Roderich Ptak

Bert G. Fragner

Ralph Kauz

Angela Schottenhammer

English summary: Horses, horse-breeding and horse-keeping, as well as the trade in these animals played an important role in the history of Asia's pre- and early modern civilisations. However, horses were unequally distributed over the Asian continent and their acquisition was usually associated with different expectations. When the knowledge spread that horses could be profitably used in warfare as well as for overland transportation and for agriculture, this did not only promote trade relations, but also led to the emergence of new cultural links, often between distant sites, both by land and by sea. The contributions to this volume, twenty-one articles in all, are based on a conference entitled "Horses in Asia" that was organised by the Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in October 2006.The articles are arranged into four regional sections: (1) Iran and West Asia, (2) Central Asia, (3) the Indian Ocean, (4) and China. They are complemented by a preface and two introductory essays. Each article takes its own approach, while, at the same time, opening doors to related academic fields, the main interest lying in the transfer of horses between different regions. German description: In der Geschichte der vor- und fruhmodernen Zivilisationen Asiens spielten Pferde - ihre Zucht und Haltung sowie der Handel mit ihnen - eine herausragende Rolle; sie waren in ungleicher Weise uber den gesamten asiatischen Kontinent verteilt, und ebenso unterschiedliche Erwartungen wurden an ihren Erwerb geknupft. Die Erkenntnis, dass sich Pferde militarisch, als Transportmittel und in der Landwirtschaft gewinnbringend einsetzen liessen, forderte nicht nur den Handel mit ihnen, sondern liess Pferde ganz allgemein zu einem wichtigen kulturellen Bindeglied zwischen Orten und Landern werden, die oftmals weit voneinander entfernt lagen, sowohl uber Land wie uber den Seeweg. Die hier vorgestellten einundzwanzig Beitrage sind das Ergebnis einer gleichnamigen Tagung, die im Oktober 2006 auf Einladung des Instituts fur Iranistik der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften durchgefuhrt wurde. Sie sind nach Regionen geordnet: (1) Iran und Westasien, (2) Zentralasien, (3) Indischer Ozean (4) und China. Erganzt werden sie durch ein Vorwort und zwei einfuhrende Artikel. Die einzelnen Beitrage gehen das Thema auf der Basis unterschiedlicher Ansatze an und bieten jeweils Anknupfungspunkte zu benachbarten Disziplinen. Das Hauptinteresse gilt jedoch dem Transfer von Pferden zwischen den Regionen.

Horses in Asia

The present collection of essays has originally been prepared for an international conference entitled "Maritime Space in Traditional Chinese Sources" which has been convened by the editors at Munich University in February 2005. The contributions included here introduce various aspects related to East Asian seas - from the Japanese Sea to the South China Sea, with the Yellow and East China Seas constituting the core regions of the entire area - and some of its "adjacent" areas. Although Braudelian categories are inherently present in the discussion and directly addressed in one or two papers, the focus lies on a set of more "basic" variables, which are intimately linked to the idea of contact zones, or alternatively, the parallel (and apparently older) notion that the sea should be seen as a protective belt around the mainland. This volume is consequently primarily concerned with the perception of maritime space in traditional Chinese sources, the division of this space into oceans and seas, the existence, usage and management of trade routes, and, above all, of China's coastal waters, or maritime periphery. For this purpose, in addition to textual sources, maps will be examined as well. As the perception, division and management of maritime space cannot be completely disassociated from other themes - such as trade and travel, diplomacy and military controls, or even daily life during a sea voyage - these aspects were also touched upon in the discussion. But they are of secondary importance and subordinated to the general issue of "geography". With this in mind, following an introductory essay by Angela Schottenhammer, the contributions are divided into three sections: (1) Maritime Space: Trade and Defence; (2) Maritime Space: Coasts, Routes, Oceans; (3) Maritime Space and Maps. The articles by Chang Pin-tsun, Jane Kate Leonard and Jung Byung-chul fall into the first category. Those by Chen Bo / Liu Yingsheng, Sally K. Church, Christine Moll-Murata, Li Tana and Mathieu Torck belong to the second group, while the last section is comprised by the papers of Li Xiaocong, Claudine Salmon and Roderich Ptak.There are many "cross connections" between these essays. Geographically, some of them pertain to the northern spheres, especially the Liaodong-Korea region, others look at the South China Sea, or even at areas far beyond these two. Some are case studies, others deal with general dimensions. The military element, usually in the form of coastal defence, is not only present in the first section, but also in the "cartographic" segment, and in one or two contributions which appear in part two. Furthermore, readers will find that the idea of contact zones, associated with a good degree of open-mindedness towards the "outer world", is present in some texts, just as they will discover that in other cases, the sea still appears as a kind of barrier.

The Perception of Maritime Space in Traditional Chinese Sources

The present volume is a collection of papers originally presented for the concluding conference of the research project The East Asian 'Mediterranean' entitled "The East Asian 'Mediterranean' - Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration" and held at Munich University from November 2-3, 2007. The papers in this volume have been arranged according to thematical sections, that is "Mediterranean Seas - from East Asia to East Africa", "Merchants and merchant networks", "Commodities and transport", and finally "Trade parameters and perceptions" - each section covering a different aspect of trade, diplomacy and perceptions across and within the East Asian and Asian waters. In order to show the variety and the different qualities of interaction and exchange relations we have selected case studies with a main focus lying on Sino-Japanese, Sino-Ryukyuan, and Japanese-Korean relations as well as the involvement of Muslim merchants in the Asian waters. The volume in particular tries to draw the readers' attention to the necessity and the advantages of international cooperation and interaction investigating topics of Asian history.

Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration

The East Asian Mediterranean

This volume, by offering a score of new insights derived from a wide variety of recent archaeological and textual sources, bring to life an important overseas trading port in Southeast Asia: Quanzhou. During the Song and Yuan dynasties active official and unofficial engagement in trade had formative effects on the development of the maritime trade of Quanzhou and its social and economic position both regionally and supraregionally. In the first part subjects such as the impact of the Song imperial clan and the local élites on these developments, the economic importance of metals, coins, paper money, and changes in the political economy, are amply discussed. The second part concentrates on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of archaeological data and materials, the investigation of commodities from China, their origins, distribution and final destinations, the use of foreign labour, and the particular role of South Thailand in trade connections, thus supplying the hard data underlying the main argument of the book.

Maritime Quanzhou, 1000–-1400

The Emporium of the World

This volume investigates the emergence and spread of maritime commerce and interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World—the world’s first “global economy”—from a longue durée perspective. Spanning from antiquity to the nineteenth century, these essays move beyond the usual focus on geographical sub-regions or thematic aspects to foreground inter- and trans-regional connections. Focusing on the role of religion in the expansion of commerce and exchange across the region, as well as on technology and knowledge transfer, volume II covers shipbuilding and navigation technologies, porcelain production, medicinal knowledge, and mules as a commodity and means of transportation.

Exchange of Ideas, Religions, and Technologies

Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume II

The present volume is a collection of studies discussing trade and exchange relations across the East China Sea in the time period between c. 1400 and 1840. It introduces and analyses characteristics of trade and exchange, of economic and personal networks including knowledge transfer between East Asian countries, the importance of which has for a long time been underestimated or misinterpreted. The authors want to show that from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth century East Asia was far from being a group of more or less isolated states, but was characterised by multifarious contacts and connections.The countries or regions investigated include China, Japan, Korea, the Ryu-kyu- Islands and Tsushima. The contributions are subdivided according to topical themes and focus on sea and land routes, archaeology, trade and commodity exchange, knowledge transfer and exchange in the field of medicine (including physicians), and European images of parts of East Asia. Examining a great deal of sources ranging from diaries, letters, tomb inscriptions to commodity lists and government documents, this volume sheds more light into hitherto neglected aspects of maritime trade.

Trade and Transfer Across the East Asian "Mediterranean"

The present volume, composed of six contributions by different scholars, seeks to show the intensity of exchange relations and trading networks in the early modern to late imperial "East Asian 'Mediterranean'", arguing that these exchange relations and trading networks already had their roots and origins in the tenth to thirteenth centuries at the latest. In this context, the first two contributions discuss local society and socio-economic changes within local Chinese society during the Song to Ming periods - while the other four contributions concentrate on aspects of commercial exchange and administration during the Qing period. Two contributions in particular analyze the indirect and direct importance respectively of religion for social life and commercial activities as a basic precondition for success in non-religious affairs. One chapter investigates Sino-Ryukyuan trade relations during the Kangxi reign (1662-1722), another one Sino-Taiwanese trade relations in late imperial China, while one chapter is in particular dedicated to an analysis of the characteristics and developments within the maritime trade administration of the Manchu Qing (1644-1911) government, with emphasis on hitherto rather neglected aspects, for example institutional-administrative details, including questions such as if Manchus or Han Chinese were responsible for the administration of trade.

Trading Networks in Early Modern East Asia

aussenpolitisches Handeln am Beispiel Europas, Koreas und des Nahen Ostens

Chinas Eintritt in die Weltpolitik

This volume investigates the emergence and spread of maritime commerce and interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World—the world’s first “global economy”—from a longue durée perspective. Spanning from antiquity to the nineteenth century, these essays move beyond the usual focus on geographical sub-regions or thematic aspects to foreground inter- and trans-regional connections. Analyzing multi-lingual records and recent archaeological findings, volume I examines mercantile networks, the role of merchants, routes, and commodities, as well as diasporas and port cities.

Commercial Structures and Exchanges

Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume I

Robert J. Antony

The notion of "silk roads" conjures images of ancient trade routes, both across land and sea, connecting China with the outside world. Since in recent years there has been something of a paradigm shift in the study of Chinese maritime history, we have chosen the title Beyond the Silk Roads to better convey the most recent trends that take us beyond simple bilateral discussions of trade and economics. Not only scholars within China have taken an interest in this exciting, fast-growing field, but also scholars from across the globe. These include historians as well as archaeologists, anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, and political scientists. Based on new documentary, literary, archaeological, and ethnographic research, the authors explore the multi-dimensional and diverse range of topics that today are subsumed under the heading of maritime history and culture. Utilizing interdisciplinary and multi-linguistic methodologies, the chapters offer cutting-edge discourses on China's role in East Asian maritime history and culture. Chapters include topics on marine archaeology, port cities, sailing routes, trade and cultural networks, nautical technology, folklore, diasporas, law and maritime law, coastal defence, piracy and smuggling, religion and religious cults and many more. It is hoped that this volume will stimulate further research and discussions on maritime history in general and on Asian maritime history in particular.

Angela Schottenhammer

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