Il (r. 999-1003). The name Stephen means “crown.” *!Someone who is receiving instruction in the basics of Christian doctrine but has not yet been baptized.

Otto | and his son.

Chapter

because I considered the affront was directed at you, not me. As I was going away indignantly, Leo, the coropalates and emperor's brother, and Simeon, the first secretary, followed after me, howling: “When Peter, emperor of the Bulgarians, married Christopher's daughter, accords, that is mutual agreements, were written down and sealed by an oath to the effect that, so far as the apostles of all peoples are concerned (by that we mean envoys), the apostles of the Bulgarians, when with us, must be given precedence, must be honored, must be esteemed. What you say is true: the Bulgarian apostle over there has his hair cut short, is unwashed, and his belt is a bronze chain. Nevertheless, he is a patrician. We judge and determine that it is horribly wrong to give a bishop, especially a Frankish*’ bishop, preference over him. Since we see that you bear this indignantly, we are not going to allow you to return now to your lodgings, as you suppose. Rather, we shall force you to take food with the emperor's servants in some inn.” I said nothing to them in response because of the incomparable pain in my heart; but I did what they ordered, judging a table unfit where a

me

9 Two Christian Civilizations

«

many questions concerning the Holy Scrip-

tures, which, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, | deftly explained. Finally, in order to make a joke at your expense, he asked which synods” we recognized. When Chalcedon,

I declared to him Nicaea,

Ephesus, Carthage, Antioch, Ancyra,

and Constantinople,’ he said, “Ha! Ha! He! You

forgot to mention Saxony!” If you ask why our books do not mention it, my answer is that it is primitive and it cannot yet make its way to us.”** I responded to him: “In whichever limb disease holds a grip, it must be burned out through cauterization. All heresies have emanated from

you and have flourished among you; among us, that

is Westerners,

they were

strangled,

they

were killed. . . . After the Saxon people received holy baptism and the knowledge of God, they have not had the slightest stain of heresy, which

would render a synod necessary for its correction; of heresies there have been none. You say

that the Saxon faith is primitive. | affirm this

very same proposition. For the faith of Christ is always primitive and not old where faith is followed by works. Here faith is not primitive

but old, and here works do not accompany

Bulgarian envoy is given precedence not, I say,

faith. But on account

over me, namely Bishop Liudprand, but over your envoy.... After eight days had passed and the Bulgarians had departed, thinking that I esteemed his table

like a worn-out garment. I know for certain of

highly, he [Nicephorus] compelled me, still quite ill, to dine with him again in the same place. The

patriarch** was there, along with quite a few other bishops, and in their presence he propounded to

3A||Westerners were Franks to the Byzantines. - 4Polyeuctus, patriarch of Constantinople (r. 956-970). 3SHere he means ecumenical councils of the Church, not local synods (see source 44). The Byzantine Church recognized seven as ecumenical: Nicaea (325), | Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Il Constantinople (553), Ill Constantinople (680-681), Il Nicaea (787). 36A rather strange list. Several of these were not ecumenical councils.

of its age, it is despised

a synod held in Saxony where it was discussed and established that it is more honorable to fight with swords than pens, and better to die than to

turn one’s back to the enemy. Your own army is finding that out now.”*’ And in my heart I said: “And may the outcome prove how warlike the Saxons are.”

*7Saxony, the northern German homeland of Emperor Otto |, was never the site of a major church council. Many local synods, however, were held there. 8Christianity came forcibly to Saxony around the year 800 with the conquering armies of Charlemagne. *Liudprand is thinking of Otto’s invasion of Byzantine lands in southern Italy that had taken place shortly before his leaving for Constantinople.

3 © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Secular Rulers and Priests in the Latin

West and Byzantium There was an inherent tension in Byzantium and Latin Europe between those who held imperial or royal power and those who exercised priestly authority because each claimed to possess God-given duties and dominion. Terming this “a conflict between church and state” would be anachronistic. Most theorists and persons in power in both Byzantium and the medieval West envisioned a single Christian body that, like the human body, had both corporeal and spiritual functions but only one head. The question was, who was that head: the God-anointed emperor (or king) or the chief priest, be he Roman pope or patriarch of Constantinople? In Byzantium emperors generally were able to appoint and control the patriarchs of Constantinople, thereby making the Byzantine Church a deeply venerated but largely controlled instrument of the state. Charles the Great and his Carolingian successors, as well as the emperors of various dynasties who followed for the next five hundred years, claimed that the emperor was the God-appointed defender of righteousness, the punisher of the wicked, the defender and overseer of the Church, and the champion of orthodox Christian doctrine and practice. And Western emperors acted accordingly. Otto the Great and his immediate successors went so far as to depose unworthy popes and to appoint those who they believed were suitable for that holy office. Since at least the early fifth century, however, most of the popes of Rome disagreed with this worldview, even when they were dependent on the favor, goodwill, and patronage of various rulers, be they emperors (whom the popes generally crowned), kings, or local Italian princes. In the last quarter of the eleventh century, these inherent tensions and contradictions sparked a half-century-long struggle known as the Investiture Controversy that was waged between the Western Roman Empire (it was not yet called the Holy Roman Empire) and the papacy.A peace treaty in | 122, known as the Concordat of Worms, resolved some of their peripheral differences but never addressed the core issue: Who is the God-appointed head of Christendom, the emperor or the pope? For the next two centuries, this question continued to set off struggles between popes and emperors and popes and kings. The fact that neither popes nor monarchs were ever able to overwhelm the other proved ultimately fruitful. Slowly, ever so slowly, in the course of these disputes some theorists began to articulate a revolutionary idea.

Three Views of Right Order in Christian Society 64 ° DICTATUS PAPAE; HENRY IV, LETTERTO HILDEBRAND; JOHN OF PARIS, A TREATISE ON ROYAL AND PAPAL POWER The Investiture Controversy, which raged from 1075 to 1122, began as a contest between Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085) and Henry IV, king of Germany and

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations + 31!

pac

emperor-elect (r. 1056—1 106), regarding the right to invest (appoint and install) clerics in church offices in Germany and Italy, but it soon turned into an ideological struggle for control of the Church and Christian society. The controversy outlived both men and spread elsewhere throughout Western Europe, far beyond the boundaries of the empire. When finally, in 1122, Pope Calixtus Il and Emperor HenryV agreed to a compromise regarding imperial rights over appointments to church offices within the empire, the core ideological issue remained unresolved. Our first two documents, one from the camp of Pope Gregory and one from Henry IV's side, lay out the two positions. Gregory’s contribution is known as the Dictatus Papae (The Pope’s Proclamation). Composed in March 1075 under the heading “What is the power of the Roman Pontiffs?” it was inserted into the official collection of papal correspondence. It consists simply of twenty-seven assertions regarding papal authority, but despite its sketchiness, it provides clear insight into Gregory VIl’s mind and program. King Henry IV’s letter of January 24, 1076, undoubtedly written on his behalf by a clerical supporter, lays out the royal-imperial position, which many churchmen in Europe also subscribed to at this time. One consequence of the many bitter and protracted struggles that followed on the heels of the Investiture Controversy was the growing opinion among some observers that there were

two powers that had valid but different claims on a subject’s loyalty. The clearest medieva! articulator of this revolutionary notion was John of Paris, a French priest and theologian, who set down his ideas around |302.Although his was still a minority voice, it foreshadows what would become, many centuries later, the Western ideal of separation of church and state.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. The Dictatus Papae and King Henry IV’s letter reveal two views of how the earthly Church functions. What were those views? 2. In what way, if at all, did John of Paris offer a third view?

Dictatus Papae 1. That the Roman Church was established by God alone. 2. Only the Roman universal.!

Pontiff is, by right, called

3. That only he has the power to depose and reinstate bishops. . . . 8. That he alone may use the imperial insignia.’ 9. That all princes shall kiss the foot of only the pope....

Source: Dictatus Papae, translated by A. J.Andrea. Copyright 'The pope (Roman Pontiff) alone has universal authority © 2008 Alfred J. Andrea, all rights reserved; Oliver J. over all churches. Thatcher and Edgar H. McNeal, trans., A Source Book for *A claim based on the eighth-century forgery known as The Medieval History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1905), _ Donation of Constantine. See note 25 of source 63. pp. 151-152; Brian Tierney, trans., The Crisis of Church and State, |050—1300 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964), pp. 208-209, passim.

0

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

12. That he has the power to depose emperors. . . .

bishops know nothing and that you know ey-

16. That no Ecumenical Council may be called without his ordering it. 17. That no action of a synod [council] and no book shall be regarded as canonical [official and

erything; but if you have such great wisdom you

legitimate] without his authority.

humility for fear, and have dared to make an attack upon the royal and imperial authority’

18. That his decree can be annulled by no one,

and that he can annul the decrees of anyone. 19. That he can be judged by no one... . 22. That the Roman Church has never erred and will never err to all eternity, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture. . . . 24. That by his command or permission subjects may accuse their rulers. .. . 26. That no one can be regarded as Catholic who does not agree with the Roman Church. 27. That he has the power to release subjects

from their oaths of fidelity to wicked rulers.

have used it not to build but to destroy. . . . All this we have endured because ofour respect for

the papal office, but you have mistaken our

which we received from God. You have even threatened to take it away, as ifwe had received

it from you, and as if the empire and kingdom were in your disposal and not in the disposal of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to the government of the empire, but he never

called you to the rule of the Church. This is the way you have gained advancement in the

Church: wealth;

through through

craft

you

have

obtained

wealth

you

have

obtained

favor;° through favor, the power of the sword; and through the power of the sword, the papal

Letter of Henry IV to Hildebrand

seat, which is the seat of peace,’ and then from

Henry, king not by usurpation, but by the holy ordination of God, to Hildebrand,’ not pope, but false monk.‘ This is the salutation which you deserve, for you have never held any office in the Church without making it a source of confusion and a curse to Christian men instead of an honor and a blessing. To mention only the most obvious cases out of many, you have not only dared to touch the Lord’s anointed, the archbishops,

the seat of peace you have expelled peace. For you have incited subjects to rebel against their prelates by teaching them to despise the bishops, their rightful rulers. You have given to lay-

men the authority over priests, whereby they condemn and depose those whom the bishops have put over them to teach them.* You have

attacked me, who, unworthy as I am, have yet been anointed to rule among the anointed of God, and who, according to the teaching of

scorned

the fathers, can be judged by no one save God

them and abused them, as if they were ignorant

alone, and can be deposed for no crime except infidelity. ... St. Peter himself said: “Fear God,

bishops,

and

priests;

but

you

have

servants not fit to know what their master was doing. This you have done to gain favor with the vulgar crowd. You have declared that the

3Gregory VII’s name before he became pope. ‘The young Hildebrand had been a monk at some unknown

monastery. *Actually, Henry had not yet been crowned emperor. He was king of Germany and emperor-elect. ®The papal reformers claimed that lay rulers, such as Henry, and the church leaders whom they appointed were guilty of the sin of simony—the selling or purchasing of sacred

honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:17). But you, who

fear not God, have dishonored me, whom

He

clerical offices and other holy items. Here Henry turns the

charge against Gregory. ’Henry claims Hildebrand had usurped the papal throne. °Gregory and the other radical reformers within the papal party called on Europe's laity to reject sinful priests and bishops. Compare this charge with Anna Comnena’s account of this phenomenon (source 65).

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has established.

. . . Come

down,

then, from

Two Christian

Civilizations

«

being derived from it. . . . The relationship is

that apostolic seat which you have obtained by

rather like that of a head of a household to a

violence; for you have been declared accursed . . .

general of armies, since one is not derived from

for your false doctrines and have been condemned by us and our bishops for your evil rule. Let another ascend the throne of St. Peter, one who will not use religion as a cloak of violence, but will teach the life-giving doctrine of that prince

of the apostles. I, Henry, king by the grace of God, with all my bishops, say unto you: “Come down, come down, and be accursed through all theages.

A Treatise on Royal and Papal Power

the other but both from a superior power. And

so the secular power is greater than the spiritual in some things, namely in temporal affairs, and in such affairs it is not subject to the spiritual power in any way because it does not have its origin from it but rather both have their ori-

gin immediately from the one supreme power, namely the divine. Accordingly the inferior power is not subject to the superior in all things but only in those where the supreme power has subordinated

it to the greater. A teacher

A kingdom is ordered to this end, that an assembled multitude may live virtuously, .. . and it is further ordered to a higher end which

of literature or an instructor in morals directs

is the enjoyment of God; and responsibility for

who is concerned with a lower end, namely the

this end belongs to Christ, whose ministers and

health of bodies, but who would say therefore the doctor should be subjected to the teacher in

vicars are the priests. Therefore the priestly power is of greater dignity than the secular and this is commonly conceded... . But if the priest is greater in himself than

the prince and is greater in dignity, it does not

the members

of a household

to a nobler end,

namely the knowledge of truth, than a doctor

preparing his medicines? For this is not fitting,

since the head ofthe household who established both in his house did not subordinate the lesser

to the greater in this respect. Therefore the priest is greater than the prince in spiritual affairs

follow that he is greater in all respects. For the lesser secular power is not related to the greater

and, on the other hand, the prince is greater in

spiritual power as having its origin from it or

temporal affairs.

A Byzantine Perspective on the Investiture Controversy 65 * ANNA

COMNENA,

ALEXIAD

Anna Comnena (1083-after | 148), daughter of Emperor Alexius | (r. 1081-1118), undertook to write the history of her father’s eventful reign sometime after | 137. The fact that she entitled the work Alexiad, in imitation of Homer’s

Iliad, clearly

indicates the view she held of her father’s place in history. In this selection, Anna comments on the first years of the Investiture Controversy, a struggle that provided the background to the First Crusade, which figured so prominently in her father’s reign and in her book. Although she was far removed in space and time from the opening salvos exchanged by Gregory and Henry, her perspective, her knowledge of the affair, and even her misinformation are equally revealing.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500—1500

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Review source 64. How well informed was Anna of these events? What do you conclude from your answer? 2. Compose Anna Comnena’s commentary on the three documents in source 64.

Now it came about that the pope of Rome (a very high dignitary who is protected by troops of various lands) had an argument with Henry,

king of Germany. . . . The dispute between the king and the pope was that the pope accused Henry of not bestowing ecclesiastical offices freely, but selling them for money! and every now and then giving bishoprics to unworthy persons.* .. . On his part, the king of Germany charged that the pope was guilty of usurping his princely ecclesiastical office because he had seized the apostolic throne without Henry’s consent.’ Moreover, he had the arrogance to

was not only unworthy of a high priest, but of anyone who confesses allegiance to the name of Christ. I am horrified at this barbarian’s mindset, and still more

the deed, and I would have

polluted my pen and parchment had I candidly described what took place. But as a display of barbaric insolence, and proof that time in its course brings forth men with shameless morals,

who are ripe for any sort of wickedness, it suffices for me to say that I cannot bear to disclose or relate even the tiniest word about what he did.* And this was the handiwork of a bishop! Oh, what justice! The deed of a “supreme high

the pope, saying that if he

priest’! Not just any high priest but one who

did not resign his self-elected pontifical office, he should be expelled from it. . . . When the pope heard this, he turned his rage upon Henry’s envoys. First he tortured them inhumanly,

claimed to preside over the whole world, as the

recklessly threaten

then had their hair clipped with scissors, and

their beards sheared with a razor. As a final act, he committed a totally indecent outrage upon them, which transcended even the insolence of

barbarians, and so sent them away. My female and princely dignity prevents my being explicit regarding the outrage inflicted on them, for it Source: Anna Comnena, Alexiadis libri XV, Charles Du Fresne Du Cange, ed., with additions by Ludwig Schopen, 2 vols. (Bonn: Weber, 1839, 1878), |:62—65, passim. Translated by A. J.Andrea. Copyright © A.J.Andrea, 2014.All rights reserved. ‘Compare this with Henry’s letter to Gregory VII (source 64, note 6). According to the papal reformers, thiswas another abuse of lay investiture, and some radical reformers, such as Gregory

Vil, called on pious laypeople to throw out unworthy clerics who had been invested in their offices by lay rulers. See Henry’s letter to Gregory (source 64, note 8). *By tradition, the pope-elect applied for imperial approval of his election.

Latins assert and believe, and this is only part of

their empty boasting. Indeed, when the imperial seat was transferred from Rome to our Queen of Cities, along with the Senate, and the entire imperial apparatus, the chief priesthood of the Church was also brought here.* And its emperors, from the very beginning, have accorded supreme rights to the bishop of Constantinople,° and the Council of Chalcedon unambiguously elevated the bishop of Constantinople to the ‘There is no evidence for the abuse that she recounts in this account, especially her strong implication that Gregory ordered the castration of the envoys. ‘The Latin West had a contrary theory of what it termed translatio imperil (the transferral of empire). That theory maintained that although Constantine had brought the imperial title to Constantinople, it was brought back to the West in 800 by the Roman papacy when Leo Ill, the vicar of Saint Peter, crowned Charles as emperor. See source 62 for an artistic foreshadowing of this theory. °The patriarch of Constantinople.

Chapter 9

highest position in the Church, and placed all

other bishops of the inhabited world under his jurisdiction.’ There can be no doubt that the insult done to the envoys was aimed at the king who sent them; not

only because the pope scourged them, but also be- cause he invented this new kind ofoutrage. I think

Iwo Christian

Civilizations

«

of the king was of no account, and by committing this horrible outrage on the king’s envoys the pope, a demi-god, so to speak, was dealing with a demiass! Consequently, by wreaking his insolence on the ambassadors, and sending them back to the king in the state that | mentioned, the pope set in motion a great war.®

that by his actions, the pope declared that the power ’Wrong. The Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon of 451 stipulated in canon (regulation) 28 that the bishop of Constantinople enjoyed a primacy of honor second only to that of the bishop of Rome because Constantinople was the New Rome.

8A generation-long era of armed conflict in Germany and Italy resulted from this rupture between Henry and Gregory.

Multiple Voices VIII

Byzantium and the West in the Age of the Crusades: The Dividing of Christendom? BACKGROUND Many books continue to perpetuate the myth that the Churches of Constantinople and Rome entered into clear and permanent schism, or separation, in 1054, when Patriarch Michael | Cerularius and legates of Pope Leo IX hurled mutual curses of damnation and excommunication at each other’s Church. Nothing of the sort happened. It is true that, following a heated argument, several papal envoys laid a sentence of excommunication on the patriarch and his supporters. But they did so on their own initiative, and their attack was essentially aimed at only Patriarch Michael. It is also true that Byzantine church officials responded in kind by excommunicating the offending Western churchmen. But the Byzantine Church officially refused to believe that the legates were true representatives of the pope or the Western Church. The point is that this celebrated incident of 1054 was not the cause of a visible rift between these two branches of Christendom. It was, however, one of many symptoms of a growing alienation between the two Christian cultures. The factors that led to the division between the Churches of Catholic Rome and Orthodox Constantinople were rooted in centuries of separation, cultural estrangement, and political tension. The process began as early as the fourth century and accelerated as time went on. Not until the latter half of the eleventh century, however, when the papacy promoted an agenda of transforming Christian society under papal leadership (see source 64), did the differences between the Byzantine and Western visions of the world and the Church begin to become widely apparent.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

One expression of the new papal self-confidence was its attempt to marshal the military vigor of the West in a series of holy wars known as the crusades.As early as 1074, news of Seljuk Turkish victories over Byzantine forces moved Pope Gregory Vil to propose publicly that he lead an army of 50,000 volunteers to rescue Eastern Christians. The Investiture Controversy prevented him from realizing this dream, but the papacy never forgot the project. His successor once removed, Pope Urban II (r. 1188-1199), responded to overtures from Emperor Alexius | for help in raising troops for the Byzantine army by calling on the warrior class of the West to march eastward to rescue fellow Christians and to liberate Jerusalem from the infidel. The pope’s appeal, enunciated publicly on November 27, 1095, provided the impetus for the First Crusade (1096-1099). By transforming this simple request from Emperor Alexius for assistance in raising soldiers for the imperial army into a call for a mass expedition of holy warriors, Pope Urban unleashed the vigor of emerging Europe on an unsuspecting Eastern Mediterranean world. What began as an idealistic call for warriors to oppose a Muslim threat to Eastern Christendom and to liberate the Holy Land grew into complex series of holy wars fought on many fronts and against a variety of perceived enemies in Southwest Asia, North Africa, Europe, the Indian Ocean, and even the Americas over hundreds of years and at least into the late sixteenth century. Our focus here, however, is limited to the impact that crusading had on Byzantine—Latin relations between 1095 and 1204.

THE SOURCES The first document comes from the pen of a monk, Baldric of Dol, who had been at the Council of Clermont in November 1095 when Pope Urban called for the liberation of Jerusalem. In his history of the First Crusade, composed around | 108, Baldric presents his version of Pope Urban’s sermon. We have no transcript of the sermon. Rather, five versions exist, each contained in one of five early-twelfth-century histories of the First Crusade. Although they contain some similarities, their differences are striking—and this should not surprise us. Each author felt free to exercise his rhetorical skills in crafting his version of the pope’s sermon, and each emphasized those aspects of the speech that most captivated or interested him. Clearly, all of the authors were influenced by the crusade’s success and wrote from a post-crusade perspective, which influenced how they remembered Urban’s speech. Moreover, as was the case with Baldric, several of them placed the crusade into a theological context and felt free to place in the pope’s mouth words appropriate to that vision. Such liberty was not dishonest by the standards of the day. Nevertheless, despite the fact that we will never know exactly what Urban II said that day, it seems clear that Baldric and the other four chroniclers did a pretty good job, individually and collectively, in conveying the major points that the pope made in one of the most significant speeches in world history. That speech, and the sermons of numerous other preachers across Europe, unleashed a massive folk movement. Between 1096 and 1099, probably well over 100,000 men, women, and children trekked or sailed east on crusade in several

Chapter

9 Two Christian Civilizations

waves. It seems likely that only a small percentage of them, maybe no more than ten or twenty percent, were professional warriors, and the death rate from disease, accidents, and combat was probably higher than fifty percent, and desertions possibly accounted for another twenty percent. Yet, despite the losses and long odds, the crusaders managed to capture Jerusalem on July 15, 1099. Our second source deals with that crusade objective—Jerusalem. It consists of a four-part miniature (a small, richly decorated manuscript painting) from a manuscript of the Estoire d’Eracles (History of Heraclius), a thirteenth-century French history of the crusades and the Latin crusader states in the East. The scene in the upper left portrays the Crucifixion. On the upper right, Urban Il preaches the crusade to a crowd of five men and one woman. The lower-left square shows a crowned pilgrim (probably Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, the first crusader-ruler of Jerusalem) kneeling in prayer before the Holy Sepulcher (Jesus’ empty tomb) in Jerusalem. The lower-right picture shows three men kneeling in worship before an idol, while two onlookers, a man and a woman, stand behind them. The site of this idol worship is presumably Muslim-occupied Jerusalem, which Urban has directed the crusaders to liberate. Before the crusaders reached Jerusalem, however, they had to travel through Byzantine territory. In the third source, Anna Comnena, whom we encountered in source 65, describes the multiple waves of crusaders that got under way in the summer and autumn of 1096 and marched into and through Byzantine lands. In evaluating Anna’s testimony, be aware that her father’s armies had several bloody clashes with some crusader groups and that Emperor Alexius fell into disfavor with a number of crusade leaders because he failed to send them a relief force when they were in desperate straits at Antioch in 1098. The misunderstandings and animosities engendered by the First Crusade paled in comparison to those of the Fourth Crusade (1202—1204).A force made up largely of French warriors and Venetian sailors planned to strike at Islam through a seaborne assault on Alexandria in Egypt. Circumstances, however, led the crusaders to Constantinople, where they became embroiled in a dynastic power struggle between rival imperial claimants. Further circumstances and misadventures finally drove the crusaders to attempt to capture the city for themselves. They breached the city’s walls on April 12, 1204, and captured it the following day. After three days of looting, the Westerners settled down to enjoy the fruits of conquest and established the Latin Empire of Constantinople, which enjoyed a precarious existence down to 1261.Although the Byzantines regained their capital city fifty-seven years after having lost it, both the city and the empire were by then largely shadows of their former selves.As our fourth and fifth sources suggest, the Fourth Crusade had a profound effect on Byzantine—Latin relations. The first of these Fourth Crusade sources is an eyewitness account by Robert of Clari,a French knight who participated in the crusade and returned home to tell of it. This excerpt, taken from an account that he narrated sometime after 1205, describes preparations that the crusaders made following their initial, unsuccessful attack against the city on April 9.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

The last source consists of excerpts from two letters of Pope Innocent Ill (r. 1198-1216) to the crusaders. Innocent had prohibited and attempted, without su ccess, to prevent the diversion to Constantinople, but once he learned of the crusaders’ apparently miraculous capture of the city, he changed his tune. Soon thereafter, however, he was forced to recant his earlier jubilation. Despite this change of mood, the pope never considered for a moment not supporting the Latin Empire of Constantinople and not demanding obedience to papal authority by the captive Byzantine Church.

QUESTIONS

2. 3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

FOR ANALYSIS

Consider how Baldric presents Pope Urban’s reasons for calling for this holy war. If order of presentation and emphasis mean anything, what was, according to our chronicler, the pope’s chief motive? Consider also the myth of 1054 mentioned previously. How does Urban (or at least Baldric) envision the Christians of the East? How well (or not) has the artist of the four-part miniature captured the spirit and message of Urban’s crusade sermon as narrated by Baldric? Has the artist left out any important elements? Despite Urban Il’s hopes and idealism, the Age of the Crusades witnessed a growing estrangement between the societies of Western Europe and Byzantium. Judging from Anna’s account, what do you think contributed to that rift? How did the clergy of the Fourth Crusade endeavor to convince the crusaders that they were engaged in a just war against the Byzantines? And why was it necessary to bring forward these arguments? Innocent Ill had attempted to stop the diversion to Constantinople. Then how do you explain his letter to the crusade clergy on November 1204? Compose either Baldric of Dol’s or Anna Comnena’s commentary on Innocent’s two letters.

| ¢ Baldric of Dol, The Jerusalem History

the same Church) are either subjected in their

“We have heard, most beloved brethren, and you

inherited homes to other masters, or are driven from them, or they come as beggars among us;

have heard what we cannot recount without deep

or, which

sorrow—how, with great hurt and dire sufferings

exiled as slaves for sale in their own land. Christian

our Christian brothers, members

in Christ, are

is far worse,

they are

flogged

and

blood, redeemed by the blood of Christ, has been

scourged, oppressed, and injured in Jerusalem, in

shed, and Christian

Antioch,! and the other cities of the East. Your

own blood-brothers, your companions, your associates (for you are sons of the same Christ and

Christ, has been subjected to unspeakable degradation and servitude. Everywhere in those cities there is sorrow, everywhere misery, everywhere

flesh, akin to the flesh of

Source: Baldric of Dol, “The Jerusalem History,” in A. C. Krey, trans., The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1921), pp. 33-36.

'The present-day city of Antakya, Turkey. Throughout the medieval era, it was the major city of northern Syria and most of its population was Byzantine Christian. In 1084 it was captured by the Seljuk Turks.

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations * groaning (I say it with a sigh). The churches in which divine mysteries were celebrated in olden times are now, to our sorrow, used as stables for the animals of these people! Holy men do not possess those cities; nay, base and bastard Turks hold sway over our brothers. The blessed Peter -first presided as bishop at Antioch;? behold, in his own church the Gentiles* have established their superstitions, and the Christian religion, which they ought rather to cherish, they have basely shut out from the hall dedicated to God! ‘The estates given for the support of the saints and the patrimony of nobles set aside for the sustenance of the poor are subject to pagan tyranny, while cruel masters abuse for their own purposes the returns from these lands. The priesthood of God has been ground down into the dust. The sanctuary of God (unspeakable shame!) is everywhere profaned. Whatever Christians still remain in hiding there are sought out with unheard of tortures. “Of holy Jerusalem, brethren, we dare not speak,

for we are exceedingly afraid and ashamed to speak of it. This very city, in which, as you all know, Christ Himself suffered for us, because our sins demanded it, has been reduced to the pollution of paganism and, I say it to our disgrace, withdrawn from the service of God. Such is the heap of reproach upon us who have so much deserved it! Who now serves the church of the Blessed Mary in the valley of Josaphat, in which church she herself was buried in body?‘ But why do we pass over the

According to tradition, Peter, prince of the apostles, had been initially bishop of Antioch before moving to Rome.

3Muslim Turks. 4The Church of Mary, believed to be the site where her body was laid before her Assumption into Heaven, lies just outside the walls of Jerusalem. 5The site that Christians identified as the place on which the

Temple of Solomon once stood was now occupied by the Mosque of al-Aqsa. ‘The misperception that Muslims are idol worshipers was rampant in the West at this time.

327

Temple of Solomon,’ nay ofthe Lord, in which the

barbarous nations placed their idols® contrary to law, human and divine? Of the Lord’s Sepulcher’

we have refrained from speaking, since some of you with your own eyes have seen to what abominations it has been given over. The Turks violently took from it the offerings which you brought there for alms in such vast amounts, and, in addition,

they scoffed much and often at your religion. . . . With what afflictions they wronged you who have returned and are now present, you yourselves know too well, you who there sacrificed your substance and your blood for God.® “This, beloved brethren, we shall say, that we

may have you as witness of our words. More suffering of our brethren and devastation of churches

remains than we can speak of one by one, for we are oppressed by tears and groans, sighs and sobs. ... Woe unto us, brethren! We who have already become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing,

and derision to them round about us, let us at least

with tears condone and have compassion upon our brothers! We who have become the scorn ofall peoples, and worse than all, let us bewail the most

monstrous devastation of the Holy Land! ‘This land we have deservedly called holy in which there is not even a footstep that the body or spirit of the Savior did not render glorious and blessed; which embraced the holy presence of the mother of God,

and the meetings of the apostles, and drank up

the blood of the martyrs shed there. . . . The children of Israel, who were led out of Egypt, and who

’The empty tomb of Jesus. Christendom’s holiest site, it lies within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. ®The traffic in pilgrimages to the Holy Land from Europe picked up appreciably in the eleventh century, despite widespread rumors in the West that some Christian pilgrims were abused by various Muslim groups. There is some evidence of attacks on pilgrim parties, but how typical and frequent those attacks were is impossible to say.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 prefigured you in the crossing of the Red Sea, have

your Jerusalem, in Christian battle-line, most

taken that they have habitants Jerusalem,

land by their arms, with Jesus? as leader; driven out the Jebusites'? and other inand have themselves inhabited earthly the image of celestial Jerusalem."

invincible line, even more successfully than did

“What are we saying? Listen and learn! You,

and may you deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which He died for us. But if it befall you to die this side of it, be sure that to have died on the way is of equal value, if Christ shall find you in His army. God pays with the same coin, whether at the first or eleventh hour.'* You should shudder, brethren, you should shudder at raising a violent hand against Christians; it is less wicked to brandish your sword against Saracens. It is the only warfare

girt about with the badge of knighthood, are ar-

rogant with great pride; you rage against your brothers and cut each other in pieces. This is not the [true] soldiery of Christ which rends asunder the sheepfold of the Redeemer. The Holy Church has reserved a soldiery for herself to help her people, but you debase her wickedly to her hurt. Let us confess the truth, whose heralds we ought to be; truly, you are not holding to

the sons of Jacob’? of old—struggle, that you may assail and drive out the Turks, more execrable than the Jebusites, who are in this land,

the way which leads to life. You, the oppressors

that is righteous, for it is charity to risk your life

of children, plunderers of widows; you, guilty

for your brothers. That you may not be troubled

of homicide,

about

of sacrilege, robbers of another’s

rights; you who await the pay of thieves for the shedding of Christian blood—as vultures smell fetid corpses, so do you sense battles from afar and rush to them eagerly. Truly, this is the worst

way, for it is utterly removed from God! If you wish to be mindful of your souls, either lay down the belt of such knighthood, or advance boldly,

as knights of Christ, and rush as quickly as you can to the defense of the Eastern Church. For she it is from whom the joys of your whole salvation have come mouths

forth, who poured into your

the milk of divine

wisdom,

who

the concerns

those who

of tomorrow,

fear God want

nothing,

know nor

that those

who cherish Him in truth. The possessions of the enemy,

too, will be yours,

since you will

make spoil of their treasures and return victorious to your own; or empurpled with your own blood, you will have gained everlasting glory. For such a Commander you ought to fight, for One who lacks neither might nor wealth with which to reward you. Short is the way, little the labor, which, nevertheless, will repay you with the crown that fades not away. . . . Gird your-

set

selves, every one of you, I say, and be valiant

before you the holy teachings of the Gospels.'* We say this, brethren, that you may restrain your murderous hands from the destruction of your brothers, and in behalf of your relatives in the faith oppose yourselves to the Gentiles. Under Jesus Christ, our Leader, may you struggle for

sons; for it is better for you to die in battle than to behold the sorrows of your race and of your holy places. Let neither property nor the alluring charms ofyour wives entice you from going; nor let the trials that are to be borne so deter you that you remain here.”

*Joshua, who led the Israelites across the Jordan and into Canaan after Moses’ death. Jesus is the Greek version of the name Joshua, and the medieval Church saw Joshua as a prefiguration of Jesus the Savior, who led humanity to salvation. During the era of the crusades, the biblical Joshua served as an archetype of the God-directed crusader.

'°One of several groups of people living in Canaan when the Israelites invaded. ''Earthly Jerusalem prefigures the Heavenly Jerusalem. "Christianity was born in the East. The Israelites. '"A reference to Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard: Matthew 20:1—16.

2 ¢ Four Crusade Miniatures

W.137.1 d’Outre Histoire Tyre, of William Mer, French, 1295-1300, paint, ink, with parchment H: gold, and W:956 13383 ca.

Four Crusade Miniatures

3 e Anna Comnena, The Alexiad

fickle character, and all the typical natural and cul-

armies. He dreaded their arrival for he was aware of

tural characteristics that the Celts’ possess through and through. He also knew that they were always greedy for money, and were noted for disregarding treaties freely for any reason that happened to

their violent manner of attack, their unstable and

occur. This was their reputation, and he found it

Source: Anna Comnena, Alexiadis libri XV, Charles Du Fresne Du Cange, ed., with additions by Ludwig Schopen, 2 vols. (Bonn:Weber, |839, 1878), 2:28—32, passim. Translated by A.J. Andrea. Copyright ©A. J.Andrea, 2014.All rights reserved.

*The crusaders. Although at times she called them “Latins” and “Franks,” Anna favored the term Keltoi for these Westerners, choosing to use a name applied by ancient Greek authors to barbarian peoples who spoke a variety of Celtic languages and invaded the Balkans and Greece in the fourth and third centuries B.C.E.

Before he' had time for a brief rest, a report reached him of the approach of innumerable

Frankish?

'Emperor Alexius. Frank was a term used in the eastern Mediterranean to refer to any Westerner.

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 quite true.‘ He did not, however, tremble with a

So many people did not arrive in a single body

sense of helplessness. Rather, he made preparations

or by the same road (for how could such a mass

of every sort in order to be ready for battle when

of people starting from different places have crossed the straits of Lombardy all together?).

it came. In fact, reality was far greater and more terrible than rumor. All of the West and all the barbarian tribes that dwell between the farther coast of the Adriatic Sea and the pillars of Heracles,’ having

Some

first, some

next,

others

after them

and

thus successively all accomplished the transit, and then marched through the continent. Each

left their homes, were marching through Europe

army was preceded, as I said, by an incalcula-

into Asia; they were traveling with all their families.

ble horde of locusts; and all who saw this more

... They all were so eager and fervent that every public road was filled with them. And the Celtic soldiers were accompanied by an unarmed mul-

ing palms and wearing crosses on their shoulders.®

than once recognized them as forerunners of the Frankish armies .. . Never in memory had there been such an upheaval of men and women. The simpler folk truly wished to venerate the Lord’s Sepulcher and to visit the holy places. The wicked among them and men most like Bohemond’ and those of

In appearance they were like so many rivers stream-

similar mind had another reason, a secret reason,

ing from all sides, and they were advancing toward

namely during their travels they might be some

us... in all their numbers. .. .

means or other capture the imperial city.

