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Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)

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Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 230 August, 2012 Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD) by Lucas Christopoulos Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS FOUNDED 1986 Editor-in-Chief VICTOR H. MAIR Associate Editors PAULA ROBERTS MARK SWOFFORD ISSN 2157-9679 (print) 2157-9687 (online) SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series dedicated to making available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor-in-chief actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including romanized modern standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. In special circumstances, papers written in one of the Sinitic topolects (fangyan) may be considered for publication. Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of China with other peoples, challenging and creative studies on a wide variety of philological subjects will be entertained. This series is not the place for safe, sober, and stodgy presentations. Sino- Platonic Papers prefers lively work that, while taking reasonable risks to advance the field, capitalizes on brilliant new insights into the development of civilization. Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed, and extensive editorial suggestions for revision may be offered. Sino-Platonic Papers emphasizes substance over form. We do, however, strongly recommend that prospective authors consult our style guidelines at www.sino-platonic.org/stylesheet.doc. Manuscripts should be submitted as electronic files, preferably in Microsoft Word format. You may wish to use our sample document template, available here: www.sino-platonic.org/spp.dot. Beginning with issue no. 171, Sino-Platonic Papers has been published electronically on the Web at www.sino-platonic.org. Issues 1–170, however, will continue to be sold as paper copies until our stock runs out, after which they too will be made available on the Web. Please note: When the editor goes on an expedition or research trip, all operations (including filling orders) may temporarily cease for up to three months at a time. In such circumstances, those who wish to purchase various issues of SPP are requested to wait patiently until he returns. If issues are urgently needed while the editor is away, they may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. You should also check our Web site at www.sino-platonic.org, as back issues are regularly rereleased for free as PDF editions. Sino-Platonic Papers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD) by Lucas Christopoulos Kobe, Japan Λουκάς Χριστόπουλος καθ᾽ ὅλου δέ φησιν ἐκεῖνος τῆς συμπάσης Ἀριανῆς πρόσχημα εἶναι τὴν Βακτριανήν καὶ δὴ καὶ μέχρι Σηρῶν καὶ Φρυνῶν ἐξέτεινον τὴν ἀρχήν. In short, Apollodoros says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole; and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the Seres and the Phryni. 總之,阿潑羅多柔斯説大夏包含阿立阿那.(他們)同時伸展王國把尼泊爾和中 國戰勝. — Στράβων (Strabo, Geography 11, XI, 1) Lucas Christopoulos, “Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China” Sino-Platonic Papers, 230 (August, 2012) Introduction Following the death of Alexander the Great, a large number of his soldiers were forced to remain in the Asian fortified cities of Bactria and northwest India in order to control the occupied territories. These new colonies of the East appealed to migrants, many of them artists or mercenaries from Greece, during the reign of Alexander’s successor, Seleucos. Many of the children that issued from the mixed marriages of Greeks and locals belonged to a Hellenized aristocracy that came to rule Bactria and northwest India for, in some places, the next three hundred years. Soon after Seleucos had made an alliance with Chandragupta Maurya, the king of India, the Kshatriya, the warrior caste of India, had come to consider the Greeks as entirely members of their own clan. After the reign of Chandragupta’s grandson Ashoka, the first Buddhist king of India, this alliance was reflected in Gandhara with the development of a Greco- Buddhist culture. The independent kingdom of Bactria claimed by Diodotes gave rise to a distinctive culture that mixed Persian, Indian and Greek elements, and its later expansion eastward eventually had a great impact on the Chinese world. The Greco-Bactrians and their Hellenized Scythian troops reached China through the Tarim Basin and established colonies in its southern portion, along the northern range of the Himalayas. The eastern part of the Roman Empire then took the relay, thronged with travelers, embassies and traders reaching China through Sri Lanka, the Kushana Empire and India, following the Spice Road from Roman Egypt. After the