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Xirong

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Xirong
Zhougeography:Huaxiasurrounded by theFour Barbarians—Dongyiin the east,Nanmanin the south, Xirong in the west, andBeidiin the north.
ChineseTây Nhung
Literal meaningWestern warlike people

Xirong(Chinese:Tây Nhung;pinyin:Xīróng;Wade–Giles:Hsi-jung;lit.'Western warlike people') orRongwere various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities ofancient China(in modernGansuandQinghai). They were known as early as theShang dynasty(1765–1122 BCE),[1]as one of theFour Barbariansthat frequently (and often violently) interacted with thesiniticHuaxiacivilization. They typically resided to the west ofGuanzhong Plainsfrom theZhou Dynasty(1046–221 BCE) onwards.[2][3]They were mentioned in some ancient Chinese texts as perhaps genetically and linguistically related to the people of theChinese civilization.[4]

Etymology[edit]

Anthropomorphic axe, bronze, excavated in the tomb of Heibo ( hắc bá ), a military noble in charge of protecting the northern frontier, atBaicaopo,Lingtai County,Western Zhouperiod (1045–771 BCE).Gansu Museum.This is considered as a possible depiction of aXianyun.[5]

The historianLi Fengsays that during theWestern Zhouperiod, since the termRong"warlike foreigners" was "often used in bronze inscriptions to mean 'warfare', it is likely that when a people was called 'Rong', the Zhou considered them as political and military adversaries rather than as cultural and ethnic 'others'."[6]Paul R. Goldin also proposes thatRongwas a "pseudo-ethnonym" meaning "bellicose".[7]

Saka-styleMajiayuan culturetomb figurines (3rd-2nd century BCE).[8]
Xirong gold belt plaques inanimal stylefound inMajiayuanM4, Gansu, 3rd century BCE.[9]
Xirong gold plate in the form of walking feline found inMajiayuanM3, Gansu.[9]
Necklace decorated with granulation, unearthed inMajiayuan,Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.[10]
Xirong earrings,Majiayuancemetery in Gansu, the Warring states Period, Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.[10]

After theZhou dynasty,the term usually referred to various peoples in the west during early and late medieval times. Xirong was also the name of a state during theSpring and AutumnandWarring States periodsof Chinese history.[citation needed]

The Xirong together with the easternDongyi,northernBeidi,and southernNanmanwere collectively called theSìyí(Bốn di;'Four Barbarians'). TheLiji"Record of Rites" details ancient stereotypes about them.

The people of those five regions – the Middle states, and the [Rong], [Yi], (and other wild tribes round them) – had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called [Yi]. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called [Rong]. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called [Di]. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food. The people of the Middle states, and of those [Yi], Man, [Rong], and [Di], all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers) – in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, [Di-dis]; and in the north, interpreters.[11][The term địch đêdidi(ti-ti) is identified as: "(anc.) Interpreter of the Di, barbarians of the west. "[12]Translated and adapted from the French.]

Note: "middle states" (Chinese:Trung Quốc;pinyin:Zhōngguó) in this quotation refers to the "Middle Kingdom",i.e.China.

Spade-foot three-legged pottery vessels as well as one and two handled pots were primary cultural characteristics of the Xirong.[citation needed]

William H. BaxterandLaurent Sagart(2014)[13]reconstruct theOld Chinesename of Róng asNhung,OC:*‍nuŋ,mod.róng.Today, similar-sounding self-designatedethnonymsamong modern-dayTibeto-Burmanpeoples in western China includeRgyalrongofSichuan,andNungandTrungof northwesternYunnan(see alsoRung languages). Průšek suggests relations between the Rong during the Zhou dynasty and the Rén (Người< OC *ni[ŋ]) tribes duringShang dynasty,[14]however, the Rén (Người) dwelt in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, thus east, not west, of the Shang.[15]

Timeline[edit]

According toNicola Di Cosmo,[16]'Rong' was a vague term for warlike foreigner. He places them from the upperWei Rivervalley and along theFen Riverto theTaiyuanbasin as far as theTaihang Mountains.This would be the northwestern edge of what was then China and also the transition zone between agricultural and steppe ways of life.

  • c. 964 BCE:King Mu of Zhoudefeated theQuanrongand the following year attacked the Western Rong and Xurong.
  • 859 BCE:King Yi of Zhou (Ji Xie):Zhou capital attacked by the Rong ofTaiyuan.
  • 877-841 BCE:King Li of Zhou:Western Rong andXianyunraid deep into Zhou territory
  • 827-782 BCE:King Xuan of Zhousends the State of Qin to attack Western Rong who submit and cede territory, sends the State ofJinagainst the Northern Rong (probably 788); following year destroys the RongJiang clan.
  • 781-771 BCE:King You of Zhouis killed by the Quanrong, ending theWestern Zhou.
  • During the Western Zhou various Rong groups are interspersed among the cities of the North China Plain. It seems that theBeidiwere pressing the Rong from the north.
  • 714 BCE: Northern (Bei) or Mountain (Shan) Rong attack theState of Zheng.
  • 706 BCE: The same group attacksQi.
  • 693-662 BCE:Duke Zhuang of Lu,ruler of the State ofLu,has many wars with the Rong.
  • 664 BCE:Shan Rongattack theState of Yan.
  • 662 BCE:Beididrive the Rong out ofTaiyuan.
  • 650 BCE: Beirong attacked by the States of Qi andXu.
  • after 650 BCE the Rong are rarely mentioned. They seem to have been mostly absorbed by the States of Qi and Jin.[17]
  • 314 BCE:Qindefeated the last hostile Rong tribe.[18]Threats from unified nomadic incursions would eventually reappear under theXiongnuidentity during the subsequentQinandHanDynasties.[19]

