China and the Roman Orient

China and the Roman Orient PDF Author: Friedrich Hirth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755639383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Similar in size and in duration, the Chinese and the Roman empires ruled half the world's population at the time of their co-existence. But what did they know about each other? In China and the Roman Orient Friedrich Hirth uses linguistic, geographical and historical analysis of ancient Chinese records to reconstruct the ancient trade routes used by the Chinese and to show what knowledge they had of the Roman Empire. His careful research on the original Chinese sources also tells us much about the geography, history and commerce of the period. China and the Roman Orient quickly established itself as a landmark work. It remains an important and much cited work but is now scarce. This new edition contains a new introduction by leading contemporary scholar Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

China and the Roman Orient

China and the Roman Orient PDF Author: Friedrich Hirth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755639383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book Here

Book Description
Similar in size and in duration, the Chinese and the Roman empires ruled half the world's population at the time of their co-existence. But what did they know about each other? In China and the Roman Orient Friedrich Hirth uses linguistic, geographical and historical analysis of ancient Chinese records to reconstruct the ancient trade routes used by the Chinese and to show what knowledge they had of the Roman Empire. His careful research on the original Chinese sources also tells us much about the geography, history and commerce of the period. China and the Roman Orient quickly established itself as a landmark work. It remains an important and much cited work but is now scarce. This new edition contains a new introduction by leading contemporary scholar Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

China and the Roman Orient

China and the Roman Orient PDF Author: Friedrich Hirth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Asia
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description


The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes

The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes PDF Author: Raoul McLaughlin
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473889812
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
A fascinating history of the intricate web of trade routes connecting ancient Rome to Eastern civilizations, including its powerful rival, the Han Empire. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian Empire of ancient Persia, and the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan), laying claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria. Raoul McLaughlin also delves deeply into Rome’s trade ventures through the Tarim territories, which led its merchants to the Han Empire of ancient China. Having established a system of Central Asian trade routes known as the Silk Road, the Han carried eastern products as far as Persia and the frontiers of the Roman Empire. Though they were matched in scale, the Han surpassed its European rival in military technology. The first book to address these subjects in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes explores Rome’s impact on the ancient world economy and reveals what the Chinese and Romans knew about their rival Empires.

Sino-Iranica: China and Ancient Iran

Sino-Iranica: China and Ancient Iran PDF Author: Berthold Laufer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838609091
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
In this major study - regarded as his most important work - the pioneering anthropologist, Berthold Laufer documents the cultural transfers that took place between China and Iran in ancient times. He does so by tracing the history of cultivated plants, drugs, products, minerals, metals, precious stones and textiles, in their migration from Persia to China and from China to Persia. Walnut, peach, apricot and olive, as well as more exotic products like jasmine, henna, indigo, lapis lazuli, amber, coral, gold, ebony, zinc and myrrh are all included. Few other publications provide so much informative detail about the way human activity has modified the natural world through the movement of plants and other natural resource products from one historical civilisation to another. The work also offers important detail on Iran for periods when Iranian sources are slim. Introduced by Brian Spooner, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, this classic work is once more available for all scholars of Iran, China and cultural exchange.

Lost Colony

Lost Colony PDF Author: Tonio Andrade
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691159572
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
How a Chinese pirate defeated European colonialists and won Taiwan during the seventeenth century During the seventeenth century, Holland created the world's most dynamic colonial empire, outcompeting the British and capturing Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Yet, in the Sino-Dutch War—Europe's first war with China—the Dutch met their match in a colorful Chinese warlord named Koxinga. Part samurai, part pirate, he led his generals to victory over the Dutch and captured one of their largest and richest colonies—Taiwan. How did he do it? Examining the strengths and weaknesses of European and Chinese military techniques during the period, Lost Colony provides a balanced new perspective on long-held assumptions about Western power, Chinese might, and the nature of war. It has traditionally been asserted that Europeans of the era possessed more advanced science, technology, and political structures than their Eastern counterparts, but historians have recently contested this view, arguing that many parts of Asia developed on pace with Europe until 1800. While Lost Colony shows that the Dutch did indeed possess a technological edge thanks to the Renaissance fort and the broadside sailing ship, that edge was neutralized by the formidable Chinese military leadership. Thanks to a rich heritage of ancient war wisdom, Koxinga and his generals outfoxed the Dutch at every turn. Exploring a period when the military balance between Europe and China was closer than at any other point in modern history, Lost Colony reassesses an important chapter in world history and offers valuable and surprising lessons for contemporary times.

East and West

East and West PDF Author: Y. J. Choi
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1450265421
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
East and West: Understanding the Rise of China by Y.J. Choi Innumerable articles and books have been written about East Asia and China since this part of the world has been catapulted into the center of the global economic scene. Unfortunately, most, if not all of them, are wide of the mark in terms of understanding the geographic and philosophical fundamentals of Eastern civilizations undergirding the rise of the East. The relative decline of the West appears to be inevitable as the ascendance of the East prompts a shift of the center of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Accordingly, we need to understand the East (and the West, for that matter) by freeing ourselves from the centuries-old habit of West-centrism. Neither in the West nor in the East do we find a paper written with a balanced approach regarding the two civilizations. Because of this, and thanks to his vast experience in both East and West, Ambassador Y.J. Choi was prompted to explain this epochal change by comparing the two civilizations on equal footing. His text constitutes the very first book attempting an objective, neutral and balanced comparison of ancient Eastern and European/Mediterranean civilizations, including their influence on and implications for contemporary events.

The Beginnings of Porcelain in China

The Beginnings of Porcelain in China PDF Author: Berthold Laufer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Anthropology
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description


Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity

Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity PDF Author: Nicola Di Cosmo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108547001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1284

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Book Description
Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity offers an integrated picture of Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppes during a formative period of world history. In the half millennium between 250 and 750 CE, settled empires underwent deep structural changes, while various nomadic peoples of the steppes (Huns, Avars, Turks, and others) experienced significant interactions and movements that changed their societies, cultures, and economies. This was a transformational era, a time when Roman, Persian, and Chinese monarchs were mutually aware of court practices, and when Christians and Buddhists criss-crossed the Eurasian lands together with merchants and armies. It was a time of greater circulation of ideas as well as material goods. This volume provides a conceptual frame for locating these developments in the same space and time. Without arguing for uniformity, it illuminates the interconnections and networks that tied countless local cultural expressions to far-reaching inter-regional ones.

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD PDF Author: Salvatore Gaspa
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1609621123
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
The papers in this volume derive from the conference on textile terminology held in June 2014 at the University of Copenhagen. Around 50 experts from the fields of Ancient History, Indo-European Studies, Semitic Philology, Assyriology, Classical Archaeology, and Terminology from twelve different countries came together at the Centre for Textile Research, to discuss textile terminology, semantic fields of clothing and technology, loan words, and developments of textile terms in Antiquity. They exchanged ideas, research results, and presented various views and methods. This volume contains 35 chapters, divided into five sections: - Textile terminologies across the ancient Near East and the Southern Levant - Textile terminologies in Europe and Egypt - Textile terminologies in metaphorical language and poetry - Textile terminologies: examples from China and Japan - Technical terms of textiles and textile tools and methodologies of classifications

Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the Year ...

Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the Year ... PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : China
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description