on China’s Northern Frontier Emma Jenny F. So and C. Bunker i Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier Jenny F. So and Emma C. Bunker THE PASTORAL TRIBES ON CHINA’S NORTHERN BORDERS played a major role in the cultural development ofChina during antiquity. By the first millennium b.c., the region’s inhabitants were trading in horses, wool, carpets, and — fur articles in constant demand by their settled, urban Chinese neighbors. Trade, intermarriage, andwarbetween thepastoraltribes and the urban dwellers continued throughout the first mil- lennium b.c. The artistic creations ofthe two groups reflect centuries offlourishing contact and complex interrelation- ships. The pastoral tribes favored belt buckles, chariot and harness fittings, weapons and tools in cast gold, silver, and embellishedbronze. Theurbandwellerspreferredwine and food vessels and bronze bells to use in elaborate rituals. Recently excavated finds from along the northern border on both sides of the Great Wall are enabling scholars to describe a plausible picture ofcontact, trade, and intercul- tural influence. Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier seeks to clarify the nature of the exchanges by exploring works ofart produced by these two groups. For the first time, Chinese and pastoral artifacts are studied and illustrated side by side in light ofthe most recent archaeo- logical discoveries in China. Taking an unusual point of view, this bookemphasizes the character ofconsumerism in these ancient neighboring societies and the effects ofcom- merce and migration on the appearance and production of everydayandluxurygoods. Filled with illustrations of previously unpublished objects, Traders andRaiders on China’sNorthern Frontier promises to be absorbing for art and cultural historians, anthropologists, and all those interested in the societies of ancient China. Traders and Raiders on China Northern Frontier ’s “ ...**%. . - '' -v- SwSfeS&i -. . . ' v.V,.-~::'-''•l“\~'/ ' ""*'•'*"'~v-- „ -a’-', ,i * " ' 'v v< <'•*?' ; V;«•.•!••,.•A*>• •ii-'ri -~:V»-•. « .. /lift# ; V -v ' TRADERS RAIDERS CHINA’S NORTHERN FRONTIER Emma Jenny F. So and C. Bunker Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, m association with the University of Washington Press Seattle ancl London N ^K- ,^^ 7 3 Sfe . qqs { Copyright© 1995 SmithsonianInstitution Credits Allrightsreserved. PhotographsbyRobbHarrell,exceptasnoted:frontispiece: JamesReardon-Anderson;mapsandfinaldrawingsbyPatricia PublishedbytheArthurM. SacklerGallery,Smithsonian Condit;fig. 1:FreerGalleryofArt PhotographReference Collection,fga/amsgArchives, Smithsonian Institution;figs. Institution,Washington,D.C.,inassociationwiththe 2-4, 18, 23-25,35b,cat. figs. 71.1,95.1,96.1, L04.1: EmmaC. UniversityolWashingtonPress, Seattleand London,onthe occasionofanexhibitionattheArthurM. SacklerGallery, Bunker; fig. 5: MreaCsorba;fig. 6: CarlWhitingBi©shopPapers, November 19, 1995-September2, 1996. Ofngtaa/raimosgMuArscehuivme,s,ToSrmointthos;onfiigas.n1I3n,st2i9t,utciaotn.;ffiiggs..94:7.2,R4o9y.al detail,52.1,52.2: drawingsbyErwin Harris;fig. 19,cat. fig. Cover: Gildedcastbronzeornament,NorthChina, 1stor2d 99.1:ThereseandErwin HarrisCollection;figs. 26,30: centurya.d. TheThereseandErwinHarrisCollection. Seeno. JeannineDavis-Kimball;fig. 28:©MuseumofEarEastern 77, p. 155. Antiquities,Stockholm;fig. 32: ananonymouscollector;cat. fig. 10.1: Dr. and Mrs. GeorgeFan;cat. fig. 12. details: drawings Backcoverandfrontispiece: GrasslandsofXilingole,Inner byWaltersArtGallery;cat. fig. 22.1 JinFengyi, Cultural : Mongolia Relics ResearchBureau, Beijing;cat. fig. 30.2: Harvard UniversityArtMuseums;cat. figs.41.1,62.1: FreerGallery ofArt, SmithsonianInstitution;cat. fig. 56.1: drawingby LibraryofCongressCataloguing-in-PublicationData Richard Kimball So, JennyF. TradersandraidersonChina’snorthernfrontier/jennyF. So Thepaperusedin thispublicationmeetstheminimumrequire- andEmmaC. Bunker, mentsfortheAmericanNational Standardfor Permanenceof p. cm. PaperforPrinted Library Materials,Z39.48-1984. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN 0-295-97473-7 — — 1. Decorativearts China History—’To 221 b.c. 2. Decorative — — — arts China History Ch’in-Handynasties, 221 b.c.-220a.d. 1. Bunker,EmmaC. 11.Title. NK1068.S596 1995 — 745’.0931 dc20 95-18910 CIP Contents 7 Foreword Milo ClevelandBeach 8 Acknowledgments 10 Chronology 13 Introduction JennyF. SoandEmma C. Banker 17 chapter 1 The People, the Land, the Economy Emma C. Banker 33 chapter 2 EarlyTrade and Contact: Second Millennium B.c. JennyF. So 41 chapter 3 Expanded Cultural Exchange: Ca. 1000-500 B.c. JennyF. So 53 chapter 4 LuxuryExports from China to the North: Sixth-FirstCenturyB.c. Emma C. Banker 69 chapter 5 Chinese LuxuryGoods Enhanced:FifthCenturyB.c.-FirstCenturya.d. Emma C. Banker 77 chapter 6 Belt Ornaments and Fasteners JennyF. So 86 Conclusion JennyF. SoandEmma C. Bunker 89 Catalogue 179 Glossary ofChinese Characters 182 References 195 Lenders to the Exhibition 196 Index