‘Under the leadership of Robert Guiscard, the Norman French of southern Italy (who shortly before had seized Apulia and Calabria from the Byzantines) had invaded and temporarily occupied Byzantine territory in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1081, thereby initiating four years of conflict with Alexius's forces. See note 7 for additional information. °*The Strait of Gibraltar. ®The palm was a symbol carried by pilgrims to Jerusalem (see note 9 of source 63 for the symbolism of the palm). This expedition (which was not yet called a crusade, that term being coined only in the late thirteenth century) was envisioned as a pilgrimage—an armed pilgrimage—to Jerusalem. In accordance with the instructions of Pope Urban, the cross was the symbol worn by these special pilgrims, and it subsequently became the token for all subsequent crusades and crusaders.

7Bohemond, the son of Robert Guiscard (note 4), was the leader of the Italian Norman contingent. He had participated in his father’s attacks on Byzantine territory in the Balkans in the early 1080s but found himself landless upon his father’s death in 1085. Many Latin crusade historians also shared Anna's suspicions about Bohemond’s motives, especially after he seized the rich city of Antioch in 1098. (See note | to Baldric of Dol’s version of Urban II’s sermon.) Breaking his oath to the emperor, Bohemond refused to return it to Alexius and assumed the title prince of Antioch, which meant that he would have to defend the principality from both Muslim and Byzantine attacks. In the years 1104-1106, he raised troops in Europe for a papally endorsed expedition against Emperor Alexius, but was defeated by the emperor in the Balkans in | 108 and forced to swear allegiance to him. Unable to return to Antioch, which was now held by his nephew Tancred, who repudiated the treaty with Alexius, Bohemond returned to Italy in humiliation and died in 1111.

4° Robert of Clari, The Capture of

their sins were the cause of their not being able to do better at the city. Finally the bishops and other clergy of the army consulted among themselves and judged that the battle was a righteous one and that they were right in attacking the Greeks. For in the remote past

titude, including women

and children, marching

out of their ancestral homelands, a host more numerous than sand or the stars, all went forth carry-

Constantinople After the barons returned and debarked from their ships, they met and were greatly troubled, saying that Source: Robert of Clari, La conquéte de Constantinople, ed. Philippe Lauer (Paris, 1924). Translated by A. J. Andrea.

Copyright © 2014 by A.J.Andrea.All rights reserved.

Chapter 9 Two Christian Civilizations

«

the citizens of the city had been obedient to the rule of [the Church of] Rome, but now they disobeyed it, saying that the law of Rome counted for nothing and all who believed in it were dogs. The bishops

of their sins all who should attack them, in the

further said that for this reason they [the crusaders]

and not to fear attacking the Greeks, for they were

were right in attacking them, and it was not at all a + sin. Rather, it was a righteous deed. Then it was announced throughout the camp that all should attend a sermon on Sunday morning. . . . And so they did. Then the bishops preached throughout the camp. . . and showed the pilgrims' that the battle was righteous, for those whom they opposed were traitors and murderers and disloyal . . . and they were worse than the Jews. And the bishops said they would absolve

the enemies of God. And it was ordered that all

name of God and by papal authority. Then the bishops commanded all the pilgrims to make good confessions of their sins and to take communion

prostitutes be sought out, expelled from the camp,

and be sent far away. And so they put them all ona ship and sent them far away from the camp. ‘Then, after the bishops had preached, showing the pilgrims that the battle was a righteous one,

they all made good confessions and were given communion. When Monday morning [April 12]

arrived, all of the pilgrims made themselves ready and armed themselves right well.

‘Because the Earthly and the Heavenly Jerusalems were always the dual ultimate goals of the crusades, crusaders were regarded as pilgrims and enjoyed the special benefits

that the Church accorded persons on pilgrimage. See note 6 of the previous source.

5° Innocent III, Letters to the Crusaders

to the obedient, from schismatics* to Catholics,

To the bishops, abbots, and other clerics residing

with the army of the crusaders at Constantinople [November 13, 1204].

We read in the Prophet Daniel that it is God in Heaven

who

reveals mysteries; it is He who

changes times and transfers kingdoms.’ Moreover, in our age we see this in the kingdom of

namely from the Greeks to the Latins. Surely this was done by the Lord and is wondrous in our eyes. This is truly a change done by the right hand of the Most High . . . so that He might exalt the most holy Roman Church while He returns the daughter to the mother, the part to the whole, and

the member to the head.

the Greeks, and we rejoice in its accomplishment

because He, who has dominion in the kingdom of

To the nobleman,

humanity and who will give it to whom He might

[ca. August 15—September 15, 1205]

wish, has transferred the empire of Constantinople

Although

you

the marquis of Montferrat’ vowed,

in obedience

to

the

from the proud to the humble, from the disobedient

Crucified One, to liberate the Holy Land from

Source: Die Register Innocenz’ Ill.,ed. Othmar Hageneder et al. (Graz-Cologne, Rome, Vienna: Verlag der Oesterreichischen " Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1964), 7:264 and 8:246-247. Translated by A. J.Andrea. Copyright © 2014 A.J.Andrea.All rights reserved. 'The Bible, Daniel 2:21—22 and 2:28. 2A schismatic is someone who is separated from a rightful authority. Ever since the time of the reformed papacy of

the mid-eleventh century and following (see source 64), the Roman Church increasingly claimed that all Christians who did not accept papal authority, but who were not outright heretics, were schismatics. 3Boniface of Montferrat was the leader of the Fourth Crusade army.

332 >

+ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

the hands of the pagans and although you were forbidden under threat of excommunication to attempt to invade or violate the lands of Christians, unless, perchance, either they should wickedly impede your journey or another just and necessary cause should present itself to you that would allow you to act otherwise in accordance with the guidance offered by our legate,* all of

and lewdness in the sight of all, and they exposed not only married women

and widows but even

matrons and virgins dedicated to God to the filth of the lowborn. It was not enough to empty the imperial treasuries and to plunder alike the spoils

of princes and lesser folk, but rather you extended your hands to church treasuries and, what was more serious, to their possessions, ripping away

you, having no jurisdiction or power over the

silver tablets from altars and violating sacristies,

Greeks, appear to have rashly turned away from the purity of your vow when you took up arms

carrying away crosses, icons, and relics. The result is that the Greek Church, afflicted to some degree

not against Saracens but Christians, not aiming to recover Jerusalem but to occupy Constantinople,

by persecutions, disdains returning to obedience

preferring earthly wealth to celestial treasure. And, more seriously, it is known far and wide that some showed no mercy for reasons of religion, age, or sex but committed acts of fornication, adultery,

*A papal representative who spoke and acted in the name of the pope within the limits of the mission assigned him. The

to the Apostolic See. It has seen in the Latins nothing other than an example of affliction and the works of Hell, so that now it rightly detests them more than dogs.

two legates to the Fourth Crusade were Cardinals Peter Capuano and Soffredo.

Chapter

10

Africa and the Americas OWARD THE END Of the first century B.c.£., the dominant civilizations of Eurasia and North Africa were loosely linked through a series of trade networks and imperialistic adventures. The result was the first Afro-Eurasian Ecumene, the heyday of which extended down to about 200 c.e. The term itself is misleading, however, because most of Africa south of the Sahara lay outside of this first ecumene of the

so-called Old World. The cultures of the so-called New World—the Americas—also did not participate in that first age of Afro-Eurasian linkage, nor in the second, which peaked between 1250 and 1350. Granted all of this, the question remains: Other than the initial waves of migrants from Asia who became the Americas’ First Peoples, were there any meaningful contacts between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres before 1492? A few adventurers and lost sailors from Afro-Eurasia undoubtedly reached the Americas prior to Columbus. That certainly was the case for about one hundred Norse who set up a short-lived colony in northern Newfoundland around 1000 c.e. but departed about thirty years later. Sporadic voyages to Newfoundland and other North American sites (such as Baffin Island, which appears to have been a seasonal trading station) by Greenland Norse in search of lumber and other raw materials continued to at least 1347 but, as far as we currently know, these contacts made no appreciable impact on the cultures, fortunes, and histories of either the Norse or the Native Americans whom they encountered. We can only speculate how many other ancient mariners made it all the way to the Americas alive. Did any of them leave behind cultural footprints? Several specialists have pointed to certain striking similarities between the classic 260-day calendar of Mesoamerica and the lunar zodiacs of East Asia and have suggested that coincidence does not adequately explain the parallels. One scholar has studied the tools and means used to fashion bark paper all around the Pacific Basin and concluded that the technique traveled from Indonesia to Mesoamerica at an early date. Some marine archaeologists have also pointed to the sewn-plank canoes found along the coasts of southern California and Chile as possible evidence of contact with 833

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Polynesia, another area of the world where this distinctive type of ocean-going vessel was constructed.Additionally, the archaeological record shows that the Chumash of southern California, who produced sewn-plank canoes, used a two-piece, bone fish hook around 900 c.e. that is strikingly similar to fish hooks used by Polynesians at that same time—and, as far as we know, nowhere

else.A double coincidence?

Perhaps not. Modern science is an indispensable tool for anyone who studies a past that is devoid of documentary evidence, and thanks to the efforts of a number of researchers in the life sciences, we are able to conclude with a high degree of certainty that there were at least a few significant contacts and exchanges across the vast reaches of the Pacific. Several of these were between Polynesians, the greatest long-distance mariners of the premodern era, and various peoples of South America. Botanical evidence shows that the sweet potato, which became a dietary staple throughout Polynesia and beyond into Melanesia and New Guinea, originated about five thousand years ago in South America and made its way across the ocean, reaching Samoa around two thousand years ago and spreading out from there. Given that sweet potato tubers do not float, human agency is the best explanation for its dispersal. Based on DNA analysis, it also seems fairly certain that the bottle gourd made its way westward from South America to Polynesia before |200 c.t. by means unknown. Likewise, genetic analysis and radiocarbon dating have shown conclusively that the chicken, which was initially domesticated in South East Asia, made its way from Polynesia to Chile no later than the fourteenth century c.e. and probably a lot earlier than that. It certainly did not fly to the Americas. There is no known evidence of any Polynesian fruit or vegetable having been introduced into the Americas, but recent DNA analysis has rather conclusively demonstrated that coconuts that originated in the Philippines were carried to the Pacific coast of South America, especially Ecuador, about 2,250 years ago. The means of transmission of these coconuts are unknown. It could have been a natural process in which currents carried them to these faraway shores. In 1961, however, two archaeologists suggested that a fair number of two-thousand-year-old ceramics unearthed in the coastal region of Bahia de Caraquez, where such coconuts are abundant, closely resemble items found in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Although they did not claim that this definitively proves a trans-Pacific interchange, they concluded that the evidence suggests a “probable” connection. Most scholars are skeptical, but the last word has yet to be written on the subject. The issue regarding possible contacts between Africa and the pre-Columbian Americas also remains open.Although claims have been made for such contacts, to date none of the putative evidence produced has proved convincing to the general assembly of scholars in the field. Even when we acknowledge the few exchanges that science can verify and accept the possibility that arguments for the still-debated ones might be valid, we are left with the conclusion that no American Indian culture was a derivative of any culture from across the oceans. The fact that American Indian agriculture was based on fruits, vegetables, and cereals unknown in Afro-Eurasia and, likewise, the natives of the pre-Columbian Americas were ignorant of the

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas * 335 major domesticated fruits, vegetables, cereals, and animals of Afro-Eurasia (except for chickens and dogs) is evidence enough of that. Dogs, by the way, arrived many thousands of years ago with some of the Americas’ earliest migrants from Northeast Asia. Moreover, the fact that European and African diseases caused such massive depopulation in the Americas after 1492 is convincing evidence that occasional pre-Columbian visitors established no meaningful or long-term links between the Americas and the outside world.

Largely isolated though they might have been from the rest of the world before 1492, most American Indian peoples were linked, although loosely, in an American Ecumene that made possible the spread of goods and cultural influences over vast expanses. Several examples illustrate the complex networks of long-distance exchange that ran throughout the Americas. Maize, initially domesticated as early as 5000 B.c.e. in the highlands of south-central Mexico, had spread to Peru by 2000 B.c.c. or earlier, to present-day Arizona before 1600 8.c.c.,and to the Eastern Woodlands of North America (present-day northeastern United States and southeastern Canada) at least as early as two thousand years ago. By around 500 c.e. it had even penetrated the Canadian Subarctic. In the course of that long journey, local farmers adopted hybrid varieties of maize that allowed it to flourish in regions that were far colder and had shorter growing seasons than its land of origin. About the same time that maize was traveling by land from Mesoamerica to the far-off regions of South and North America, mariners established trade routes linking the coastal regions of Ecuador and Peru with western Mexico. To the east, the Gulf of Mexico served as a waterway linking Mesoamerica with present-day coastal regions of the United States from Texas to Florida and with at least some and possibly all of the islands of the Caribbean. Farther north, the Hopewell Exchange System, which flourished from about 200 B.c.e. to around 400 c.e., linked a wide variety of peoples who traded exotic goods from the Gulf of Mexico to the northern shores of the Great Lakes and to points in the far west.A mound burial uncovered in Chillicothe, Ohio, contained three hundred pounds of a volcanic glass known as obsidian that, according to chemical analysis, originated in what is today Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. This was only one of a number of exchange networks that crisscrossed North America long before the arrival of Europeans. Sub-Saharan Africa also had its early cultural and trade networks, which made possible a widespread diffusion of such technologies as agriculture and iron metallurgy and such ideas as the faith of Islam. Moreover, despite the continued growth of the Sahara from around 2500 s.c.£. to the present, interior Africa has never been totally cut off from the rest of Afro-Eurasia, even in the most ancient times. However, the

volume of traffic across the Sahara began to achieve significant proportions only after the introduction

into North Africa of the Arabian, or single-humped, camel

as a beast of burden during the early centuries c.c. Conquest of western North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the seventh century provided another major boost to trans-Saharan trade, so by about 1000 c.e., four major commercial routes connected the north with western sub-Saharan Africa. Gold, more than any other single item,

$44

aper eihe dey

eh bz aR ne ue stadt)

kee ag aaSE

Nr eS eset aaUR

¢ Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 drew the camel caravans of Berber and Arab traders to the inland kingdoms of West Africa’s grasslands, but large numbers of slaves were also sold for transportation northward to markets throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. In return, western sub-Saharan Africans received salt, raw copper, fine horses, and manufactured goods such as tempered steel and even glassware from Venice. Trade and the development of trade-based Islamic states in the western subSaharan grasslands constitute a major chapter in Africa’s history, but they are not the whole story of what was happening between 500 and 1500 c.e. in this richly diverse continent. East Africa, especially its coastal region from present-day Somalia to Tanzania, was linked to a shipping network of monsoon-driven vessels that sailed throughout the Indian Ocean and its adjacent waters—all the way to China. Commodities such as ivory and gold made their way from the interior of East Africa to ports on the Indian Ocean, where they joined coastal raw materials such as ambergris (a resin used in the production of perfumes) and mangrove timber. At these emporia, which dotted the islands off the eastern coast, East Africa’s goods were exchanged for ceramics from China, glassware, and Indian textiles. In addition, East Africans, known to the Arabs as Zanj (Blacks), who were taken in war and by raiding parties, were brought to the coast, where they were sold to Arab slavers for exportation to the mines and plantations of Iraq. There, brutal plantation conditions led to the bloody Zanj Revolt of 869-883 in southern Iraq, which almost destroyed the Abbassid Empire and severely disrupted trade that was connected in any way with Basra, the epicenter of the revolt. For better and for worse, Africa was increasingly linked to Eurasia between 500 and 1500.

Africa During the millennium from 500 to 1500, Africa witnessed a number of important historical developments. Chief among them were the last stages of the Bantu Expansion, the coming of Islam, the creation of trade empires in the western Sudan, the rise of Swahili mercantile cities in East Africa, and the arrival of Europeans toward the end of this period. The approximately 450 languages belonging to the Bantu linguistic family that are spoken today throughout most of the southern half of the continent are traceable to a common place of origin in West Africa, probably in present-day eastern Nigeria. Bantu speakers probably began spreading out of their ancestral homeland as early as three or four thousand years ago, aided by their skills in fishing and agriculture. In its later stages, this slow, almost imperceptible movement was aided by their ironworking skills.As they spread east and south, wherever they settled, the Bantuspeaking peoples introduced the crafts of farming and iron metallurgy. By the early centuries C.£., Bantu speakers had pushed as far south as the region today occupied by the nation of Zimbabwe, where by the late thirteenth century, they constructed

Chapter 10

Africa and the Americas

a gold-trade civilization centered on the now famous Great Zimbabwe stone citadel,

from which the modern state took its name in 1979. Another great migration that profoundly influenced Africa’s history was the influx of Islam in the wake of the conquering Arab armies that swept across North Africa in the seventh century. These conquests and the conversions that followed transformed what had been Christian North Africa into an integral part of Dar al-Islam (The House of Islam, meaning the greater Islamic world), thereby wrenching it out of the orbits of Constantinople and Rome and tying it culturally to Mecca, Damascus, and Baghdad. From North Africa, the faith and culture of Islam penetrated into the trade empires of the western grassland states south of the Sahara after 1000 c.c. The empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai became, in turn, progressively more Islamic and, therefore, more closely tied to North Africa and the greater Islamic world beyond Africa by reason of a shared religious culture, as well as by commercial interests.

On the east coast of Africa, a similar phenomenon was at work. In the ninth and tenth centuries, trading cities began to emerge along the coast of East Africa. At their greatest extent, they stretched for about two thousand miles. There was great variety among these independently governed trading cities that dotted Africa’s east coast, but it is correct to speak of a generic Swahili culture (from the Arabic word Sawahil—“people of the coast”) that emerged from the interchange between the East Africans who traded and intermarried with Arab, Persian, Indian, and Southeast Asian visitors who sailed to and in some cases took up residence in their cities). As was true for Kiswahili, the language of the region, Swahili culture was a coastal trade culture consisting of an essential Bantu base with foreign, especially Arabic, influences. From about 1200 to the early sixteenth century, the port city of Kilwa served as the Swahili Coast’s main emporium (see source 67). Kilwa’s commercial prominence along Africa’s eastern shore ended with its sack and destruction by the Portuguese in 1505. With the arrival in force of the Portuguese, first on Africa’s west coast in the fifteenth century and then on the east coast in the early sixteenth century, the age of direct European contact with subSaharan Africa had begun, with all of the consequences that would follow from that interchange. Despite the impact of Islam and Europe on Africa south of the Sahara, older ways of life proved usually resilient to influences from outside. Ethiopia, for example, successfully resisted Islamic and later Portuguese attempts at conquest and conversion, retaining its autonomy and ancient Christian culture. Likewise, the coastal states of West Africa retained their core cultural features, even as their leaders accepted the faith of Islam. Moreover, they maintained autonomy, extensive political authority, and widespread economic interests, even in the face of the European presence along

their coastline.

«

338 © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

The Land of Ghana: Eleventh-Century Western Sudan 66 * ABU UBAYDALLAH AND REALMS

AL-BAKRI, THE BOOK

OF ROUTES

South of the Sahara is a broad expanse of grasslands, or savanna, that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.To the Arabs, this region was Bilad al-Sudan (the Country of the Blacks). Arab and Berber merchants were keenly interested in West Africa’s Sudan because its inhabitants were advantageously located between the markets of North Africa and cultures farther south toward the tropical rainforests of the coast. From the southern peoples of the Niger and Senegal river valleys, the inhabitants of the savanna obtained gold and slaves, which they traded with Berber and Arab merchants for manufactured goods, horses, and especially salt, an element essential to human life and in desperately short supply in sub-Saharan West Africa. This trans-Saharan commerce stimulated development of a series of large trading states in the region that connected West Africa’s gold fields with the cities of Mediterranean North Africa. One of the earliest trading empires to emerge was Ghana (not to be confused with its present-day namesake, the nation of Ghana), which was located essentially in territory encompassed today by the nations of Mauritania and Mali. The origins of Ghana as an organized entity are lost in the shadows of the past but go back at least as far as the fifth century c.e., when the introduction of the dromedary, or single-humped Arabian camel, and the camel saddle made it easier for outsiders to penetrate across the Sahara into the land of the Soninke people. Coming as traders and as raiders, the Berber people of the western Sahara apparently helped stimulate the formation of a Soninke kingdom organized for commerce and defense. Eventually, that kingdom became known as Ghana—a term that originated as a royal title. During the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab merchants inhabiting the coastal cities of North Africa began to enter the lucrative trans-Saharan trading system, thereby gaining direct access to the region they called “the land of gold”—a land then dominated by the well-established state of Ghana. In 1067/1068,Abu Ubaydallah al-Bakri (d. 1094), a resident of Cordoba in Muslim Spain, composed a detailed description of this fabled region.Although he never traveled to nearby Africa, al-Bakri provides one of the most important sources for the early history of the western Sudan.As was accepted practice among Islamic geographers of his era, he drew heavily from the writings of predecessors, many of whose works are now otherwise lost, and he also interviewed merchants who had traveled to the area. These interviews made it possible for al-Bakri to present up-to-date information on Ghana at a crucial moment in its history. During the latter portion of the eleventh century, the rulers and leading families of Ghana were increasingly adopting the faith and culture of Islam. However, Muslims from the north not only brought the peaceful message of universal submission to the Word of God, they also brought war.A fundamentalist Islamic group of Berbers from

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas * 339 Morocco, known as the Almoravids, waged holy war, or jihad, against the Soninke of Ghana. It is unclear whether the Almoravids prevailed in this war, but apparently the conflict disrupted trade and weakened Ghana's economic base. In addition, the heartland of Ghana was becoming far less able to support its population due to an environmental crisis brought about by over-farming and excessive grazing. Large numbers of farmers and townspeople were forced to move away.With these combined losses, the recently converted monarchs of Ghana lost their ability to hold together their loosely organized and still predominantly non-lslamic empire. By the early thirteenth century, Ghana had disintegrated. Hegemony over the markets of the western Sudan passed briefly to the kingdom of Sosso and then to the state of Mali, which reached its greatest territorial extent under Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1327), whom we saw in source 48. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Describe the city of Ghana.What does its physical environment, especially its two centers, suggest about eleventh-century Ghanaian culture? 2. How would you characterize the authority and sources of power of the rulers

of Ghana? 3. What role did Islam play in Ghanaian society? What does your answer suggest about the way in which Islam entered the western Sudan? 4. What does the story of the conversion of the king of Malal suggest about the process of Islamization in the western Sudan? 5. Compare this process of conversion with the conversion of Georgia (Multiple Voices V).VWVhat conclusions emerge from your analysis?

Ghana is a title given to their kings; the name of the region is Awkar, and their king today . . . is Tunka

sister, while he is not certain that his son is in fact

Manin. . .. The name of his predecessor was Basi

ness of his relationship to him. This Tunka Manin is powerful, rules an enormous kingdom, and pos-

and he became their ruler at the age of 85. He

his own, and he is not convinced of the genuine-

led a praiseworthy life on account of his love of justice and friendship for the Muslims. . . . Basi was a maternal uncle of Tunka Manin. This is their custom and their habit, that the kingship is inherited only by the son of the king's sister.'

sesses great authority. The city of Ghana consists of two towns situated

He has no doubt that his successor is a son of his

There are salaried imams

Source: From N. Levtzion and J. F P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge University Press, 1981, pp. 79-83, passim. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press. Copyright © 1981 University of Ghana, International Academic Union and Cambridge University Press. 'This is known as matrilineal succession. See source 68. 2The city consisted of two separate walled towns connected by a long, unwalled strip of private dwellings. Known as

Koumbi-Saleh, its ruins are located in the southern region of the present-day nation of Mauritania.At its eleventh-century height, this double city probably held some twenty thousand people. 3lmams are religious teachers and prayer leaders; muezzins are the chanters who ascend the minarets, or towers, of the mosques and call the faithful to prayer five times daily.

on a plain.* One of these towns, which is inhabited

by Muslims, is large and possesses twelve mosques,

in one of which they assemble for the Friday prayer. and muezzins,’ as well

340 * Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 as jurists and scholars. In the environs are wells with sweet water, from which they drink and with which they grow vegetables. ‘The king's town is six

miles distant from this one and bears the name of

Al-Ghaba.* Between these two towns there are continuous habitations. The houses of the inhabitants are of stone and acacia wood. The king has a palace and a number of domed dwellings all sur-

on the ground before the king and around him are ministers seated likewise. . . When people who profess the same religion as the king approach him they fall on their knees and sprinkle dust on their heads, for this is their way of greeting him. As for the Muslims,

they greet him only by clapping their hands.

rounded with an enclosure like a city wall. In the

Their religion is paganism and the worship of idols. When their king dies they construct over the place where his tomb will be an enormous dome of

king’s town, and not far from his court ofjustice, is

wood. Then they bring him on a bed covered with

a mosque where the Muslims who arrive at his court

a few carpets and cushions and place him beside

pray. Around the king’s town are domed buildings

the dome. At his side they place his ornaments, his

and groves and thickets where the sorcerers of these

weapons, and the vessels from which he used to eat

people, men in charge of the religious cult, live. In

and drink, filled with various kinds of food and bev-

them too are their idols and the tombs of their kings.

erages. They place there too the men who used to

These woods are guarded and none may enter them and know what is there. In them also are the king’s

serve his meals. They close the door of the dome and cover it with mats and furnishings. Then the people

prisons. If somebody is imprisoned there no news

assemble, who heap earth upon it until it becomes

of him is ever heard. The king’s interpreters, the

like a big hillock and dig a ditch around it until the

official in charge of his treasury and the majority of his ministers are Muslims. Among the people who fol-

mound can be reached at only one place. They make sacrifices to their dead and make of-

low the king’s religion’ only he and his heir apparent (who is the son of his sister) may wear sewn clothes.

ferings of intoxicating drinks. On every donkey-load of salt when it is brought

All other people wear robes of cotton, silk, or bro-

into the country their king levies one golden dinar,*

cade,° according to their means. All of them shave

and two dinars when it is sent out. From a load of

their beards, and women shave their heads. The king

copper the king’s due is five mithqals,’ and from

adorns himself like

a woman,

wearing

necklaces

a load of other goods ten mithgals. The best gold

round his neck and bracelets on his forearms, and he

found in his land comes from the town ofGhiyaru,

puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped

which is eighteen days’ traveling distant from the

in a turban of fine cotton. He sits in audience or to

king’s town over a country inhabited by tribes of the

hear grievances against officials in a domed pavilion

Sudan whose dwellings are continuous.

around which stand ten horses covered with goldembroidered materials. Behind the king stand ten

are reserved for the king, only this gold dust being

The nuggets found in all the mines of his country

pages holding shields and swords decorated with

left for the people. But for this the people would

gold, and on his right are the sons ofthe vassal kings’

of his country wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. The governor of the city sits

accumulate gold until it lost its value. The nuggets may weigh from an ounce to a pound. It is related that the king owns a nugget as large as a big stone. . . .

‘The term means “the forest” and refers to the sacred grove mentioned later in this source. ’The king, who was not a Muslim, followed the ancient religious ways of the Soninke people. SA luxury fabric onto which raised designs are woven in a way that they appear embroidered on. Brocades and silks

would have been imported items. Compare note 20 of source 68. ’Subordinate kings, or lords. *A standard gold coin in the Islamic world that weighed 4.72 grams, or one mithqal (see note 9). °A standard of weight equaling 4.72 grams.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

The king of Ghana, when he calls up his army, can put 200,000 men'® into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers. . . . On the opposite bank of the Nil!! is another great kingdom, stretching a distance of more than eight days’ marching, the king of which has the title _ of Daw. The inhabitants of this region use arrows when fighting. Beyond this country lies another called Malal,'’* the king of which is known as al-musulmani.'* He is thus called because his country became afHicted with drought one year following another; the inhabitants prayed for rain, sacrificing

cattle till they had exterminated almost all of them, but the drought and the misery only increased. The king had as his guest a Muslim who used to read the Quran and was acquainted with the Sunna.‘ To this man the king complained ofthe calamities that assailed him and his people. The man said: “O King,

if you believed in God (who is exalted) and testified that He is One, and testified as to the prophetic mission of Muhammad

*

341 ?

the people of your country and that your enemies and adversaries might envy you on that account.” Thus he continued to press the king until the latter accepted Islam and became a sincere Muslim. The

man made him recite from the Quran some easy passages and taught him religious obligations and practices which no one may be excused from knowing. Then the Muslim made him wait till the eve

of the following Friday,'’ when he ordered him to purify himself by a complete ablution, and clothed him in a cotton garment which he had. The two of them came out towards a mound of earth, and there the Muslim stood praying while the king, standing

at his right side, imitated him. Thus they prayed for a part of the night, the Muslim reciting invocations

and the king saying “Amen.” The dawn had just started to break when God caused abundant rain to descend upon them. So the king ordered the idols to be broken and expelled the sorcerers from his

country. He and his descendants after him as well

(God bless him and give

as his nobles were sincerely attached to Islam, while

him peace) and if you accepted all the religious laws

the common people of his kingdom remained poly-

of Islam, I would pray for your deliverance from

theists. Since then their rulers have been given the title of al-musulmani.

your plight and that God’s mercy would envelop all

'°An apparent exaggeration. There was no regular standing Ghanaian army; the various districts of the empire sent warriors as the occasion warranted. "Islamic geographers of this era mistakenly believed that the Niger River was the western source of the Nile.

24 Mandike

'The Muslim.” The traditions of Sunni Islam. 'SThe evening preceding Friday and, hence, the beginning of the Islamic day of rest and community worship.

kingdom that was the nucleus of the later

empire of Mali.

Swahili Cities in the Early Fourteenth Century 67 ¢ IBN BATTUTA,A GIFT TO THOSE WHO CONTEMPLATE THE WONDERS OF CITIES AND THE MARVELS ENCOUNTERED IN TRAVEL

The life and travels of Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Battuta (1304-1369), whom we encountered in the Prologue’s Multiple Voices exercise, provide eloquent testimony to the cosmopolitanism of fourteenth-century Islam. Beginning in 1325, he embarked on a series of adventures that took him to Constantinople, Arabia, East

? © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Africa, Mesopotamia, Iran, India, Burma, Sumatra, Spain, probably southern China, and sub-Saharan West Africa. Most of his stops along the way were within the cultural confines of Dar al-Islam, where Sharia prevailed. In early January 1329 or 1331 (the clues provided in his account are ambiguous), he traveled from Aden, at the southwest tip of the Arabian Peninsula, to East Africa, sailing as far south as Kilwa (in present-day Tanzania), which at the time was made rich by its commerce in ivory, slaves, gold, and similar high-profit items of exchange. (It deeply troubles a twenty-first-century historian to refer to slaves as “items,” but this is how they were looked upon by sellers and buyers alike at these East African emporia.) His descriptions of Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Kilwa are the only known eyewitness accounts of these Swahili cities to come down to us from the fourteenth or the preceding thirteenth century. QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. Review what we write about Ibn Battuta’s rihla in the Prologue’s sample Multiple Voices. In light of what we know about the work’s production, how far do you think we can trust Ibn Battuta’s eyewitness account of these cities? Be specific in your answer. 2. Why did the inhabitants of Mogadishu practice their custom of hospitality? 3. Which parts of Ibn Battuta’s account suggest the wealth and cosmopolitanism of the coastal cities of East Africa? 4. To what extent had Islam penetrated East Africa by the early fourteenth century? 5. Who made up the majority of the inhabitants of these coastal cities, and what do you infer from that answer? 6. Compare this account of these Swahili cities with the various accounts of Calicut in the Prologue’s sample Multiple Voices. Which strike you as more significant, the differences or the similarities? What do you conclude from your answer?

I travelled from the city of Adan by sea days, and arrived at the city of Zaila,' of the Barbara,? who are a people of groes, Shafiites in rite.’ Their country is

for four the city the nea desert

extending for two months’ journey, beginning at Zaila and ending at Maqdashaw.* Their cattle are camels, and they also have sheep which are famed for their fat. The inhabitants of Zaila are black in

Source: The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325-1354, translated with revisions and notes from the Arabic text edited

lexicon from the Greek barbaros, which originally meant someone who does not speak Greek. Southeast of Zeila is the coastal city of Berbera in Somalia. *The Shafii school of jurisprudence is one of four Sunni branches of legal thought and teaching. It was (and is) the dominant school of juridical thought in the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. Ibn Battuta belonged to the Maliki School, which was (and is) dominant in North and West Africa.

by C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti by H. A. R. Gibb (Cambridge, UK: Hakluyt Society, 1958-2000), 2:373—-381, passim.

'Zeila (also Zaila) in present-day northwestern Somalia is about 410 miles from Aden (here Adan), which is located in Yemen. An average speed of more than one hundred miles

per day seems excessive. The indigenous people of East Africa. The term, which was used by Arab geographers, probably entered the Arabic

‘Mogadishu, Somalia.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas + color, and the majority of them are Rafidis.’ It is a large city with a great bazaar, but it is in the dirtiest, most disagreeable, and most stinking town in the world. ‘The reason for its stench is the quantity of its fish and the blood of the camels that they slaughter in the streets. When we arrived there we . chose to spend the night at sea in spite of its extreme roughness, rather than pass a night in the town, because ofits filth. We sailed on from there for fifteen nights and came to Maqdashaw, which is a town of enormous size.° Its inhabitants are merchants possessed ofvast resources; they own large numbers of camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day [for food], and also have quantities of sheep. In this place are manufactured the woven fabrics called after it, which are unequalled and exported from it to Egypt and elsewhere.” It is the custom of the people of this town that, when a vessel reaches the anchorage, the sumbugs, which are small boats,* come out

to it. In each sumbuq there are a number of young men of the town, each one of whom brings a covered platter containing food and presents it to one of the merchants on the ship saying “This is my guest, and each of the others does the same. The merchant, on disembarking, goes only to the house of his host among the young men, except those of them who have made frequent journeys to the town and have gained some acquaintance with its inhabitants; these lodge where they please. When he takes

343

When the young men came on board the vessel in which I was, one of them came up to me. My companions said to him “This man is not a merchant, but a doctor of the law,”’ 9 whereupon he called out to his friends and said to them “This is

the guest of the qadi.”'® 2710 There was among them one ofthe gadi’s men, who informed him of this,

and he came down to the beach with a number of students and sent one of them to me. | then dis-

embarked with my companions and saluted him and his party. He said to me “In the name of God, let us go to salute the Shaikh.” “And who is the Shaikh?”

I said, and he answered,

“The

Sultan,” for it is their custom to call the sultan “the Shaikh’'' Then I said to him “When I am lodged, I shall go to him,” but he said to me, “It

is the custom that whenever there comes a jurist or a sharif'* or a man of religion, he must first see the sultan before taking a lodging.” So I went

with him to the sultan, as they asked. Account ofthe Sultan ofMaqdashaw. The sultan of

Maqdshaw is, as we have mentioned, called only by the title of “the Shaikh”. His name is Abu Bakr, son of the shaikh Omar; he is by origin of the Barbara and he speaks in Maqdishi, but knows the Arabic

language. One of his customs is that, when a vessel arrives, the sultan’s sumbuq goes out to it, and en-

quiries are made as to the ship, whence it has come, who is its owner and its rubban (that is, its cap-

tain), what is its cargo, and who has come on it of

up residence with his host, the latter sells his goods

merchants and others. When all of this information

for him and buys for him; and if anyone buys anything from him at too low a price or sells to him in the absence of his host, that sale is held invalid by them. This practice is a profitable one for them.

has been collected, it is presented to the sultan, and

5Rafidis were Shia Muslims who rejected the first three caliphs. ‘Mogadishu lay about twelve hundred miles from Zeila, if one followed the coast. Arab and Persian merchants were already settling there by the ninth or tenth century. 7This was cotton,an important element in the region’s economy. 8Small, high-prowed vessels with lateen (triangular) sails. Having left home at age twenty-one before his studies were completed, Ibn Battuta’s knowledge of the law was not deep.

if there are any persons [of such quality] that the sultan should assign a lodging to him as his guest, he does so.

