Rome-China Trade Relationship: Evidence of Transculturation and Eclectic Exchange

1. LSO 190Lecture 2: From the Collapse of Rome to the Rise of the Mongols

2. Jug of Roman coins unearthed in China (2011)Evidence that trade was occurring between Asia and the West around the time of the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire. Discoveries like this have been made throughout East Asia.

3. Roman coins unearthed in western China covering centuries of emperors, suggesting a long and sustained East-West trading relationship

4. Roman gold coins excavated in Pudukottai, India One coin of Caligula (31-41 CE), and two coins of Nero (54-68).

5. An Indian silver coin (c. 1st century BCE) depicting the local ruler wearing a Roman-type helmet with bristles. Does this suggest more transculturation between East and West?

6. Depiction of a tiger from a mosaic in a Roman villa unearthed in 1970: Evidence of an exotic animal trade between the Roman Empire and the Indian subcontinent

9. Indo-Roman trade routes (1st century CE): Early cross-connections

11. The remains of Trajan’s Market (Rome)

12. Cultural elements that originated in the East and were transformed and adapted in the West: • Plant and seed cultivation (and irrigation). • Animal domestication (both as a food source and to help with agricultural work) • Astronomy, mathematics and medical science • The sexagesimal system (a numerical system based on the number 60) • Monotheism (a belief in a single ‘creator God’) • Monetary systems (based on metal coinage)

13. Roman Deflation: As the silver content of Roman coins declined, inflation increased, contributing to the weakening of the Roman Empire

14. Luxury goods imported by the Roman Empire: • Silk (from China) • Spices (from China, India and the Middle East) • Precious stones (from India) • Finely woven carpets (from the Middle East) • Pearls (from India)

15. Rare and exotic spices were a valuable commodity on the Silk Road, and was an item Roman elites consumed in large quantities

16. The Sassanid Empire: This Persian empire rose in power precisely as the power of the Roman Empire was declining, and its culture deeply influenced the Middle East and beyond. The Sassanids also complicated trade between the Romans and China, hastening Rome’s decline.

17. An allegory of Roman decline: Rock-face relief of Persian emperor Shapur I (on horseback) capturing Roman emperor Valerian (standing) and Philip the Arab (kneeling), suing for peace

18. Early Modern Chinese Dynasties: • Han Dynasty: 206 BCE- 220 CE • Sui Dynasty: 581-618 CE • Tang Dynasty: 618-907 CE • Song Dyasty: 960- 1279 C

19. Han Dynasty China (1st century CE)

20. Sui Dynasty China (7th century CE)

21. The Sui Era ‘Grand Canal’ of China: This waterway, which was manmade and created over centuries, allowed Chinese emperors to transport goods, people and soldiers quickly and efficiently to all parts of the empire.

22. Sui Dynasty era canal (near Beijing): These canals greatly facilitated Chinese trade and commerce, and also enhanced security, by allowing the Chinese army to travel quickly throughout the empire

24. Tang Dynasty China (8th century CE)

25. China’s advantages in the 8th century: • An ordered system of government, divided into several ministries (personnel, justice, religion, defense, public works) which allowed bureaucrats to monitor different aspects of Chinese society • A powerful and well organized army • A codified system of law that most understood and obeyed • An emperor whose power was accepted as legitimate and ancient by most Chinese • A robust economy, bolstered by the existence of extensive infrastructure (bridges, canals, roads, etc) • A religion (Buddhism) which functions as a ‘social glue’, providing social services to the poor and the sick

26. Urban populations around the 8th century CEWhat might this suggest about global society at this time? • Nanjing (China): 500,000 • Luoyang (China): 450,000 • Rome: 20,000 • Florence: 45,000 • Paris: 65,000 • Ctesiphon (modern Iraq): 400,000 • Kaifeng (China) 1,000,000 • Hangzhou (China): 1,000,000 • Chang’An (China): 300,000 • Baghdad: 1,000,000 • London: 10,000 • Kaifeng (China): 900,000 • Venice: 55,000 • Cordoba: 450,000

27. A depiction of Chinese Iron production in the Tang era

28. Chinese ‘moveable type’ printing block

29. Early Chinese printed book (10th Century CE)This was another big advantage for China over the West, as it meant that ideas could quickly permeate through society. Printed books did not appear in the West for another 400 years.

30. Paper money from the Tang Dynsaty (9th century)

31. Early Chinese use of gunpowder for military purposes

32. Chinese ‘Bamboo Gun’

33. Song Dynasty ArtWhat does a high degree of cultural sophistication suggest about a society?

34. Tea Service (Song Dynasty)

42. The ‘Great Wall’ built to keep out the ‘northern nomads’

45. ‘Hadrian’s Wall’, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the first century CE to keep out the ‘barbarians’ from the northern British Isles

46. Nomads and Chinese trading a horse (10th century)

49. One of the earliest printed Buddhist texts (868 AD): Buddhism became an important cultural force in China from the 2nd century AD onwards

50. Performing the ‘Kow Tow’: Foreign dignitaries (and lower class Chinese) were expected to show honour to their hosts by prostrating themselves before a Chinese official. To Western visitors, this suggested China’s view of itself as the superior ‘Middle Kingdom’)