At this juncture, Sichuan and the Han Valley took center stage in the impending power struggle to fill the vacuum left by the demise of Qin. It was a period of warlordism, with two principal protagonists, Liu JI, a man of humble origins but great leadership qualities, and Xiang Yu of the state of Chu. The former was first to take the Qin capital of Xianyang, but the latter, who adopted a highly destructive punitive policy, was more powerful. Liu Ji found himself placed as the king of Han, with charge over the Han Valley and the territory of Shu and Ba. This remote placement was designed to rid him from the central plains, the center of political power in China. Liu Ji bided his time. First, he ripped up the very road that had taken him to Sichuan, to indicate his decision not to return. Then he raised troops locally, from an area that had escaped the recent wars of attrition, and maintained a prosperous and productive economy. With a settled base, Liu Ji advanced again on Xianyang, took it for a second time, and from 206 until 202 B. C.E., engaged the forces of his rival in a war that still endures in Chinese memory as one of the greatest struggles in their long history. Throughout these years, the loyalty of Sichuan and the supplies transported over the mountains to sustain his army proved decisive. With final victory and his elevation to the position of first Han emperor GAOZU, Shu loyalty was not unrewarded.
Shu under Han Rule
The Han administrative system involved commanderies, or provinces, governed by central appointees and kingdoms established to reward loyal supporters of the emperor. Sichuan was divided into commanderies. Guanghan commandery lay in the northern part of the Shu homeland and Shu commandery to the south. Each was further divided into counties. With the establishment of Han, LEGALISM went into abeyance as Confucian thought returned to favor. A training school for imperial administrators was established at the capital, and under such governors as Wen Weng, appointed to Shu in 141 B. C.E., selected young men were sent to Chang’an for education. While Shu still provided a grain surplus, transporting it in quantity, even when much of the rest of China suffered famine, presented enormous difficulties. A scheme to cobble together a riverine route using the Bao and Xie Rivers failed. However, other products were lighter and more easily transported and provided the foundation for rising prosperity. Tea, for example, grew in the Shu territory and was exported by this period to other parts of China. The area was also noted for silk manufacture, metal, and lacquer products. lacquer was manufactured at Chengdu and Guanghan and widely exported. This is seen on the inscriptions and seals on the finished products. A fine lacquered ladle from Tomb 1 at Mawang-dui, for example, is inscribed with its origin in Chengdu. Even farther afield, a food bowl found in LELANG com-mandery, North Korea, originated in Sichuan. It was made, according to its inscription, in 69 C. E. A bowl from the tomb of Zhu Ran at Ma’anshan in Anhui province, dated to the late Eastern Han dynasty, was inscribed, “Strongly constructed in the Shu commandery” It must have been manufactured in Sichuan for export. Cinnabar, a material highly in demand for its alleged life-prolonging qualities, was mined. There were also large iron foundries employing thousands of people and major salt-producing enterprises. Sichuan enjoys a milder climate than the central plains, and many local delicacies were exported.
See also confucius.
Further reading: Bagley, R. W “A Shang City in Sichuan Province,” Orientations 21 (1990): 52-67; Bagley, R. W Ancient Sichuan. Seattle and Princeton: Seattle Art Museum, 2001; Gao Dalun. “Bronze Ritual Artefacts of the Shu Culture: A Preliminary Survey,” Orientations 32 (2001): 45-51; Sage, S. F. Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China. Albany, N. Y.: SUNY Press, 1992.
Shundi (Liu Bao; Submissive Emperor) (115-144 c. e.) Shundi was the seventh emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was the only son of andi and acceded in 126 c. e. His reign was intriguing from a historic point of view, for a number of leading scholars had the temerity to criticize the central administration for corruption and nepotism. An earthquake at luoyang in 133 C. E., for example, motivated Zhang Heng, the inventor of the world’s first SEISMOGRAPH, to urge on the court the restoration of power to the emperor, the “Son of Heaven,” rather than see power continue to lie in the hands of royal cliques and eunuchs. There was also criticism of court extravagances, and a rebellion in the deep south was resolved through the dispatch of senior officials to restore order rather than the staging of a punitive military expedition.
Shunga dynasty The Shunga dynasty of India was founded by Pushyamitra, a Brahman who killed the last Mauryan king in about 180 b. c.e. The dynasty lasted for about a century.
See also maurya empire.
Shwe Zigon The Shwe Zigon stupa at pagan in Myanmar (Burma) was begun by King Anawrahta (1044-77) and completed by King kyanzittha (r. 1084-1111). It is said to house the clavicle, part of the skull, and a tooth of the Buddha. Its design set a precedent for many later Burmese stupas. The circular stupa is raised on three terraces each decorated with glazed plaques illustrating JATAKA TALE themes. Subsidiary temple buildings housing images of the Buddha are located on each side.
Siddhartha Gautama (b. c. 560 b. c.e.) Siddhartha Gautama was the name of the Buddha before his enlightenment at the age of 35.