He passed himself off, however, as a legal scholar in his travels. The term used in the Arabic text is fagih, which means

someone learned in Sharia. '°An Islamic judge appointed to his post by the ruler. "TA title of respect that means “elder” and connotes leadership or authority. "For a strict Sunni such as Ibn Battuta, this was a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hasan.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 When I arrived with the gadi | have mentioned,

These resemble apples, but have a stone; when ripe

who was called Ibn al-Burhan, an Egyptian by ori-

they are exceedingly sweet and are eaten like [other]

gin, at the sultan’s residence, one ofthe serving-boys

fruit, but before ripening they are acid like lemons,

came out and saluted the qadi, who said to him “Take word to the intendant’s office’? and inform the Shaikh that this man has come from the land of al-Hijaz.”'* So he took the message, then returned bringing a plate on which were some leaves of betel and areca nuts.'’ He gave me ten leaves along with a

and they pickle them in vinegar. When they take a mouthful of rice, they eat some of these salted

few of the nuts, the same to the qadi, and what was

left on the plate to my companions and the qadi’s students. He brought also a jug of rose-water of

and vinegar conserves after it. A single person of the people of Maqdashaw eats as much as a whole

company of us would eat, as a matter of habit, and they are corpulent and fat in the extreme. After we had eaten, the qadi took leave of us. We stayed there three days, food being brought to us three times a day, following their custom. On the

Damascus, which he poured over me and over the

fourth day, which was a Friday, the gadi and stu-

gadi [i.e. over our hands], and said “Our master

dents and one of the Shailkh’s viziers'!® came to me,

commands that he be lodged in the students’ house,” this being a building equipped for the entertainment of students of religion. The qadi took me by

bringing a set of robes; these [official] robes of theirs

consist of a silk wrapper which one ties round his waist in place of drawers" (for they have no acquain-

the hand and we went to this house, which is in

tance with these), a tunic of Egyptian linen with an

the vicinity of the Shaikh’s residence, and furnished

on [the serving boy] brought food from the Shaikh’s

embroidered border, a furred mantle of Jerusalem stuff,”° and an Egyptian turban with an embroidered edge. They also brought robes for my companions

residence. With him came one of his viziers, who

suitable to their position. We went to the congre-

was responsible for [the care of] the guests, and

gational mosque and made our prayers behind the

with carpets and all necessary appointments. Later

who said “Our master greets you and says; to you that you are heartily welcome.” He then set down the food and we ate. Their food is rice cooked with ghee,'° which they put into a large wooden platter, and on top of this they set platters of kushan. This is

magsura.”' When the Shaikh came out of the door of the magqsura I saluted him along with the qadi; he

said a word of greeting, spoke in their tongue with

the seasoning, made of chickens, fleshmeat, fish and

the qadi, and then said in Arabic “You are heartily welcome, and you have honored our land and given us pleasure.” He went out to the court of the mosque

vegetables. They cook unripe bananas in fresh milk

and stood by the grave of his father, who is buried

and put this in one dish, and in another dish they

there, then recited some verses from the Quran and said a prayer. After this the viziers, amirs, and of

put curdled milk,'’ on which they place [pieces of]

pickled lemon, bunches of pickled pepper steeped in vinegar and salted, green ginger, and mangoes.

'3Probably the chief port official. ''The western region of the Arabian Peninsula in which the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located. 'SWhen chewed, areca nuts wrapped in betel leaves are a mild stimulant. The practice originated in South Asia. '°Clarified butter, which originated in India. '7Probably coconut water and not milk. '8A high-ranking minister (one who bears a burden).

"Trousers.

ficers of the troops came up and saluted him. Their manner of salutations is the same as the custom of

This probably means a mantle lined with damask (any textile that has a decoration or pattern woven into it, as opposed to brocade, which is discussed in note 6 of source 66). Damask fabrics originated in Southwest Asia, and the name, given it by the French, refers to Damascus, Syria, an area noted for its rich damask textiles. *'The enclosure within a mosque reserved for the ruler.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas + 345 the people of al-Yaman;* one puts his forefinger to

the ground, then raises it to his head and says “May God prolong thy majesty.” The Shaikh then went out of the gate of the mosque, put on his sandals, ordered the qadi to put on his sandals and me to do likewise, and set out on foot for his residence, _which is close to the mosque. All the [rest of the] people walked barefoot. Over his head were carried four canopies of colored silk, with the figure of a bird in gold on top of each canopy. . . . In front of him were sounded drums and trumpets and fifes, and before and behind him were the commanders of the troops, while the qadi, the doctors of the law and the sharifs walked alongside him. He entered his audience-hall in this disposition, and the viziers,

amirs~’ and officers of the troops sat down in a gallery there. For the gadi there was spread a rug, on which no one may sit but he, and beside him were

the jurists and sharifs. They remained there until the hour of the afternoon prayer, and after they had

prayed it, the whole body of troops came and stood in rows in order of their ranks. Thereafter the drums, fifes, trumpets and flutes are sounded; while they play no person moves or stirs from his place, and anyone who is walking stands still, moving neither

backwards nor forwards. When the playing of the drum-band comes to an end, they salute with their fingers as we have described and withdraw. This is a custom of theirs on every Friday. . . . I then sailed from the city of Maqdashaw, making for the country of the Sawahil [Coastlands], 2Yemen, the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula. Commanders of armies. 4K ilwa, which was located in the Land of the Zanj (or Zinj), namely the Land of the Blacks. The name survives in Zanzibar, an island that is part of present-day Tanzania. 23Mombasa in present-day Kenya. Mombasa is separated from the mainland by two narrow streams. The meaning here is that the actual Swahili (Sawahil) region lay two days’ - sailing farther south. Today we consider Kenya an integral part of the Swahili cultural area.

Possibly an orange. 27The jamun is native to South and Southeast Asia. 28AIlthough most structures were wooden, it seems highly likely that Mombasa’s mosques were constructed of coral stone.

with the object of visiting the city of Kulwa in the land of the Zinj people.’ We came to the island of Mambasa, a large island two days’ journey by sea from the Sawahil country.” It has no mainland territory, and its trees are the banana, the lemon, and the citron.”° Its people have a fruit which they call jammun, resembling an olive and with a stone like its stone.’ The inhabitants of this island sow no grain, and it has to be transported to them from the Sawahil. Their food consists mostly of bananas and fish. They are Shafiites in rite, pious, honorable, and upright, and their mosques are of wood, admirably

constructed.** At each of the gates of the mosques there are one or two wells (their wells have a depth of one or two cubits), ” and they draw up water from them in a wooden vessel, into which has been fixed a thin stick of the length of one cubit. The

ground round the well and the mosque is paved; anyone who intends to go into the mosque washes his feet before entering, and at its gate there is a piece of thick matting on which he rubs his feet. If one intends to make an ablution, he holds the vessel between his thighs, pours [water] on his hands and performs the ritual washings. All the people walk with bare feet. We stayed one night in this island and sailed on | to the city of Kulwa,*’ a large city on the seacoast,

most of whose inhabitants are Zinj, jet-black in color. They have tattoo marks on their faces," just

as [there are] on the faces of the Limis of Janawa.”

I was told by a merchant that the city of Sufala*? / cubit is a variable unit of measurement—the span from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. °K ilwa. 3!Probably incised marks rather than tattoos (see source 70). These were the non-Muslim peoples of West Africa who resided in lands south and west of the empire of Mali. (See source 68 for Ibn Battuta’s description of Mali.) Janawa and variations of it were the basis of the Portuguese and then English term Guinea, as a name for the West African Coast.

Sofala in present-day Mozambique, which is almost eleven hundred miles to the south.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

lies at a distance ofhalfa month’s journey from the

Abu’ 1-Mawahib,* on account of the multitude of

city of Kulwa, and that between Sufala and Yufi,

his gifts and acts of generosity. He used to engage frequently in expeditions to the land of the Zinj

in the country of the Limis, is a month’s journey; from Yufi gold dust is brought to Sufala.** The city of Kulwa is one of the finest and most substantially built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with reeds. The rains there are frequent. Its people engage in jihad,”

people, raiding them

and taking booty, and he

would set aside the fifth part of it to devote to the objects prescribed for it in the Book of God Most

High.*’ He used to deposit the portion for the relatives [of the Prophet] in a separate treasury; when-

because they are on a common mainland with the heathen Zinj people and contiguous to them, and

ever he was visited by sharifs he would pay it out

they are for the most part religious and upright,

from al-Iraq and al-Hijaz and other countries. I saw at his court a number of the sharifs of al-Hijaz. .. .

to them, and the sharifs used to come to visit him

and Shafites in rite. Account of the Sultan of Kulwa. Its sultan at the period of my entry into it was Abu’ 1-Muzaffar

with poor brethren, and eats with them, and greatly

Hasan, who was called also by the appellation of

respects men of religion and noble descent.

*4Sofala was East Africa’s main emporium for gold flowing in from the interior of Africa, but otherwise Ibn Battuta is confused. The Yufi (more correctly Nupe) were a non-Muslim people in West Africa. Their kingdom along the Niger River was a major source of the gold that flowed to Mali and beyond. See note 32 regarding the Limis. The gold brought

to Sofala (and Kilwa) came from the region around Great

This sultan is a man of great humility; he sits

Zimbabwe in southeast Africa. * This was probably slave-raiding. *6Father of Gifts. *’The Quran, 8:42, commands that a fifth of all spoils go to God, the Prophet, his relatives, orphans, the poor, and travelers.

A Moroccan Visitor to Mal 68 © IBN BATTUTA,A GIFT TO THOSE WHO CONTEMPLATE THE WONDERS OF CITIES AND THE MARVELS ENCOUNTERED IN TRAVEL

In early autumn of 1351, Ibn Battuta returned to Morocco from the emirate of Granada, the last outpost of Muslim Spain, and arrived in Fez, the capital of the Marinid Sultanate, which ruled that region of western North Africa. Although he had been away from home for a quarter-century, one more journey awaited him. Sometime in that same autumn of 1351, he embarked on his last great adventure—a trip to the West African kingdom of Mali, which lay some fifteen hundred miles to the south across one of the world’s most inhospitable deserts. The leaders of Mali, whose vast empire stretched all the way to the Atlantic, a distance of about twelve hundred miles, had made Islam the state religion sometime in the thirteenth century. By the early fourteenth century, Mali had produced Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1327), whose haj in 1324-1325 had become a matter of legend throughout much of the Islamic world (see source 48). Undoubtedly Ibn Battuta, ever eager to seek out Muslim rulers who could enrich him, had heard of this extraordinary lord whose generosity in dispensing alms and gifts while on pilgrimage had depressed the value of gold throughout Egypt. Our intrepid traveler visited Cairo in 1326, about two years after Mansa Musa had passed through there and

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

«

347

while the Caireans were still abuzz over the magnitude of the retinue that had accompanied this West African monarch and his lavish display of wealth marshaled in the service of God. Ibn Battuta surely was determined to share in the philanthropy of Mali’s rulers, should an opportunity present itself. Our excerpt begins with Ibn Battuta’s traveling, in the space of less than two weeks, from Fez to Sijilmasa, which lay across the Atlas Mountains and was the preeminent place of departure for persons traveling south from Morocco along the trans-Saharan gold route. Here he rested up, purchased camels and fodder, and joined a caravan of merchants, which departed in mid-February 1352, the winter season being the only reasonable time to make the cross-desert trek. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What factors drove trade across the western Sahara? 2. What was the social status of Massufa women? 3. What did Ibn Battuta admire most about the people of sub-Saharan West Africa whom he encountered? What did he find hardest to accept? Why? 4. In what ways were the cultures of the people whom Ibn Battuta encountered a mixture of indigenous West African and Islamic elements? 5. How organized and controlled does the state of Mali appear to have been? 6. Compare fourteenth-century Mali with eleventh-century Ghana (source 66). What are their significant similarities and differences? What do you conclude from that comparative analysis?

The Country of the Blacks We arrived at the capital, Fas [Fez], God Most

High Guard it. There I said farewell to our master,' God strengthen him, and set out on a journey

to the country of the Blacks. I reached the city of Sijilmasa, a very beautiful city.’ . . . After twentyfive days we reached Taghaza.’ It is a village with no attractions. A strange thing about it is that its

Source: The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. |325—/354, translated

with revisions and notes from the Arabic text edited by C. Defrémery and B.R. Sanguinetti by H.A.R. Gibb (Cambridge,

UK: Hakluyt Society, 1958-2000), 4:946-947, 950-952, 956, 957-958, 960, 965-966, passim.

'Sultan Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Haqq (r. 1344-1358). 2The city was destroyed in the fifteenth century; today only ruins remain.

3This was the main salt-mining center of the western Sahara. It was abandoned in the sixteenth century due to shifting political and economic forces.

houses and mosque are built of blocks of salt and roofed with camel skins.‘ There are no trees, only

sand in which is a salt mine. They dig the ground and thick slabs are found in it... . A camel car-

ries two slabs.’ The only people living there are slaves of the Massufa,° who dig for the salt and live on dates brought them from Dara’ and Sijilmasa,

camel meat,

and anli,* which

is imported from

‘Remains of these salt structures can be seen today. They did not dissolve because of the region’s extreme lack of rain. °An adult dromedary (the single-humped Arabian camel) can carry anywhere from 350 to 650 pounds per day for a distance of about fifteen miles, and can do so day after day. These slabs probably weighed in excess of two hundred pounds each. ®The Massufa were a Berber people of the western Sahara. ’Wadi Draa, a green oasis belt in east-central Morocco noted for its lush date trees. 8A millet grown in the western Sudan.

348 * Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 the county of the Blacks. The Blacks come from their country to Taghaza and take away the salt. A load of it is sold at Iwalatan [Walata]? for eight to ten mithgals,'’ and in the city of Malli [Mali] for

Water comes from underground sources. Mutton is

plentiful. Their clothes are of fine quality and Egyptian in origin.'.

. Most of the inhabitants belong to

the Masufa. The women are of outstanding beauty and are more highly regarded than the men.

twenty to thirty, sometimes forty. The Blacks trade with salt as others trade with gold and silver; they cut it in pieces and buy and sell with these. For all of its squalor gintars of qintars'' of gold dust

Account of the Massufa inhabitants of walatan. Conditions among these people are remarkable and their life style is strange. The men have no jealousy.

are traded there. We spent ten days there, under

No one takes his name from his father, but from

strain, for the water is brackish and it is the place

his maternal uncle. Sons do not inherit, only sister's

with the most flies. Here water is taken in for the journey into the desert which lies beyond. It is ten days’ travel with no water, or only rarely. . . We reached the city of Iwalatan . . . after a journey .. . of two full months from Sililmasa. It is the first district of the country of the Blacks. The Sultan’s!* deputy there was Farba Husayn. Farba means “deputy.” When we arrived the merchants deposited their goods in an open space and the Blacks took responsibility for them. The merchants went to the Farba who was sitting on a rug under a shelter; his officials were in front of him with spears and bows in their hands. The Massufa notables were behind him. The merchants in front of him and he spoke to them through an interpreter as a sign of

sons.!° This is something that I have seen nowhere

his contempt for them, although they were close to

him.'? At this I was sorry I had come to their country, because of their bad manners and contempt for

white people... . I stayed in Iwalatan about fifty days. Its people treated me with respect and gave me hospitality. . . . The town of Iwalatan is extremely hot. There are a few small palms and they sow melons in their shade.

in the world except among the infidel Indians. . . .

Nevertheless these people are Muslims. They are strict in observing the prayers, studying the religious law, and memorizing the Quran. Their women have no shame before men and do not veil themselves,

yet they are punctilious about their prayers. Anyone who wants to take a wife among them does so, but they do not travel with the husbands, and if one of them wished to, her family would prevent her.

Women there have friends and companions among men outside the prohibited degrees for marriage,’”

and in the same way men

in the same category.

have women

friends

A man goes into his house,

finds his wife with her man

friend, and does not

disapprove... . One day I called on Abu Muhammad Yandakan al-Massufi, in whose company we had arrived and found him sitting on a rug. In the middle of the room was a canopied couch and upon it was a woman with a man sitting and talking together. I said to him: “Who is this woman?” He said: “She is

my wife.” I said: “What about the man who is with

°A world heritage site because of its historical prominence as a caravan city in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Walata was an important center of exchange at the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade route that connected Morocco and Mali. Today it is a small oasis town in Mauritania.

was not intended as a sign of disrespect. 'Merchants from North Africa: Berbers and Arabs. 'SEsyptian cotton.

'°One mithqal was 4.72 grams of gold.

They have male friends who are not close relatives.

“Weight upon weight,” namely a large amount. "Sultan, or Mansa, Sulaiman (r. 1341-1360) of Mali and the brother of Mansa Musa (source 48). This was an outlying province of Mali.

®This was normal court protocol in the empire of Mali and

'SA matrilineal form of succession. See source 66.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas + 349 her?” He said: “He is her friend.” I said: “Are you happy about this, you have lived in our country and

Blacks . . . and proceeded to the quarter ofthe white

it with his men to Ibn al-Faqih’s house. He came out hurrying and barefoot and came in to me. He said: “Stand up! The Sultan’s things and his gift have come to you!” I stood up, supposing them to be robes of honor and money, but there were three loaves of bread, a piece of beef fried in gharti” and a calabash*? with curdled milk. When I saw it I laughed and was greatly surprised at their feeble intellect and exaggerated opinion of something contemptible. Account of what I said to the Sultan afterwards and of his kindness to me. After I had received this gift I spent two months during which nothing reached me from the Sultan. The month of Ramadan™ began and in the meantime I had been going repeatedly to the audience hall, greeting him, and

people. ...

sitting with the qadi and the preacher. | talked

know the content of the religious law?” He said: and men among us is a good thing and an agreeable practice, which causes no suspicion; they are not like the women of “The companionship of women

_ your country.” I was astonished at his silliness. I left him, and did not visit him again. Afterwards, he

invited me a number oftimes but I did not accept. When I resolved to travel to Malli, which is twenty-four days’ journey from Iwalatan for one who hurries, I hired a Massufa guide. There is no need to travel in a caravan for the road is safe. I

set out with three of my companions. . . . I arrived

in the city of Malli, the capital of the king of the

Account of the Sultan of Malli. He is the Sultan

with Dugha, the dragoman,” who said: “Speak in

Mansa Sulayman. Mansa means sultanand Sulayman

his presence. | shall explain on your behalf what is necessary.” He held an audience in the first days of Ramadan. I stood before him and said: “I have traveled through the countries of the world and I have met their kings. I have been in your country for four months, but you have not treated me as a guest, and you have not given me anything. What am | to say about you before (other) sultans?” He said: “I have not seen you and I know nothing about you.” The qadi and Ibn al-Fagih stood up and answered him, saying: “He greeted you and you sent food to him.” Thereupon he ordered that a house should be

is his personal name. He is a miserly king and a big gift is not expected from him. . . . [H]e arranged a mourning

meal

for our master Abul-Hasan,!8

God be pleased with him, to which he invited the amirs,'’ jurists, qadis and the preacher, 0 and I went

with them. They brought the Quran cases”! and the whole Quran was read. They prayed for our master Abul-Hasan, God be merciful to him, and for Mansa Sulaiman. When this was over I advanced and greeted Mansa Sulaiman. The qadi and the preacher and Ibn al-Faqih told him about me, and he replied in their language. They said to me: “The sultan says to you ‘Give thanks to God.” I said: “Praise and thanks be to God in all circumstances.” Account of their meagre hospitality and exaggerated opinion of it.When I had left a gift of welcome was

provided for my lodging, and my current expenses.

sent to me. It was sent to the qadi’s house; he sent

On the night of the twenty-seventh of Ramadan, he distributed money to the qadi, the preacher and jurists, which they call zakat”® and gave to me at the same time thirty-three and a third mithqals. When I left he gave me a hundred mithgals of gold... .

'8The late sultan of Morocco (r. 1331-1351). "Military leaders. 20Known as a khatib, he was a public preacher at Friday

*The month during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. The sultan’s interpreter.

mosque services. 2!Cases that held the Quran.

*6The twenty-seventh is the Night of Power, when the petitions of the pious are granted by the angels; zakat normally means the alms required of all Muslims who can afford to pay, but here it means the gifts distributed at the end of Ramadan.

2A vegetable oil. 2A bottle gourd.

90 * Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Account of the humility of the Blacks before their king, how they pour dust on themselves, and other things about them. The Blacks are the most respectful of people to their king and abase themselves most before him. They swear by him, saying: “Mansa Sulaiman ki.”*’ If he summons one of them at his

of a trustworthy white man until whoever is entitled to it takes possession ofit; their punctiliousness in praying, their perseverance in joining the congre-

gation,” and compelling their children to do so; ifa man does not come early to the mosque he will not

find a place to pray because of the dense crowd. . . .

session in the cupola we have mentioned, the man

They dress in clean white clothes on Fridays; if one

summoned removes his robe and puts on a shabby one, takes off his turban, puts on a dirty skull-cap and goes in with his robe and trousers lifted half way to his knees. He comes forward humbly and abjectly and strikes the ground hard with his

of them has only a threadbare shirt he washes it and

elbows. He stands as if he were prostrating himself

cleans it and wears it for prayer on Friday. They pay great attention to memorizing the Holy Quran. If their children appear to be backward in learning it

they put shackles on them and do not remove them till they learn it... .

in prayer, and hears what the Sultan says like this.

Among their bad practices are that the women

If one of them speaks to the Sultan and he answers him, he takes his robe off his back, and throws dust

servants, slave-girls and young daughters appear

on his head and back, like someone

used to see many like this in Ramadan, for it is customary for the fararis* to break the fast*! in the Sultan’s palace, where their food is brought to them by twenty or more slave-girls, who are naked.

making his

ablutions with water.** I was astonished that they did not blind themselves. . . . Account of what I found good and what I found bad in the conduct of the Blacks. Among their good practices are their avoidance of injustice; there is no people more averse to it, and their Sultan does not

allow anyone to practice it in any measure; [another is] the universal security in their country, for neither the traveler nor the resident there has to fear thieves and bandits; they do not interfere with the property

naked

before people, exposing

their genitals. I

Women who come before the Sultan are naked and

unveiled, and so are his daughters. On the night of the twenty-seventh of Ramadan I have seen about a hundred naked slave-girls come out of his palace with food; with them were two daughters of the

Sultan with full breasts and they too had no veil. They put dust and ashes on their heads as a matter

of white men who die in their country, even if it

of good manners. . . . Many of them eat carrion,

amounts to vast sums; they just leave it in the hands

dogs, and donkeys.”

27™The law of Mansa Suleiman.” 8The ritual washing that a Muslim performs prior to prayer

At Friday prayers at the mosque. **Amirs, or chief men. *'The daily fast of Ramadan ends at sunset (see note 24). *Unclean meat, according to quranic law.

(source 46).The rules of ablution provide that if water is not available one may use sand.

Ethiopia: The Land of Seyon 69 » TWO

ICONS OF THE

VIRGIN

MARY

Ethiopia, a kingdom to the southeast of ancient Kush (or Nubia) in Africa’s northeast highlands, looks out across the Red Sea to Yemen, the southwestern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. Settlers from Yemen, known as the Sabeans, crossed these

waters, perhaps as early as the seventh century B.C.£., and mixed with the indigenous inhabitants to produce a language, Geez, that was essentially Semitic but contained

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

strong Kushitic elements. Despite these contacts from across the Red Sea, current scholarship tends to reject an older theory that Ethiopian culture resulted mainly from infusions from South Arabia. The prevailing view is that Ethiopian civilization was largely self-generated. Ethiopia flourished because of its strategic location astride a trade route that linked Egypt and the Mediterranean world with the markets of East Africa, Arabia,

and India.A Greek shipping manual of the first century c.£. notes that Adulis, Ethiopia’s traditional port on the Red Sea (but located today in Eritrea), was northeast Africa’s premier center for the ivory trade. The Ethiopian Church claims that Christianity came to the land and its people in the first century c.£., at the time of the apostles. Given Ethiopia’s commercial importance, this is credible, but Christianity did not become the state-sponsored religion of Ethiopia until the early fourth century. Under the influence of Egyptians and Nubians to their north, Ethiopians embraced a type of Christianity known as Monophysitism (from the Greek words for “one nature’). This form of Christian belief centers on the doctrine that Jesus had a single nature in which the divine and the human were completely commingled, resulting in a divine-human. This is opposed to the doctrine accepted by Byzantium and the Latin West that Jesus had two separate but united natures—one fully divine and the other fully human.When the Churches of Constantinople and Rome condemned Monophysite teachings as heresy in 451, the Ethiopian Church was doctrinally cut off from these two Mediterranean centers of Christianity. TheArab-Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s further cut Ethiopia off from its Christian coreligionists in Byzantium and the West. In time, most of previously Christian Egypt converted to Islam, although its native Christians, known as Coptic Christians, remained a significant minority, as they are today. Egypt, the land that had introduced Christianity to Nubia and Ethiopia, was now an Islamic stronghold. On their part, Nubians and Ethiopians vigorously fought to retain their political autonomy and Christian identity in the face of Islamic pressure from Egypt. After the mid-thirteenth century, however, Nubian resistance to Islam weakened. By the mid-fourteenth century, Nubia no longer had an independent Christian monarchy, and the Christian faith was fast losing out to Islam. By the sixteenth century, Nubia’s Christian population was a minority and would remain so down to the present. (Nubia today is the nations of Sudan and South Sudan.) Farther to the south, Ethiopia, fairly secure in its mountain strongholds, managed to hold out against Islam, although significant Muslim enclaves were established in the lowlands and along the coast. Leading Christian Ethiopia’s resistance to Islam was a dynasty of strong monarchs known as the Solomonids, which reigned from 1270 to 1975. The Solomonids claimed descent from a union between the biblical King Solomon and Queen Makeda of Ethiopia, whom they identified as the Queen of Sheba in the Bible (I Kings 10:1—13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1—12). The Solomonids further claimed that the son resulting from this union, Menelik, not only succeeded to the crown of Ethiopia but also brought the Ark of the Covenant to his homeland, where Ethiopians believe it resides today.

«

351

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of Diptych Mary Lady Our Zion Robert and Nancy Nooter Collection, Washington, D.C.; Walters Art Museum, 2001, by purchase

{ * Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Regardless of the historicity of this tradition, the Solomonids were avid defenders and patrons of Ethiopia’s Christian heritage, and none was more zealous than King Zara Yakob (r. 1434-1468).A centralizer of royal authority and a successful warrior, Zara Yakob also promoted with passion the cult of Our Lady Mary of Zion, instituting in the Ethiopian church calendar thirty feast days dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. He also was a patron of Mary’s iconography, employing at his court Fere Seyon,a monk and Ethiopia’s greatest painter of religious art. The first icon (sacred image) shown here was Byzantine-inspired and crafted in Bulgaria, an important neighbor of Constantinople that had accepted Byzantine Christianity in the ninth century (source 63). Dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, it portrays one of Byzantium’s favorite Marian motifs, Panagia Eleousa (All-Holy Tenderness). By the thirteenth century, this particular representation ofVirgin and Christ Child was ubiquitous throughout Byzantium and all societies, such as Russia and Bulgaria, that had adapted Byzantine Christianity to their native cultures. Inspired by imported Byzantine prototypes, it also became popular in the Latin West, especially Italy, right down through the Renaissance, where it was known as the Virgin of Tenderness. The second icon shown here is a painted, fifteenth-century wooden diptych (a “twofold” icon) probably by a student of Fere Seyon, which depicts Mary holding Jesus. They are flanked by the archangels Michael and Gabriel, both of whom were perceived as heavenly warriors by Christians in both East and West. In the facing panel are the Twelve Apostles and Saint Paul (Peter, to whom Jesus had given the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, as we saw in source 62, is the first apostle in the upper register and Paul is immediately behind him) along with a warrior saint on horseback. He is probably Saint Theodore, who was also widely venerated in Byzantium and the Latin West.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

. Describe and compare both icons. What are the significant similarities and the equally significant differences between these two works of art? 2. Warrior saints were popular in both Byzantium and Ethiopia (as well as the Latin West). Why do you think that was so? 3. It is often stated that Monophysites de-emphasize the humanity of Jesus. Based on the evidence presented by the Ethiopian diptych, how valid do you judge that statement to be? 4. The introduction to this source twice notes how Ethiopia was cut off from the Christian civilizations of Constantinople and Rome. In light of this evidence, evaluate the validity of that judgment.

Three Yoruba Stone Carvings 70 * THREE

SEATED

STATUES

FROM

OYO

Like the Ethiopians, the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa, who inhabit the forestlands that stretch from the edge of the savanna to the coast, trace their ancestry back to Arabia, in this case Mecca. Such oral traditions are suspect as historical

( hapter 10

Africa and the Americas

evidence and probably arose from a desire on the part of people who converted to Islam well after 1200 to create for themselves an Arab lineage. Whatever their origins, by the late fourteenth century, the Yoruba people had established a number of independent kingdoms in a region encompassed today by the present-day nations of Nigeria and Benin. One of the most important of these Yoruba kingdoms was Oyo. Although it reached its apogee as a regional power in the period 1600-1830, Oyo’s foundations as a city-state go back much earlier. Its first capital city, Old Oyo, located near the Niger River, was founded sometime between 800 and 1000.

NY Resource, Thompson/Art L. Jerry

A Yoruba Man

°

Congress of Library Photograph the courtesy

A Yoruba Woman

The Yoruba of Oyo and elsewhere were great artists, as well as state builders. The town of Esie in Nigeria is the site of a collection of more than one thousand soapstone carvings of human figures that have lain for centuries in a grove (see source 66 for a description of Ghana’s sacred groves). Each carving is an individual portrait, and it seems reasonable to infer that each represents a prominent, probably deceased, individual. The sculptures date to somewhere between 1100 and 1500 and seem to have come from either Old Oyo or the equally powerful Yoruba city-state of Ife. The sculptures pictured here are slightly over two feet in height. The first is a seated man with a staff in his left hand; the second a seated woman holding a cutlass that rests against her right shoulder. The third statue represents what seems to be an androgynous person holding a sword. Note the hats worn by the first and third individuals and the woman’s elaborate hairstyle. The height of each hat or hairstyle equals that of the face. Is this significant? The head of each person is also slightly out of proportion to the rest of the body. Is this a significant clue? Take note also of the three-stringed necklace each wears, and the scarification of each person’s face.The scars of the first two figures are clearly seen here; the third figure also has facial scars that are far less clear in this photo. Finally, study each person’s facial expression and body language.

Seated figure Esie, sword, with (soapstone), 1850 before Collection/Photo Nigerian/Private Dirk © Bridgeman Bakker/The Library Art

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas One theory is that the woman is an lyalode (mother in charge of external affairs), an important officer among the Yoruba. Although the specific functions of lyalodes differed from kingdom to kingdom and from era to era, it is clear that they enjoyed wide-ranging political, social, economic, and even military powers. Simply stated, the lyalode was a chief in her own right and one of the monarch’s main lieutenants. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Why does it seem likely that the third figure is androgynous? If so, is that significant? If significant, what inferences do you draw from it? 2. List and comment on all of the clues that lead us to infer that each figurine represents a person of significant authority. What do you think each symbol of authority represents? 3. Three of the sources in this chapter present evidence of the status of women in various areas of sub-Saharan West Africa. What is that evidence, and what do you infer from it? 4. Multiple Voices |, Il, lV, andV,as well as sources 36 and 62, contain images of persons of authority. Can you discover any common characteristics among all or most of these images? If so, what do those common characteristics suggest about how authority is perceived and portrayed across cultures and time?

The Americas The origins and time of arrival of the First Peoples of the Americas have been muchdebated issues for well over a century, but current science is providing tantalizing evidence that is helping scholars to understand the rich complexities that surround both subjects of inquiry. As always, each new piece of evidence raises additional questions.

