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Great Wall in 50 Objects

Page 29

by William Lindesay


  Eastern-most panels of the ‘Map of the Nine Border Regions’, Object 37

  Yang Fuxi demonstrates use of a crossbow in his workshop, Object 17

  Making an ink rubbing of a stone-inscribed construction record, Object 35

  Close up of a tri-coloured glaze figurine of a camel, Object 19

  Close up of a Xianbei nomadic warrior pottery figurine, Object 18

  Rock bombs found by the author near his farmhouse close to the Great Wall, Object 33

  William, Wu Qi and Wang Xuenong discussing Great Wall objects in his study

  Chronology of Dynasties

  The Three Dynasties

  Xia circa 21st–16th century BC

  Shang circa 1600–1045 BC

  Zhou 1045–256 BC

  Western Zhou 1045–771 BC

  Eastern Zhou 770–256 BC

  Spring and Autumn Period 770–476 BC

  Warring States Period 475–221 BC

  The Imperial Dynasties

  Qin 221–206 BC

  Han 206 BC–AD 220

  Western Han 206 BC–AD 23

  Xin AD 9–23

  Eastern Han AD 25–220

  Three Kingdoms Period AD 220–280

  Jin AD 265–420

  Western Jin AD 265–316

  Eastern Jin AD 317–420

  Northern and Southern Dynasties AD 420–589

  Northern (est. by Xianbei) AD 386–581

  Northern Wei (est. by Tuoba Xianbei) AD 386–534

  Eastern Wei AD 534–550

  Western Wei AD 535–556

  Northern Qi AD 550–577

  Northern Zhou AD 557–581

  Sui AD 581–618

  Tang AD 618–907

  The Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms

  Five Dynasties (of North China) AD 907–960

  Ten Kingdoms (of South China) AD 902–979

  Song

  Northern Song AD 960–1127

  Southern Song 1127–1279

  Liao (established by Qidans) AD 916–1125

  Jin (established by Jurchens) 1115–1224

  Western Xia (established by Tanguts) 1038–1227

  Yuan (established by Mongols) 1279–1368

  Ming 1368–1644

  Qing (established by Manchus) 1644–1911

  Note: At certain times dynasties coexisted.

  Chronology of Ming Emperors

  Hongwu 1368–1398

  Jianwen 1398–1402

  Yongle 1402–1424

  Hongxi 1424–1425

  Xuande 1425–1435

  Zhengtong 1435–1449

  Jingtai 1449–1457

  Tianshun 1457–1464

  Chenghua 1464–1487

  Hongzhi 1487–1505

  Zhengde 1505–1521

  Jiajing 1521–1567

  Longqing 1567–1572

  Wanli 1572–1620

  Taichang 1620

  Tianqi 1620–1627

  Chongzhen 1627–1644

  Bibliography

  Wall History

  Cheng Dalin, The Great Wall of China, South China Morning Post and New China News Ltd, Beijing, 1984.

  Idema, Wilt & Lee, Haiyan, Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall, Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2008.

  Lindesay, William, Images of Asia: The Great Wall, Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 2003.

  Lindesay, William, The Great Wall Revisited: From the Jade Gate to Old Dragon’s Head, Harvard University Press, Harvard, 2009.

  Lindesay, William, The Great Wall Explained, China Intercontinental Press, Beijing, 2012.

  Luo Zhewen et al., The Great Wall, Michael Joseph, London, 1981.

  Roberts, Claire, & Barmé, Geremie, The Great Wall of China (exhibition catalogue), Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 2006.

  Waldron, Arthur, The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990.

  Wimsatt, Genevieve & Chen, Geoffrey, The Lady of the Long Wall, Columbia University Press, New York, 1934.

  Zhang Heshan, Great Wall Folktales: Whispers from the Wall, China Intercontinental Press, Beijing, 2009.

  Unspecified authors, Gathering of Heads on the Great Wall, Democracy and Construction Press (民主与建设出版社), Beijing, 2005.

  Nomadic Cultures

  Baarar, History of Mongolia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999.

  Baasan, Tudevin, What is the Chinghis Wall?, Unspecified publisher, Ulaanbaatar, 2006.