advent of Christianity, Byzantium developed close relations with Tang dynasty China in its turn, mostly with Syrian monks acting as intermediaries between the two empires. In this article I have assembled elements from historical texts, archaeological discoveries and research from other scholars in order to establish the links between these civilizations. Few archaeological discoveries have been made in China, and the lack of information on that side makes this research difficult. The ancient Roman and Greek historical sources are also insignificant concerning this particular cultural exchange in East Asia. Modern Western scholars do not have many tools to investigate the subject seriously, and they are very cautious when it comes to Chinese national history. The subject can hurt national sensibilities, because it is situated at the crossroads of major ancient civilisations, and some might regard investigating the 2 Lucas Christopoulos, “Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China” Sino-Platonic Papers, 230 (August, 2012) interactions in that area as taboo. But if we can pass over this psychological barrier, disregarding particular ethnicities and considering mankind’s history as global, then it is possible to make fascinating deductions concerning what happened along the Silk Road in Xinjiang. I found only a few pieces of this particular historical puzzle; other needed pieces are still missing or may themselves raise further questions. I do not intend to try to draw definitive conclusions to these unresolved problems, but I do suggest that we need to assemble all the pieces that we have in order to have a clearer view. That is the premise of this essay. I hope that future archaeological discoveries and exchanges with other scholars will help to clarify this signal part of human history, one that links two ancient and greatly influential civilizations — Greece and China. 1. Black horses, Greeks and Lixuan The Greeks and their troops who lived in Bactria, Sogdiana and Ferghana came to be known as the Lixuan (黎軒), Lixuan (驪軒), or Lijian (犁鞬) people by the Chinese soon after the opening of the Silk Road to Central Asia by the Emperor Han Wudi (漢武帝 156–87 BC).1 According to Paul Pelliot, the word Lijian was derived from a phonetic translation of Alexandria in Egypt.2 However, the name Lijian appeared before the Chinese knew about the Spice Road along the seacoast to the city of Alexandria on the Nile, so it is unlikely Lixuan is linked with it. The 1 The roads between Central Asia and the Mediterranean Sea through Persia were already widely used by the Persians during the Achaemenid Empire. See Pierre Briant, Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre- Modern World, first edition, edited by Susan E. Alcock, John Bodel, and Richard J. A. Talbert (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2012). (Map III, 1) 2 Paul Pelliot thought that Ljian would have been Alexandria of Egypt: « Note sur les anciens itinéraires Chinois dans l’orient Romain, » Journal Asiatique 17, (1921). Friedrich Hirth thought earlier that Lijian was the transcription of the word Rekhem, meaning the city of Petra after the Chinese travelers met the Parthians; Hirth, Friedrich, China and the Roman Orient, (1875), pp. 159 and 170. I do not take this explanation to be correct because the Greeks were living in Central Asia before the rule of the Parthians. Leslie and Gardiner took Lijian (or Ligan) for the whole Seleucid Empire; “Chinese knowledge of Western Asia,” T’ong Pao 168 (1982) pp. 290–297. Homer Hasenpflug Dubs also thought that Lijian was related to Alexander in: A Roman City in Ancient China, London, The China Society (1957), 2. See also Edouard Chavannes; «Les pays d’occident d’après le Heou Han Chou,» T’ong Pao 8, (1907). 3 Lucas Christopoulos, “Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China” Sino-Platonic Papers, 230 (August, 2012) wealthy city of Alexandria Margiana situated at Mary in Turkmenistan, and founded by Alexander the Great (Aλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας 356–323 BC) in 328 or 327 BC, is mentioned by Pliny the Elder (Natural History, Book 6, XVIII, 46–47) as having a wonderful climate and producing grapes and wine. The city was renamed Antiochia by Antiochos, so the Lixuan–Antiochia association by the Han is perhaps doubtful. The “Alexandria” closest to China was “Alexandria the Farthest” or Alexandria Eskhata, and the city was founded by Alexander in 329 BC after his marriage with Roxane (Ρωξάνη 345–310 BC), the Sogdian princess. Situated in southwestern Ferghana, in the Sogdian lands, its actual location is Khudjend in Tadjikistan (formerly Leninabad). Alexandria Eskhata is a more plausible explanation for the association with Lixuan as proposed by Pelliot.
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