Genetic studies have shown that Native Americans are most closely related to East Asians, but that is not the entire story. Recent genome analysis of a twentyfour-thousand-year-old skeleton of a four-year-old boy discovered in eastern Siberia,

whose DNA has close affinity with present-day American Indians, shows that some of the peoples who crossed into the Americas thousands of years ago carried with them the genes of West and Central Eurasians. Indeed, anywhere from fourteen to thirty-eight percent of the ancestry of contemporary Native Americans can be traced back to peoples from places other than East Asia who had migrated eastward into Siberia, some probably from as far away as Europe. But when did these Siberians reach the Americas? Further genetic evidence based on a study of living Siberian and American Indian populations strongly suggests that migrants from EastAsia reached the Western Hemisphere no more than eighteen thousand years ago.Archaeology has also produced some important clues. Datable artifacts in three widely separated archaeological sites—Cactus Hill in southeastern Virginia, Monte Verde in Chile, and the Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon—further indicate that hunter-gatherers inhabited North and South America at least as far back as fifteen

«

) © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 thousand years ago. The Monte Verde site is about fifteen thousand years old, and the earliest materials found at Cactus Hill are fifteen to seventeen thousand years old. The most recent discovery, human coprolites (fossilized excrement) found in large numbers in the Paisley Caves, has been reliably radio-carbon-dated to |4,300 years ago. As the picture now stands, and it will likely be revised as new evidence comes in, the First Americans arrived from northeast Asia in a series of waves that lasted at least six or seven thousand years. The persons who left behind evidence of their presence in Oregon probably represent migrants who had traveled to North America by hugging the coastline in small boats, because the glacial ice sheet that then covered present-day Alaska and western Canada would have been an almost insurmountable barrier. In other words, the landbridge, known as Beringia, that connected

Siberia and Alaska during the last ice age, might not have been a significant route of transit. The last major wave of migration probably occurred as recently as eight thousand years ago, as various newcomers also traveled from northeastern Asia in small boats, stopping at various locations along the western shores of the Americas. Whenever it began and however it occurred, the initial peopling of the Americas was an epochal event (or, better, series of events) rivaled in magnitude only by the demographic shifts that took place following the arrival in force of Europeans and Africans after 1492.With the advent of European and African peoples and their diseases, the whole population structure of the Americas underwent massive changes. During the many years that separated these two eras, the Americas witnessed a variety of other only slightly less monumental developments. One of the most consequential was the indigenous development of agriculture based on the cultivation of more than one hundred different crops unknown to the peoples of Africa and Eurasia. Chief among them were maize (“corn” in American English), potatoes, avocados, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts, cassava (manioc), and various types of beans, peppers (especially chilies), and squashes. By the time the Europeans arrived, agriculture was practiced from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon to the sub-arctic woodlands of eastern North America.As elsewhere, agriculture imposed restrictions on the behavior and social patterns of the cultivators and also produced enough food in a sufficiently regular manner to allow for the growth of dense populations. One result was the rise of civilizations, first in South America, Mexico, and Central America, and later in regions that are today part of the United States. Three of the major civilizations of North America were the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, the Hohokam, and the Mississippian Mound Culture, but they were not the only civilizations north of the Rio Grande. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Ancient Pueblo Peoples of the Colorado Plateau, who were probably an array of related ethnic groups, built cities at Chaco Canyon in present-day New Mexico, at Mesa Verde in present-day Colorado, at Canyon de Chelly in present-day Arizona, and at other sites in today’s Four Corners Region of the United States, which stand as silent testimony of their engineering skills. After 1300, they abandoned these cities as they undertook a great migration southward, probably in response to massive drought. The Hohokam (a name given them by the Tohono O’odham who now

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

reside in southern Arizona, it means “all used up”) of the Sonoran Desert produced a complex urban society based on their ability to construct and maintain some three hundred miles of irrigation canals in the region of present-day Phoenix, Arizona. Yet by 1450 their urban centers, which had been at their peak around 1300, had collapsed. Perhaps having outstripped the resources of a fragile environment, they were “all used up.” When Europeans arrived at Cahokia, the greatest of the Mississippian Mound Culture complexes, which today is located in East St. Louis, Illinois, it also had been long abandoned, probably also in response to massive drought.We shall see the Mississippian Peoples and their predecessors in Multiple Voices IX. Because they left no written records behind and abandoned their urban centers so long ago, these three North American civilizations remain somewhat mysterious, despite the considerable work of archaeologists over the past half century. Evidence they have left behind, however, makes it clear that all three par-

ticipated in widespread trade networks that reached far beyond their immediate regions. It is equally clear that although each was influenced to a greater or lesser extent by the cultures of Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), as the ball courts of the Hohokam and the platform mounds of the Hohokam and Mound Cultures bear witness, each was not a derivative of the earlier civilizations south of the Rio Grande. Unlike the civilizations north of the Rio Grande, the various cultures of Mesoamerica, such as the Maya and the Mexica (Aztec), and of South America, such as the Inca, were vital entities when European conquerors and missionaries arrived on the scene. Despite the best attempts of many Europeans to efface the presumed devilish cultures that they had discovered, the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations would not be forgotten. The sources that follow shed light on cultures that flourished within the four distinctive but connected areas of the Americas—North America, Mesoamerica, South America, and the Caribbean—before the arrival of Europeans in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Life-Giving Water and Life-Affirming Love 71

* TWO

MAYAN

SCULPTURES

The Maya, one of Ancient America’s most brilliant civilizations, inhabited an area that today encompasses all of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and parts of the states of Tabasco and Chiapas, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western regions of Honduras and El Salvador. The Maya, today more than six million strong, continue to inhabit these lands and to maintain their traditions and related but often mutually incomprehensible Mayan languages. Far from being a vanished people, they are a vital culture, despite often violent attempts since the sixteenth century and down to today to repress and acculturate them. The Maya did not create the first civilization in pre-colonial Mesoamerica. That disaround civilization a formed who Olmec, the as know we people a to belongs tinction

) © Continuity,

Change, and Interchange:

500-1500

1500 b.c.£. along Mexico’s Gulf Coast and fashioned many of the distinguishing cultural characteristics shared by all Mesoamerican civilizations, including a complex calendar and massive ceremonial complexes.A distinctive Mayan civilization began to flourish in what is known as the Late Preclassical Age (300 B.c.c.—250 c.£.), when the Maya constructed a number of monumental temple complexes. In the subsequent Classical Age (300-925), Mayan genius soared, but it was accompanied by turmoil and uneven fortunes. Between roughly 800 and 925, Mayan civilization witnessed glory, tragic decline, and triumph. Some areas of the Mayan world suffered profound political, social, and demographic dislocation. In the southern lowlands, thrones were toppled and cities abandoned, whereas in the Yucatan Peninsula, the northernmost area of Mayan civilization, there was prosperity and growth. During the latter days of the tenth century, however, a second Mayan collapse took place, and most cities in the Yucatan were abandoned, apparent victims of overpopulation and environmental degradation. Perhaps as a consequence of their own failings, the Maya of the north fell under the domination of the Toltecs from the highlands of central Mexico. Mayan civilization was not snuffed out, but its days of glory and independence were over. Today’s visitor to the lands of the Maya is awed by the recovered remains of their cities, such as Palenque. But Mayan artistic genius was not confined to the construction of great temples. The Maya excelled in all of the representational arts, including crafting monumental stone carvings and delicate ceramic figurines. The following figures represent these extremes. The first is a seven-foot limestone statue of Chac (also spelled Chaac and Chahk), the Mayan god of storms and rain, which was produced in the Yucatan between about 800 and 900 c.£. For the Maya, water was the central element of the universe. Moreover, unlike the rain forest environment to the south in which many classical-era Mayan cities had been located, the northern Yucatan is arid. Given these two factors, it was only natural that Chac was a primary deity for the northern Maya. Indeed, the rulers of this region incorporated Chac’s name into their throne titles to signify their identity with him and his power over water. Here,we see Chac wearing a helmet or headdress, facial armor,a knot at his throat, and a loincloth tied with a square knot.The four-part knot at his throat represents the Mayan concept of a world consisting of four parts, or cardinal directions, each ruled by a different manifestation of Chac. He holds in his right hand a war club or axe; the two depressions in the weapon once held razor-sharp obsidian blades. His missing left arm once held a shield. The striations on his lower legs signify the scales of a crocodile, an amphibious animal with which he was associated. The ceramic figurine known today as the Embracing Couple is not quite ten inches tall. It comes from Jaina, an island in the Bay of Campeche off the western shore of the Yucatan Peninsula, and dates from the Late Classical Period (700-925). The island was a religious sanctuary and necropolis (city of the dead), where important Maya of the period were buried.All statuettes discovered there are hollow and fitted with whistles at their backs.We can only guess at their ceremonial use.Whatever their purpose, they are vivid portraits of flesh-and-blood Maya who lived more than one thousand years ago, and they also provide us with some tantalizing clues regarding Mayan life.

Chapter 10 Africa and the

Americas

« 361

Library Art Bridgeman Fund/The Endowment Bequest/Fund New and Kay Margaret Katherine Purchase, Society USA/Founders Arts, of Institute Mayan/Detroit

pigments), with (terracotta Couple Embracing

NY Resource, Art Image Art. of Museum Metropolitan The © copyright Image source:

Embracing Couple

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What do you think Chac’s club or axe represents? 2. What do you think the swirls on either side of the knot at his throat represent?

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange:

500-1500

3. As god of storms and rain, Chac brought both destruction and life. The former function is clear in this statue; the latter is more subtly symbolized. Can you identify how the sculptor represented Chac’s life-giving function? 4. Compare this statue with Indra’s victory over Vritra (source 9). Do you perceive any commonalities? If so, what are they and what do they mean? 5. Compare this statue with Bato Kannon (source 39).Whatever, if anything, do they have in common? 6. The Embracing Couple has been variously interpreted. Some see it as the union of the moon-goddess and the sun-god. Others view it as evidence of the sophistication of Mayan society that could depict a common aspect of human life and love. What might that be?A third interpretation is that this is also a comic scene.What is the joke? What is your interpretation of this figurine? Defend it. 7. Based on these two works of art, what do you conclude about Mayan interest in the human face and form?

The Aztec Marketplace 72 * BERNARDINO DE SAHAGUN, GENERAL THINGS OF NEW SPAIN

HISTORY

OF THE

Bernardino de Sahagun (ca. |1499—1590),a member of the Franciscan Order of Friars, arrived as a missionary in Mexico in 1529. He soon developed what became a lifelong interest in the cultures of the native peoples of New Spain, as Mexico was then known, and an abiding affection and respect for these new subjects of the Spanish Crown.An extraordinary linguist, Fray Bernardino mastered Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Mexica (Aztecs) and other peoples of central Mexico, and his fluency allowed him to pioneer the field of Mesoamerican ethnography. His love of learning, combined with a fascination with the ways of life and belief of the Mexica

people and a desire to be an effective missionary, led him to undertake systematic fieldwork aimed at a comprehensive understanding of the history and traditions of Aztec society. In conducting his field research, Sahagun employed native assistants, several of whom had been educated at the College of Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, the first European institution of higher learning in the Americas. Fray Bernardino and his assistants, using prepared sets of questions, gathered information from Mexica elders and other authorities, both men and women (for he realized that women are key keepers and transmitters of culture), whom they interviewed individually and in groups in order to evaluate the worth of their testimony. Sahagun’s work, the product of more than twenty-five years of investigation, was essentially completed around 1562 and presented in written form to his fellow Franciscans, although he continued to edit and polish it thereafter, and consequently several manuscript versions of his findings were produced in his lifetime. The Franciscans largely supported his work, but many other Spaniards opposed it because they believed his efforts to preserve the memory of native culture threatened their policy of Christianizing the indigenous inhabitants of New Spain. As a result, the General History of the Things of New Spain was not printed in Sahagun’s day or for several centuries thereafter. Its several manuscript versions were deposited in various

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

«

archives in Mexico and Europe, where most were lost, and the survivors gathered dust until discovered and published in the nineteenth century. The work's best-preserved version is a manuscript known as the Florentine Codex, which contains parallel columns in Nahuatl and Spanish and 2,468 illustrations drawn by his assistants. Divided into twelve books, which individually focus on such topics as “The Gods,” “Ceremonies,” “Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy,” and “Kings and Lords,” the codex (a bound manuscript) runs for twenty-four hundred pages. The following excerpt and illustrations that follow it come from Book 9, which describes the professional and social-religious practices of Mexica merchants and the craft of artisans who produced high-end, high-profit commodities.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Can you find any clues in this account indicating that the testimony was a response to prepared questions by persons whose main form of memory-keeping was oral tradition? 2. How trustworthy do you find this testimony? Be specific in supporting your answer. 3. What do you think was the function of the two principal merchants of each reign? Were they the city’s only merchants? On what evidence do you base your theory? 4. What is the underlying story behind this reign-by-reign catalogue of mercantile goods? 5. What gives value to a particular commodity? Based on this account and the first illustration, which commodities did Aztec society value most highly? Why? 6. What is the person in the second illustration doing, and how does it relate to this account?

Concerning the merchants [and] artisans of gold,

precious stones, and elegant’ feathers. Chapter 1: The Founding of commerce in Mexico’ and Tlatilulco.*

When

commerce

began in Mexican Tlatilulco,

its sole ruler was Cuacuauhpitzahuac,’ and the two

principal merchants were one named Itzcoatzin and

The following describes the manner in which mer-

the other Tziuhtecatzin. Their sole merchandise was parrot feathers. Some were red, which were known as cuezal,’ others were blue and known as cuitla-

chants of old carried on their trade.

texotli, and others were colored scarlet, which they

Source: Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espafia, 2 vols., Alfredo Lopez Austin and Josefina Garcia Quintana, eds. (Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1988), 2:538-539. Translated by Alfred J. Andrea. Copyright ~ © 2014.All rights reserved. 'Rica. This adjective, which normally means “rich” or“costly,” appears throughout this account and will consistently be translated as “elegant.”

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. 3More commonly Tlatelolco, it was a Mexica city-state near Tenochtitlan and part of the Aztec Alliance. It was also the

premier mercantile center of the Aztec Empire. Today it is part of Mexico City. Fray Bernardino directed his research from the Colegio de la Santa Cruz de Santiago Tlatelolco (College of the Holy Cross of Saint James of Tlatelolco), where he was a professor. ‘The first known ruler of Tlatilulco/Tlatelolco, he lived during the fifteenth century. *The quetzal, a bird of the Mexican highlands to which this seems to refer, has red breast feathers. See note 7.

, Sj=

Mexica Artisan at Work fh

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* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Mexica Merchants and Their Wares

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas called chamulli. These were the sole three items traded.

cut stones, which they call tewxihuitl,'* and enor-

After the aforesaid lord died, another ruler was

fashioned skins of wild animals, and other elegant

chosen,° named

Tlacateutl, and in his time the

two principal merchants were one named Cozmatzin and the other Tzompantzin. In their time

they began to sell and buy feathers known as quetzalli,” and turquoise stones known as xihuitl,® and those green stones called chalchihuit,? and also cotton blankets and cotton loincloths, whereas before

they wore only blankets and loincloths made from agave fibers and women also wore shifts and skirts of agave fiber known as ichtli.'° Upon the death of this third lord,'' another was chosen named Cuauhtlatoatzin. In his time the two principal merchants were one named Tollamimich-

mous green stones!’ and long quetzal feathers, and

feathers that are called zacuan,'“ 14 and others called xiuhtototl,” and others called teugquechol.'° When this lord died, a fourth was chosen, named

Moquihuixtzin. In his time the two principal merchants were one named Popoyotzin and the other Tlacochintzin. In their time they began to buy and sell elegant blankets that are called tlapalecacozcayo'’ and others called xomoihuitilmatli'® and others called thuiticatetecomayo,"” and also elegant loincloths with embroidered tassels that were two or three spans in length and width, and also elegant skirts and shifts, and also blankets eight fathoms long”? with a tight, twisted weave, and also [trade

tzin and the other Micxochtziyautzin. In their time they began to buy and sell gold ear plugs and gold

in] cacao’! began at this time. And all other com-

rings, and necklaces of gold, and necklaces of blue

greater abundance than before.

°As Fray Bernardino reported in his General History, Aztec rulers were elected by a group of leading men. 7Nahuatl for “large brilliant tail feather.’ This refers to the iridescent green or golden-green tail and back feathers of the quetzal. “Green stone” is the usual Nahuatl word for“turquoise,” an opaque blue or green mineral. See also notes 9, 12,and 13. “Precious green stone.” It might refer to a higher grade of turquoise or to Mexican jade. See notes 8, 12, and 13. 'Known also as maguey, it is a coarse fiber often used in the weaving of baskets. ''The correct “second” was struck out in the Spanish version, which is translated here, and the incorrect “third” was substituted. The reason for the error was sloppy translation from the Nahuatl original and an ill-considered attempt to correct it. The Nahuatl version of the text

correctly reads: “The third who was installed as ruler was Quauhtlatoatzin.” “Divine turquoise.” This blue turquoise was apparently considered to be of highest quality. 'SApparently an inferior turquoise or some other green stone.

modities already mentioned began to be traded in

“The Venezuelan troupial, a bird native to parts of South America and the Caribbean. 'SThe blue cotinga, native to the tropics of Meso- and South America. 'SThe roseate spoonbill, noted for its large, pink wing feathers. '™Red wind jewel design.” '8White duck-feather blankets. 'SCup-shaped design in feathers. 20A fathom is six feet in length. Unsweetened chocolate.

Governing the Inca Empire 73 » GARCILASO OF THE INCAS

DE LAVEGA, ROYAL COMMENTARIES

In addition to accounts composed by scholar-missionaries such as Bernardino de

Sahagun, we have written records, engraved on stone and written on parchment, from the hands of pre-Conquest Mesoamericans. Needless to say, they are invaluable for filling out our picture of the cultures of this region. The same is not true for South America.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Until recently, scholars believed that no indigenous civilization of South America produced a system of writing.A book published in 2003 challenges that notion and argues that the Inca Empire’s quipus, knotted strings used for record keeping, constituted a highly complex system of three-dimensional writing that Spanish colonists (as well as almost all modern scholars) failed to recognize as more than just abacuslike devices that allowed Inca functionaries to perform numerical calculations. The failure by Spaniards and historians alike to look beyond the apparently obvious was due to their shared assumption that writing can only be two-dimensional. This new hypothesis needs further study and testing, especially through computer analysis of extant quipus, before it can be accepted or rejected. Whatever the truth, as the situation currently stands, even if the quipus were a form of writing, we cannot yet decipher them. This absence of decipherable written records for the peoples of South America prior to the arrival of the Spaniards means that our only current sources for their preConquest history are archaeological artifacts and accounts composed by sixteenthand early-seventeenth-century American Indian and Spanish writers who labored to preserve the memory of a past in imminent danger of being lost forever. One such ethnohistorian was Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616), known to his contemporaries as“El Inca” because his mother was Inca royalty (whereas his father was a Spanish conquistador). Inca means “man of royal blood” in Quechua, the language of the Andean people who had created this vast empire. Although historians now apply the term to the empire and all the peoples within it, Garcilaso proudly bore the title as a symbol of his special lineage. His privileged birth assured him a first-class, dual education in the cultures of the Incas and Spain. Born in the empire’s former capital of Cuzco and a native speaker of Quechua, Garcilaso was well situated to learn the history and culture of his mother’s people. Fluent also in Spanish, his father’s tongue, and in Latin, the language of European scholarship, Garcilaso was also able to read the accounts of other scholars who had investigated the cultures and histories of the peoples of the Andes. When it came time to compose his own history of the Incas, he liberally cited and quoted these learned predecessors. No less learned were de la Vega’s maternal uncles, who told him numerous stories of their Inca forebears during their weekly visits to his mother’s home. With his head filled with this oral tradition, it was almost inevitable that Garcilaso de la Vega should endeavor to explain his rich heritage to Spaniards in Spain, where he took up residence in 1561 and remained for the rest of his life. The result was the massive Royal Commentaries of the Incas, which proudly details the accomplishments of Garcilaso’s Inca ancestors and the empire they had created. The work is divided into two parts. The first, a detailed account of the history and culture of the Incas, was printed in 1609. The second, which appeared under the innocuous title General History of Peru, is a history of the Spanish conquest of the empire. Perhaps because of its controversial nature, it only appeared in print in

1617—more than six months after his death.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas * 367 Our excerpt comes from Part I, in which de la Vega describes several of the means that the Incas used to govern their empire—the largest on Earth by the end of the fifteenth century.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Governing an empire as large as that commanded by the Incas demanded special means of communication and supervision. How, according to de la Vega, did the Incas achieve the goal of establishing their authority throughout the empire and ensuring effective government? 2. How would you characterize the tone and reliability of this account? Be specific in citing evidence to support your conclusions. 3. Assuming that the essential outlines of de la Vega’s account are correct, how would you characterize the ideals or principles that underlay Incan government? 4. Again, assuming the essential correctness of the details provided by de laVega, how effective do you think this system was? Why do have you reached that conclusion?

They made a census of their subjects... . As the basis and foundation of their government,

the Incas designed a law by which it seemed to them

they could prevent and attack those evils

that might spring up in the lands they ruled over. To this end, they mandated that within all towns,

large or small, in their empire neighbors were to

there were decuries of ten, of fifty, of a hundred, of

five hundred, of a thousand, with their decurions or section leaders, who were subordinated one to the other, lesser to the greater up to the final and highest decurion, whom we have called “general.”

Two duties that the decurions had

be registered by tens into decuries.' One of the ten,

The decurions of ten were obligated to perform two

called a decurion,* had charge of the other nine. Five decuries of ten people had a superior decurion, who was responsible for fifty people. Two decuries of fifty had another superior who looked after the one hundred. Five decuries of one hundred were

duties in regard to the members of their decury, or

subject to another captain-decurion, who took care of the five hundred. Two companies of five hun-

squad. ‘The first was to be a diligent and caring advocate for assistance in cases of need that arose, bring-

ing notice of the cases to the governor or any other minister who had the responsibility of providing for them, such as to request grain if they had none either to sow or to eat, or wool to wear, or to rebuild

dred answered to a general, who had control over

their house if it had collapsed or burned down, or

the one thousand. The decuries never exceeded one

in any other case of need, great or small. The other

thousand neighbors because they said that it suf

duty was to be prosecutor and accuser regarding any offense perpetrated by anyone of his squad, however slight it might be, which he was obligated to report

ficed to entrust a thousand men to an individual for him to give a good account of himself. Thus “ Source: Obras completas del Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Vol. 2, ed. Carmelo Saenz de Santa Maria, S.J. (Madrid:Atlas, 1963),

pp. 58-59. Translated by Alfred J.Andrea, copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. 'Garcilaso often used the analogy of ancient Rome to explain the workings and course of the Inca Empire to his Spanish

readership.A decury (Latin decuria) was both a military and civil institution in the Roman Republic, whereby a group of nine individuals was led by a tenth, who bore the title “decurion.”

*See note |.

¢ Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

to his superior decurion, who either applied punishment for this offense or [referred it] to another, more superior [decurion] because, according to the

gravity of the crime, some judges were superior to

who watched over him, he sought diligently and carefully to do his duty well and fulfil his obligations. Therefore, there were no vagabonds or idlers, and no one dared do anything he should not do because

others, and others to others, so that there was never

a prosecutor was nearby and punishment was severe,

a lack of someone to punish a crime quickly. Thus, there was no need to take each offense to superior judges with appeals again and still again. They said that delaying punishment encouraged many to

which for the most part was death, however slight

the crime. For they said that they did not punish the crime that had been committed or the wrong done but for having transgressed the command and

commit crime, and civil suits could become end-

broken the word of the Inca, whom they respected

less through numerous appeals, arguments of fact,

as a god. If the person who had been offended did not bring a complaint or did not institute a suit, in its absence justice proceeded along established legal lines as a part of the regular duties of officers, and

and objections, and the poor, rather than experiencing so much trouble and delay, would be forced

to forego justice and lose their possessions because thirty would be spent to recover ten.’ Therefore, they stipulated that every town would have a judge who would render a final decision in suits that arose between inhabitants, except for those that were presented between one province and another regarding pasturage or boundaries. For those the Inca sent a special judge, as we shall say.’ Any and all officials, be they of lesser or higher rank, who failed in the proper pursuit of their office as advocate incurred a penalty and were punished for

they applied the full penalty prescribed by law in each case in accordance with its degree, be it death, flogging, exile, or similar penalties.

A minor son was punished for a crime that he committed just like everyone else, in accordance with the

gravity of his guilt, even though it was no more than what they call “the shenanigans of boys.” The penalty was increased or decreased in accordance with his age and degree of innocence, and the father was harshly

aided. And he who, without sufficient cause, failed

punished son from vous and with the

to immediately denounce a crime, even if the delay

father of any crime. For this reason parents raised

was a single day, made another's crime his own and was punished for two offenses: one for not properly performing his duty; the other for another person's transgression, which he had made his own through silence. Inasmuch as each one who had been made a leader was subject to the supervision of a prosecutor

their children with great care so that they would not commit shameless antics in the streets or fields. Given

it, with greater or lesser severity in accordance with

the need that their negligence had allowed to go un-

*De la Vega not so subtly compares the seemingly endless appeals of Europe’s systems of law with the summary justice of the Inca Empire. In Europe’s civil and church courts, non-criminal cases could and often did drag on endlessly as wealthy plaintiffs and defendants filed appeal after appeal through their lawyers until they wore down or bankrupted the opposition. ‘In the next chapter de la Vega notes that in cases between provinces or kingdoms within the empire involving

for not having instructed and corrected his childhood so that he not grow up mischiehave bad habits. The decurion was charged duty of equally accusing the son and the

the gentle nature of Indians, the boys grew up so well under the tutelage of their parents that there was no difference between them and meek lambs.

boundaries or grazing rights the Inca sent a judge of royal blood who investigated the situation and rendered a decision in the Inca’s name, thereby making it inviolable law. If the judge could not resolve the case, he referred it to the Inca with a full report of the circumstances. If the Inca accepted the report, he rendered a judgment. If the report did not satisfy him, he suspended the case until he could visit the area, see everything for himself, and then render a decision.

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas

Multiple Voices IX

Not-So-Silent Stone: Mound Culture

Pipes and Taino Cemis BACKGROUND The term “Mound Peoples” refers to a vast array of loosely connected American Indian cultures that flourished for at least four thousand years, from about 2500 B.c.e. (or earlier) to as late as 1700 c.e.and ranged on a north-south axis from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and on an east—west axis from present-day western New York to eastern Oklahoma. Within those vast parameters of time and space, there were two classical eras: the Adena-Hopewell Period from about 500 B.c.e. to around 400 c.e. and the Mississippian Period, which enjoyed its era of efflorescence from about 900 to around 1300.As the term “Mound Peoples” denotes, in addition to the trade networks that connected them, they shared a propensity for constructing earthen mounds. The mounds fall into four categories: effigy mounds, which represented some significant animal, such as a snake or alligator; platform-topped ceremonial mounds,.on which presumably religious functions were performed; burial mounds, which contained the bodies and goods of important persons; and geometric mounds, which might have served as points from which to observe seasonal celestial phenomena, such as lunar and solar risings and settings. Adena Culture derives its name from Adena Mound near Chillicothe, Ohio, which

was excavated in 1901, thereby offering an initial glimpse of a burial-mound culture that embraced a number of different tribes and ethnicities that shared common burial and ceremonial practices during the period from approximately 1000 B.c.e. to about 100 c.e., although Adena mound-building only commenced sometime after

500 b.c.e. The culture was centered on the central Ohio River Valiey, essentially presentday southern Ohio, but Adena sites were located outward from that center in a radius of about 150 miles,and Adena artifacts, especially its pipes, have been found as far north as the Saint Lawrence River in Canada and as far south as the Chesapeake Bay. Raw materials for Adena items included copper from the Great Lakes and shells from the Gulf of Mexico. Adena Culture persisted well into the first century c.£., but even before then it was giving way to the Hopewell Tradition, which receives its name from a man on whose farm a large number of mounds and artifacts were excavated in 1891-1892. Hopewell Culture probably originated around 300 B.c.e. outside of the Ohio River Valley but migrated into that region, where it merged with, borrowed from, and built upon the Adena Tradition. Hopewell’s expanse was far greater than that of its predecessor; at its height, its mound complexes reached from the northern shore of Lake Ontario to northern Florida and from present-day eastern Kansas and Texas

+

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 to Western New York. Just as significant, the Hopewell Exchange System, which is discussed above, brought to the Eastern Woodlands raw materials from as far away as Idaho and Wyoming. Around the year 350 Hopewell Culture and its exchange system began to decline, due to unknown factors, and by around 500 or a bit later both had disappeared, but elsewhere mounds continued to be constructed. The next great mound-building tradition and culture was the Mississippian, which lasted from roughly 700 to about 1700 c.e., but which was in decline after 1300. Between roughly 1050 and 1200, the Mississippian Mound Builders created the city of Cahokia at a site outside present-day East St. Louis, Illinois, and along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. At its height in the mid-thirteenth century, Cahokia included as many as 120 mounds, the largest of which covered fourteen acres and rose to an altitude of one hundred feet. Population estimates range from fifteen thousand to close to forty thousand. If this huge settlement held as many as thirty thousand, its size would have been on a par with the great contemporary cities of Mesoamerica and Western Europe. Around 1400 this once densely populated and sophisticated city was abandoned for reasons beyond our current knowledge, although Mississippian Culture did not disappear just yet. While Cahokia flourished, smaller but culturally similar Mississippian centers existed as far west as present-day eastern Oklahoma and as far south as present-day northern Florida, and a number of them persisted into the sixteenth century. The first Americans whom Columbus encountered were the Tainos, who migrated in waves from South America to the Caribbean between about 1000 and 1450 and settled in present-day Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, jamaica, and the Virgin Islands. Columbus reported in his Letter Concerning Recently Discovered Islands of 1493 that these people were not “idolaters,” meaning they did not worship idols,or sacred statues (Chapter | 1,source 85). He was wrong: According to the first European to study the Tainos, Father Ramon Pane, a Spanish missionary who, beginning in late 1493, lived among the Tainos, mastered their language, and composed a detailed report on their culture, they worshiped cemis (or zemis). Cemis were believed to be the protective spirits of deities or ancestors that were encapsulated in images made from stone, bone, shell, wood, ceramic, and even cotton. They were also carved as pictures onto rocks and other surfaces. Cemis that had been crafted in three dimensions varied in size from small amulets worn on the body to statues kept in houses. Cemis were said to command Taino artisans as to how they were to be fashioned and had the power to transform themselves and also to wander about on their own. They could predict the future, guarantee victory in battle, control the elements, and heal the sick and injured.

THE SOURCES The most interesting artifact excavated from an Adena burial mound is a tubular effigy-pipe portraying a standing man wearing a loincloth with a serpentine decoration, prominent earplugs, and a turkey-feather fan-tail. Carved out of soft stone, its tapering mouthpiece is at the top of the effigy’s head and the tobacco bowl is

Chapter 10 Africa and the Americas ° located between his feet. Significantly, it is the only known human effigy produced in the Adena Era. The Hopewell Culture produced large numbers of highly polished effigy platform pipes consisting of a horizontal tube surmounted by an effigy. The vast majority of platform pipes that have been excavated from burial and other types of mounds contain representations of animals, especially birds. Rarely do they portray humans. The platform pipe we are studying was unearthed along with human remains in Illinois and depicts a beaver with inlaid eyes made from river pearls and teeth of bone. The mouthpiece is so situated that the smoker would be gazing directly into the beaver’s eyes. The size of the rear claws is exaggerated, possibly to draw attention to the beaver’s powerful tail. Human effigies were much more common in the pipes of the Mississippian Mound-Builders. Our third stone pipe, discovered in a burial site overlooking Macoupin Creek in Illinois, is Cahokian in style and probably was crafted between 1050 and | 300. Known today as the Macoupin Creek Figure Pipe, it depicts a crouching male with a rattle in his right hand.A snake or snake skin (which is difficult for you to see clearly) is wrapped around his neck, a decorative conch shell sits atop his head, and he has bead ear decorations and a raccoon-skin headdress (also difficult for you to see). Our first cemi, a Taino deity carved out of ironwood with inlaid shell teeth, was discovered in the Dominican Republic. The second cemi, carved from manatee bone and also discovered in the Dominican Republic, is embedded in a shaman’s cohoba inhaler. The tubes on either side of the cemi’s image fit into each nostril. Shamans were common among American Indian cultures, serving as intermediaries between the visible and spirit worlds, and they generally did so by undergoing rituals that they believed enabled them to be transformed into powerful animals or superhuman beings. Taino shamans, known as bohutis, were believed to be able to journey into spiritual realms, where most living humans could not go. There they would communicate with the cemis and gain superhuman power or wisdom, which they would bring back to the community. Such powers included healing the sick, interpreting the will of a particular cemi, and foretelling the future. In preparation for this journey, they inhaled a hallucinogenic snuff known as cohoba.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Consider the Adena Pipe Man and the man depicted in the Cahokian pipe. What strike you as more significant, their similarities (if any) or differences? Does your answer help you to infer who or what they were? 2. Continuing the issue raised in the first question, now consider all three pipe effigies. Do they suggest anything about the probable function of these pipes? 3. There is no way that the first Taino cemi had any direct relationship with the Adena Pipe Man; the chronological gap and geographic distance were too great. And yet, there are at least a few apparent similarities between the two. Can you think of any way to explain those apparent similarities?

4. Does the cohoba inhaler have any relationship whatsoever with any of the other four items? If so, what is or are the relationship(s)? 5. Consider the artistry (or lack thereof) of all five items. What inferences do you draw from your study of their artistic merits?

Pipe Adena Ohio from Man Society, Historical the #A1200/000010 Inventory

Adena Pipe Man

Adena Pipe Man

Society Historical hio

Meigr] uy uewabpug ayy /iaxx2g WIG © O}0Ud/VSN ‘YO ‘eS|NL ‘wNasny\y ases19|19 SewoY | HOW 00¥—99 00Z) aunyjno |jamedoy eueAe} '(auOg g ‘ead ‘auoysadid) gy 00Z—JG 001 ‘edid wiope\d AByJe Janeag

Beaver Effigy Pipe

Aig uy uewabpug ay)/Jaxxeg 41d @ O0Ud/YSN AO “eSINL ‘wnasny/\

Macoupin Creek Figure Pipe

aseasa[i9 Sewoy! /(00S1—008"9) aunyjnd uelddississiy\y ‘(8y1xNeq) ODEL—OOOL ‘eroyed ‘adid Abyye uewny

’=

‘1 CAS

Chapte Zuel Kida V1C ‘a and the Amer

Ajag aINBY ‘(IWaz) UedIUIWOGaI\gnday PoomuUO!) Y “(\Jays oure) MOA 0}0Ud/WSN @ uN}og ainyaig /Aieiq'] ayy uewabpug uy Aesqr]

ueWodonayy/aumjng wnasnyy JO LY

MEN

Taino Deity

Mesgr] uy uewabpug ay) /jaxxeg

Jajeyu] e119 ‘ojenawy ueoiuiwog @oyd/ai\qnday WIG aayeueU) ‘(auog OUle| eqoyo) UO}oepuN4/aunyjng

Cohoba Inhaler

Chapter | |

Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries A Half Millennium of Travel and Encounter: |!000—1500 HE ERA FROM 1000 to 1500 was marked by large-scale movements of individuals _ and peoples across much of Afro-Eurasia, and it also witnessed direct contacts between Europe and the Americas. The first of the recorded contacts between Europeans and Americans was a dead end; the second became an epochal event that set the history of the entire human community onto a new plane. Whereas the exploits of Scandinavian seafarers who reached the shores of North America around 1000 left no permanent imprint on either the Americas or Europe, the arrival of Spaniards in the Americas just before 1500 transformed the Americas, Europe, and, ultimately, the world. . Long before Columbus and his Portuguese counterparts set sail, however, AfroEurasia was well on its way toward becoming the home of an increasingly interconnected human community. As we saw in Chapter 10, during this half century,

fii

the Swahili Coast of East Africa became an important element in a vast network

of Indian Ocean commerce, and in sub-Saharan West Africa trading empires and

Seago Ses

kingdoms, such as Mali, were essential to the operation of a mercantile system that

transported large amounts African gold and other commodities to Islamic, Western European, and Byzantine communities throughout North Africa and much of Eurasia.

Just as many sub-Saharan Africans were now significant partners in an expanding

375

mel EPO:

ie oe ty a

° Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 Afro-Eurasian Ecumene, so also other “new peoples” became prominent players and even driving forces in this process. Turks out of the steppes of Central Asia converted to Islam and then spread their faith and culture into India, the Balkan region of southeastern Europe, and deeper into their traditional Central Asian homeland as they carved out and expanded a variety of states. In Western Europe, Scandinavian adventurers (known as Vikings, Norse, and Northmen) first pillaged and then settled in Ireland, England, western France, Iceland, Greenland, and various other places. With the exception of the Scandinavians who settled in Russia and accepted Byzantine Christianity, the Vikings converted to Western Christianity, and during the eleventh century, these new members of the faith of Rome became a sharp cutting edge of militant, expansionistic Western Christendom. Norse who had settled in Normandy (the land of the Northmen) and had become Norman French expanded the boundaries of European Christendom into the Mediterranean. During the last half of the eleventh century, Norman adventurers conquered and seized southern Italy from the Byzantine Empire and Sicily from its Islamic overlords. These same Normans assaulted the Balkan possessions of the emperor at Constantinople and became an integral part of medieval Western Europe’s most energetic overseas adventure up to that time—the First Crusade. Of all the new catalysts of cultural exchange, the most explosive and important were the Mongols. In the course of the thirteenth century, they created a land empire that reached from the Pacific to Ukraine.After the initial shock of their conquests, they established an era of reasonable stability and peace that opened up lines of direct communication between East Asia and Western Europe. For about a century, people, goods, ideas, and even diseases traveled faster than ever before from one end of Eurasia to the other. A number of factors combined by 1400 to sever most of the overland routes between Europe and China that had opened up in the mid-thirteenth century. They included the onslaught in the mid-fourteenth century of the Eurasian-wide pandemic known in the West as the Black Death; a massive economic depression that affected lands and peoples throughout Eurasia; the breakup of the Mongol Empire around the middle of the fourteenth century; the disruption of the ancient Silk Road routes of Central Asia by the armies of the Turkish conqueror Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) between 1370 and 1405; the increasing antipathy toward foreigners and foreign adventure shown by China’s Ming Dynasty (1 368—1644);and the successes of the Ottoman Turks, who swept through Anatolia and the Balkans, finally capturing Constantinople in 1453. To be sure, after roughly 1350 there was still a trickle of Western contact with Central, South, and East Asia—a vast region that Western Europeans vaguely referred to as “the Indies.” In the later fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, a handful of European merchants and adventurers even managed to reach the waters of the Indian Ocean by way of either the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. Nevertheless, the heady days of regular mercantile and missionary contacts with Persia, India, and especially with the fabled land of Cathay, as northern China was called in the West,

had ended—at least for the moment.

