Last week
marked the last official blog entry regarding the story of Fai Cheng. I wanted
to end the story open-ended, and on a rather hopeful note: that Fai Cheng
possesses the key to establish a lasting peace. This week we take a step back
and look at the story, as well as the situation of soldiers on the silk road
from a contemporary view.
Beginning
with the story, soldiers clearly had a huge impact in the Qin, and early Han
dynasties (which are the periods the story takes place in). In the first blog
entry, we learn that they were essential for maintaining the vastness of the
Qin and Han Empires. They were needed to quell internal opposition, but also to
stop forces from the north, such as the Xiongnu, to penetrate. That’s why my
character was posted in Dunhuang in the first place. However, I did not want to
paint a stereotypical image of the Xiongnu as reckless and barbaric, therefore I
made my character gradually warm up to their ways of life. (1).
By making these blog entries, I
also learned how soldiers in the frontiers were often the first to encounter
many of the things first entering China, from foreign religions, practices and
products. Thus, I was able to implement the earliest evidences of Buddhism
entering China around the 2nd century BC, although Buddhism really only
began to really spread after Kumarajiva’s translations centuries later. Moreover,
once my character begins his travels around Central Asia with the merchant An Qian,
we further becomes exposed to other religions such as Zoroastrianism and Islam
(in his dream) (2). Geographically close to the Han Empire during these encounters,
it foreshadows the inevitable spread of these religions into China, although
never becoming as popular as Buddhism or Daoism will.
We also learn the importance
soldiers had on the economy. Usually paid in bolts of silk, it could be argued
that soldiers on the frontier are what helped popularize silk as currency on
the Silk Road. (3) Moreover, because of the scarcity of agriculture in the
North West of the empire, cultivation became even more important in fertile regions
of China from which grain would be sent to the less productive are like Dunhuang.
(4) Therefore, soldiers posted on these borderlands contributed to the
elevation of the position of cultivators in Han society in line with Confucian
thought.
By the end of the journey, my
character is finally exposed, first-hand, to Xiongnu culture. He learns about their
drinking habits, their horse culture, and their archery skills. (5) Most importantly
however, he learns that they are not all about raiding, and has a humane
conversation with their leader about peace. From our modern perspective, we
know that the struggle between the northern steppe tribes and China persists
for centuries. But it is important to note, that throughout these struggles,
actions that sought out peace were made.
These blog entries made me
realize how we can connect one topic to multiple facets of society. As I mentioned
above, I chose a topic primarily concerning military culture, but I ended up
writing about religion, economy, and foreign relations. Although I did not
write about, I also learned how the military had an impact on the landscape,
the clearest example being the Great Wall of China, which began because of the
abovementioned Xiongnu raids. This just shows that there are many more aspects
of the military I can tackle. Overall, this blog took a very different
direction than what I had expected to write.
Being a history-trained student,
most of the sources I used were literary and descriptive, such as Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian of China,
and Ban Guo’s Book of the Former Han.
This is how we know about defectors, highly praised generals, the Xiongnu, etc.
That said, the Chinese have also left behind a great deal of material records
and artifacts pertaining to soldiery. One of the clearest examples are the
terracotta warriors. Meant to accompany emperor Qin Shi Huang to the afterlife,
these clay figures were armed. Thus, from this site we find crossbows, arrows, swords,
chariots, many of which have been varnished with anti-rusting elements helping
their preservation. Outside of China, some Chinese metalworks were found in the
northern stepped which served as proof that exchanges were made between them,
as stated by Barfield. The following are images of some remnants of the Qin and
Han military.
This is a bronze dagger-axe, usually used by soldiers on chariots.
Horse-drawn chariot found alonside with the Terracotta warriors form the Qin Dynasty.
Crossbows were one of the primary weapons used by the Qin and Han Dynasty. This was also found alongside the terracotta warriors.
This was an image used in my first blog entry. Due to the conditions of the region, many such buildings and artifacts were preserved. This shows what kind of lodging my characters stayed in while he was posted in the borderlands.
Looking at soldiers today, they
remain a very important profession in China, who this year, spent 145billion
dollars on their defense budget (6). Thus, soldiers still have a huge
impact on the economy. However, some changes are noteworthy. While border
security is still important, the threat does not come from northern nomadic
tribes anymore, and a wall won’t do much considering the advances in
technology. Rather, the attention has shifted beyond the sea now, more wary
about Japan and the United States. Moreover, with better technological communication, soldiers are no longer necessarily the first to encounter latest ideas, philosophies or products. In the end, the journey that Fai Cheng has experienced would be difficult to transpose onto out current world. Yet, it would be interesting to see what would happen if one attempted to do so.
(1) See blog entry #2.
(2) See Blog Entry #4 and#5.
(3) See blog entry #3.
(4) See blog entry #1.
(5) See blog entry #7.
(6) Adriana Diaz, “China says defense budget will top $145
billion, a record high,” CBS news, 2017.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-defense-budget-will-top-145-billion-a-record-high/
