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Viewing the Han Empire from the Edge a Dissertation VIEWING THE HAN EMPIRE FROM THE EDGE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Meiyu Hsieh August 2011 © 2011 by Mei-Yu Hsieh. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/sv629rv4537 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Mark Lewis, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Matthew Sommer I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Richard Vinograd Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Patricia J. Gumport, Vice Provost Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii iv Abstract This dissertation examines in the continental context the building and maintenance of the Han state, which existed in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions roughly from the second century B.C.E. to the second century C.E. It surveys the trajectory that transformed the Han state from a regional polity confined to the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions to a trans-regional superpower, exerting its influence across East Eurasia. I focus specifically on the interstate interaction between the Yellow River region (the Han), on the steppe (the Xiongnu), and in the Tarim Basin (multiple oasis-states) from the beginning of the second century B.C.E. to the early first century C.E. as my case study. Making use of both transmitted and excavated Han texts, I demonstrate that two major mechanisms facilitated the transformative process of the Han state in the political landscape of East Eurasia. One was horizontal kin ties between the Han emperor and peer rulers. The other was the vertically-structured imperial bureaucracy that organized communities in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions for imperial power-building. In particular, the imperial bureaucracy evolved into the nodal mechanism to sustain imperial initiatives. On the one hand, it vertically incorporated into its writing- based system individuals of diverse social, cultural, and geographic backgrounds in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions as the support base of the Han emperor. On the other hand, it horizontally facilitated the emperor’s kinship-based alliance network v across East Eurasia. This bureaucratic mechanism became the backbone that continued to weave together complex communities in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions regardless of the rise and fall of ruling houses. vi Acknowledgments I owe thanks to many supervisors and friends who have read and provided comments on the drafts of this dissertation. Professors Mark Edward Lewis, Matthew Sommer, and Richard Vinograd have been very patient and kind. I have also learned so much from Brigid Vance, Philip Thai, Ying Hu, Jon Felt, Quinn Javers, Nagano Naomi and Sakakibara Sayoko. I am very grateful to the institutions and scholars who helped me get access to sources: Zhang Defang and Han Hua in the Archaeological Institute of Gansu Province; Ishigami Eiichi of the Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo; Itakura Masaaki and Masuya Tomoko of the Institute of Oriental Culture at the University of Tokyo; and Shiba Yoshinobu of the Oriental Library. This dissertation research was aided a Fellowship for East and Southeast Asian Archaeology and Early History from the American Council of Learned Societies, with funding from the Henry Luce Foundation; Mrs. Giles Whiting Fellowship, and grants from the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, Stanford Center for East Asian Studies, and Stanford History Department. vii Table of Contents Abstract v Acknowledgements vii Table of Contents viii Introduction 1 Chapter One: A New Governing Coalition in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers Regions 13 Historical Background (1) Lateral Distribution of Power in the Top Governing Elite Circle of the Han (2) Competition between the Han Emperor and the Xiongnu Chanyu for Allegiance Re-evaluating the Significance of Heqin (Peace and Kinship) (1) Marriage Alliances with the Xiongnu Chanyu (2) Marriage Alliances with Subordinate Han Rulers (3) Negotiation of Power Spheres in the Name of Fraternity Chapter Two: From a Confined Polity to a Trans-regional Superpower 69 viii Structural Background: From Coalition to Centralized Bureaucracy (1) Imperial Promotion of Bureaucrats against Subordinate Rulers (2) Empowered Bureaucrats, Enfeebled Subordinate Rulers Han Participation in Cosmopolitan Elite Circle of East Eurasia (1) Signs of Departure from the “Two Masters” Model (2) Transformation from a Regional State to a Trans-regional Power (3) Establishing a Han-centered Interstate Network in East Eurasia Chapter Three: Maintaining a Cosmopolitan Empire in East Eurasia 124 Social Background—(Mis-) Handling a Complex World (1) Financial and Resource Burdens of Imperial Power-building (2) Resource Re-allocation for Funding Imperial Power-building Activities In Search for Sustainable Power-building in East Eurasia (1) Severed Imperial Relations with Subjects in the Yellow River region (2) Bureaucratic Resistance to Extreme Disciplinary Measures (3) Alternative Approaches to Enhancing Imperial Power-building Chapter Four: Power Dynamics in Interstate Networks of East Eurasia 201 Infrastructural Background (1) Collaboration for Mutual Power-Building in Pan-East Eurasian Elite Networks ix (2) Administrative Facilities for Maintaining Long-distance Political Interactions Negotiating Relational Hierarchies in the Political Landscape of East Eurasia Conclusion 259 Bibliography 262 x Introduction The initial purpose of this dissertation is to examine in the continental context the building and maintenance of the Han state, which existed in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions roughly from the second century B.C.E. to the second century C.E. Instead of “state,” however, I propose to use “power centers,” i.e., leadership or governing elite groups of varied scales, as the principal analytical unit for state-to-state interaction of the Han with polities in diverse geographic regions across East Eurasia. This analytical unit provides us two advantageous approaches to understanding the forces that furthered the survival and expansion of Han imperial authority in the political landscape of East Eurasia from the second century B.C.E. First, by investigating interactions among governing elite groups at local, regional, and continental levels, we see an East Eurasia that was crisscrossed by complex layers of network linkages that frequently cut through political, cultural, and geographical differences. Second, by examining power- building activities of individuals and groups through these interactive networks, we see dynamic processes of competition, negotiation, and collaboration among different types and scales of power centers striving for resources and status. 1 Through horizontal networks between peer leaders and vertical integration of lesser power centers, many presumed social or political divides were transcended in regular activities of competitive collaboration and collaborative competition. Interactive political behavior of individuals and their groups formed diverse support bases for varied scales of power centers. In the case of the Han, these support bases supplied human, animal, and material resources necessary for constructing institutions and infrastructures that sustained the existence and expanded the influence of the emperor and his imperial court. By the same token, only when the emperor and his imperial court were capable of securing stable ties with and predictable resource supplies from different types and scales of support bases could the Han state survive and extend its influence in the political landscape of East Eurasia. When mutual interests and reciprocity were no longer found between the Han emperor and his many support bases, all ties that culminated in this top leader could be loosened and severed, leading to either reduced influence of the Han court or even the disintegration of the state. In the interest of brevity, I illustrate my points through the case study of the interstate interaction between the Yellow River region (the Han), on the steppe (the Xiongnu), and in the Tarim Basin (multiple oasis-states) from the beginning of the second century B.C.E. to the early first century C.E. This project is different from previous studies of the Han state precisely because of 2 this specific emphasis on interactive networks among power centers, a conceptual framework that has been commonly used in anthropological and archaeological research of various topics, especially the emergence of hierarchized socio-political entities. Several books about the Han have surveryed such themes as imperial ideologies, bureaucratic structure, taxation and corvée systems, and its foreign relations. All these studies provide valuable foundations for this project. However, an over-emphasis on the Han in isolation projects
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