Chapter

11

Adventurers,

Merchants,

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

l a Liars Set

«

With most land routes blocked, it fell to the kingdoms of Europe's Iberian Peninsula that had ports on the Atlantic to attempt contact with the Indies by way of the ocean. The results by 1500 were extraordinary. Spain supported an enterprise that resulted in the European discovery of the Americas, and Portugal pushed into the Indian Ocean by way of Africa and also discovered Brazil.

oe ie By

The World Perceived The Mongol Empire established an environment conducive to long-distance travel and cultural interchange by providing an avenue across Eurasia from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea. We would be wrong, however, to think that long-distance travel and cultural interaction occurred only as the result of conquest and statebuilding. Long before the rise of the Mongol Empire, hundreds of thousands, even millions, of anonymous men and women traveling as merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, diplomats, and curiosity seekers had already made long-distance travel and its consequent cultural exchanges an important historical phenomenon. This was especially true after 1000. Indian and Chinese merchants traveled to Southeast Asia, where they influenced the evolution of a hybrid culture that has been termed Indo-Chinese. Arabs and Berbers in camel caravans trekked across the desert to trade salt and manufactured goods for the gold, ivory, and slaves of sub-Saharan West Africa. Italian merchants established bases in the Black Sea on the western edge of Central Asia. African, Arab, Indian, Southeast Asian, Chinese, and even a few European sailors shared the waters of the Indian Ocean. Pilgrims of many different faiths often traveled great distances to worship at their holy sites. Islamic and Christian missionaries, motivated by devotion and love, labored among foreign peoples whom they believed would be damned to Hell without spiritual guidance. Envoys in the service of princes and spiritual leaders regularly carried important messages to faraway potentates, and some states, such as Genoa and Venice, established resident ambassadors in distant lands. Then there were the curiosity seekers and adventurers, who traveled simply for the sheer joy and experience of it all. Despite attractive incentives and compelling motives, almost everyone setting out on a long journey during these centuries had to understand that what lay ahead was an experience that would be exhausting, tedious, expensive, and hazardous in the extreme. Piracy on the seas and banditry on land were so common that the capture of travelers for ransom became a standard enterprise across Afro-Eurasia. It was such a fact of life and travel within the Mediterranean and adjacent lands that the established ransom for a single captive, be the person man, woman, or child, Christian, Muslim, or Jew, was thirty-three and a third dinars—almost

five

ounces of pure gold. And yet piracy and banditry could not stop the flow. The sheer volume and variety of Afro-Eurasian travelers is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

RE RE a tah Se AU, Bie ae gsi cc

° Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 As the following three sources suggest, all of this travel and cross-cultural interchange had a profound impact on the ways in which people learned of and envisioned the world beyond their immediate frontiers.

A Chinese View of the World 74°

ZHAU

RUGUA,A

DESCRIPTION

OF

FOREIGN

PEOPLES

During the Age of Southern Song (1127-1279), China carried on extensive overseas trade, especially in the Indian Ocean. Indeed, China was the world leader in naval technology, with ships that were larger and more seaworthy than those of any other culture. Chinese ships sailed as far west as the Arabian Peninsula and the northern regions of Africa’s east coast, although most Chinese oceanic commerce was conducted nearer to home in the port cities of Southeast Asia and India, where merchants from many lands traded for both local commodities and goods brought from points quite a bit farther away. Toward the mid-thirteenth century, a man named Zhau Rugua was appointed Inspector of Foreign Trade for the province of Fujian in South China. His chief duty was to levy and collect tariffs on imported goods at Quanzhou, China’s most important port city. Known to Arab merchant-sailors as Zaitun and as Zayton to Marco Polo, who characterized it as “one of the two greatest harbors in the world for commerce,’ Quanzhou was probably the busiest port in the world for a span of at least several centuries. About all we know of Zhau Rugua is his name and the fact that he composed a descriptive catalogue of the various foreign peoples and products that China had come to know and know of through its trade networks. It is almost certain that none of his knowledge of overseas lands and cultures was first-hand. Rather, he borrowed liberally from an earlier handbook of this sort composed by Zhou Kufei in 1178. For the rest, Zhau Rugua appears to have gathered some of his information from Chinese merchants and sailors at Quanzhou, but most of it seems to have come from foreign merchants, especially Arabs. China’s southern coastal cities, as well as its interior cities along the Silk Road, were home to large communities of resident alien merchants, who were attracted by the enormous profit potential offered by commerce with the Middle Kingdom. It is no exaggeration to state that China was the engine that drove Eurasia’s economy during this half millennium. The lands that Zhau Rugua described extended from Spain and Morocco in the west to Borneo in the east, and the foreign commodities that he described included such exotics as rosewater from Arabia and ambergris from the waters off East Africa. Throughout his catalogue, Zhau Rugua makes clear the central role played by Arab merchant sailors, like Sinbad (source 58), in carrying this high volume and variety of goods throughout the waters of the Indian Ocean and beyond. Indeed, most of the foreign lands that Zhau Rugua catalogued were part of the expanding global community of Islam. For that reason, we turn to his descriptions of Arabia—a land he knew as the country of the Dashi—and southern Spain, which was still in Islamic hands.

Chapter

11

QUESTIONS

ldventurers,

Merchants,

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

«

FOR ANALYSIS

How accurately does Zhau Rugua describe the climate, landscape, and culture of the land(s) of the Dashi? What conclusions follow from your answer? 2 Assuming that Zhau Rugua reflects an informed Chinese view of the land(s) of the Arabs, how would you characterize the way in which the Arabs’ land, markets, and

products were seen by the Chinese? What conclusions follow from your answer? . What do the products traded by the Arabs suggest about commerce in the Indian Ocean in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries?

. How accurate is Zhau Rugua’s description of southern Spain and the regions to its north? What inferences follow from your answer? . Compare the voyage in Zhau Rugua’s day from Quanzhou to overseas lands with the voyage that Faxian made from Ceylon to China in the early fifth century (Multiple Voices IV, source 5).What changed, and what remained the same? What conclusions follow from your answers?

The Land of the Dashi' The Dashi are’ to the west and northwest of Quanzhou ata very great distance from it, so that foreign ships find it difficult to make a direct voyage there. After these ships have left Quanzhou they arrive in some forty days at Lanli,* where they trade. The following year they go to sea again, when with the aid of the regular wind,’ they take some sixty days

to make the journey. The products of the country* are for the most part brought to Sanfozi,’ where they are sold to merchants who forward them to China. This country of the Dashi is powerful and warlike. Its extent is very great, and its inhabitants are preeminent among all foreigners for their distinguished

bearing. The climate throughout a large part of it is cold, snow falling to a depth of two or three feet;

consequently rugs are much prized. The capital of the country, called Maluoba,° is an important center for the trade of foreign

peoples. . . . The streets are more than fifty feet broad; in the middle is a roadway twenty feet broad and four feet high for use of camels, horses, and oxen carrying goods about. On either side,

for the convenience of pedestrians’ business, there are sidewalks paved with green and bluish black

flagstones ofsurpassing beauty. . . . Very rich persons use a measure instead ofscales in business transactions ofgold or silver. The mar-

kets are noisy and bustling, and are filled with a

every sort, including marriages. The voyage of Faxian in

Source: Friedench Hirth and W. W. Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chi (Saint Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1911), pp. 111-116, 124— 125, 142-143, revised by A. J. Andrea.

‘Arabia. This sentence is confusing. The author has suddenly shifted his focus from merchants traveling by way of Sumatra

'The Arabs. This term might derive from tajir, the Arabic

to Arabia to merchants

word for merchant. 2A port on the extreme northwestern coast of the island of

China to Sumatra. ‘The port of Palembang on the southeast coast of Sumatra.

* Sumatra in Southeast Asia.

3The monsoon trade winds of the Indian Ocean. These winds not only carried rain (source 9) and propelled vessels but also necessitated long periods of waiting in foreign ports for their shift in direction. These enforced delays undoubtedly contributed to cultural exchanges of

Multiple Voices IV suggests the influence of these winds on sea travel.

bringing their goods destined for

6The coastal trading center of Merbat on the southwest

corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Aden, which was located in the same region and was the Arabs’ primary center for trade with Africa and India, is strangely not mentioned by name in this book.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 great store of gold and silver damasks, brocades,’ and

similar wares.

The

artisans

have

the true

The products of the country consist of pearls, ivory, rhinoceros horns,'* frankincense,'’ amber-

gris,"

artistic spirit. The king, the officials, and all the people serve

Heaven. They also have a Buddha by the name of Mahiawu.* Every seven days they cut their hair and

. cloves, nutmegs,

benzoin,'’

aloes,'°

myrrh,'’ dragon’s blood,'* . . . borax, opaque and transparent glass, . . . coral, cat’s eyes,'” gardenia flowers,

rosewater,

nutgalls,*?

20

yellow wax,

soft

clip their fingernails. At the New Year for a whole

gold brocades, camel’s hair cloth, . . . and foreign

month they fast and chant prayers.’ Daily they pray

satins.

to Heaven five times. The peasants work

The foreign traders who deal in these wares bring them to Sanfozi and to Foluoan?! to barter... .

their fields without

fear

day by day. Then it is that an official is appointed

The country of Magia” is reached by traveling eighty days westward by land from the country of Maluoba. This is where the Buddha Mahiawu was born. In the House of the Buddha” the walls are made ofjade stone of every color. Every year, when the anniversary of the death of the Buddha

to watch the river and to await the highest water

comes

level, when

then

of the Dashi assemble here, when they vie with

plow and sow their fields. When they have had

each other in bringing presents of gold, silver,

enough water, the river returns to its former level.'°

jewels, and precious stones. Then also is the House adorned anew with silk brocade. Farther off there is the tomb of the Buddha.” Continually by day and night there is at this place such a brilliant radiance that no one can approach

of floods or droughts; a sufficiency of water for

irrigation is supplied by a river whose source is not known. During the season when no cultivation is in progress, the level of the river remains even with the banks; with the beginning ofcultivation it rises

he summons

the people, who

There is a great harbor in this country, over two hundred feet deep, which opens to the southeast on the sea and has branches connecting with all quarters of the country.'' On either bank of the harbor the people have their dwellings and here daily are held fairs, where boats and wagons

crowd in, all

around,”

people from

all the countries

it; he who does is blinded. Whoever in the hour of

his death rubs his breast with dirt taken from this

laden with hemp, wheat, millet, beans, sugar, meal,

tomb will, so they say, be restored to life again by

oil, .. . fowl, sheep, geese, ducks, fish, shrimp, date

the power of the Buddha.

cakes, grapes, and other fruits.

’Richly patterned fabrics. See source 66, note 6, and source 67, note 20.

SMuhammad. °The month of Ramadan, twenty-nine or thirty days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan, the ninth lunar month in the Islamic calendar, is not associated with the Islamic New Year. '°A reference to Egypt’s Nile Valley. ''This seems to refer to Basra, located in southern Iraq at the head of the Persian Gulf. "Used for medicinal purposes and as a male aphrodisiac. Frankincense (also known as incense) is a resin from Yemen, in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. When burned it gives off a fragrant aroma.

'4A waxy substance that sperm whales expel and that is added to perfumes. 'SA tree resin used for medicine and perfume.

'SA laxative drug processed from the juice of African aloe plants. '7An aromatic resin that was used for perfume and incense and also as a mild narcotic. '®Another aromatic tree resin.

'"Semiprecious gems. *Tree burls, or knots, formed by parasites. They are highly prized by woodcarvers because of their interesting shapes.

*!Beranang, on the western coast of the Malay Peninsula. The city of Mecca. The Kaaba, the focal point of the hajj. Muslims believe it is the site of an altar constructed by Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ishmael to honor God. *The hajj (source 48) is not specifically connected to the anniversary of the Prophet's death, but Islam reveres the Prophet's last sermon, made while on his final pilgrimage.

>In Medina.

Chapter

Il

Adventurers,

Merchants,

Mulanpi”®

I Viplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

men. ‘The pomegranates weigh five catties,”” lemons

The country of Mulanpi is to the west of the Dashi country. There is a great sea, and to the west of this sea there are countless countries, but Mulanpi is the one country which is visited by the big ships of the Dashi. Putting to sea from Dobandi’’ in the coun* try ofthe Dashi, after sailing due west fora full hundred days, one reaches this country. A single one of these ships of theirs carries several thousand men,”* and on board they have stores of wine and provisions, as well as weaving looms. If one speaks of big ships, there are none so big as those of Mulanpi. The products of this country are extraordinary. The grains of wheat are three inches long, the melons

six feet round, enough for a meal for twenty or thirty *°Southern Spain, which was part of the Almohad Empire of western North Africa from around | 147 until the empire’s disintegration after 1223 due to a bitter war of succession.

*7Damietta in Egypt. 28A gross exaggeration. 7A catty was 600 grams, or about one and one-third pounds.

over twenty catties, salad greens weigh over ten catties and have leaves three or four feet long. Rice and

wheat are kept in silos for ten years without spoiling. Among the native products are foreign sheep that are

several feet high and have tails as big as a fan.*° In the

springtime they slit open their bellies and take out some ten catties of fat, after which they sew them up again, and the sheep live on; if the fat were not removed, the animal would swell up and die.*! If one travels by land [from Mulanpi] two hun-

dred days’ journey, the days are only six hours long.” In autumn if the west wind arises, men and

beasts must at once drink to keep alive, and if they are not quick enough about it they die of thirst.

Probably a reference to Ethiopian broad-tailed sheep, which were not to be found in Spain. *'This fantastic story might be based on the southern Spanish custom of slaughtering pigs in the springtime by cutting them lengthwise in this manner. »The short winter days of northern Europe.

A European View of the World 75 © THE

«

BOOK

OF JOHN

MANDEVILLE

If Zhau Rugua’s catalogue illustrates a well-informed Chinese bureaucrat’s vision of the world, a curious work by an otherwise unknown person who claimed to be Sir John Mandeville, an English knight of St. Alban’s, illustrates the Western European view of the same globe. First appearing in Europe around |360, The Book of John Mandeville purported to be the first-hand account of this knight’s trans-Eurasian adventures between 1322 and 1356/1357, in which he claimed to have served the sultan of Egypt and the Mongol khan of China. There is every reason to conclude that this work is a fictional tour de force by a gifted author who masked his identity behind an assumed name and a fabricated place of origin. Some evidence suggests that a physician from Liége in present-day Belgium, Jehan a la Barbe (also known as Jehan de Bourgogne), was the author or had a hand in its composition. Regardless, the author’s

(or authors’) identity will likely never be known for certain. As far as his purported travels are concerned, scholarly consensus is that most of his expeditions were to libraries, where he discovered quite a few books from which he borrowed

liberally.

For example, the outline of Sir John’s travelogue describing his supposed journey to India and China is lifted from the travel account of the Franciscan missionary Odoric of Pordenone (source 80). Mandeville amplified Friar Odoric’s rather spare story by

¢ Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

adding fables and tales from many other authors, by giving free rein to his own fertile imagination and sardonic wit, and by spicing his story with an impressive array of geographic and astronomical theories, many of them based on borrowed Arabic science. No matter the book’s questionable authenticity, Mandeville’s book, written originally in French, was widely hand-copied (about three hundred manuscripts survive) and circulated in ten European languages by 1400. Between the late 1470s and 1515, it was mass-printed in eight languages. It became late medieval Europe’s most popular travelogue in an age noted for its fascination with world travel. Even if “Sir John” did not travel to the regions he claimed to have visited, his work is historically important because it illustrates the manner in which educated Europeans of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries viewed the lands and peoples beyond their frontiers. Indeed, in many ways, Mandeville was instrumental in shaping that vision of the outside world on the eve of Europe’s overseas explorations. In the first selection, Sir John deals with the shape and size of the Earth. Most people today are unaware that the notion that medieval European scholars believed the world is flat is a modern myth created, tongue in cheek, by the American humorist and writer Washington Irving in the nineteenth century. John Holywood’s treatise, De sphaera mundi (Regarding the Sphericity of the World), which was based on a ninth-century Arabic work, was a basic text at the University of Paris and elsewhere in Europe from the early thirteenth century onward. In the second selection, Mandeville shares his putative first-hand knowledge of the wondrous land of Prester John, descendant of the Magi, or the Three Wise Kings from the East, who had visited

the Christ Child. Prester John (John the priest), whose existence was firmly accepted in the West from the mid-twelfth century onward, was the mythic priestly emperor of some supposedly lost Christian people somewhere to the east. The Prester John myth was born partly out of rumors of actual distant Christian cultures—such as the Ethiopians of Africa, the Eastern, or Assyrian, Christians of Central and East Asia, and the Saint Thomas Christians of India’s west coast—and partly out of a crusading zeal to discover Christian allies in the war against Islam. As a consequence, European adventurers as late as the sixteenth century sought Prester John in Asia and Africa.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What was Sir John’s view of the physical world? Be specific. 2. What do Mandeville’s stories suggest about his attitudes toward alien customs and the world beyond Europe? 3. Many societies cherish a myth of a promised redeemer, or hero-to-come. How had the Christian West created in the mythic Prester John a person who represented the fulfillment of some of their deepest wishes? 4. In what ways, if at all, does Sir John seem to use these stories to point out his own society's flaws? 5. Reread the tale of Sinbad the Sailor (source 58) and Zhau Rugua’s description of southern Spain. Leaving details aside, can you discover any common themes shared by these accounts and Mandeville’s stories? What do those common motifs suggest to you?

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries +

Of the Foul Customs Followed in the Isle of Lamory' and How the Earth and Sea Are of Round Shape, Proved by Means of the Star Antarctic

From India people go by the ocean sea by way of * many islands and different countries, which it would be tedious for me to relate. Fifty-two days’ journey from that land there is another large country called Lamory. That land is extremely hot, so that the custom there is for men and women to walk about totally naked, and they scorn foreigners who wear clothes. They say that God created Adam and Eve naked, and no person, therefore, should be ashamed to appear as God made him, because nothing that

comes from nature’s bounty is foul. They also say that people who wear clothes are from another world, or

else they are people who do not believe in God. They say that they believe in God who created the world and made Adam and Eve and everything else. Here they do not marry wives, since all the women are common to all men, and no woman forsakes any man. They say that it is sinful to refuse any man, for God so commanded it of Adam and Eve and all who followed when he said: “Increase and multiply and fill the Earth.”* Therefore, no man in that

country may say: “This is my wife.” No woman may say: “This is my husband.” When they bear children, the women present them to whatever man they wish of those with whom they have had sexual relations. So also all land is held in common. What one man holds one year, another has another year, and everyone takes that portion which he desires. Also all the produce of the soil is held in common. This is true for grains and other goods as well. Nothing is held in Source: The “Cotton Manuscript” of the British Museum, printed 1625, Ch. 20, 30, adapted into modern English by A. J. Andrea. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved.

'Sumatra, which the Chinese called Lanli (source 74). The Bible, Genesis 1:22. 3Fourteenth-century Europe was filled with rebellions by peasants and townspeople from the lower economic and

383

private, nothing is locked up, and every person there takes what he wants without anyone saying “no.” Each is as rich as the other.’ ‘There is, however, in that country an evil custom.

They eat human flesh more happily than any other meat, this despite the fact that the land abounds in meats, fish, grains, gold, silver, and every other

commodity. Merchants go there, bringing with them children to sell to the people of that country, and they purchase the children. If they are plump, they eat them immediately. If they are lean, they feed them until they fatten up, and then they eat them. They say this is the best and sweetest flesh in all the world. In that land, and in many others beyond it, no one

can see the Transmontane Star, known as the Star of the Sea, which is immoveable and stands in the

north and is called the Lode Star.* They see, rather, another star, its opposite, which stands in the south

and is called the Antarctic Star. Just as sailors here get their bearings and steer by the Lode Star, so sailors

beyond those parts steer by the southern star, which we cannot see. So our northern star, which we call

the Lode Star, cannot be seen there. ‘This is proof that

the Earth and sea are round in shape and form. For portions of the heavens that are seen in one coun-

try do not appear in another. . . . I can prove that point by what I have observed, for I have been in

parts of Brabant’ and seen, by means of an astrolabe, that the Transmontane Star is 53 degrees in elevation. In Germany and Bohemia it is 58 degrees;

and farther north it is 62 degrees and some minutes

high. I personally have measured it with an astrolabe. Understand that opposite the Transmontane Star is

social strata. Many of these rebellions, such as the bloody Peasants’ Rebellion in Flanders (where Liege was located) of 1323-1328 and the Jacquerie Rebellion of 1356-1358 in northern France, were driven by anger over rising prices, increased taxes, and a growing gap between rich and poor. ‘Polaris, or the North Star, which guides mariners. °A duchy that spanned portions of present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. Liege was a vassal city of Brabant.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 the other known as the Antarctic Star, as I have said. ‘These two stars never move, and around them all the

come. And so he spent a great deal ofpainful labor, as he acknowledged, when he returned home much

heavens revolve, just like a wheel about an axle. So

later. For afterwards he went to Norway, where a

those two stars divide the heavens into two equal parts, with as much above [the equator] as below... .

storm carried him to an island. While on that

I say with certainty that people can encircle the entire world, below the equator as well as above,°

island he discovered it was the island where earlier he had heard his own language spoken."’. . . That could well be true, even though it might

they

seem to simple-minded persons ofno learning that

have good company, a ship, and health. And all

people cannot travel on the underside of the world without falling off toward the heavens. That, how-

and

return

to their homelands,

provided

along the way one would find people, lands, and

islands. . . . For you know well that those people who live right under the Antarctic Star are directly underneath, feet against feet, of those who dwell

ever, is not possible, unless it is true that we also are liable to fall toward Heaven from where we are on the Earth. For whatever part of the Earth peo-

directly under the Transmontane Star,’ just as we

ple inhabit, above or below [the equator], it always

and those who dwell under us® are feet to feet.

seems to them that they are in a more proper position than any other folk. And so it is right that just as it seems to us that they are under us, so it seems

For every part of the sea and the land has its opposite, which balances it, and it is both habitable and traversable. . . . So people who travel to India and the foreign isles girdle the roundness of the

to them that we are beneath them. For ifaperson could fall from the Earth into the heavens, it is

Earth and the seas, passing under our countries in

more reasonable to assume that the Earth and sea,

this hemisphere.

which are more vast and of greater weight, should

Something | heard as a youth has occurred to me often. A worthy man from our country departed some time ago to see the world. And so he passed through India and the islands beyond India,

fall into the heavens. But that is impossible. . . .

sons, one might possibly return home. For, given

which number more than 5,000.’ He traveled so

the magnitude of the Earth and the sea, a 1,000

far by sea and land and had so girdled the globe over the period of so many seasons that he found

people could venture forth and follow a 1,000 dif-

Although it is possible for a person to circumnavigate the world, nonetheless, out of a 1,000 per-

an island where he heard his own language being

ferent routes. This being so, no person could plot a perfect route toward the place from where he left.

spoken. . . . He marveled at this, not knowing

He could only reach it by accident or the grace of

what to make of it. I conclude he had traveled so

God. For the Earth is very large and is some 20,425

far by land and sea that he had encircled the entire

miles in circumference, according to the opinion

globe, circumnavigating to the very frontier of his

of wise astronomers from the past, whose words I

homeland. Had he traveled only a bit farther, he

am not going to contradict, even though it seems

would have come to his own home. But he turned

to me, with my limited understanding and with all

back, returning along the route by which he had

due respect, that it is larger.'!

®Here Mandeville refutes a notion, accepted by classical Greco-Roman geographers, that the antipodes, or lands south of the equator, are uninhabitable due to their extreme heat. In other words, the South Pole is 180 degrees south of (or under) the North Pole. ®The place directly opposite on the globe. *The islands of Southeast Asia.

This story, especially in light of the passage that follows, seems to claim that the Englishman traveled south to India and the islands of Southeast Asia and then continued south across the South Pole and up the far side of the globe across the North Pole to Scandinavia, and then he returned home by retracing his steps. ''Actually, it is closer to 25,000 miles.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants,

Of the Royal Estate of Prester John This emperor, Prester John, commands a very large region and has many noble cities and fair towns in his realm, as well as many islands large and broad. For this land of India is divided into islands due to the great rivers that flow out of Paradise, dividing the land into many parts.'* He also has many islands in the sea. .. . This Prester John has many kings and islands and many different peoples of various cultures subject to him. And this land is fertile and wealthy, but not as wealthy as the land of the Great Khan. For merchants do not as commonly travel there to purchase merchandise as they do to the land of the Great Khan, for it

is too far to travel to. Moreover, people can find in that other region, the Island of Cathay, every manner of commodity that people need—gold cloth, silk, spices, and every sort of precious item. Consequently, even though commodities are less expensive in Prester John’s island, nonetheless people dread the long voyage and the great seaperils in that region. . . . Although one must travel by sea and land eleven or twelve months from Genoa or Venice before arriving in Cathay, the land of Prester John lies many more days of dreadful journey away... . The Emperor Prester John always marries the daughter of the Great Khan, and the Great Khan likewise marries Prester John’s daughter.'? For they are the two greatest lords under Heaven. In Prester John’s land there are many different things and many precious gems of such magnitude that people make vessels, such as platters, dishes,

and cups, out of them. There are many other marvels there, so many, in fact, that it would be tiresome

According to Mandeville, the Terrestrial Paradise, from which Adam and Eve had been expelled, lies far to the east of Prester John’s country; four rivers—the Ganges, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates—flow out of that paradise and divide

the major lands of the Earth.

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385

and too lengthy to put them down in a book. . . but I shall tell you some part. This Emperor Prester John is Christian, as is a great part of his country as well. Yet they do not share all the articles of our faith. They believe fully in God, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. They are

quite devout and faithful to one another, and they do not quarrel or practice fraud and deceit. He has subject to him 72 provinces, and in every province there is a king. And these kings have kings under them, and all are tributaries to Prester John. And he has in his lordships many marvels. In his country is a sea that people call the Gravelly Sea.“ It is all gravel and sand, without a drop of water, and it ebbs and flows in great waves, as other seas do, and

never rests at any time. No one can cross that sea by ship or any other craft and, therefore, no one knows what land lies beyond that sea. Although it has no water, people find in it and on its banks plenty of good fish of a shape and size such as are found nowhere else, but they are tasty and delicious to eat. Three days’ journey from that sea are great mountains, out of which flows a great river that originates

in Paradise. And it is full of precious stones, without a

drop of water... . Beyond that river, rising toward the deserts, is a great gravel plain set between the mountains. On that plain every day at sunrise small trees begin to grow, and they grow until mid-day, bearing

fruit. No one dares, however, to eat the fruit, for it

is like a deceptive phantom. After mid-day the trees decrease and reenter the Earth, so that by sunset they are no longer to be seen. And they do this every day. And that is a great marvel. In that desert are many wild people who are hideous to look at, for they are

horned and do not speak but only grunt like pigs. . . .

This particular version of the Prester John myth seems to

be a somewhat distorted reflection of the fact that many Mongol khans had Eastern Christian wives.

'4Apparently a garbled reference to the Gobi (Gravel) Desert of Central Asia.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 When Emperor Prester John goes into battle against any other lord, he has no banners borne before him. Rather, he has three crosses

of fine gold, which are massive and very tall and

entourage, he has borne before him only one wooden

cross,

unpainted and lacking gold, sil-

ver, or gems, as a remembrance that Jesus Christ

and 100,000 men on foot, . . . and this number

suffered death on a wooden cross. He also has borne before him a golden platter filled with earth, in token ofthe fact that his nobility, might, and flesh will all turn to earth. He also has borne before him a silver vessel full of great nuggets of

is in addition to the main body of troops.” . . .

gold and precious gems, as a token ofhis lordship,

When

nobility, and might.

encrusted with precious stones. Each cross is set

in a richly adorned chariot. To guard each cross, there is a detail of 10,000 mounted men at arms

he rides out in peace time with a private

'SCrusade means “an act, or undertaking, marked with a cross.” During the 1350s the Ottoman Turks were advancing in the Balkans and putting increasing pressure on Constantinople.

Western European efforts to launch crusades to counter this

menace in southeastern Europe and to save Byzantium were proving ineffective.

The Marvels of the World 76°

JOHANN

BAMLER,

WONDROUS

FOUNTAINS

AND

PEOPLES

The Augsburg printer Johann Bamler published Konrad of Megenberg’s Book of Nature in 1475, more than a century after its composition. Konrad (ca. 1309-1374), a scholar and churchman, had composed the work in German around 1350, in which he offered a compendium of all that was known or believed about natural phenomena. Bamler’s edition of Konrad’s classic went through six printings, allowing greater distribution than ever before to a rapidly expanding audience that was literate in German. The information and misinformation contained therein, most of it inherited from Greco-Roman antiquity and Arab scientific writings, became an essential part of the worldview of many educated Europeans. At the end of his book, Megenberg took up the topics of marvelous streams of water and fantastic people. The former included a fountain in mythical Arcadia, from which pregnant women drink in order to prevent miscarriage, and springs that flow with hot water. To illustrate some of these wonders of nature, Bamler drew, carved, and hand-colored a woodblock print that was pressed onto a page of the book. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. Describe each scene, person, and item.What sort of marvelous individuals parade across the page? There is one that will not be easy to explain, so here is a clue: Megenberg wrote that, in certain regions, women develop goiters the size of pumpkins that hang down to their navels. 2. Why are all nine “fantastic” individuals naked? 3. What is the overall message of this illustration, and what does it suggest about Latin Europe’s inherited vision of the world? 4. Compare this woodcut with what Mandeville wrote about the faraway world of South and East Asia. What conclusions follow from your analysis?

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, I diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

Library Congress of

Woodcut from Book of Nature

Travel in the Age of the Pax Mongolica Temujin (1167?-1227), the Mongol lord who assumed the title Chinggis (Genghis) Khan (Resolute Ruler)! in 1206, believed he had a destiny to rule the world. He and his immediate successors, particularly his grandson Khubilai, came close to controlling all of Eurasia. Although the Mongols were stopped in Syria, in Southeast Asia, at the borders of India and Arabia, in Eastern Europe, and in the waters off Japan, by 1279 they had still managed to create the largest land empire in history. Beginning around the time of the rule of Khubilai Khan (r. |260—1294) and extending for more than half a century after his death, the Mongols ruled over their enormous empire in relative peace and good order despite continued warfare along some

'Scholars have recently rejected the translation “Universal Lord,” which still appears in many textbooks.

+ 387

3 © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 of its frontiers, occasional disputes over successions to power, and the inevitable lawlessness and rebellions, especially in areas remote from direct Mongol control. Mongol discipline and organization made it possible to travel between Europe and China with a fair degree of safety and speed, and large numbers of merchants, ambassadors, fortune seekers, missionaries, and other travelers journeyed in all directions across the Mongol Empire. Historians term this period from about |260 to roughly 1350 as the era of the Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace). This steppe landbridge between East Asia and Western Europe was severed after 1350, however, as the Mongol Empire broke up, and the opportunity for normal direct contact between the eastern and western extremities of Eurasia was lost for a century and a half. The following five sources trace the Mongol Era and its travelers from the midthirteenth century to the eve of the breakup of the Mongol Empire and the renewed fragmentation of the Silk Road.

The Election and Enthronement of a Great Khan 77 * JOHN OF PLANO CARPINI, HISTORY WHOM WE CALL TARTARS

OF THE

MONGOLS

When the Mongols overran large portions of Christian Eastern Europe in a campaign that lasted from 1236 to 1242, the Latin West was forced to confront this new menace from the East. Fortunately for the West, the Mongols withdrew back to the Volga in 1242, probably in large part due to the death in 1241 of the Great Khan Ogedei and the succession struggle that followed. This withdrawal took place, however, only after they destroyed a combined Polish and German army and, one day later,a Hungarian army in April 1241. Tales of horrendous atrocities convinced Western Europeans that these “Devil’s horsemen” (see note |) were demonic forces of the Antichrist who foreshadowed the Final Days as foretold in the Bible. In response, Pope Gregory IX called a crusade against the Mongols in 1241,and his successor, Pope Innocent IV, renewed it in 1243, but both were empty gestures. Most rulers in Western Europe were too caught up in struggles closer to home to rouse themselves against a foe that had retreated in 1242, despite the fear that the Mongols would return. If a crusade was not an option, perhaps diplomacy was. Pope Innocent IV and King Louis IX of France dispatched a series of legations to various Mongol khans. The aim of the missions was threefold: to discover Mongol intentions; to convert these “‘enemies of God and friends of the Devil” to Christianity; and to enlist them in the West's crusade endeavors against Islam. These early diplomatic missions, which began in 1245 and lasted down to 1255, were conducted by Franciscan and Dominican friars, members of two missionary orders that had been founded in the early thirteenth century. They were met with Mongol indifference.To the Mongol mind, the pope and all the princes of Christian Europe had only one option: submission, as Guyuk, the Great Khan, unambiguously informed Pope Innocent IV in a letter of 1246.

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In the spring of 1245, the pope dispatched three separate missions to the Mongols, each of which carried two papal letters that offered some basic instruction in Christian doctrine, invited the Mongols to convert to Christianity, and implored them to cease their “horrible desolation” that “spared neither sex nor age.” The most celebrated and successful of the missions—successful only in that it reached the court of the new Great Khan in Mongolia after an arduous trek of over three thousand miles—was led by the Franciscan friar John of Plano Carpini. Upon his return to the West in late 1247, Friar John, who had carried back Guyuk Khan’s haughty reply to the pope’s overtures, composed two accounts, an early draft and a fuller revision, of what he and his two companions (one of whom dropped out in Ukraine due to illness) had seen and experienced. His second, definitive version included, in addition to a detailed narrative of the friars’ travels and experiences, a description of Mongol culture and battle tactics, a catalogue of Mongol conquests, an analysis of Mongol intentions (“to overthrow the whole world and reduce it to slavery”), and suggestions on how to fight and defeat the Mongols. Plano Carpini’s report, the first detailed account of the Mongols to reach the West, was widely circulated and immensely popular. In the following selection, taken from his revised report, Friar John describes the election and enthronement of Guyuk Khan, whose camp John and his remaining companion, Friar Benedict the Pole, reached on July 22, 1246. Following Khan Ogedei’s death in 1241, the Great Khanate had remained vacant for almost five years until finally his son secured the position through the machinations of his mother, Toregene.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. Evaluate the validity of this source. How good or poor is Friar John as an eyewitness? Be specific in your answer, citing specific evidence for your evaluation. 2. Consider the envoys who arrived at the camp.What do their identities and places of origin allow us to infer about the Mongol Empire in 1246? 3. What, if anything, does this source tell us about the infrastructure of the Mongol Empire in the mid-thirteenth century? In other words, were the Mongols developing any means through which they could control and govern this empire? 4. What does Guyuk’s election and enthronement allow us to infer about Mongol society in the mid-thirteenth century?

we call Tartars.' By our estimation, we traveled for

Saint Mary Magdalene’ we reached Cuyuk, who is now the emperor. Throughout the entire jour-

three weeks, riding hard, and on the feast day of

ney we traveled at great speed because our Tartar

Source: lohannes de Plano Carpini, Ystoria Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus (secunda redactio), in Sinica Franciscana , Vol. | (Firenze apud Collegium S. Bonaventura, 1927), pp. | 16-120, passim. Translated by A. J. Andrea, Copyright © A. J. Andrea, 2014. All rights reserved. 'Westerners called the Mongols Tartars, a corruption of

near the Mongols and were absorbed by them. Tartar seems to have been a deliberate pun. The classical Latin name for hell

Then we entered the land of the Mongols, whom

Tatars, the name

of a tribe of Turkic nomads

who

dwelled

was Tartarus, hence the Mongols were the ‘Devil's horsemen.”

July 22, 1246.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 guides had been ordered to conduct us with haste

commissioned to look after us, to where all the

so that we would arrive in time at the annual

leaders were gathered, and each leader was riding

assembly, which already for many years had been

all about with his men through the hills and plain. On the first day all of the leaders were dressed

set aside for an election.’ For that reason, we rose early in the morning and traveled until night fall

given what we should have eaten the previous

in clothes dyed white; on the second day in red— this being the day that Guyuk came to the pavilion. On the third day they were all in blue-dyed clothes, on the fourth day in the finest brocade.’

evening. We went as fast as the horses could trot, and the horses were not spared in any way because

Two large gates were located in the palisade that was near the pavilion. The emperor alone had

we had access to fresh horses quite frequently throughout the day‘ . . . and so we rode fast

the right to enter

there was no sentry station there, even though

without a break.

it stood open, because no one dared to enter or

without eating. Often we arrived so late that we did not eat that night but in the morning were

Upon our arrival, Cuyuk provided us with a tent and provisions of the sort that Tartars tradi-

tionally provide, but they treated us better than they did the other envoys. Notwithstanding, we were not invited into his presence because he had not yet been elected and he did not yet concern himself with governance.