  Barfield, Thomas, The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to 1757, Blackwell, Cambridge, 1989.

  Di Cosmo, Nicola, Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002.

  Elliot, Mark, The Manchu Way, The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2001.

  Erdenechuluun, Purevjav, The Sword of Heaven: Culture of Bronze Artifacts of the Bronze Age and Hunnu Empire, Unspecified publisher, Ulaanbaatar, 2011.

  Eregzen, G. (ed), Treasures of the Xiongnu, National Museum of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, 2011.

  Hartog, Leo de, Genghis Khan, Conqueror of the World, Tauris, London, 1999.

  Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem: A Novel, Penguin Press, New York, 2008.

  Robinson, Carl, Mongolia, Nomad Empire of Eternal Blue Sky, Odyssey Books, Hong Kong, 2010.

  Saruulbuyan, J., National Museum of Mongolia, Unspecified publisher, Ulaanbaatar, 2009.

  Urengenge, Onan, The Secret History of the Mongols, Routledge, London, 2001.

  Weatherford, Jack, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Crown, New York, 2004.

  Weatherford, Jack, The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire, Crown, New York, 2010.

  Cartography

  Bazargur, Damnbyn & Enkhbayar, Damnbyn, Chinngis Khan Atlas, State Administration of Geodesy and Cartography, Ulaanbaatar, 1997.

  Brotton, Jerry, A History of the World in Twelve Maps, Allen Lane, London, 2012.

  Brotton, Jerry, Great Maps, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2014.

  D’Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon & Du Halde, J.B., Nouvel atlas de la Chine, de la Tartarie chinoise, et du Thibet, Paris, 1737.

  Du Halde, Jean-Baptiste, The General History of China (etc), John Watts, London, 1739.

  Fuchs, Walter, Der Jesuiten Atlas Der Kanghsi Zeit (‘The Jesuit Atlas of Kangxi’s Realm’), Katholischen Universitaet / Monumenta Serica, Beijing, 1941.

  Harley, J. B., The History of Cartography, Volume 2, Book 2: Cartography in the Traditional East and Southeast Asian Societies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995.

  Martini, Martino, Imperii Sinarum Nova Descriptio (‘New Description of the Chinese Empire’), Johannes Bleau, Amsterdam, 1655.

  Nebenzahl, Kenneth, Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond, Phaidon, London, 2004.

  Ortelius, Abraham, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (‘Theatre of the Whole World’), Antwerp, 1587.

  Ribeiro, Roberto & O’Malley, John. Jesuit Mapmaking in China: D’Anville’s Nouvelle Atlas De La Chine (1737), Saint Joseph’s University Press, Philadelphia, 2014.

  Ronan, Charles & Oh, Bonnie, East Meets West: The Jesuits in China, 1582–1773, Loyola University Press, Chicago, 1988.

  Shirley, Rodney W., The Mapping of the Whole World: Early Printed World Maps 1472–1700, Early World Press, Riverside, 2001.

  Van den Broecke, Marcel P. R., Ortelius Atlas Maps: An Illustrated Guide, Hes Publishers, Netherlands, 1998.

  Military & Weapons

  Chase, Kenneth, Firearms: A Global History to 1700, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2003.

  Kierman, Frank & Fairbank, John (eds), Chinese Ways in Warfare, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1974.

  Loades, Mike, Swords and Swordsmen, Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, 2010.

  Needham, Joseph et al., Science & Civilisation in China, Volume 5, Part 6: Military Technology: Missiles and Sieges, Cam
bridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.

  Sawyer, Ralph, Ancient Chinese Warfare, Basic Books, New York, 2011.

  Sun Tzu (translated by Ralph Sawyer), The Complete Art of War, Westview Press, Boulder, 1996.

  Werner, E. T. C., Chinese Weapons, The Royal Asiatic Society, North China Branch, Shanghai, 1932.

  Yang Hong, Weapons in Ancient China, Science Press (科学出版社), Beijing, 1992.

  Exploration & Eyewitness

  Barzini, Luigu, Peking to Paris: Prince Borghese’s Journey Across Two Continents in 1907, Library Press, New York, 1973.