His date of birth is controversial: He may have been born in about 560 b. c.e. of a royal family, at lumbini in Nepal, or up to 140 years later. Little is known of his early life, since the evidence is almost entirely from oral tradition rather than written records. The foundation of the Buddhist religion was to have a major impact on the states of Southeast Asia, many of which adopted his teachings.
See also bayon; borobudur; buddhism; jayavarman vii.
Further reading: Bhikkhu Nanamoli. The Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon. Seattle: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 2001; Thich Nhat Hanh. The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation: The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Other Basic Buddhist Teachings. New York: Broadway Books, 1999.
Sidun Sidun is a major site of the liangzhu culture, which dominated the lower Chang (Yangtze) Valley of China from about 3000 to 2000 b. c.e. It is located between the Chang River and Lake Taihu in Jiangsu province and was defended by a series of moats that enclosed an area of about 90 hectares (225 acres). A circular platform containing elite graves is the outstanding feature of this site. one young man, for example, was interred with 24 jade rings and 33 cong, a jade ritual artifact with a circular interior and square surface. These were very high-status items, and some were embellished with carved designs of animal masks and birds.
Sigiri Sigiri is a remarkable complex located in central Sri Lanka, which dates probably to the late fifth century C. E. It is a palace and a fortified settlement and is renowned for its frescoes depicting female figures. Among the earliest surviving examples of Sri Lankan art, they are thought to represent princesses who resided on Mount Kailasa, home of the gods.
Sikri Sikri is a site that has yielded many examples of Gandharan art. It was discovered in 1888 in the Mardan district of Pakistan. Although it claimed to be the first site of this school of art to have been properly investigated, its location is not known with certainty The site is best known for the statue of the fasting Buddha, but many other examples of Gandharan art were also recovered. These reveal many aspects of the architecture of the day, including Corinthian and Persian columns, city gates guarded by soldiers, and a woman at a square well pulling up water. Scenes include the Buddha’s first meditation and the JATAKA tale of the Dipamkara Buddha. Thirty-five episodes in the Buddha’s life are incorporated in the reliefs from the stupa bases.
After the excavations, a site plan was prepared, and the sculptures were lodged in the Lahore Museum. Foremost among these was the base of a subsidiary stupa liberally ornamented with 13 panels of reliefs. Eleven further panels, curved to fit around the drum base, probably are from the monastery’s main stupa. The collection was divided with the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, some to Chandigarh, most remaining in Lahore.
See also gandhara.
Silk Road The Silk Road is a name given to the routes by which China was linked with India and the Roman Empire through the passage of trade goods. Exchange was also the medium by which information and ideas flowed in both directions, particularly in the spread of BUDDHISM from India to China, Korea, and Japan. The northern Silk Road had very early origins, in the prehistoric period. Knowledge of copper and tin smelting and BRONZE CASTING, reached China from the West along what was to become the Silk Road. At a slightly later date, the chariot was introduced to the rulers of the Chinese shang dynasty (1766-1045 b. c.e.) along the same route. By the first half of the first millennium B. C.E., knowledge of iron technology probably spread west into China. A century ago, parallels were noted between the art styles found in the area of the Black Sea of the seventh century C. E. and those in China.
Archaeological investigations into possible early links between China and the West have advanced rapidly over the past 20 years. These have been spurred by the increasing number of cemeteries in the tarim basin that have provided compelling evidence for the presence of individuals with clothing of clear Western affinities, preserved by the arid conditions there. These cemeteries have been linked with the survival into historic times of people who spoke the Indo-European Tocharian group of languages. The presence there of such groups by the third millennium b. c.e. documents the early passage of people, goods, and ideas over the vast distances of Central Asia.
Although the origin of the term is often traced to K. Richthofen, writing in 1878, the Silk Road was well known to the Romans, and the Roman historian Ammi-anus Marcellinus coined the term in his History dating to the fourth century c. E. In the early third century c. E. the division of the Han empire into three separate kingdoms barred the southern kingdom of Wu from access to the lucrative Silk Road, and in consequence the Wu emperor sought an alternative by dispatching representatives by sea to the south. One of these, Kang Dai, reported that he had encountered in a state called funan (in modern Vietnam and Cambodia) clear evidence of trade between Southeast Asia and India, giving rise to the term “the maritime Silk Road.”
By the HAN dynasty (206 b. c.e.-220 c. e.), the land route was regarded as vital to Chinese interests. It was said at the time that “messengers come and go every season of the month, foreign traders and merchants knock on the gates of the great wall every day” There were many branches and linkages along the 8,000-kilometer (4,800 mi.) journey from the Mediterranean to the gates of China. Moreover, few merchants would have traveled the entire length. Instead, goods were exchanged at the centers that flourished through trade. Moving west from China, the route followed the Gansu Corridor, noted for its expansive grasslands and fine horses. dunhuang was an important stepping-off point for the most perilous part of the entire journey that skirted the taklamakan desert. This rich and important settlement was located close to the Buddhist sanctuaries at mogao. The northern route took the traveler through the oases of Turpan, Yanqi (Karashahr), and Kuqa. The southern passed through miran, hotan, and niya, before both joined at kaxgar. It then became rather easier with the passage through Ferghana, noted for its heavenly horses, and on to panjikent and Samarqand. Goods from India joined the Silk Road via bactria and the valley of the Amu Dar’ya River. To the west lay the oasis of merv (now Mary) and then the Caspian Sea. After the traveler had skirted the Caucasus range, the Black Sea beckoned and beyond lay the cities of the Roman Empire.