. .. After we had been

through

one

of them,

and

exit through it. Everyone who had permission to enter did so through the other gate, and guards with swords and bows and arrows were stationed there. Anyone approaching the pavilion beyond established limits was beaten, if caught. If he fled, he was shot at but with arrows without iron

heads. The horses were, as we believe, as far away

there for five or six days, he sent us to his mother,’

as the distance of two arrow-flights. The leaders

who was where the annual assembly was conven-

went about everywhere armed and with many of

ing. When we arrived there, already a huge tent-

their men, but none of them, unless they were ten

pavilion of dyed white cloth® had been erected that we judged was large enough to accommodate more than two thousand men under it. Surrounding it was a wooden palisade on which various images were painted. On the second or third day

in number,* could go up to the horses. Indeed, those who attempted to proceed in defiance of

we went,

along with the Tartars who had been

3Great Khans were elected by the quriltai, an assembly of Mongol notables. The election process following Ogedei’s death was so contentious that more than four and a half years passed before his son (Chinggis Khan’s grandson) secured election as the third Great Khan. ‘Regarding one stretch of his journey across lands held by the Mongols, John noted that horses were changed three or four times almost every day. Later in his account he noted that fresh horses were provided “five or seven times daily.” In source 79, Marco Polo describes a more advanced form of this post system. ‘Following Ogedei’s death in December 1241, Toregene managed to secure the regency of the Mongol Empire by

the spring of 1242 and thereby bore the title Great Khatun (Great Queen). During her more than four years of rule, the

Mongols continued to advance on multiple fronts. As noted,

this rule were badly beaten. And many of them had, by our judgment, around twenty marks? of gold on their bridles, breastplates, saddles, and saddle cruppers.

she eventually secured her son’s election as Great Khan. Later she and Guyuk had a falling out and she lost power. ‘Alba purpura. Literally, “white purple-dyed cloth,’ which makes no sense. Whatever John meant, this “cloth” was actually felt, a waterproof, non-woven textile made from animal hair. It was (and is) the traditional fabric used for the clothes and tents of steppe nomads. ’In optimis baldakinis. Baldachin was a rich silken brocade originally manufactured in Syria. Regarding brocade, see source 66, note 6. “Friar John and many other sources inform us that the Mongol army was organized into fighting groups of ten, one hundred, one thousand, and ten thousand. See note 28 of source 80. °A mark was a European weight for precious metal that differed from place to place.A rough average is eight ounces to the mark.

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The

leaders held their conference inside the pavilion and so, as we believe, conducted the elec-

tion there. Everyone else was a long distance away, outside of the palisade described above. The leaders remained there until almost noon, and then they began to drink mare’s milk'® and drank until the evening to such a degree that it was a wonder

to behold. We were invited inside, and they gave us beer because we had little taste for mare’s milk.

They did this for us as a great honor, but they kept on urging us to drink to such an extent that we could not possibly stand it, being as we were not used to this. So we let them know that we could

«

those bringing gifts, and sultans and other leaders

who came

to offer themselves in submission

to

them, and those whom they summoned, and those who were territorial governors. All of them were placed together outside of the

palisade and were invited to drink at the same time. When, however, we and Duke Jerozlaus were

outside with them, we were always assigned the best location. If we remember correctly, we think that we had been there a full four weeks when, as we believe, the election took place. It, however,

suring us.

was not announced publicly at the time. The chief reason for this supposition is that whenever Cuyuc left the pavilion they offered up songs before him, and as long as he remained outside they dipped

Outside were Duke Jerozlaus of Susdal in Russia'! and a large mass of leaders of the Kitayans!” and

before him beautiful staffs on the top of which was a piece of scarlet wool, and they did not do this

Solangi,'’ also two sons of the king of Georgia,"

for any other leader. They call this assembly the

an ambassador from the caliph of Baghdad,'” who

Sira Orda.”

not bear this, and consequently they stopped pres-

was a sultan,'°

6

and more

than ten other Saracen

sultans, as we believe and as we were informed by the stewards. More than four thousand envoys were there. Among them were those carrying tribute and

They drank qumiz, the preferred alcoholic drink of all nomadic steppe peoples, which was (and is) derived from mare’s milk. ''Grand Prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir-Suzdal. He greatly expanded his state through warfare and intrigue but became a vassal of the Mongols after their invasion of Russia. He had been summoned to attend this ceremony and to pay tribute to the new Great Khan. He died under suspicious circumstances shortly after Guyuk’s enthronement. Friar

John reports that everyone thought he had been poisoned by Toregene so that the Mongols could take full possession of his lands. Yaroslav was succeeded by his son Alexander Nevsky (r. 1246-1263), the most significant ruler of medieval Russia.

This might refer to residents of northern China. Centuries earlier, North China had fallen under the control of the Khitan Mongols, who established there the kingdom of Liao (907—1 125). Even after the Khitans had been replaced by another invading steppe people, the Jurchen (Ruzhen), northern China continued to be known as “Cathay”—the land of the Khitans. After years of fighting, the Mongols conquered the last remnants of the Jurchen state ofJin in northern China in 1234. It might also refer to people from

Leaving there, we all rode together for three or

four leagues'* to another place. There, on a certain lovely plain, alongside a river amid mountains, another pavilion had been set up, which they call the

the Central Asian state of Kara Khitai, which some Khitan refugees established farther west after the fall of Liao. The Mongols overran and occupied Kara Khitai in 1218. A Rajput people of the Indus region of the Indian subcontinent. The Mongols invaded the Indus in late 1241 and departed in December of that year. “They were cousins by affiliation, not brothers. Only the elder, David VII Ulu (the Senior), was a son of King Giorgi IV, albeit an illegitimate son. He and David VI Nain (the Junior) were contenders for the crown of Georgia, a land subject to the Mongols, who had completed their conquest of it in 1238. In 1248 Guyuk Khan recognized David VII as the senior king, and both Davids co-ruled Georgia until 1259. 'SThis last of the Abbasid caliphs, al-Mustasim (r. 1242-1258) was killed when the Mongols captured Baghdad in 1258. '®An Arabic title meaning “he who wields power.’

"The Yellow Horde. “Horde,” from the Mongolian ordu (Turkic ordo), means “encampment.” The term Yellow Camp (or Headquarters) has two likely and probably interconnected meanings: Yellow in Mongolian culture signifies centrality; yellow in Chinese tradition was the color reserved exclusively to the imperial family.

'8A league is a bit less than three and a half miles.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500 Golden Orda.'? Here he was to be installed on his

to him.’’ Here also a certain governor of a prov-

throne on the feast day of Our Lady’s Assumption,”

ince

brought

him

a large number

of camels,

but because of the hail that fell . . . it was postponed.

bedecked with brocades, and saddles were placed

The pavilion was held up by columns covered in gold

on them with some sort of device that allowed

plates and these were fastened to other beams with

people to sit inside, and there were, as we believe,

golden nails, and the roof above and the interior

forty or fifty of them. He also brought many

walls were made of brocade but other types of cloth made up the exterior. We were there until the feast

made of leather or iron. And we were also asked

day of Saint Bartholomew,”! when a huge multitude

if we wished to give gifts, but we had already used

horses and mules covered with trappings or armor

convened. They stood facing south, so arranged that

up practically everything, and so we had very

some of them were a stone’s throw removed from the

little to give to him. There, up on a mountain a

others, and they were constantly moving farther and

far distance from the tents, were stationed more

farther away, praying and genuflecting toward the

than five hundred carts, all of which were filled

south. We, however, not knowing whether they were

with gold, silver, and silken garments, which were

making incantations and genuflecting to God or to

divided out among the emperor and leaders. Each of the leaders divided his portion among his men,

another deity, were not willing to genuflect. After

they had done this for quite a while, they returned to the pavilion and placed Cuyuc on the imperial

but as he saw fit.

throne, and the leaders genuflected before him, and

marvelous pavilion of red-dyed cloth™ had been set

after this all the people, except for us, who were not

up, a gift of the Kitayans. We were also taken inside

subject to them. Then they started to drink and, as is their custom, they drank continuously until evening. After that they brought out in carts cooked meats without salt, and gave out one joint for four or five persons. Within the pavilion, however, they gave out meats and a broth with salt as a sauce. This they did all the days during which they held a feast. . . It was wondrous to see how many gifts were given by the envoys: gifts of silk, purple-dyed samite,” and

brocades,

and

silken

belts

with

golden threads, choice furs, and other presents.

Leaving there, we came to another place, where a

there. Every time we entered, we were given beer

or wine to drink. Also cooked meats were offered

us, if we wished to have them. A high platform of boards had been erected, on which the throne of the emperor was placed. The throne was marvel-

ously carved out of ivory. Also on it, if we remember correctly, were gold, precious gem stones, and pearls. One ascended by steps, and it was round in the rear. Benches were also placed in a circle around the throne; there ladies sat on seats on the left; no one sat higher on the right, but the leaders sat on

Here also a parasol, or little awning, which was

benches in the middle, and others sat behind them.

totally decorated with gem stones and meant to

And on every day a great multitude of ladies came

be borne above the emperor’s head, was presented

there.

"Although it was in the same area, this was probably not Karakorum, the capital of the early Mongol Empire that Ogedei established. Karakorum in Mongolian means “Black

*Samictis purpuris. Compare note 6. Here | have translated purpura as it is normally understood. Samite is a heavy silk with a twill weave, often with woven gold threads. Purple clothing was reserved exclusively for the imperial family in

Quarter.”

Whatever

the case,

the Golden

Horde

men-

tioned here should not be confused with the other Golden Horde, the khanate that ruled over Russia for about 250 years, from the mid-thirteenth to late fifteenth century.

°August 15. "August 24.

Byzantium. See source 61. “The parasol had been a sign of royalty and nobility since ancient times. It probably originated as such in India. Purpura ruffa. Compare notes 6 and 22. Translation is not an exact science.

Chapter ll

Adventurers,

Merchants, Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

A Traveler to the West from Dadu 78 * RABBAN SAUMA, HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCH YABALLAHA Ill AND THE MONK RABBAN SAUMA

MAR

John of Plano Carpini was candid regarding the hardships and hazards he and his two

companions

encountered

in their trek. Even

in the best of times, a trans-

Eurasian journey was intimidating for all but the most courageous or reckless. Yet, as already noted, around the time of the rule of the Great Khan Khubilai (r. 1260-1294) and extending for about a half century after his death, the Mongols governed their empire in relative peace and good order, making it possible to travel from Eastern Europe to China with a reasonable degree of safety and speed. Brothers William of Rubruck and Bartholomew of Cremona, for example, Franciscan envoys to Mongke Khan, left Constantinople in May 1253 and reached Karakorum in Mongolia in December, averaging just under five hundred miles a month. During his journey, which he reported in detail, Friar William encountered a variety of persons of other faiths and religions and Christians whose customs and modes of belief differed from those of Rome. Chief among these were members of the Church of the East. As we saw in Multiple VoicesV, so-called (and misnamed) Nestorian Christian missionaries from Persia and Syria had introduced the faith and traditions of the Church of the East into China in the seventh century. Christianity did not make deep inroads at that time, and with the reaction against foreign religions that swept China in the mid-ninth century, the Christian faith largely disappeared in China. In the twelfth century, however, missionaries of the Church of the East made major conversions among the Uighur and Ongut Turks who dwelt along and within China’s frontiers. Christianity even made inroads into the families of prominent Mongol leaders. Khubilai Khan’s highly influential mother, Sorghaghtani Beki, was a devout Christian, but despite that, she promoted a policy of tolerance and generosity toward all religions. Khubilai followed her example, although he was most attracted to Tantric Buddhism (source 39). It was in this spirit that Khubilai approved and probably partially financed a pilgrimage that two Ongut Turkic monks, Rabban (Master) Sauma (ca. 1230-1294) and his disciple Markos (ca. 1245-1317), proposed to undertake that would bring them from the new Mongol capital of Dadu (present-day Beijing) to Jerusalem. With letters of safe passage from Khubilai, the monks departed for the West around 1276. They never reached Jerusalem due to the need of their co-religionists in the Il-khanate (subordinate khanate) of Persia for assistance in ensuring further Mongol protection from the Muslim majority of the region. Eventually Sauma was appointed VisitorGeneral in China, namely the representative of the Catholicus, or head of the Church of the East, in Mongol China, and later Markos was elected Catholicus, or head of the

Church of the East, with the throne name of Mar Yaballaha Ill (r. 1281-1310), which meant “Your Lordship, God-Given.”

«

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Warfare in the east prevented Sauma’s return to China as Visitor-General, and he might well have spent the rest of his days in a monastery in Iraq, to which he had retired, but duty called him out. In 1286, Il-khan Arghun (r. 1284-1291), desiring to advance Mongol power into Syria and beyond to Egypt and the Red Sea, appointed Sauma as an envoy to the Christian leaders of the West with a proposal for an alliance against the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria. He had made an earlier overture to Pope Honorius IV (r. 1285-1287) that had gone unanswered. Departing in early 1287 from Tauris (present-day Tabriz, Iran), the capital of the il-khanate, Rabban Sauma visited Constantinople, where Emperor Andronicus Il (r. 1282-1328) received him with great ceremony but no encouragement because the emperor desired to remain on good terms with both the Mongols and the Mamluks and totally distrusted the Latin West—a consequence of the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath (Multiple Voices VIII). Sauma traveled on to Rome, only to discover the papal throne vacant. Given this circumstance, Sauma headed for France, rather than wait for a new pope to be elected. In Paris he met with King Philip IV of France (r. 1285-1314), who received him with great courtesy and encouraging words— words that belied his perception that King Edward | of England (r. 1272-1307) was a greater immediate threat than the Mamluks. Encouraged by Philip’s less-than-candid response, Sauma traveled to Bordeaux, where King Edward was visiting his French lands. Edward, who had already campaigned as a crusader in the Holy Land and had recently taken the crusade vow for a second time, was sincerely enthusiastic over Arghun’s overture, but pressing issues closer to home would prevent his further crusading.Wrongly believing his mission in France was a double success, Sauma returned to Italy, where he met the new pope, Nicholas IV (r. 1288-1292), in March 1288. Pope Nicholas, who understood the complex realities of contemporary European politics, would not commit to either a crusade or a military alliance with Arghun, but he did give Sauma gifts for the il-khan and a letter (see note 20). Rabban Sauma then departed for home, his mission a failure, although both he and Arghun believed otherwise. In fact, the il-khan sent two additional missions to the West, in 1289 and 1290, in anticipation of such an alliance. Moreover, in 1289 Arghun had his two sons baptized by Mar Yaballaha. Everything came crashing down, however, in the spring of 1291. In March, the il-khan died, almost three years to the day after Rabban Sauma met Pope Nicholas. In May, Acre (source 57), the last major outpost of Latin Christian power in Syria-Palestine and the port through which any crusade against the Mamluks would necessarily pass, fell to the Mamluk sultan. With Arghun’s death, Mongol interest in Syria and Egypt also began to wane. In 1295 Il-khan Ghazan (r. 1295-1304) renounced his nominal Christianity, converted to Islam for political reasons, and assumed the name Mahmud (Muhammad). Although he continued the il-khanate’s policy of protecting Christians, any hope for an alliance with the Latin West was dead. The following selection, which begins with Rabban Sauma’s spending the winter in Genoa on his way back from France, tells of his return journey to Rome and experiences at the papal court during Lent and Easter of |288.The original texts of Rabban

j

( hapter

IPH

ldventurers,

Merchants,

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

«

Sauma’s diaries and his account of his adventures in the Far West, which he composed mainly in Persian, are lost, but portions of them were preserved and incorporated about twenty years later into a history of the lives and exploits of Sauma and Mar Yaballaha III that took their stories down to their deaths. The anonymous editor and author, who was a cleric, wrote in Syriac, the language of the Church of the East, in order to make this dual biography available to as wide an audience of co-religionists as possible.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. We now have only an edited, translated, and truncated version of Rabban Sauma’s account of his experiences and observations while in the Europe. Based on your analysis of this selection, how trustworthy do you judge this history to be? In addressing this issue, ask yourself: Which parts of the narrative seem believable, and do any parts stretch credibility? . In his account of his journey to Karakorum, Friar William of Rubruck characterized the Christians of the Church of the East as ignorant, corrupt, and purely pagan. Marco Polo commented that the Christians he encountered in Mosul in northern Iraq were “the worst of heretics.” In light of these negative assessments of so-called Nestorians by two Latin Christians, how do you explain this account of the reception that Pope Nicholas IV accorded Rabban Sauma? . How do you interpret Pope Nicholas’s “appointing” Mar Yaballaha to an office that he had held for quite a few years? Why do you think the pope appointed Rabban Sauma “Visitor over all Christians”? Why would Sauma accept such “letters patent”? . Based on your reading of this document, construct an outline of what you infer were the major points in Pope Nicholas’s letter to MarYaballaha Ill.

ing that Rabban Sauma was there, he went to meet and greet him. And when he had entered his domi-

said that you are a virtuous and wise man and that you want to go to Rome.” Rabban Sauma replied to him: “What can I say to you, my dear and venerable man? I have come as on an embassy to the Lord Pope from King Arghun and the Catholicus

cile, they saluted one another and embraced in the

of the East regarding Jerusalem, and | have been

love of Christ. The Visitor said to Rabban Sauma,

here a full year. The papal seat is vacant. What shall I tell and report to the Mongols upon my return?

At the end ofwinter, there arrived from Germany a person ofgreat importance, the Visitor of the Lord

Pope,' who was on his way to Rome. Upon hear-

“I have come to see you because | have heard it

Source: J. B. Chabot, trans., “Histoire du Patriarche Mar Jabalaha III et du moine Rabban Cauma,” Revue de /’orient

latin, 2 (1894): 73-142, at 111-116 and 120-121. Translated from the French by A. J. Andrea, copyright © by A. J. Andrea, 2014. All rights reserved.

'The papal legate a latere to Germany, Cardinal John of Tusculum.A legate sent out a latere (from the [pope’s] side) had delegated papal authority within the limits of a onetime, defined mission.

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

They whose heart is harder than stone wish to take Jerusalem, and they whose business it is’ are not

gifts from Mar Yaballaha, the Catholicus, namely

his blessing and letter.

at all concerned with this matter; they attach no

The Lord Pope shook with joy and cheer, and he

importance to it! What should we say upon our return? We do not know.” The Visitor said to him: “Your words are true. I will go myself and tell the cardinals’ exactly all that you have said, and I will press them to elect a Pope.” The Visitor left Genoa and traveled to Rome.

honored Rabban Sauma more than was customary and said to him, “It would be fitting if you celebrate

the holy days’ with us so that you can see our rituals.” It was then mid-Lent.* Rabban Sauma replied,

“Your command is grand and sublime.” The Lord Pope assigned him a domicile and gave him ser-

He told these things to the King, that is to say the

vants charged with securing for him everything that

Lord Pope, who on to Rabban Sauma invitation to come. senger arrived they

he needed.

that same day sent a messenger and his companions‘ with an On the very day that the meseagerly begged to get underway

After several days, Rabban

Sauma

said to the

Lord Pope, “I wish to celebrate Mass so that you

on the road to Rome, which they reached in fifteen

can also see our ritual.” The Pope gave him permission to celebrate as he had requested. On that

days... . When they arrived, the Lord Pope sent

day a large congregation assembled to see how the

a Metropolitan,’ along with several other persons,

ambassador of the Mongols celebrates [Mass]. They

to meet them. Rabban Sauma immediately went to the pope, who was seated on his throne. He approached him

observed and rejoiced, saying, “The language is dif-

reverently, kissed his hands and feet, and retired

backwards with his hands crossed on his chest.° He said to the Lord Pope: “Father, may your throne be exalted forever. May it be blessed above all the kings and peoples. May you reign in peace all the days of your life over the entire Church to the ends of the Earth. Now that I have seen your face, my eyes are illuminated in joy, for I will not return to my country with a broken heart. I give thanks to God that He has judged me worthy to see you.” He gave him the gifts and letter from Arghun as well as the *Latin Christians. >The cardinals were the pope’s chief advisors and headed the different bureaucratic offices within the papacy. They also had the exclusive right of electing a pope. 4Rabban Sauma had left the il-khanate with an unknown number of grooms, servants, interpreters, and probably a cleric or two. We know of two Italian interpreters who left with him, Thomas of Anfossi and Ughetto; both were merchants who had done business in the il-khanate. A third person whose name we have is the Eastern Church Christian Sabadinus, but his function is unknown. We do not know how far these three traveled with Sauma. °A metropolitan (also known as an archbishop) exercised authority over a number of subordinate, or suffragan, bishops within a large area known as a province.

ferent but the rite is the same.” .. .

The following Sunday was the Feast of Palms.’ Thousands upon thousands offaithful—a number impossible to compute—assembled early in the morning before the papal throne, carrying olive

branches that the Pope blessed and distributed to . all orders of society from the metropolitans and the bishops, as well as to emirs' and nobles, and finally to all the people. . .. Then he [the Pope]

celebrated the Holy Mysteries.'' He distributed Communion, giving it first to Rabban Sauma after

he had confessed his sins. He [the Pope] absolved him of his sins and failings and also those of his ‘This was probably an act of humility and reverence within the rituals of the Church of the East. ’The upcoming holy days of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. “Lent is a forty-day period of penance before Easter Sunday. Easter fell on March 28 that year, so Rabban Sauma met the pope in early March. *Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter. '°An Arabic term meaning “commanders.” "'Mass.

Chapter

11

Adventurers,

Merchants,

ancestors.'* Rabban Sauma rejoiced exceedingly to have received Communion

from the hand of the

Lord Pope; he received it with tears and sobs, giv-

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

«

397

Christians. But now I pray that Your Holiness condescend to grant me a small portion of the relics!” that are in your possession.” The Lord Pope said to

ing thanks to God, thinking of the mercy that He

him: “If it were customary for us to make gifts to

had poured out on him... .

everyone from these relics, even if they were moun-

> Rabban Sauma next describes the various rituals he witnessed during Holy Week (the week preceding Easter) and Easter Sunday.

tains-high, they would be exhausted. But because you have come from a distant land, we will give you a few.” He gave him a small piece of the garment of Christ Our lord, a piece of kerchief, that is to say a piece of the veil of Our Lady Mary, and some small pieces of the relics of saints

The following Sunday the Lord Pope held an ordination and imposed his hands on three bishops.'? Rabban Sauma and his companions also

that one finds there [in Rome]. He sent to Mar Yaballaha his own [papal] crown ofpure gold and

observed their [the Roman]

ments of purple,'® fabrics of gold thread, socks and shoes sewn with small precious pearls, also

rites and took part

with them in these holy festivities. Following these rituals, Rabban Sauma requested

permission from the Lord Pope to depart. He replied, “We desire that you stay with us; you will be part of our company, and we will watch over you as the pupil of our eyes.”'* Rabban Sauma replied: “Father, | have come on an embassy to your court, but if Ireturn and declare to the Kings in those faroff regions the favors that you have accorded me, all of which I am unworthy of, | believe it will prove to be a great source of positive feeling for

"The Roman Church did not absolve the dead of unforgiven sins per se. During the thirteenth century, however,

it had evolved the doctrine of indulgences, whereby the living could offer atonement for their sins or for the sins of souls suffering in Purgatory, thereby lessening their time of postmortem purgation, or cleansing, and hastening their arrival in Heaven. These indulgences were earned through pious acts, such as a pilgrimage. Such charity for the de-

ceased was not available for the damned in Hell who had died with unforgiven mortal, or major, sins on their souls. Pope Nicholas obviously offered Sauma and his deceased family members indulgences in light of the Visitor’s pilgrimage to Rome. This appears to refer to two separate ceremonies on the First Sunday after Easter: the ordination of priests and the consecration of three new bishops. The Latin rite of episcopal consecration involves the laying on of hands. 44 quotation from the Bible, Deuteronomy 32:10. The English phrase “so-and-so is the apple of my eye” means exactly the same, with apple serving as a metaphor for pupil, namely something highly prized.

adorned with precious stones, some sacred vest-

the ring from his finger and letters patent'” that contained patriarchal authority over all of the

East.'* He gave Rabban Sauma letters patent as Visitor over all Christians and blessed him. And he gave him for expenses along his journey 1500 mithqals'? of red gold. He likewise sent King Arghun some gifts.*” He embraced and kissed Rabban Sauma and discharged him. Rabban Sauma gave thanks to Our Lord who had judged him worthy of such favors. 'SLiterally “things left behind,’ they were believed to be the body parts of saints and any other item associated with Jesus and the saints of the Judeo-Christian past. Christians further believed each relic brought with it the spiritual power of the holy person with whom it was associated.

'See source 77, note 22. '7h letter, on which a hanging seal is appended, that confers an office or special authority. Even today, a single letter of this sort is called “letters patent” because the Latin term is the plural litterae patentes. '8A patriarch is a churchman with ecclesiastical authority over a vast region and over many archbishops (note 5) and bishops. In essence, Pope Nicholas was saying that Yaballaha was replacing the schismatic patriarch of Constantinople as primate in the East.

"See source 66, note 9. Our source fails to mention the letter that Pope Nicholas also sent the il-khan, which survives in the Vatican Archives. This might be due to the fact that it was quite condescending, telling Arghun that he and the Mongols should, for their salvation, embrace Christianity and submit to papal authority, and it failed to promise any alliance.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Traveling the Silk Road 79 * MARCO POLO, THE OF THE WORLD

MILLION: A DESCRIPTION

No chapter on trans-Eurasian travel in the Mongol Age would be complete without a selection from Marco Polo (ca. 1253—1324),a Venetian who spent twenty years in East Asia.A few writers have questioned whether Marco Polo ever went to China, and some have even wondered whether he ever existed. Their conclusions, built on arguments from silence, in which they point to what Polo’s account does not mention and to the absence of his name in all known Chinese records, have failed to win support within the academic community. As the issue currently stands, there is no good reason to doubt the basic historicity of Marco Polo’s account of his years in China, even though the story, as we have received it, contains undoubted exaggeration and human error—error that was compounded by the manner in which Polo’s story was transmitted to posterity. We do not have the original version, which probably was written in French, not Italian. Rather, the book passed through the hands of numerous scribes and editors and appeared in different manuscript versions and ina variety of languages. Added to this was the undoubted attempt by the writer to whom Polo narrated his adventures, an author of romances known as Rustichello of Pisa, to present Polo’s stories in a “literary” manner not unlike what Ibn Juzayy had done with Ibn Battuta’s account of his travels (Prologue and source 67). His changes were probably not as severe as those of modern Hollywood and TV scriptwriters who alter historical events for dramatic effect, but they did color the narrative. Around |260, Marco’s father and uncle, Niccold and Maffeo, both merchants from Venice, set sail for the Black Sea and from there made an overland trek to the court of Khubilai. When they were preparing to return home, the Great Khan requested that they visit the pope and ask him to send one hundred missionary-scholars to Cathay (northern China). The Polos arrived at the crusader port of Acre (in presentday Israel) in 1269. In 1271, Pope Gregory X (r. 1271-1276), who had been elected pope while serving in Acre, commissioned them to return to China with two Dominican friars. The two friars, afraid of the dangers that awaited them, quickly abandoned the expedition, but Niccold’s seventeen-year-old son, Marco, was made of sterner stuff. The brothers Polo, now accompanied by young Marco, began the long trek back to northern China and the court of Khubilai, arriving there in 1274 or 1275. Here, apparently, Marco entered the service of the Great Khan, but we do not know what offices he held. Whatever Polo’s position, it is clear that for close to two decades he traveled extensively over much of Khubilai’s empire, and he probably functioned, at least occasionally, as one of the many foreign officials serving the Mongol, or Yuan, Dynasty (1271-1368). In 1290 or 1292, the three men set sail for Europe by way of the Indian Ocean in a convoy that was bringing a bride from the court of Khubilai Khan to Arghun, the Mongol il-khan of Persia whom we saw in source 78. The journey was long, and

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries « according to Polo's account, out of more than six hundred passengers only eighteen, including the Polos and the princess-bride, survived. Arghun was also dead by the time his betrothed reached Tabriz, and she married his son and successor Ghazan. On their part, the Polos finally arrived home in Venice in 1295. Such voyages were not for the faint of heart. In 1298, Marco was captured in a war with Genoa, a perennial foe of Venice, and, while in custody, related his adventures to Rustichello of Pisa. Together they produced a rambling, often disjointed but vivid account of the sites, peoples, personalities, and events Marco had encountered in Asia. Despite its flaws and a self-puffery that was obvious even to fourteenth-century contemporaries, the book was widely translated and distributed throughout late medieval Europe. Its popularity was due in part to Marco’s eye for detail, as the book abounds with stories and descriptions of phenomena that Westerners found fascinatingly different and that could have been narrated only by someone who had experienced and viewed them. Somewhere along the way, the book acquired the popular Italian title // Milione (The Million). One explanation for the title is that the general consensus was that it contains wildly extravagant facts, figures, and stories (or a million lies in the estimation of some). Whatever the reason for this ascription, some of the descriptions and stories that have most fascinated readers of this book for the past seven centuries are those relating to the Silk Road. “Silk Road,’ a term coined by a nineteenth-century German scholar and adventurer to describe an ancient network of caravan routes across Eurasia (see Multiple Voices IV), conjures up every sort of romantic notion in modern readers, but for the men and women who journeyed along its many routes it was anything but romantic, even though towns along the way offered pleasures and even exotic experiences. The fact that it took the Polos about three and a half years to travel from Acre to Shangdu (Xanadu), Khubilai Khan’s first capital city, suggests how arduous and dangerous the journey was (and also how alluring its various places of rest and refreshment were). That said, the Silk Road experienced a period of renewed, even dramatically revitalized, activity in the era of the Mongol Peace following a decided fall-off of activity during the eleventh and twelfth centuries due to the increased reliance of merchants on the faster, far less expensive, and relatively safer mode of transportation afforded by oceangoing ships. In the first of the following three selections, Polo describes his journey to Cathay along the route that skirts the southern fringes of the forbidding Taklimakan Desert. Here he provides details of life, customs, and topography in that vast region that today is Xinjiang, the Uighur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since ancient times, its oasis cities were places of refuge and commerce and its deserts and mountains formidable obstacles along the Silk Road. The second selection illustrates how one group of people entertained and profited from the travelers in their midst, and the third selection suggests how the Great Khan

expedited travel along the routes of his dominion.As we saw in source 77, this same

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 system was employed by other Mongol khans to the west of China, thereby creating a post system that ran from the Pacific to Anatolia.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What were the dangers for travelers along portions of the Silk Road? 2. Despite the dangers, what made the journey possible and even bearable? 3. Given that so much of Inner Asia consists of inhospitable land and climate and contains so many dangers, how was it possible for people to inhabit towns and cities along the route of the Silk Road and even live well in the process? 4. What impact did the Mongols have on the portions of the Silk Road under their control?

5. After reading these excerpts, do you think Polo’s account deserves the title // Milione? lf so, in what sense?

We now turn to the province of Carchan,' which

journey in extent, which

is subject to the Great

takes a journey of five days’ length to cross. The

Khan, and its people observe the law of Macometto.®

people observe the law of Macometto,’ and there

There are numerous cities and villages there, and the

are also some Nestorian Christians there.° They are subject to the rule of the Great Khan’s nephew,’ whom I mentioned earlier. They have a bountiful supply of every necessity, especially cotton.’ The inhabitants are great artisans, but a majority of them have swollen legs and great goiters on

most noble city is Cotam, the capital, which gives its

their throats, which

occurs

from

some

element

name

to the kingdom. Everything necessary for

human life is here in greatest abundance. It produces cotton, along with flax, hemp, wheat, wine, and other commodities.’ Its inhabitants have vineyards,

estates, and numerous gardens. They live by trade and craftsmanship and are not soldiers. Leaving this

in the water that they drink.® And there is nothing else worthy of remembrance regarding that

province, we come to Peym."”

province.

toward the east-north-east.

Then, traveling in the direction of the north-east by east, we come to Cotam,’ a province eight days’

Macomettane and serve the Great Khan. There are

Source: II Milione di Messer Marco Polo, Giovanni

makan (a name that means “those who enter never return”) cannot support human life. Travelers must decide whether to take the fork that skirts the northern edge of this sixhundred-mile-long wilderness of sand (the Northern Tarim Route) or the southern fork (the Southern Tarim Route). The city of Yarkand is the first major oasis on the Southern Tarim Route for those traveling from the west.

Regarding the so-called Nestorians, see Multiple Voices V and source 78. *Kaidu (d. 1301). He opposed his uncle Khubilai and waged war against him for decades. °One version of this text states that little was grown at Yarkand and it lacked cotton. *See source 76. A goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland, is usually caused by an iodine deficiency in the diet. ’Khotan, present-day Hetian in the PRC. Khotan means “raw” in Persian and signified the vast amounts of raw cotton grown there. *Khotan had been a Buddhist kingdom until it was captured by Muslims in the early eleventh century. *Many versions leave out the items flax, hemp, etc.

*Muhammad.

'More correctly, Pem; present-day Yutian.

Battista

Baldelli-Boni, ed., 2 vols. (Florence: Da’ Torchi di Giuseppe Pagani, 1827), 2:87-94, 99-101, 203-205, passim. Translated by A. J. Andrea. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved. 'This is Yarkand, on the southwestern border of the Taklimakan Desert, which is located in the Tarim Basin. The Takli-

Peym is a province five days’ journey in extent, Here the people are

many cities and villages, but the most noble is the

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

« 401

one called Pem. Through it flows a river in which

or foe, passes through these parts, if they are

are found large quantities of chalcedony stone and jasper.'' Within this province are all necessities,

enemies, the inhabitants are robbed of all their goods, if they are friends, all of their animals are

and cotton is also produced here. The people live

butchered and eaten. For that reason, whenever

by craftsmanship and trade, but they have a bar-

they are aware of such an event, they immediately flee with their wives, children and animals into the sandy waste a distance of two days’ journey, toward some spot where they can find fresh

baric custom.

If a woman

has a husband and he

* goes to another place where he remains for twenty days, that woman,

according to their custom, as

soon as that term has passed, may, if so inclined,

water and, thereby, can live. Out of similar fear,

take another husband, and men, according to the

when

same principle, marry wherever they might happen

grain in certain caves amid the sands, taking each month from the stockpile as much as needed for

to reside.'* And all the aforementioned provinces,

they gather their harvest, they store the

namely, Caschar,'> Cotam, Peym, right up to the

their consumption. No persons other than they

city of Lop, are within the boundaries of Turkes-

know the places they use for this purpose because

tan.'* Next comes the province of Ciarcian.'°

tracks left in the sand by their feet are soon erased

Circian is a province of Turkestan

in an east-

northeast direction. At one time it was rich and

productive, but the Tartars'® laid it waste. Its people obey the law of Macometto. There are numerous towns and villages in that province, but

by the wind. Upon leaving Ciarcian, the route stretches for five days over sand, where the water is foul and bitter but in a few places fresh and sweet. Otherwise,

the capital city of the kingdom is named Circian.

nothing else happens here worthy of narration. At the end of these five days one arrives at the city of

There are many large rivers there in which are

Lop, on the border of the Great Desert.'*

found a large amount of jasper and chalcedony, which are carried for sale to Cathay,'’ where they fetch great prices. Such is their great abundance,

they generate considerable commerce. The region from Peym right up to this province, as well as throughout its entire extent, is entirely sandy. in which the water for the most part is bitter and

Lop, situated toward

the east-northeast,

is a

city at the beginning of the Great Desert, which is likewise called Lop. The city belongs to the Great Khan, and the people observe the law of Macometto. Persons who intend to cross the

undrinkable, although in a few places it is sweet

desert rest in this town for many days to prepare all of the necessities for the journey. They load a number ofstrong donkeys and camels with provi-

and fresh. Whenever an army ofTartars, friend

sions and merchandise. Should the provisions be

''Two highly valued quartz crystals, but its chief mineral export was (and is) its translucent nephrite jade, the most highly prized jade in China. Yutian means “Jade Field.” The rivers in which these minerals are found are typical of the mountain-fed rivers that create oases along both the northern and southern routes that skirt the Tarim Basin (note |). This probably refers to temporary marriages, which were common along the trade routes of Inner Asia. See what Polo tells us of the customs of Kamul.

