Ancient China and its enemies: the rise of nomadic power in East Asian history

Description

This comprehensive history of the northern frontier of China through the first millennium B.C. details the formation of two increasingly distinct cultural areas: the sedentary Chinese and the northern nomads. Nicola Di Cosmo explores the tensions existing between these two worlds as they became progressively more polarized, with the eventual creation of the nomadic Hsiung-nu empire in the north, and of the Chinese empire in the south. Di Cosmo investigates the origins of the antagonism between early China and its "barbarian" neighbors. Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Introduction......Page 11 Part I......Page 21 1: The Steppe Highway: The Rise of Pastoral Nomadism as a Eurasian Phenomenon......Page 23 2: Bronze, Iron, and Gold: The Evolution of Nomadic Cultures on the Northern Frontier of China......Page 54 Part II......Page 101 3: Beasts and Birds: The Historical Context of Early Chinese Perceptions of the Northern Peoples......Page 103 4: Walls and Horses: The Beginning of Historical Contacts between Horse-Riding Nomads and Chinese States......Page 137 Part III......Page 169 5: Those Who Draw the Bow: The RIse of the Hsiung-nu Nomadic Empire and the Political Unification of the Nomads......Page 171 6: From Peace to War: China's Shift from Appeasement to Military Engagement......Page 216 Part IV......Page 263 7: In Search of Grass and Water: Ethnography and History of the North in the Historian's Records......Page 265 8: Taming the North: The Rationalization of the Nomads in Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Historical Thought......Page 304 Conclusion......Page 323 Glossary......Page 329 Select Bibliography......Page 345 Index......Page 371