The importance of the Silk Road to Asian civilization is to be seen in many different fields. It was a conduit for ideas. The spread of Buddhism into Bactria, China, and ultimately Korea and Japan followed the traders of the Silk Road. There was a constant flow of innovative ideas in the arts and architecture in both directions. City-states developed along its labyrinth of routes. Armies followed its course, and sites such as begram display luxury items from many regions, valued by the kushans during the first few centuries c. e.
Further reading; Grotenhuis, E. T. Along the Silk Road. Washington, D. C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2002; Hopkirk, P Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984; Tucker, J. B. The Silk Road; Art and History. Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2003; Umesao, T., and T. Sugimura, eds. “Significance of the Silk Roads in the History of Human Civilizations.” Senri Ethnological Studies No. 32 (1992); Whitfield, R., S. Whitfield, and N. Agnew. Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute and the J. Getty Museum, 2000.
Silk tomb offerings The frequency with which silks are found in tombs or described in the inventories of tomb contents, taken in conjunction with the skill of the silk weavers, makes it clear that silk fabrics were abundant during the warring states period and the han DYNASTY. This abundance carries with it important implications for understanding of the silk road that linked China with india and the Western world. The frozen tombs of nomads in the Altai region of Siberia have yielded Chinese silks embroidered with phoenixes, dated to the fifth century B. C.E. Silk must indeed have been exported in considerable quantities. Silk is the spun cocoon of the silkworm Bombax mori. The fine silk filaments are reeled off the cocoon and can then be woven into fabric. Silk was the foundation of considerable wealth for the Han Chinese (206 B. C.E.-220 c. e), when the trade link known as the Silk Road expanded across Central Asia. The silkworm feeds on the leaves of the fusang (mulberry) tree, and images of this tree in art of the SHANG STATE (1766-1045 B. C.E.) suggest that silk was already woven at that period. This is confirmed by the recovery of impressions of silk fabric on Shang bronzes from ANYANG. It seems that finely woven silks, embroidered with mythical animal designs, were used to wrap bronzes before interment in elite burials.
SILK IN THE WESTERN ZHOU PERIOD
Silk was used as a medium for inscriptions and paintings in China from at least the Warring States period (475-221 B. C.E.) Its fragility, however, means that few complete silks have survived. it is highly likely that silk wrappings and garments were in use at a far earlier date. When adjacent to bronze or iron, fabric is often present in the form of a pseudomorph or even as fragments of silk itself. Silk has been recovered from the Shang site of Taixi in Hebei province, attached to bronze vessels and weapons. The weavers were able to produce a marked variety of weaves reflecting a sophisticated industry with a long tradition behind it. A woman is seen working at her loom in a scene incised on a stone slab from Jiaxian, Shandong province. The quality of silk production is seen in the fine materials unearthed at the Western Zhou site of Rujiazhuang, where patterned weaves and rich red colors have survived. However, the material dating to and after the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B. C.E.) is best known, as a result of particularly rich finds from sites belonging to the state of Chu. The production of silk during this period undoubtedly benefited from the invention of the spinning wheel, which replaced the laborious technique of hand spinning using a rod and whorl.
WARRING STATES PERIOD Burial 44 at Zuojiatang, which dates to the Middle Warring States period, was found to contain a large quantity of silk garments in the coffin of the deceased. The quality is clearly seen in the range of weaves, the rich colors, and the patterned images of dragons, phoenixes, and geometric forms. There must have been highly specialized weavers; the brocade-weaves are very fine, with up to 120 strands of silk per square centimeter, and the remains of a stamp from a SEAL on one fragment might have been placed there by the weaving establishment responsible. Mazhuan is another Chu cemetery, where excavations in 1982 uncovered a remarkably complete set of silks dating to the period of Warring States. Tomb 1 held a coffin in a wooden chamber. The importance of silks in the mortuary rituals can be appreciated through the quantity of clothing and the variety of weaves, embroideries, and patterns. The skeleton of the tomb master was found under a silk quilt and a robe. Clothing included trousers, further robes, and a silk square over the face. All were tied with silk ribbons. Silk ribbons had also been tied around the thumbs and big toes. Apart from the clothing, there was a silk painting and bags for containing other mortuary furniture. Examination of the silks themselves revealed the outstanding quality of the weavers. There were brocades and gauzes as well as plain weaves and a variety of finishes, including one brocade with 170 filaments of silk to the square centimeter. Some of the clothes were embroidered with patterns that include images of phoenixes, tigers, dragons, plant designs, and human figures. The colors survived: red, yellow, green, blue, black, and brown.
There are two particularly interesting silk banners dating to the Warring States period (the third century B. C.E.): one from Chenjia dashan, the other from
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