"The region of Central Asia inhabited by Turkic peoples. Earlier, many of these areas had been inhabited primarily by Iranian peoples. 'SPresent-day Shanshan. 'See source 77, note |. "The text used here reads “Ouchah,” an obvious mistake. The other manuscript versions of this passage have “Catay” (Cathay), and the translator has taken the liberty of making this correction. '8On the eastern edge of the Taklimakan Desert is a saltencrusted plain of hard-baked clay known as the Lop Nor (the Salt Sea). Roughly two thousand square miles in size, it is the dried bed of an ancient landlocked sea that supported thriving communities up to the ninth century C.e.

Kashgar, on the extreme western end of the Taklimakan, is where the northern and southern forks branch, for those traveling from the west.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange. * 500-1500 consumed before completing their passage, they butcher and eat some of their donkeys and camels. Camels are most commonly used here because they carry large loads"’ and eat little. A month's supply of provisions should be laid in because that is the amount of time needed to cross the narrowest part of the desert. It would be practically impossible to travel across its length because the journey would last almost a year and it would not be possible to carry a sufficient quantity of provisions for the duration of the transit. During that thirty-day journey, one is invariably traveling over sandy plains and barren mountains. Always at the end of each day’s trek one stops at a place where water is available. It is not sufficient in volume for a large number of people but enough

for fifty or a hundred

men,

along

with their animals. In three or four places one finds water that is salty and bitter, but in all the others, which number around twenty-eight, the water is fresh and sweet. Neither animals nor birds inhabit this desert because one finds there nothing to live on. It is said as a well-established fact that many spirits inhabit this desert that bring travelers to their destruction through their grand and extraordinary illusions. If during the day someone remains behind, either by reason of having fallen asleep or because ofattending to other needs, and the caravan has passed over a hill so that it is no longer possible to see it, suddenly he hears himself called by name and in a tone of voice like that of his companions. Believing them to be some of his

companions, he wanders from the route, and, not knowing where to go, he perishes. Sometimes at

night’ they think they hear the tromp of a large troop of people a distance from the route and believing these are sounds made by their companions, they head in the direction of the sound, and

when day comes they find themselves deceived and in deadly danger. Likewise, during the day if someone

remains behind, the spirits appear to

him in the form of his companions and call him by name, and they cause him to wander off the

route... . Truly these phenomena are wondrous and the stories told of the spirits of this desert are {almost]*' beyond all belief. They are said to fill the air with all sorts of sounds of various musical instruments,

and likewise of drums and the

clash of arms, so that the caravan closes ranks and proceeds in a more compact fashion. And before

sleeping, they fix a marker pointing to the route they will later take, and they attach a bell to the bridle of each animal for the purpose of their not deviating from the route. It is unavoidable that one passes through this desert in the face of great trial and danger.

Chamul” is a province situated in the great prov-

ince of Tangut,*? 3 which is subject to the Great Khan. Within it are many cities and villages, of

which the capital city likewise bears the name Chamul. The province lies between two deserts; on the one side is the Great Desert, which was

already described, and on the other side is a

"The double-humped Bactrian camel carried loads of around three hundred pounds over long distances. Because of daytime heat, travel by night was often the norm. *\Added by the translator. The sense of the passage seems to demand that we supply this modifier.

describes in this aside were on his route eastward. Indeed, the whole tone of this section, including his ignorance of the extent of the Gobi Desert (note 25), suggests that he never visited this region and only heard about these sites during his stay in China.

2Usually spelled Kamul. Located today in the PRC, it is known as Hami in Mandarin Chinese; Kamul is its Uyghur

“At this time, Kamul was within land that had formerly

name. Polo has now shifted to the Northern Tarim Route. He does not claim that the provinces and cities that he

been controlled by the Western Xia Empire of the Tanguts, a Tibetan people. *The Desert of Lop.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

+

403

small desert of maybe three days’ journey in extent.”

he strictly commanded that the men of Chamul

All of the people worship idols” and have a language

relinquish a practice that was so disgraceful to them, and he forbade anyone in that province to offer lodging to strangers. Rather, the strang-

unique to them. They live by the fruits of the earth because they have them in great abundance and

which they sell to travelers.” The men of this province are addicted to pleasure, giving no thought to

ers were to accommodate themselves in public

‘anything other than playing instruments, singing,

sorrow, they obeyed the commands of the king

hostels, where

they could lodge. In grief and

dancing, writing, and reading in accordance with

for about three years. Finally, however,

their tradition, and doing whatever else gives them

that the land ceased to yield to them the usual

pleasure and delight.’ Whenever any stranger arrives, wishing to find

fruits and many adverse events were occurring at home, they sent envoys to the Great Khan,

accommodation

beseeching him that he should be pleased to allow them to resume observing a custom handed

in their homes, they are greatly

finding

pleased. They strictly command their wives, daughters, sisters, and other female relatives to indulge the guest totally in every way that he

fathers and ancestors from remotest times, espe-

desires, and they vacate the house and retire into

cially since, inasmuch as they had failed to give

down to them with great reverence by their old

all necessities to their guest,

pleasure and hospitality to strangers, their affairs

while expecting payment in return, and do not

at home went from bad, to worse, to ruin. The

return home as long as the stranger is there. The strangers lie with the wives, daughters, and oth-

Great Khan, having listened to this plea, said: “Since you so desire your shame and ignominy,

ers, taking every pleasure as if they were their

it shall be granted to you. Go and live according to your custom and let your women prostitute themselves to wayfarers.” With this answer, they

the city and.send

own

wives, and these people consider such an

arrangement to be quite honorable and redound-

ing to their reputation as well as most pleasing to their gods. By providing good shelter to travelers

people, and so to the present day they observe:

in need of relaxation, their wealth, children, and

their ancient Custom.

returned home to the profound delight ofall the

power will increase, they will be kept safe from

every danger, and they will succeed in the grandest and happiest way in all their endeavors. The women, in truth, are exceedingly fun-loving and fully compliant with whatever

their husbands

command.

It happened at the time when the Great Khan Manghu

reigned

in

this

province,”

9)

having

From the city of Cambalu” 30 there are many roads and highways leading to the different provinces, and on each road, that is to say on those that are the most important and are main roads, always at a distance of twenty-five or thirty miles, more or less, . . . one finds hostels that are called in their

judged this custom and tradition to be shameful,

language

Lamb,

which

in our language would

This so-called smaller desert is the edge of the Gobi Desert, which is quite a bit larger than Lop Nor and is not crossed in three days. Buddhists. 7Kamul/Hami was and is noted for its melons. Today there are about thirty varieties of Hami melons grown all over Xinjiang.

8This region has been noted for at least the last fifteen hundred years for its music and dance. *Mangu Khan, Khubilai’s older brother and Great Khan from 1251 to 1259. 0More correctly, Khanbalik (City of the Khan), the popular name for Khubilai Khan’s capital city of Dadu (present-day Beijing). See source 80 for a description of the city.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500

be called “horse-post-stations.”*' Here there are large and beautiful villas that have the most lovely rooms furnished with beds and hung with silk; all

four hundred horses for the post station and all of the other, already mentioned necessities. And he sends people to dwell there and to work the

the furnishings are suitable for a great baron. In-

land and to serve the needs ofthe post station, and

deed, at each station a great king could be lodged

so large villages are formed. As a result, ambas-

in a fitting manner, as every required item may be obtained from the nearby city or villages, and for

sadors and messengers of the Great Khan go and come with great convenience and ease through all

some items the Court makes provision.

the provinces, kingdoms, and other parts that are

subordinate to his rule. In this matter he shows

greater excellence and superiority over any other Here at each station four hundred fine horses

emperor, king, or human on earth.

stand continually ready so that all of the messengers and ambassadors traveling on the business of the Great Khan can dismount here, leave behind

are far away, the great Khan has ordered that post

No fewer than two hundred thousand horses stand ready at these post stations throughout his provinces and no fewer than ten thousand furnished villas are richly maintained.” It is a marvelous system and so effective that one can scarcely

stations, or villas, be established there, similarly

describe or write about it.

their worn-out horses, and mount fresh ones. In

fact, even in districts far from the roads and in the mountains, where there are no villages, and cities

equipped with all of the accouterment,

namely

*'The correct Turkic word is Yam. Twenty-five to thirty miles was the farthest distance covered in a day by regular traffic, such as caravans. Traveling merchants could, first for free and later for a fee, lodge at these post stations. Extant sources ascribe the system’s origins to the Great

Khan Ogedai, who instituted this communication network

in 1234. ®Polo’s (or the scribe’s) arithmetic is faulty here. How do you explain the inconsistency?

A European Visitor to China 80 *«ODORIC

OF PORDENONE,

REPORT

In further response to Rabban Sauma’s appearance in Rome in 1288 (source 78), Pope Nicholas IV dispatched a Franciscan friar, John of Monte Corvino (1247ca. 1328),to the Mongols with letters for Arghun and other khans farther to the east, including the Khan of khans, Khubilai. In 1291, John was in Tauris (Arghun’s capital), but the il-khan had recently died, and Islam was on the ascendance in the il-khanate. Moreover, between May and July of the same year, the last crusader strongholds in the Holy Land fell to Islamic forces. With nothing further to be accomplished in Persia, John set out for the court of the Great Khan in China. Due to delays, John arrived at the Mongol capital of Dadu, also known by its Turkic name Khanbalik (City of the Khan), in 1294/1295, around or just after Khubilai’s death. Making the best of his situation, John remained in China as a missionary, and in time, he was joined by other Franciscans.

Chapter 11

Adventurers, Merchants,

Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

One of the assistants was Friar Odoric of Pordenone (ca. 1265-1331), who departed for the Far East in 1322. Brother Odoric, who had already served as a missionary in southern Russia for more than a decade and in Persia for eight years, sailed from the Persian Gulf to India, and from India sailed to the port of Guangzhou (Canton), arriving there around 1323-1324. For several years, he served in China, where he assisted the aged Archbishop John of Monte Corvino, but departed for home before John’s death (ca. 1328). Odoric’s overland journey home finally got him to Venice in 1329. Soon thereafter he fell ill but managed to dictate his travel adventures in May 1330. He died on January 14, 1331. Friar Odoric was clearly not the first and would not be the last medieval Latin Christian missionary to work in China. The mission probably survived, but barely so, following the collapse of Mongol authority in China in 1368. It might well have limped along until around 1400. We do not know when it fully disappeared. Although several missionaries communicated with the West through letters sent back by Italian merchants and other travelers, Odoric’s Report is, by far, the best and most detailed account by any Western missionary in China at this time. Its excellence, in fact, attracted the plagiarizing eyes of John Mandeville (source 75), who borrowed from it. In the following excerpts, Odoric describes Hangzhou, the former capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 127—1279); the Great Khan’s palace complex of Dadu; and his imperial court.

As the notes below show, there are some similarities between Odoric’s description of Hangzhou and Dadu and that of Marco Polo, especially in regard to several apparent exaggerations. Were both men victims of local puffery, or had Odoric or his scribe read and used an early version of Polo’s popular II Milione in an effort to insert some color? You be the judge, especially as you address question number |.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

. Does Friar Odoric’s account seem to reach the level of unbelievable hyperbole at any point? Which parts of this account seem to be sober reporting of fact? Based on your answers to these questions, what is your overall evaluation of this source’s worth? 2. How do we infer from this source that Marco Polo and Brother Odoric were only two of many Western Europeans who visited China in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries? 3. What does his description of Cansai (Hangzhou) allow us to infer about southern China before and during Mongol rule? 4. Based on what Odoric tells us about Dadu and about the composition and character of the Great Khan’s court, how would you characterize Mongol rule in China in the early fourteenth century? 5. Compare the picture that this source gives us of the Mongol court with the images of Guyuk Khan’s encampment and enthronement that emerge from John of Plano Carpini’s account (source 77). What, if anything, has changed? If there were changes, to what do you ascribe them?

«

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Concerning Cansai, the Greatest City in the World

I came to the city of Cansai, which means “City of Heaven.” This is the greatest city in the world and a good 100 miles in circumference.* Within it there is not a square yard? ofearth that is not heav-

ily populated. Quite often one can find a residence that contains fully ten or twelve households. This city also has huge suburbs that contain a population larger than that of the city itself. The city has twelve principal gates, and extending out from each of these gates, for a distance of almost eight miles, are cities larger than Venice or Padua, so

that one might journey six or seven days through one of these suburbs and it would seem as though he had traveled but a short distance. Source: Odoric of Pordenone, Descriptio orientalium partium Fratris Odorici Boemi de Foro Julii Provinciae Sancti Antonii, in

Henry Yule, ed., Cathay and the Way Thither, 4 vols. (Taipei: Ch’eng Wan Publishing Co, 1914), 1:312-314 and 318-321. Translated from the Latin by A. J. Andrea. Copyright© 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved. 'Cansai means “Temporary Capital,’ being a Persian corruption of the Mandarin Chinese term Xingzai (and Hantsei in the local dialect). Hangzhou, a river-port city in southern China that opened onto the ocean, received the name it bears today, which means “river-ferry region,” in the early seventh century.After the Jurchen (Ruzhen) overran northern China and captured the Northern Song capital city of Kaifeng in 1127, a collateral branch of the imperial family established a truncated empire in the south with its capital at Hangzhou. Because the Southern Song officially never gave up hope of recapturing the north, Hangzhou served as its “temporary capital” from | 132 to its capture by the Mongols in 1276. Even under Mongol rule, the city continued to be known colloquially as Xingzai. Hangzhou attracted large numbers of foreign merchants and travelers during the era of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, and the few of them who wrote about the city (such as Ibn Battuta) preferred to use variations of this colloquialism. Marco Polo, who likewise reported on the marvels of the city, knew it as Kinsai, which he also translated as “Heavenly City.” Inasmuch as the temporary capital housed the palace of the Son of Heaven, this translation was understandable and might also have been a common interpretation among visitors to Hangzhou. *An exaggeration if one thinks in terms of a standard modern mile or even a medieval European mile, which varied in length from place to place, but generally ran around five thousand feet. Marco Polo also reports that he read a letter

This city is located on lagoons of standing and static water, like the city of Venice. It also has more than 12,000 bridges, on which are stationed guards

who watch over this city for the Great Khan.* Alongside the city flows a single river. Because the city is so situated, it finds itselfinthe same situation as Ferrara. That is, it is longer than it is wide. I dili-

gently inquired about this city and asked questions of Christians, Saracens,° idolaters,’ and all others,

and all said with one voice that it is fully 100 miles in circumference.

They also have an edict from their lord that each and every hearth® shall pay annually one dalis to the Great Khan, that is five pieces of paper? that have an equivalent value in silk of one and a half

florins.'° They have a means of coping with this. composed in 1276 by the Dowager-Empress Xie in which she stated to the advancing Mongol leader Bayan that the city’s circumference was one hundred miles. Polo went on

to state that this did not seem unreasonable. If there was such a letter, Dowager-Empress Xie undoubtedly noted that the city was one hundred li in circumference, the li being the standard Chinese measurement for long distance.A li was roughly a half kilometer, or one-third of a modern mile, and one hundred |i were equal to about thirty-three modern miles. Even this reduced length might be an exaggeration: A detailed plan of the city that was drawn up in 1274 shows a rectangular built-up area within encircling walls that appears to be seven or eight square miles in size.Atthe most, the wall of a city of this size and shape could only be about eighteen miles or fifty-four li in length. *The Latin is spansa. It is not at all clear what Friar Odoric understood a “span” to be. Perhaps this comes close. See

note 25. ‘An apparent gross exaggeration, if we can accept the evidence from the city plan of 1274 (note 2), which shows only 117 bridges within the walls and 230 in the suburbs. Marco Polo also reports that it had twelve thousand well-guarded bridges. *Like Ferrara along the Po, Hangzhou is stretched out along the contours of its river, hence its name indicates that it is a place where the river can be crossed.

®Muslims. Buddhists, Daoists, and Mongol shamans.

8/gnis: literally, “fire.” *The Song Dynasty began printing and using paper currency in the 1120s. 'The

florin, the official coin of Florence

since

1252, was

made from 3.53 grams of pure gold and was equal in value to a pound of silver.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries Fully ten or twelve households will share a single

hearth and so will pay for only a single hearth. Regardless, these hearths number eighty-five tumans, with an additional four tamans for the Saracens.

Combined, they number eighty-eight. One twman is fully 10,000 hearths.'' Then there are the others: Christians,’

other

merchants,

and

other

tran-

sients passing through the country. This being so, I

marveled at how many human bodies could manage to inhabit the same space. Yet there is a great

abundance of bread there, and of pork, and rice and wine. The wine is otherwise known as vigim, and is reputed to be a noble beverage. Indeed, an

extraordinary abundance of every other sort of food is found there. . . . If anyone should wish to tell of

or report on the vastness of this city and the great marvels contained within it, a full quire of statio-

nery could not contain all of these matters. Truly, this is the most noble and greatest city in the world for goods that are bought and sold. . . .

''More correctly, the term is tumen, a unit of the decimal system used by the Turkic and Mongol peoples of the steppe. See note 26. There is something wrong with the arithmetic here. It should be eighty-nine tumens, but the Latin text reads “Ixxxviii.” Either Odoric miscounted or the scribe mistakenly left off the last “i.” Marco Polo, who claimed to have been in the city when the Great Khan’s agents were recording the number of households, reported that he

learned the city had 160 “tomauns.” Thus, he calculated, the city had 1,600,000 houses. Note that Polo says nothing about hearths being counted. "Polo reports that Kinsai had only one church for the “Nestorians,” but given the wording here, “Christians, other merchants,’ and the fact that these Christians are clearly placed outside the tumens, it is likely that Odoric means not native Christian members of the Church of the East who were subjects of the Great Khan but Christian merchants

from western Eurasia. See source 81. Turkish for “City of the Khan.” This is the usual term that visitors from lands to the west used for the Mongol capital in China. But see note 15. '4Nlorthern China, which received its name of Cathay from the Khitan (Qidan), a nomadic Mongol people who established the Liao state there in 907. They were replaced by the Jurchen (Ruzhen), a Manchurian people who set up the Jin state in 1125, but the name Cathay stuck.

«

Concerning the Great Cities of Khanbalik and Taydo and the Palace of the Khan

I passed through many cities and lands on my way east before arriving at the noble city of Khanbalik,!

an exceedingly old and ancient city in the famous province of Cathay.’ The Tartars took the city and then built another one-half mile away, which they called ‘Taydo."” This second city has twelve gates, spaced two miles apart from one another. 16 A large population resides between the two cities, and together the cities have a perimeter that extends more

than forty miles.'’ The Great Khan resides in this

city and has a great palace, the walls of which are a good four miles in circumference.'® Within

this

space'” are many other lovely palaces. Within the Great Palace’s enclosure there is a man-made hill on which

has been constructed

another

palace, the

most beautiful in the world. This entire hill has been planted over with trees, and for this reason it

'In 1264, Khubilai Khan, then resident at Shangdu (Xanadu) in Mongolia, ordered the construction of a new capital slightly northeast of the former Jin capital of Zhongdu (Central Capital). In 1272, the new capital, which was still under construction, acquired the Chinese name Dadu (Great

Capital), and to the Mongols it was known as Daidu. bilai mandated that the entire urban complex, namely Dadu and the former Zhongdu, was to be called Dadu, seems likely that even the Mongols normally used the

Khuboth but it Turk-

ish term Khanbalik when referring to this complex. Dadu later became the nucleus for the Ming (1369-1644) capital of Beijing (Northern Capital), which took shape under the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402-1424). Regarding the Yongle Emperor, see source 83.

"Apparently it had only eleven gates—three on each of three sides and two on the northern wall. Marco Polo also reports that it had twelve gates. The new Dadu (note |5) alone had a perimeter of 28,600 meters, or more than seventeen and a half miles or about fifty-seven li (note 2), so a combined perimeter of forty miles seems reasonable. Polo reports that the new city, which he calls Taidu, was twenty-four miles in circumference. '8The palace complex had a perimeter of 3,480 meters, or a bit more than two miles or seven li. Polo also reports that the palace complex was a square with a four-imnile circumference. "The entire space that encompasses Dadu, the new city.

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 is called Green Mount.” A lake has been created alongside the hill and an exceedingly beautiful

bridge built over it.*! On this lake there are so many geese, ducks, and swans that one is struck in awe. For this reason, there is no need for that lord to

leave home when he wishes to go hunting. Also

within this palace enclosure are thickets filled with various sorts of wild animals so that he can take to the chase whenever he desires without ever leaving home.

For this palace in which he resides is vast and beautiful.

Its ground floor is raised about two

paces,” and inside there are twenty-four columns of gold. All of the walls are draped with skins of red-leather, said to be the finest in the world. In the center of the palace there is a great cistern,

more than two paces in height, totally fashioned out of a single precious stone called merdacas.” It is bound all around in gold, and in every corner there is a dragon™ whose mouth threatens in a

most menacing way. This cistern also has a hanging network ofgreat pearls that fringe it, and these

fringes of pearls are a good yard” wide. Drinking water for use in the royal court is dispensed through the cistern, which is fed by pipes. Nearby the cistern are many golden goblets from which those who desire to take a drink can drink. In that

same palace there are also many peacocks made from gold. When

one of the Tartars wishes to

amuse his lord, one after another they clap their hands, upon which the peacocks flap their wings

and appear to dance. Now this has to be done either through some diabolical art or by means of some underground engine.

Concerning the Lord Khan’s Court When

that lord is seated on his imperial throne,

the empress resides on his left, and one step below sit two of the other wives whom he keeps. At the bottom of the stairs are all the other women of his family. All of the women who are married have on their heads [something shaped like]”° a human foot, which is a good forearm and a half long. On the lower portion of the [so-called] foot are crane’s feathers fashioned into a peak, and the entire “foot” is ornamented with great pearls. Whatever large

and beautiful pearls there are in the world, they are to be found on the decorations ofthose ladies.’’ On the right-hand side of this king sits his firstborn

son, who

is expected

to reign after him.

Beneath them are placed all who are of royal blood. There are also four scribes there who write down every word that the king utters. Before the khan stands an innumerable multitude of his barons. None of these dares to speak a word except if addressed by the great lord, except for the jesters, who might wish to amuse their lord. But even

these jesters must not dare to do anything beyond the limits that the king has laid down for them. Before

the gates of the palace stand

baronial

guards, on watch lest anyone tread on the threshold of the door. If they catch anyone doing that, they beat him soundly. When this great lord desires to hold any sort of large entertainment, he has 14,000 crowned barons waiting on him at the festival, each of whom has

a coat on his back with pearls on it that alone are worth more than 15,000 florins.

?Polo also describes Green Mountain and its palace, but in greater detail, and notes that it was called Green Mound

*The Latin is serpens, but dragon seems a better translation

because, in addition to its many exotic green trees, it was covered in a green semiprecious stone so that no other color could be seen.

°Spansa. See note 3. *6Words in brackets are supplied by the translator. “John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, and other travelers through the steppe regions of Central Asia described

*'The lake exists today in Beijing’s Beihai Park. About six feet. Jade from the region of Khotan (see source 79, note | 1).

than “serpent.”

similar elaborate headdresses, which continue to be worn today.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilerims, and Missionaries « The court of this lord is well ordered, namely ranked into tens, hundreds, and thousands,?* with all their assigned places and all answerable to one another lest any defect ever be found in the performance oftheir duties or in any other matter. I, Brother Odoric, was there in this city of the . Khan for a good three years and often present at their festivals, for we Friars Minor? have an assigned place in his court, and it is always our duty to go and give him our blessing. So I took the opportunity to ask and inquire of Christians, Saracens, and all sorts ofidolaters, as well as from

in that court and who wait solely on the person of the king. They all said with one voice that of jesters alone there are easily thirteen tumans, of which one alone consists of 10,000 jesters. More-

over, when it comes who

care

to other groups: Of those

for the dogs, wild beasts, and fowl,

there are fully fifteen twmans; of physicians who care for the king’s person, there are 400 idolaters, eight Christians, and one Saracen. All of these are

supplied with everything that they need from the king’s court. As for the rest of his household, it is beyond counting.

those converts to our faith who are great barons

*®The Mongol army was organized along this decimal system, with troops organized into squadrons of tens, companies of ten tens, regiments of ten hundreds, and divisions of ten thousands (each 10,000-man unit known as a tumen). See note | I.

The official title of the Franciscans is the Order of Friars Minor (Lesser Brethren).

Advice for Merchants Traveling to Cathay 81

* FRANCESCO

PEGOLOTTI, THE PRACTICE

OF COMMERCE

Around 1340, Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, an agent of the Bardi banking house of Florence, composed a handbook of practical advice for merchants. Pegolotti, who served the Bardi family’s mercantile interests from London to Cyprus, drew upon his years of experience to produce a work filled with lists of facts and figures on such items as local business customs, the taxes and tariffs of various localities, and the relative values of different standards of weights, measures, and coinage. In other words, the book contained just about everything a prudent merchant would want to know before entering a new market. In addition to these catalogues of useful data,

Pegolotti included a short essay of advice for merchants bound for China.

QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What evidence is there that Pegolotti himself had not traveled to Cathay? 2. Considering that his advice is not based on first-hand experience, how knowledgeable does he appear to be on the subject, and what does this suggest? 3. Consider Pegolotti’s advice regarding the types of interpreters the merchant will need.What language skills suffice to carry on this trans-Eurasian business enterprise? What does this suggest about the markets of Central Asia and northern China? 4. When and where could the trip be especially hazardous? What does this suggest about the Pax Mongolica?

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 5. Describe the type of merchant for whom this advice was written. Were these small-time traders? Big-time entrepreneurs? What inferences follow from your answer?

6. What overall impression does Pegolotti give us of this journey and its rewards?

Things Needful for Merchants Who Desire to Make the Journey to Cathay In the first place, you must let your beard grow

long and not shave. And at Tana' you should

furnish yourself with a dragoman.* And you must not try to save money in the matter of dragomen by taking a bad one instead of agood one. For the additional wages of the good one

will not cost you so much as you will save by having him. And besides the dragoman it would be good to take at least two good manservants,

who are acquainted with the Cumanian’ tongue. And if the merchant likes to take a woman with him from Tana, he can do so; if he does not like to take one there is no obligation, only if he does take one he will be kept much more

comfortably than if he does not take one. If he does take one, it would be good if she were acquainted with the Cumanian tongue as well as the men. And from ‘Tana traveling to Gittarchan* you

should take with you twenty-five days’ provisions, that is to say, flour and salt fish; as for meat, you will find enough of it at all the places along the road. And also at all the chief stations [along the way] ., you should replenish yourself with flour and

salt fish; other things you will find in sufficient quantities, especially meat. Source: Henry Yule, ed. and trans., Cathay and the Way Thither, 2nd ed. (rev. by H Cordier), 4 vols. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1913-1916), Vol. 3, pp. 151-155. Modernized by A. J. Andrea. 'The present-day city of Azov on the northeast coast of the Sea of Azovy, which is an extension of the Black Sea. Tana was the easternmost point to which a person could sail from the Mediterranean. *An interpreter fluent in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish.

The road you travel from Tana to Cathay is perfectly safe, whether by day or by night, according to

what the merchants say who have used it. But if the merchant, in going or coming, should die enroute,

everything belonging to him will become the property of the lord of the country in which he dies, and the officers of the lord will take possession of

all. So also if he dies in Cathay. But if his brother is with him, or an intimate friend and comrade calling himself his brother, then they will surrender the

property of the deceased to this person, and so it will be rescued.’ And there is another danger: this is when the lord

of the country dies, and before the new lord who is to have the lordship is proclaimed. During such intervals there have sometimes been irregularities perpetrated on the Franks, and other foreigners.

(They call “Franks” all the Christians of these parts from Romania® westward.) And the roads will not

be safe to travel until another lord be proclaimed who is to reign in place of him who died. Cathay is a province that contains a multitude of cities and towns. Among others there is one in particular, that is to say the capital city, to which merchants flock, and in which there is a vast amount of trade;

and this city is called Cambalec.’ And the said city has a circuit of one hundred miles,® and is all full of

people and houses and ofdwellers in the said city. . . .

°A Turkic people inhabiting the Middle Volga. *Present-day Astrakhan, a city in the Volga Delta, just north of the Caspian Sea. °Compare this policy with that of Calicut: Prologue Multiple Voices. ‘The European term for the Byzantine Empire.

7Khanbalik. See source 80. *Compare this with Odoric (source 80).

of

Pordenone’s

account

Chapter 11

Adventurers,

Merchants , Diplomats,

You may reckon also that from Tana to Sara’ the road is less safe than on any other part of the journey; and yet even when this part of the road is at its worst, if there are some sixty men in your

company you will go as safely as if you were in your own house. Anyone from Genoa or from Venice, wishing to go to the places above-named, and to make the journey to Cathay, should carry linens with him, and if he visits Organci"” he will dispose of these at a profit. In Organci he should purchase soi ofsilver,'! and with these he should proceed without making any further investment, unless for some bales of the very finest textiles of small bulk, and that cost no more for transportation than coarser textiles. Merchants who travel this road can ride on horseback or on asses, or mounted in any way that they choose to be mounted.

*Sarai on the Volga, the capital of the il-khans of Kipchak (also known as the Golden Horde), who ruled Russia and Kazakhstan. 'Urgench on the Oxus River in Central Asia.

'Sommi were weights of silver. Each sommo was equivalent to five golden florins (see source 80, note |0). Pegolotti calculated that the average merchant would carry merchandise worth about 25,000 florins and that the expenses for the

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

Whatever silver the merchants might carry with them as far as Cathay the lord of Cathay will take from them and put into his treasury.!” And to merchants who bring silver they give that paper money of theirs in exchange. This is of yellow paper, stamped with the seal of the aforementioned lord. And this money is called balishi; and with this money you can readily buy silk and all other merchandise that you desire to buy. And all the people of the country are bound to receive it. And yet you shall not pay a higher price for your goods because your money is of paper. And there are three kinds of paper money, one being worth more than another, according

to the value which has been established for each

by that lord."

merchant, interpreter, and two personal servants would amount to a combined sixty to eighty sommi, or three to four hundred florins. "The Chinese (and Mongol) policy of demanding silver for paper money resulted in a significant flow of silver from the West to China before, during, and well after the fourteenth

century. See source 80, note 9.

Long-Distance Travel Beyond the Mongol Peace Important as the Mongol Peace was in facilitating movement and trade across Eurasia, it was not the sole factor behind the general upsurge of long-distance travel and cultural exchange after 1000. Religious motives and ties were equally important driving factors, and this was especially true for the ecumenical community that called itself Dar al-Islam (The House of Islam). Educated Muslims, no matter their ethnic origins or native tongues, shared a sacred language—Arabic—and could communicate with one another. They also shared the obligation of hajj. The pilgrimage routes that enabled African, Spanish, Turkish, Iranian, Indian, and East Asian Muslims to travel to Arabia’s holy sites equally served as important avenues

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

of cultural and material exchange. Moreover, merchants and scholars spread Islam to such faraway regions as sub-Saharan Africa and the coastal lands of Southeast Asia. Once the faith had taken root, there was even more reason to maintain contact with these societies, many of which were quite distant from Islam’s Southwest Asian birthplace. In addition to religious devotion, other factors fueled long-distance travel and commerce for both Muslims and non-Muslims before and after the breakup of the Mongol Empire. Arabs, Persians, East Africans, Indians, Southeast Asians, Chinese, and Western Europeans had taken to the seas with increasing zeal long before the rise of Chinggis Khan and continued their interests in seafaring

and naval technology throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and beyond. Chinese and Western European seafarers were in the forefront of the effort to build more seaworthy craft capable of bigger payloads and safer transportation. Borrowing extensively from the Arabs and other maritime cultures, Chinese and Western European sailors adopted and created better navigational tools, including superior coastal charts. Such efforts paid rich rewards to the merchant mariners of China and the West. By the mid-thirteenth century, Chinese mariners were a major force in the seaborne commerce of Southeast Asia, and Western Europeans, especially the Italians, dominated the shipping lanes of the Mediterranean. Early in the fifteenth century, Ming China sent seven massive naval expeditions into the Indian Ocean, and portions of several of those fleets reached the shores of East Africa and Arabia. Also in the fifteenth century, Western Europe, finding the overland roads to Cathay now mostly blocked, began to seek sea routes to the Indies. The consequences of those explorations were astounding. Before the century was over, Europeans had sailed to East Africa, India, and the Americas. Developments in naval engineering and navigation held the key to a new stage in human history—the joining of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres—but long-distance transportation across Inner Asia also enjoyed a brief renaissance in the period following the dissolution of the Mongol Ecumene. We might think of it as the Silk Road’s Indian Summer. From 1370 to 1405, the armies of Tamerlane swept across Eurasia, from Anatolia to the borders of China, from Russia to India. Their destructive fury became legendary and deservedly so, but they also established a new but short-lived Central Asian state—the Timurid Empire. Its capital, Samarqand, became the meeting place for merchants, travelers, and artisans from all over Eurasia. The land routes of Inner Africa, particularly of West Africa, were equally vital in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and remained so until new markets, opened up by the Portuguese who were looking for a new route to the Indies, blossomed along Africa’s west coast in the sixteenth century. As we saw in Chapter 10, between about 1230 and 1591, the grasslands trading empires of Mali and Songhai successively flourished as a consequence of their ability to control the traffic in gold, goods, salt, and slaves that passed along the trans-Saharan caravan routes.

7 Chapter 11

, Adventurers,

. Merchants,

Diplomats,

iv be Pilgrims, and Missionaries

Samargqand in the Age of Tamerlane 82 * RUY GONZALEZ

DE CLAVIJO, EMBASSY TO TAMERLANE

The Byzantines retook Constantinople from its Latin overlords in 1261 but soon thereafter faced a new enemy in the Ottoman Turks, who appeared as a new force to be reckoned with in Anatolia around 1300. During the fourteenth century, the Ottomans established a foothold in the Balkans and squeezed Byzantium from two directions—Asiatic Anatolia and southeastern Europe.As the Byzantine Empire contracted in the face of this pressure, various popes and

lords in Western Europe roused themselves to call for and wage crusades in defense of the Christian Byzantines, despite the deep religious differences and historical animosities that separated Eastern and Western Christians, especially since 1204 (see Multiple Voices VIII). In 1396, acombined French and Hungarian crusade army marched into the Balkans to confront the Ottomans, but Sultan Bayazid | (The Thunderbolt) crushed it at Nicopolis in Bulgaria. It seemed as though the few remnants of the Byzantine Empire would soon be overrun, and then the full fury of the Ottomans would fall upon nearby Latin Christian states, such as Hungary. In the midst of this crisis, Byzantium and Latin Europe were given a temporary reprieve when the armies of Emir Timur-i leng (Timur, or Temur, the Lame), known in the West as Tamerlane (1336?—1405), destroyed Sultan Bayazid I’s army at Ankara in July 1402. The captive sultan was transported east and died soon after. Constantinople was given another half century of life and did not fall to the Ottomans until May 29, 1453. Tamerlane, a Turk who nominally served the Mongol Khanate of Chagatai but who had turned its khan into a puppet, envisioned himself as the successor of Chinggis Khan and was determined to recreate his empire. Although Timur’s armies devastated large swaths of central and southwest Eurasia and conquered substantial portions of the lands of the former Mongol Empire, his empire never grew to the size of his Mongol exemplars. Unlike the early Mongol empire-builders, Tamerlane was a Sunni Muslim, the self-styled Sword of Islam, but he was not averse to destroying Islamic enemies in bloodbaths. In light of this reality, a few leaders in Christian Europe, emulating the hopes and policies of the late thirteenth-century papacy, entertained the unrealistic dream that they could ally with him against common Islamic enemies, such as the Ottomans and the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria. Tamerlane, however, was far more interested in China than the West. Indeed, he died in early 1405, just as he was preparing a campaign against the Ming Empire. For a few months in the period |1402—1403, however, Tamerlane conducted diplomatic exchanges with a variety of Western princes who courted an alliance with him. It was in this context that King Henry III of Castile-Leon dispatched several embassies to the Turkish warlord. The second of these, sent out in May 1403, included Ruy

Gonzalez de Clavijo, the royal chamberlain.