  Cable, Mildred & French, Francesca, The Gobi Desert, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1942.

  Geil, William Edgar, The Great Wall of China, John Murray, London, 1909.

  Lattimore, Owen, The Desert Road in Turkestan, Little, Brown & Co. Ltd., Boston, 1929.

  Lindesay, William, Alone on the Great Wall, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1989.

  Newton Hayes, Luther, The Great Wall of China, Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai, 1929.

  Nieuhoff, Johan, History of China, John Macock, London, 1669.

  Ricci, Matteo, China in the 16th Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci, Random House, New York, 1942.

  Siren, Osvald, The Walls and Gates of Peking, The Bodley Head, London, 1924.

  Staunton, George, An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, Nicol, London, 1797.

  Stein, Marc Aurel, Ruins of Desert Cathay, Volumes I & II, Macmillan, London, 1912.

  Stein, Marc Aurel, Serindia, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1921.

  Stein, Marc Aurel, Innermost Asia, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1928.

  Thomson, John, Illustrations of China and Its People, Samson Low, London, 1873

  Walker, Annabel, Aurel Stein, Pioneer of the Silk Road, John Murray, London, 1995.

  Wang, Helen, Sir Aurel Stein in The Times, Saffron, London, 2002.

  Reference Works

  Clayton, Peter & Price, Martin, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Routledge, London, 1988.

  Cronin, Vincent, The Wise Man from the West, Harvill, London, 1999.

  Franke, Herbert & Twitchett, Denis, The Cambridge History of China, Volume 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994.

  Franke, Wolfgang, An Introduction to Sources in Ming History, University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1968.

  Hommel, Rudolf, China at Work: An Illustrated Record (etc), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1970.

  Huang, Ray, 1587: A Year of No Significance, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1981.

  Hucker, Charles, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1985.

  Kafka, Franz, The Great Wall of China and Other Short Stories, Penguin, London, 1991.

  Liang Ssu-Ch’eng, Chinese Architecture: A Pictorial History, Dover Publications, New York, 2005.

  Meynard, Thierry, Following the Footsteps of the Jesuits in Beijing, Institute of Jesuit Sources, St Louis, 2006.

  Mote, Frederick & Twitchett, Denis, The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988.

  Mungelo, D. E., The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 2005.

  Paludin, Ann, Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors, Thames & Hudson, London, 1998.

  Qian, Sima, The First Emperor: Selections from the Historical Records, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994.

  Rossabi, Morris (ed.), China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10–14th. Centuries, University of California Press, Oakland, 1988.

  Scarre, Chris, Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Times Books, London, 1988.

  Spence, Jonathan, Emperor of China, Self-Portrait of Kang-Hsi, Knopf, New York, 1974.

  Spence, Jonathan, The Search for Modern China, Century Hutchinson, London, 1990.

  Sung, Ying-Hsing, Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century, Dover, New York, 1966.

  Temple, Robert, The Genius of China, Deutsch, London, 2007.

  Tsia, Henry, Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2001.

  Twitchett, Denis and Fairbank, John K. (eds), The Cambridge History of China, Volume I: The Ch’in and Han Empires, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986.

  Whitfield, Susan, Aurel Stein on the Silk Road, British Museum Press, London, 2004.

  Wilkinson, Endymion Porter, Chinese History: A Manual, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000.

  Unspecified authors, China’s Ancient Technology and Science, Foreign Language Press, Beijing, 1987.

  Photo Credits

  All photographs provided by William Lindesay except where indicated below:

  Objects 2, 43: The British Library Board OR 5896, WD 961 158, WD 961 159

  Objects 3, 7, 20, 23: Museum of the Great Hunnu Empire, Ulaanbaatar

  Object 4: Victoria & Albert Museum

  Objects 7, 9, 11, 15, 19, 22, 29, 30, 33, 36, 40, 42, 44: James Lindesay

  Objects 10, 26: Chen Xinyu

  Objects 14, 46: MS Stein 199 fol. 29; MS Kafka 21, 3v 4r, The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