«

* Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 After a little less than fifteen months and almost three thousand miles of travel, Clavijo and a surviving colleague (a third envoy had died in Iran) caught up with Tamerlane at his capital, Samargand (in present-day Uzbekistan). Tamerlane, who was already preparing for his ill-fated invasion of China, received the ambassadors cordially but refused to commit to any alliance with the Christian West. In fact, the two ambassadors and their retinue were forced to depart Samargand in November 1404 without even a final audience with the aged and ill Tamerlane (who died two months later). What did come out of this adventure, however, is Clavijo’s detailed account of the embassy and the people and places they visited. Our selection comes from the chamberlain’s description of Samarqand, an ancient city of the Silk Road that the Mongols had destroyed to its foundations but that Timur rebuilt anew a short distance away from the ruins of the old city and in a manner detailed below.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What master plan did Tamerlane seem to have for Samarqand? 2. Tamerlane has often been described as essentially a plunderer rather than a state-builder. Based on this source, what is your considered judgment of that characterization?

3. Tamerlane’s campaigns, which were often accompanied by wholesale destruction and slaughter, have been pointed to as one of many factors that helped close down the Silk Road. Based on this source, what is your considered judgment of that statement?

Now that I have described all that befell us ambassadors during our stay in that city of Samarqand, I must describe that city and its surrounding territory for you, and the things that the Lord! has done there to ennoble it. . . . Samargand stands on a plain, and is encircled by an earthen wall and extremely deep ditches, and it is slightly larger than Seville, but outside the city is a large town composed of houses that are spread out into multiple neighborhoods. . . . The city is surrounded all around by many gardens and vineyards, and in some cases these gardens extend out a league and a half and even two leagues,’ with the city in

gardens and vineyards surrounding the city that when one approaches the city he sees nothing other than a mountain of lofty trees and the city set amid

Source: Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Historia del Gran Tamorlan e itinerario y enarracion del viage, ed. Gonzalo Argote de

One league is about three miles.

Molina (Madrid: Antonio de Sancha, |!782), pp. 189-191, passim. Translated by A. J. Andrea. Copyright © 2014 by A. J. Andrea. All rights reserved.

their center. Streets and large open plazas extend between these gardens. The plazas are alive with numerous people, and here they sell meat, bread, and

many other items so that the population outside the walls is far larger than the population within the

encircled city. Among these gardens outside the city are grand and noble houses, and there the Lord has his palaces and pleasure grounds. The great men of

the city also have their estates and houses here standing amid the gardens: and so extensive are these

'El Sefior—Emir Timur.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries « them. . . . Throughout the city, as well throughout these very gardens, pass many water-conduits, and

and of other ethnicities: Armenian Christians, and

within these gardens are numerous melon beds and

Greek Catholics, Nestorians,’ Jacobites,*® and those

cotton fields, and the melons from this soil are plen-

folk who baptize with fire on the forehead, who are Christians but of a law special unto themselves.’

tiful and good. At Christmas time there are so many melons and grapes that it is a wonder to behold. Each

day so many camels laden down with melons arrive that it is a wonder how they can eat and use them all up. ... Further, the riches of this land are not only in food but also in silks, satins, gauzes, crepes, taffetas, and tercenals,’ which are all produced here in great numbers. . . . The Lord had such a great desire to

ennoble this city that from every land that he conquered he forced large numbers of people to settle

in this city and in his country, especially those skilled in any of the arts. From Damascus‘ he carried away

many ethnicities, such as Turks, Arabs, and Moors,°

The number of people was so vast that they could not all fit in the city, nor in the plazas, nor in the

streets and villages, and so they lodged outside the city amid the trees and in many caves. It was a wonder. The markets of this city are fully supplied with a vast amount of merchandise that comes from

other parts. From Russia and Tartary'® come leathers and felt; from Cathay silk fabrics, which are said to be the best of that sort, most notably the satins, which are said to be the finest in the world and the

best of them are those without embroidery,'' also

master weavers who worked in all types of silk as well

musk, which is found in no other place in the world

as those who craft bows that launch arrows, and armorers, and those who work in glass and clay, who are judged to be the best in the world. . . . From Turkey he brought gunsmiths and masters of other crafts, as

other than Cathay, and also rubies and diamonds,

many as he found, and silversmiths and masons. . . .

He also brought engineers of military machines and bombardiers and those who make the ropes for

engines of war, and they planted hemp and flax,’

which are more likely to be found in that region than elsewhere, also baroque pearls,'* and rhubarb and many other spices. The goods from Cathay that come to this fortunate city are better and more precious than all other items brought there from other regions, for they say of Cathay that its people are the most skillful in the world... . And from India

which never before had been seen in this land. There were so many people brought to this city

which are the most costly of all, such as nutmegs,

from all lands, men as well as wives, that they said

cloves, mace, the cinnamon flower, ginger, cinna-

they numbered

more

than 150,000. And among

there are brought to that city the smaller spices,

mon bark, and many other spices that never reach

those persons brought there were representatives of

Alexandria.

?All are luxury fabrics, often of silk. ‘Tamerlane sacked the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus in 1400-1401, wreaking great devastation and leaving the economy of Syria in shambles. ‘This mass transportation of settlers, especially of master artisans, had been a policy that the Mongols used to build their capital cities. Timur, a Turk, was consciously emulating his predecessors in empire-building. 6Normally the term means a Muslim from western North Africa. Here, however, it probably means any non-Arab, nonTurkic Muslim. ’Eastern, or Assyrian, Christians. See source 78.

of the Apostle Thomas. More likely, however, he refers to Parsis (Persians), or Indian Zoroastrians (source 18), a small but important group in western India that traces its origins to Persian refugees who left their homeland in the eighth century fearing persecution from Muslim conquerors. Parsis

Syrian Orthodox Christians. *Possibly the so-called Saint Thomas Christians of the western coast of India, who claim origins from the missionary work

engage mainly in commerce.

'Lands of the Khanate of the Golden Horde north of the Caucasus Mountains. ''Sin labores, “without having been worked.”

"Misshapen pearls that were highly prized because of their eccentricities.

The Mediterranean’s major port of entry and wholesale center for spices from the East. See the Roteiro in the Prologue’s Multiple Voices.

¢ Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

Throughout the city there are many plazas where they sell meat cooked and prepared in a variety of styles and chickens and birds quite well prepared, also bread and excellent fruit. And these plazas are so set up that continuously, day and night, the

selling goes on. There are also numerous butcher shops, where red meat and chickens, partridges and pheasants are sold day and night.

In a corner of the city stands a castle...

enter it except the governor of the castle and his

men. Within this castle the Lord holds as many as a thousand captives, all skilled in making plate-armor and helmets and bows and arrows, and they toil the

whole year for the Lord.

Zheng He's Western Voyages 83 « MA SHORES

HUAN,

THE OVERALL

, where

the Lord keeps his treasure, and no person may

SURVEY

OF THE OCEAN’S

Vigorous expansionism characterized the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), particularly during the reign of Chengzu, known as the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402-1424). Between 1405 and 1421, he sent out six great fleets under the command of China’s most famous admiral, a Muslim eunuch of Mongolian ancestry named Zheng He (1371-1433). If we can believe the records, several fleets carried in excess of 27,000 sailors, soldiers, and officials. The first expedition of |1405—1407 reportedly consisted of 317 vessels, including 62 massive treasure ships, some of which had 9 masts and were more than 400 feet long, more than |50 feet wide (imagine a ship larger than a football field), and around 3,100 tons in weight. These armadas—as well as a seventh, which went out in 143] and returned in 1433—sailed through the waters of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, visiting numerous ports of call in such faraway places as the Spice Islands, India, East Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. Following long-established Arab and Chinese sailing routes, the expeditions were not voyages of exploration. Rather, their main purpose appears to have been the reassertion of Chinese prestige to the south and west. In essence, they were commissioned to accept the submission and tribute of the foreign rulers they encountered. A secondary purpose seems to have been to stimulate China’s economy and strengthen its commercial position in South Asia, particularly in light of the fact that the armies of Tamerlane had disrupted certain routes along the Silk Road. A book that appeared in 2002, 1421/:The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies, claims that the sixth expedition, which went out in 1421 and returned in 1423, divided into a number of squadrons. This was usual for the fleets, but what followed, according to Menzies, was not. One squadron supposedly circumnavigated the globe, sailing to both American continents, as well as to Australia and New Zealand, before returning to home port.Another squadron is said to have visited the east coast of North America and then to have gone north to Greenland and Iceland and across the Arctic Ocean until it reached the eastern tip of Siberia. From there it sailed south to China. A third allegedly sailed to South America, then to the top of Antarctica, back across the Atlantic and Indian oceans to Australia, and then home.

Chapter 11

Adventurers,

Merchants,

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

Historians and maritime archaeologists alike are unanimous in rejecting this story as a fantasy based on imagination and the desire to write a profitable book rather than any credible evidence, and they agree that the squadrons of this fleet, as was true of earlier voyages, sailed no farther than East Africa and Arabia. Wherever they sailed, all of the fleets made an impression on those whom they visited. In one area of Thailand, for example, Zheng He was remembered as a god. Despite the awe that these projections of strength engendered, China failed to gain dominance over the Indian Ocean. After the Yongle Emperor’s death, the imperial court did not follow through on what had begun so well. The reasons are not difficult to discern. The cost of mounting the expeditions was prohibitively high, and the return was disproportionately low. Moreover, the Confucian bureaucracy, with its traditional contempt for commerce and foreign cultures, was on the ascendance after the Yongle Emperor’s death.Although Zheng He was allowed to lead a seventh expedition westward (on which he died), it proved to be China’s last moment of transoceanic greatness. The court called a halt to further overseas adventures; the fleet was allowed to decay; and China deliberately and effectively forgot much of the naval technology that had made it a great maritime power in the ages of Song and early Ming. The following account, by Ma Huan, whom we have already seen in the Prologue’s sample Multiple Voices, describes various sites visited in the course of several of Zheng He’s expeditions in western waters.

QUESTIONS

FORANALYSIS

|. What evidence is there that the emperor saw these expeditions as a way of extending Chinese influence abroad? 2. How did Zheng He use both diplomacy and military force to achieve this objective? WW. What evidence is there that these expeditions also served commercial purposes? 4. What evidence is there that a high level of international commerce existed in the Indian Ocean well before the coming of Zheng He’s fleets?

The Kingdom of Manlajia (Malacca)! es

ee

oe

Seo

eae

run by a chief instead of a king. Manlajia used to submit to the authority of Siam,* paying an Pets ' : annual tribute of forty diang’ of gold in return for peace. In the seventh year ofthe Yongle reign,* the

emperor ordered the great eunuch Zheng He, with his men (and treasure ships), to carry His royal edicts [to Manlajia]. The convoy bestowed upon the Manlajia chief acrown, a belt, a robe, and two silver seals; Zheng He erected a stone stele to con-

eeritece

rol ceaetienee here ion

the main route from the South China Sea to the Indian Source: Ma Huan: Translated by Liu Xu from Ma Huan’s Ying Ya Sheng Lan in Wan Ming, edited and annotated version Ocean. (Beijing, Haiyang Press, 2005), pp. 37-92, passim. Copyright — *Thailand. © Liu Xu, 2014. All rights reserved. 3About 48 ounces.

'Malacca (Melaka), a port on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula and along the north shore of the Strait of Malacca,

*1409.This would be the third expedition of 1409-1411.

©

Continuity, Change, and Interchange : 500-1500

of Manlajia,” keeping the troops of Siam from ever

challenge, led an army to fight the “tattoo-faced

invading it. Out of gratitude and awe, the newly-

king,” and ended up killing him and revenging the

made king and his family traveled to the imperial

their return voyage] and ordered them to guard their own territory. ...

king’s death. Daring not to fight back, Naguer’s defeated troops submitted to the fisherman. The Sumendala king’s widow kept her word and married this fisherman, who was called thereafter King Weilao (senior king). The senior king made deci-

Whenever the Chinese treasure boats arrived, the

sions regarding taxation and the royal household,

capital, presenting local products as tribute. The Court in return granted them seagoing vessels [for

Chinese built a stockade that looked like a walled

and his wife would agree.

city, with four gates and drum towers.° Bell-carrying patrols’ patrolled at night between this and an inner stockade, within which they built warehouses and

Court in the seventh year of theYongle reign,'* the

senior king was approved by the Chinese emperor.

grain-storage facilities to house all of their coin-

When he arrived back [from China] in the tenth

Having paid a tributary trip to the Heavenly

age and their inventories. Ships that have gone

year of the Yongle reign,'’ the son of the former

to foreign lands are assembled here;* exotic goods are sorted and loaded onto treasure boats. The

king had grown up. He conspired with military

[Chinese] ships sail back in mid-May, when the time

chiefs, killed his adoptive father the fisherman, and took over the throne and the kingdom. The

is most favorable and the wind is blowing toward

senior king had a son, Suganla, by his first legal

the north.’ Collecting local products, following the

wife. He fled into the mountains with followers,

treasure boats, and accompanied by his family and chiefs, the Manlajia king, himself, often embarks on tributary trips to China.

trying to counterattack his father’s enemies. In

The Kingdom of Sumendala (Semudera)'® The former king of Sumendala was killed by a poisonous arrow in a battle with the “tattoo-faced king” of Naguer.'! His successor was young and not able to revenge his father, hence the royal wife proposed to her countrymen that “if there is any man who can revenge the king’s death and recover his land, I will marry him and the country will be his property.” A local fisherman stood up for the

°Nanjing (Southern Capital). The Ming court moved from the seaport capital of Nanjing to inland Beijing (Northern Capital) in 1421, signaling China’s renewed focus on the Middle Kingdom’s age-old area of primary concern—the steppes and the steppe peoples who inhabited them. The Ming Dynasty also rebuilt and extended the Great Wall into the edifice we see today—massive frontier fortifications to protect China from invasions from the west and the north. ’The drum towers served as both guard towers and also locations from which the hours and other signals could be beaten out on a huge drum. ’The bells were used to signal trouble.

the thirteenth year ofthe Yongle reign,'* a Chinese

royal convoy led by Zheng He, the great eunuch, arrived

in Sumendala,

convicted The king heavenly continued

captured

and executed him of Sumendala was kindness, and this to flow into China.

Suganla,

and

in China’s capital. thankful for this kingdom’s tribute ...

The kingdom is heavily visited by foreign’? trading vessels. Hence various kinds of exotic goods are

sold in the country. Coins are made ofgold and tin. The name for the gold ones is dinar,'®

16

which are

cast with seventy percent pure yellow gold... . The

®Elements were detached from the main fleet and sent off on special missions.

*The seasonal monsoon trade wind allowing a boat to sail north and east. '°Semudera, on the north coast of the island of Sumatra and across the Strait of Malacca from Malaysia. ''The Batak people of northern Sumatra. "He visited Nanjing in 1409. '31412. 41415.

'SNon-Chinese. '°Adopted from the Arabic gold coin known as a dinar.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries name for tin coins is jiashi;"" the tin ones are more widely used in daily buying and selling.

The Kingdom of Hulumosi (Hormuz)'® Traveling north-westward from Guli,'? twenty-five days on sea and with a favorable wind blowing, we

arrive at the Kingdom of Hulumosi.

Facing the

Serving as a market for distant territories, no won-

der its people are all wealthy. . . . The king of Hulumosi loaded onto ships lions, a qilin,” horses, pearls, precious stones, and so

forth, and listed the inventory on gold foil. He dispatched his high chiefs and others to supervise this seaborne tributary trip to the Heavenly

sea and backing onto mountains, the country is heavily visited by foreign traders via sea and land.

Court, which ships.7!

"The English would later transliterate this local word as “cash.” 'SHormuz, an Iranian port city at the mouth of the Persian

depicts the Buddha cradling a gilin. The animal brought back to China was actually a giraffe. This animal caused a tremendous amount of excitement at the Ming court. *'This probably took place at the end of the seventh expedition.

Gulf. "Calicut. See the Prologue’s sample Multiple Voices. *The gilin is a mythic horned animal associated with sage

followed

the departing

rulers and prosperity. See Multiple Voices VII, source 4, which

The Origins of Portugal's Overseas Empire 84 » GOMES EANNES DE AZURARA, CHRONICLE DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST OF GUINEA

OF THE

While Zheng He’s fleets were sailing majestically through the waters of the western seas and Muslim sailors of many ethnicities dominated the coastal traffic of virtually every inhabited land washed by the Indian Ocean (except Australia), the Portuguese were tentatively inching down the west coast of Africa. From 1419 onward, Prince Henry (1394-1460), third son of King John | (r. 1385-1433), almost annually sent out a ship or two in an attempt to push farther toward the sub-Saharan land the Portuguese called Guinea (note 32 of source 67 explains its origin); only in 1434, however, did one of his caravels manage to round the feared Cape Bojador, along the western Sahara coast. Once this psychological and navigational barrier had been broken, the pace of exploration quickened. By 1460, the year of the prince’s death, Portuguese sailors had ventured as far south as present-day Sierra Leone, an advance of about 1,500 miles in twenty-six years. Beginning in 1418, Prince Henry’s expeditions had also discovered the Atlantic islands of Porto Santo and Madeira and had explored and colonized the Azores by 1439. Finally, Bartholomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa in early 1488, and Vasco da Gama dropped anchor off Calicut on May 20, 1498. (See the Prologue’s Multiple Voices exercise.) Although da Gama lost two of his four ships and many of his crew, the profits from this small enterprise were astounding. Portugal was now in the Indian Ocean to stay for the foreseeable future. Portugal’s commercial empire, its Estado da India, was still over half a century in the future when, around

1452, the royal librarian Gomes Eannes de Azurara was commis-

sioned by Prince Henry to compose a preliminary history of the explorations that

Chinese

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange:

500-1500

the prince was sponsoring. The result, which was completed in 1453, was an unabashedly laudatory but well-researched account detailing Portugal's explorations along the coast of West Africa down to 1448. Azurara promised a sequel because Henry, to whom history has given the misleading sobriquet “the Navigator,” was still alive and actively financing voyages of discovery. Azurara’s other duties and subsequent writings on other topics apparently intervened, and he never returned to the work. Regardless of its incomplete nature, the chronicle he managed to write is a revealing picture of the spirit behind Portugal's first generation of oceanic exploration and colonialization. In the following excerpt Azurara explains why Prince Henry sponsored the expeditions and defends the consequent enslavement of WestAfricans. Trade in Guinean slaves, which became an integral part of Portugal’s commercial imperialism, began in 1441 with the capture of ten Africans, and Azurara estimated that 927 West African slaves had come into Portugal by 1448. This humane man, who was disturbed by some of the aspects of this exploitation but blinded himself to its essential evil, could not foresee that between 1450 and 1500, roughly 150,000 more Africans would enter Portugal as slaves, and over the next four centuries an estimated twelve and a half million so-called heathens would be transported out of Africa by European and Euro-American slavers. QUESTIONS

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What were Henry’s motives? What seems to have been foremost in his mind— commercial, political, or religious gain or simple curiosity? 2. Some modern commentators argue that Europeans initially entered the African slave trade out of a sense of racial superiority. Based on this account, do you think Azurara would agree with that assessment? In other words, how does he justify the enslavement of Africans? Please be specific in your answer. 3. It has been said that Henry was a fifteenth-century crusader. From the evidence, does this seem to be a fair judgment? Why or why not? In addressing this issue, you might want to review Baldric of Dol’s version of Pope Urban II’s sermon in Multiple Voices VIII. 4. Compare the purposes behind the Portuguese explorations with those of Zheng He’s expeditions. In what ways did they differ, and to what do you ascribe those differences? Can you find any similarities? If so, what were they, and how do you explain them? We imagine that we know a matter when we are

him as we could, it is appropriate that in this pres-

acquainted with the doer of it and the end for which he did it. And since in former chapters we

ent chapter we should know his purpose in doing

have set forth the Lord Infant! as the chief actor in these things, giving as clear an understanding of

spirit of this Prince, by a sort of natural constraint,

Source:

‘Prince Henry. An infante known as an infanta) of except that the title was apparent, who was given

Gomes

Eannes

de Azurara,

The Chronicle

of the

Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, trans. Charles Raymond Beazley and Edgar Prestage, 2 vols. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1896), 1:27-29.

them. And you should note well that the noble was ever urging him both to begin and to carry was any son (if a daughter, she was a Portuguese or Spanish monarch, sometimes not accorded the heir a unique title.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants, Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

out very great deeds. For which reason, after the taking of Ceuta’ he always kept ships well armed against the Infidel, both for war, and because he had also a wish to know the land that lay beyond the isles of Canary and that Cape called Bojador, for that up to his time, neither by writings, nor by the memory of man, was known with any certainty the nature of the land beyond that Cape. Some said indeed that Saint Brendan had passed that way;° and there was another tale of two galleys rounding the Cape, which never returned.‘ But this does not appear at all likely to be true, for it is not to be presumed that if the said galleys went there, some other ships would not have endeavored to learn what voyage they had made.’ And because the said Lord Infant wished to know the truth of, this—since it seemed to him that if he or some other lord did not endeavor to gain that knowledge, no mariners or merchants would ever dare to attempt it—(for it is clear that none of them ever trouble themselves to sail to a place where there is not a sure and certain hope of

«

‘The second reason was that if there chanced to be in those lands some population of Christians, or

some havens, into which it would be possible to sail without peril, many kinds of merchandise might be brought to this realm, which would find a ready market, and reasonably so, because no other people of these parts traded with them, nor yet people of any other that were known; and also the products of this realm might be taken there, which traffic would

bring great profit to our The third reason was power of the Moors in much greater than was

countrymen. that, as it was said that the

that land of Africa was very commonly supposed, and

that there were no Christians among them, nor any

other race of men; and because every wise man is

obliged by natural prudence to wish for a knowledge of the power of his enemy; therefore the said Lord Infant exerted himself to cause this to be fully discovered, and to make it known determinately how far the power of those infidels extended. The fourth reason was because during the one and thirty years that he had warred against the

profit)°—and seeing also that no other prince took

Moors, he had never found a Christian king, nor a

any pains in this matter, he sent out his own ships

lord outside this land, who for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ would aid him in the said war. Therefore he sought to know if there were in those parts

against those parts, to have manifest certainty of

them all. And to this he was stirred up by his zeal for the service of God and of the King Edward his Lord and brother,’ who then reigned. And this was

any Christian princes, in whom the charity and the

love of Christ was so ingrained that they would aid

the first reason ofhis action.

him against those enemies of the faith.”

7A Muslim naval base in Morocco that Portugal captured in 1415. Henry and his brothers were knighted for their

Sorleone Vivaldi, searched for his father along Africa’s east coast, which he reached by a more conventional route, namely by the Red Sea. 6The Vivaldi were merchants. The year of their departure, 1291, is significant because in that year the pope placed a ban on all commerce with Mamluk Egypt in retribution for the Mamluk capture of Acre. Previously Latin Christian merchants were allowed to trade in non-strategic goods with Muslim states. The papal ban of 1291 was ineffective and did not last long. 7Henry’s brother King Duarte (r. 1433-1438). 8Muslims, especially Berbers, of western North Africa. *The legend of Prester John. See source 75.

participation in the battle for the city. Azurara composed a history of the siege and capture of Ceuta before beginning

this chronicle. 3A wandering Irish monk of the sixth century; according to legend, he set sail into the Atlantic. ‘In 1291, two Genoese brothers, Ugolino and Vadino (or Guido) Vivaldi, accompanied by two Franciscan missionaries, sailed out into the Atlantic in an attempt to open a sea route to India by circumnavigating Africa. After passing Cape Nun, which lies north of Cape Bojador, they were never heard from again. Clearly, the story of the Vivaldi circulated in the court of Prince Henry. ‘There are garbled fourteenth-century accounts that in the early fourteenth century the alleged son of Ugolino,

» © Continuity, Change, and Interchange: 500-1500 The fifth reason was his great desire to make increase in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and to bring to him all the souls that should be saved,— understanding that all the mystery of the Incarnation, Death, and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ was for this sole end—namely the salvation of lost souls—whom the said Lord Infant by his travail and spending would fain bring into the true path. For he perceived that no better offering could be made unto the Lord than this; for if God promised to return one hundred goods for one, we may justly believe that for such great benefits, that is to say for '!West African slaves who

had been captured and trans-

ported to Portugal by licensed slave hunters. As the Atlantic slave trade developed, the vast majority of slaves transported out of Africa by Europeans and, later, Euro-Americans would be purchased from native African slavers. "Elsewhere he acknowledges that families of the enslaved were often tragically broken up, but he claims that the

so many souls as were saved by the efforts of this Lord, he will have so many hundreds of rewards in

the kingdom of God, by which his spirit may be glorified after this life in the celestial realm. For I who

wrote this history saw so many men and women of those parts turned to the holy faith, that even if the Infant had been a heathen, their prayers would have been enough to have obtained his salvation.

And not only did I see the first captives,'® but their children and grandchildren as true Christians as if the Divine grace breathed in them and imparted to

them a clear knowledge ofitself."! Portuguese treated their slaves humanely, even gently, by educating them, converting them to Christianity, often freeing them, and sometimes adopting them into their families. He even states that he never saw one of them in chains, such as other captives wore.

With the Royal Standard Unfurled 85 « CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS,A LETTER RECENTLY DISCOVERED ISLANDS

CONCERNING

Sixteenth-century Spain’s emergence as the dominant power in theAmericas is forever associated with the name of a single mariner—Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). Sponsored by King Ferdinand II ofAragon and Queen Isabella | of Castile, thisGenoese sea captain sailed west into the Atlantic seeking a new route to the empires of East Asia described by John Mandeville, Marco Polo, and other travel writers he had avidly read. On October 12, 1492, his fleet of three ships dropped anchor at a small Bahamian island, which Columbus claimed for Spain, naming it San Salvador. The fleet then sailed to two larger islands, which he named Juana and Espanola (today known as Cuba and Hispaniola). After exploring these two islands and establishing on Espanola the fort of Navidad del Sefor, Columbus departed for Spain in January 1493. On his way home, the admiral prepared a preliminary account of his expedition to the “Indies” for Luis de Santangel, a counselor to King Ferdinand and one of Columbus's enthusiastic supporters. In composing the letter, Columbus borrowed heavily from his official ship’s log, often lifting passages verbatim. When he landed in Lisbon in early March, Columbus dispatched the letter overland, expecting it to precede him to the Spanish royal court in faraway Barcelona, where Santangel would communicate its contents to the two monarchs. The admiral was not disappointed. His triumphal reception at the court in April was proof that the letter had served its purpose.

Chapter 11 Adventurers, Merchants,

QUESTIONS

Diplomats, Pilgrims, and Missionaries

«

423

plains

and

FOR ANALYSIS

|. What do Columbus's descriptions of the physical attributes of the islands and the ways in which he writes about the people whom he encountered suggest about some of the motives for his voyage? 2. Can you find evidence of other motives? 3. Often the eyes see what the mind has prepared them to see. Is there any evidence that Columbus saw what he wanted to see and discovered what he expected to discover? Be specific. 4. ls there any evidence that this letter was a carefully crafted piece of selfpromotion? Be specific. 5. In light of your answers to questions |—4, respond to the statement of one historian that this letter is “‘a tissue of exaggerations, misconceptions, and outright lies.” Does this judgment adequately describe the letter?

Sir, as I know that you will be pleased at the great victory with which Our Lord has crowned my voyage, I write this to you, from which you will learn how in thirty-three days, I passed from the Canary Islands’ to the Indies with the fleet which the most illustrious king and queen, our sovereigns, gave to me. And there I found very many

The

sierras

and

mountains,

the

arable lands and pastures, are so lovely and rich for planting and sowing, for breeding cattle of every kind, for building towns and villages. The harbors

of the sea here are such as cannot be believed to exist unless they have been seen, and so with the

rivers, many and great, and good waters, the major-

and of

ity of which contain gold.’ In the trees and fruits

them all I have taken possession for their highnesses, by proclamation made and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered

Juana. In this island, there are many spices and great

islands filled with people? innumerable,

[ROB DKS TG.

and plants, there is a great difference from those of mines of gold and of other metals. The people of this island, and of all the other

islands which I have found and of which I have information, all go naked, men and women, as their >

Columbus sails to Espanola after a cursory

mothers bore them,’ although some women cover a

exploration of Juana.

single place with the leaf ofa plant or with a net of

cotton which they make for the purpose. They have no iron or steel or weapons, nor are they fitted to

This island and all the others are very fertile to a

use them, not because they are not well built men

limitless degree, and this island is extremely so. . . .

and of handsome stature, but because they are very

Source: Cecil Jane, ed. and trans., Selected Documents Illustrating the Four Voyages of Columbus, 2 vols. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1930-1933), Vol. |, pp. 2-18, passim. 'During the fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Castile wrested this archipelago, which is located about sixty miles off the West African coast, away from the Portuguese and the indigenous inhabitants, who are known as Guanches.

The Tainos, a tribal branch of the Arawak language family. See Multiple Voices IX, images 5 and 6. Although Columbus obtained a few items of gold and received plenty of reports of nearby gold mines, the metal was rare in the islands. ‘See sources 75 and 76. Marco Polo had also described a number of islanders in Southeast Asia who went naked.

* Continuity,

Change, and Interchange: 500-1500

marvelously timorous. They have no other arms

In all these islands, I saw no great diversity in the

than weapons made of canes, cut in seeding time, to

appearance of the people or in their manners and

the ends of which they fix a small sharpened stick.

language. On the contrary, they all understand one

And they do not dare to make use of these. . . .

another,° which is a very curious thing, on account

I gave a thousand handsome good things, which

of which I hope that their highnesses will determine

I had brought, in order that they might conceive

upon their conversion to our holy faith, towards which they are very inclined... .

affection,

and

more

than

that, might

become

Christians and be inclined to the love and service

[Espafiola has a circumference] greater than all

of their highnesses and of the whole Castilian nation, and strive to aid us and to give us of the

Spain,’ . . . it is a land to be desired and, seen, it is

things which they have in abundance and which are necessary to us. And they do not know any creed and are not idolaters,’ only they all believe

their highnesses . . . [of] this Espanola, in [a] situ-

that power and good are in the heavens, and they

are very firmly convinced that I, with these ships and men, came from the heavens, and in this belief

never to be left. And... I have taken possession for ation most convenient and in the best position for the mines ofgold and for all intercourse as well with the mainland . . . belonging to the Grand Khan,* where will be great trade and gain... . In these islands I have so far found no human

they everywhere received me, after they had over-

monstrosities, as many expected,’ but on the con-

come their fear. And this does not come because

trary the whole population is very well-formed. . . .

they are ignorant; on the contrary, they are of a very acute intelligence and are men who navigate

report of any, except

all those seas, so that it is amazing how good an

second at the coming into the Indies, which is inhab-

account they give of everything, but it is because they have never seen people clothed or ships of

As I have found no monsters, so I have had no in an island “Quaris,”

the

And as soon as | arrived in the Indies, in the first

ited by a people who are regarded in all the islands as very fierce and who eat human flesh. They have many canoes with which they range through all the islands of India and pillage and take as much as they

island which I found, I took by force some of them,

can.'° They are no more malformed than the oth-

in order that they might learn and give me informa-

ers, except that they have the custom of wearing their

such a kind.

tion of that which there is in those parts, and so it

hair long like women, and they use bows and arrows

was that they soon understood us, and we them,

of the same cane stems, with a small piece of wood at the end, owing to lack of iron which they do not

either by speech or signs, and they have been very serviceable. I still take them with me, and they are

possess. They are ferocious among these other people

always assured that I come from Heaven... .

who are cowardly to an excessive degree, but I make

°As we saw in Multiple Voices IX, the Tainos worshiped idols known as cemis. Possibly his reference to “idolaters” means Buddhists and Hindus, whom Marco Polo referred to as “idolaters” on many occasions. Columbus had a wellread and annotated copy of Polo’s book. ®Not totally accurate. Several different languages were spo-

*See sources 75 and 76. 'These were the Caribs, who shortly before Columbus’s

ken in the islands.

’Not so. Not even close. ®The Mongol emperor of Cathay. Columbus (and the Latin West in general) did not know the Mongol khans had been expelled from China in 1368.

arrival began to displace the Arawak peoples of the Lesser Antilles, the archipelago to the east and south of Hispaniola. Sixteenth-century Spanish writers were unanimous in their description of the Caribs as fierce warriors and cannibals.

A few present-day historians question the truth of the assertion that the Caribs were cannibals, but they are in the minority.

Chapter

Il

Adventurers,

Merchants,

no more account of them than of the rest. These

Diplomats,

Pilgrims, and Missionaries

«

425

use bows and arrows of cane, like those already mentioned, and they arm and protect themselves with

and slaves, as many as they shall order to be shipped and who will be from the idolaters.'’ And I believe that | have found rhubarb and cinnamon,'? and I shall find a thousand other things ofvalue. . . . ‘This is enough . . . and the eternal God, our Lord, Who gives to all those who walk in His way triumph over things which appear to be impossible,

plates of copper, of which they have much.'!

and this was notably one; for, although men have

are those who have intercourse with the women of “Matinino,” which is the first island met on the way from Spain to the Indies, in which there is not a man. The women engage in no feminine occupation, but

In another island, which they assure me is larger

talked or have written of these lands, all was con-

than Espanola, the people have no hair.'? In it, there

jectural, without suggestion of ocular evidence, but

is gold incalculable, and from it and from the other

amounted only to this, that those who heard for the most part listened and judged it to be rather a fable

islands, I bring with me Indians as evidence."’

In conclusion, to speak only of that which has

than as having any vestige of truth. So that, since

been accomplished on this voyage, which was so

Our Redeemer” has given this victory to our most

hasty, their highnesses can see that I will give them

illustrious king and queen, and to their renowned

as much gold as they may need, if their highnesses will render me very slight assistance; moreover,

kingdoms, in so great a matter, for this all Christen-

shall command; and mastic,’ as much as they shall

dom ought to feel delight and make great feasts and give solemn thanks to the Holy Trinity”! with many solemn prayers for the great exaltation which they

order to be shipped and which, up to now, has been

shall have, in the turning of so many people to our

spice and cotton,'*

as much

as their highnesses

found only in Greece, in the island of Chios,'° and

holy faith, and afterwards for temporal benefits,”

the Seignory”’ sells it for what it pleases; and aloe wood, as much as they shall order to be shipped,

for not only Spain but all Christians will have hence

''Father Ramon Pane, who composed an ethnographic study of Taino culture during Columbus’s second voyage of |493-— 1494, also related in some detail the legend of the island of Matinino, where only women resided. The story, as Pane related it, however, contains no hint that they were warlike. Apparently Columbus took the Taino legend and combined it with the Greco-Roman myth of the warrior Amazons. Mandeville wrote of the island of Amazonia, populated totally by warrior women, and Polo described two Asian islands, one inhabited solely by women and the other exclusively by men. There is no evidence that this female society described by Columbus and Pane ever existed in the Caribbean. The Tainos, essentially a stone-age people, did import from South America an alloy of copper and gold, which they used for ornaments. '*Mandeville described people with little body hair.Also see source 76, '?Columbus brought seven Tainos back to Spain, where they were baptized. One remained at the Spanish court, where he died; the others returned with Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. '’The only indigenous spice was the chili pepper, which soon would revolutionize many cuisines around the world; the wild cotton of the islands was excellent but not plentiful.

‘Columbus and his crews wrongly identified a native gumbo-limbo tree, which contains an aromatic resin, with the rare mastic tree, whose costly resin was a profitable trade item for Genoa (note 17). '’An island in the eastern Mediterranean. The ruling body of Genoa, Columbus's native Italian city-state. Chios was a possession of Genoa, whose merchants controlled the mastic trade.

refreshment and gain.

'’The law of the Roman Church forbade the enslavement of Christians, except in the most exceptional circumstances. "When members of the crew showed Columbus what they thought were aloe, mastic, and cinnamon, the admiral accepted the aloe and mastic as genuine but rejected the supposed cinnamon. One of his lieutenants reported seeing rhubarb while on a scouting mission.

%esus Christ. |The Christian belief of three divine persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—contained in a single divine essence. “Benefits that are of this world and last only for a time (tempus in Latin), as opposed to eternal, or heavenly, rewards.

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