  Objects 12, 32: Wang Jin

  Object 17: Yang Chang

  Objects 24, 38: The National Museum of Mongolia

  Objects 27, 36: The National Museum of China

  Object 28: Thomas Mueller

  Object 31: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F 1915.16

  Object 37: Liaoning Provincial Museum

  Object 39: Utrecht University Library

  Object 51: Zhen Zhaoguang

  Photo inserts are provided by William Lindesay except where indicated below:

  Photo 1: James Lindesay

  Photo 2 and 3: Museum of the Great Hunnu Empire, Ulaanbaatar

  Photo 4: James Lindesay

  Photos 6–7: spread top, British Library Board OR 5896, spread bottom, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., gift of Charles Lang Freer, F 1915.16

  Photo 8: Museum of the Great Hunnu Empire, Ulaanbaatar

  Photo 9: James Lindesay

  Photo 10: National Museum of China

  Photo 11: Liaoning Provincial Museum

  Photo 12: James Lindesay

  Photo 14: James Lindesay

  Photos 16 and 17: James Lindesay

  Acknowledgements

  As I write this thank you letter to all those who gifted me with the opportunities, trust, access, help, answers and photographs that made this Great Wall 50 adventure possible, fun and successful, I face a familiar problem, nice though it is: where to begin?

  Appropriately, I have in front of me an assisting object, made in 2012. It’s a thick wedge of papers, clipped together: a kind of project ‘antiquity’. The papers are roughly-cut rectangles, about the size of playing cards. The stack is composed of about thirty-five pieces, and each paper bears a few words, written clearly in thick, black ink.

  My youngest son, Tommy, then aged twelve, saw me exasperated as I struggled with a document on my computer screen, cutting and pasting. I was trying to bring some semblance of order and sequence to my draft list of objects. With paper, scissors and pen, he made folds and cuts, and then wrote down the titles of my objects on them. A game began.

  The purpose of the game was to make connections. Some pairings related to the objects’ materials – for instance, metal, wood, paper or stone. Another approach was based on functions: weapons, maps, messages, books or paintings. Origins worked too: Chinese, nomadic or international. As well as matching pairs to highlight similarities, opposite pairs also worked in an intriguing way, and I ended up launching with one of them: the contrasting ways in which Europeans and Chinese first learned of the Great Wall’s existence.

  Tommy’s system worked well back then for its simplicity; now, the same papers perform a different function. They’re like business cards, remi
nding me of who helped with what object. Some of them, grouped together, show me just how much certain institutions helped.

  If I could award a gold medal for accessibility and openness, then without a second thought it is awarded to Mrs Nemekhbayar Nadpurev, owner of the Museum of the Great Hunnu Empire, to whom I am greatly indebted. Just months after the passing of her husband, the founder of the museum, Purevjav Erdenechuluun, whom I had met the year before, she and her staff accorded me every possible help, permitting me to examine bronze ornaments, weapons, armour and ritual articles from the collection. Ultimately, I included six objects from the museum in my final fifty.

  Elsewhere in the Mongolian sphere, a number of people offered very special help. Mrs Buuma of the National Museum of Mongolian History assisted me with various objects from the collection, while the curator, Professor Saruulbuyan, was most enlightening as he shared his ideas. Special thanks are also due to Kirk Olson and his wife, Oyuntuya Bayanjargal, for their work in finding various people in Mongolia, in interpreting in the archery workshop of the Batmunkh family, and in organising an outstanding expedition across the Mongols’ ancient homeland, the Great Eastern Steppe. I also offer many thanks to Professor Jack Weatherford for guiding me towards a better understanding of nomadic culture and of the history of the Genghis Khan period.

  Although this off-Wall book took me away from the ruins, you will have noticed that I have woven into many of the stories various field experiences, encounters and observations from over the years, ever since my first steps on the Wall in 1986. On all my Wall trips I’ve benefited from the support and friendship of many people. In the early years, my biggest thanks go to those farmers who helped me along the way with food, water and shelter. In the mid-1990s I explored the Wall in the Beijing region with a succession of people who became dear companions. My memories of short adventures with Scott Urban, Tjalling Halbertsma, Yang Xiao, Wang Baoshan and Piao Tiejun are unforgettable and will always be at the heart of my Great Wall experiences: they were the golden years.

 

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