Ethnicity[edit]

It is believed that the Quanrong during the Western Zhou-Warring States period(1122–476 BC) spoke aTibeto-Burmanbranch of theSino-Tibetanlanguages, and united with the Jiang clan to rebel against the Zhou.[20][21]Menciusmentioned that evenKing Wen of Zhouhad ancestries from the "western barbarians" ( Tây Di ).[22]

7th-century scholarYan Shigumade these remarks about theWusuns,one group included to the "western barbarians": "Among the barbarians ( nhung;Róng) in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians ( người Hồ;húrén) who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people ";[23][24][25]the exonymNgười HồHúrén"foreigners, barbarians",[23]was used from the 6th century to denoteIranian peoples,especiallySogdians,inCentral Asia,besides other non-Chinese peoples.[26]

Genetic data on ancient Qiang remains associated with the Xirong were determined to display high genetic affinity with contemporarySino-Tibetan peoplesas well as with ancient 'Yellow River farmers' of theYangshao culture.[27][28]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^Waugh, Daniel C: Professor."Silk Road Texts".University of Washington.Retrieved20 April2014.
  2. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon July 28, 2011.RetrievedApril 23,2011.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^"Hun & Huns -- Political, Social, Cultural, Historical Analysis Of China -- Research Into Origins Of Huns, Uygurs, Mongols And Tibetans".imperialchina.org.
  4. ^Nicola Di Cosmo,Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History,Cambridge University Press, 2004 pp. 108-112.
  5. ^"Linh đài bạch thảo sườn núi Tây Chu mộ táng đồng thau vương quốc".kaogu.net.cn.The Institute of Archaeology (CASSChinese Academy of Social Sciences).There is research on the ethnic image of the northern nomadic people of the Altaic language family. It may be that this is the image of the Xianyun tribe that once posed a serious military threat to the northern border of the Zhou Dynasty was called "Ghost people" because it looked different from the Chinese. Có khảo chứng hệ a ngươi thái ngữ hệ phương bắc du mục dân tộc nhân chủng hình tượng. Có thể là đã từng đối chu triều phương bắc biên cảnh cấu thành nghiêm trọng quân sự uy hiếp Hiểm Doãn bộ tộc, nhân tướng mạo khác hẳn với Hoa Hạ, bị gọi "Quỷ phương".
  6. ^Li, Feng (2006),Landscape And Power In Early China,Cambridge University Press, p. 286.
  7. ^Goldin, Paul R. "Steppe Nomads as a Philosophical Problem in Classical China" in Mapping Mongolia: Situating Mongolia in the World from Geologic Time to the Present. Penn Museum International Research Conferences, vol. 2. Ed. Paula L.W. Sabloff. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. 2011. p. 235
  8. ^SeeLinduff, Katheryn (2013)."A Contextual Explanation for" Foreign "or" Steppic "Factors Exhibited in Burials at the Majiayuan Cemetery and the Opening of the Tianshan Mountain Corridor".Asian Archaeology:81, Figure 6 (Majiayuan Tomb 3).
  9. ^abLiu, Yan; Li, Rui; Yang, Junchang; Liu, Ruiliang; Zhao, Guo xing; Tan, Panpan (26 April 2021)."China and the steppe: technological study of precious metalwork from Xigoupan Tomb 2 (4th–3rd c.BCE) in the Ordos region, Inner Mongolia".Heritage Science.9(1): 46.doi:10.1186/s40494-021-00520-5.ISSN2050-7445.
  10. ^abShi, Yong; Wen, Yadi; Li, Xiaojun; Liu, Zhao gian; Huang, Yumin; He, Bei (4 August 2022)."Transmission and innovation on gold granulation: the application of tin for soldering techniques in ancient China".Heritage Science.10(1): 122.doi:10.1186/s40494-022-00753-y.ISSN2050-7445.
  11. ^Wangzhi chap., tr.James Legge(1879),The Li Ki,Clarendon Press, vol.1, pp. 229-230.
  12. ^Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise,Vol. V, (2001) p. 938
  13. ^Baxter, William H. and Laurent Sagart. 2014.Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction.Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-994537-5.
  14. ^Jaroslav Průšek.Chinese Statelets and the Northern Barbarians in the period 1400-300 BC.New York, 1971. p.38
  15. ^Di Cosmo, Nicola (1999). "The northern frontier in pre-imperial China". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge University Press. p. 908 of pp. 885–966.
  16. ^Cambridge History of Ancient China (1999) Chapter 13
  17. ^Nicola Di Cosmo in Cambridge History of Ancient China, page 924
  18. ^Mark Edward Lewis in Cambridge History of Ancient China, page 635
  19. ^The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica."Xiongnu".britannica.Encyclopædia Britannica Online.RetrievedAugust 2,2016.
  20. ^Chapter 14 of Keightley,'The Origins of Chinese Civilization',1983
  21. ^"Fortress Village - The Ethnic Minorities of Southwest China".ethno.ihp.sinica.edu.tw.
  22. ^MenciusLi lou II.text: "Mạnh Tử rằng: “Thuấn sinh với chư phùng, dời với phụ hạ, tốt với minh điều, đông di người cũng. Văn vương sinh với kỳ chu, tốt với tất dĩnh, Tây Di người cũng." D.C.Lau (1970:128)'s translation: "Mencius said, 'Shun was an Eastern barbarian; he was born in Chu Feng, moved to Fu Hsia, and died in Ming T'iao. King Wen was a Western barbarian; he was born in Ch'i Chou and died in Pi Ying."
  23. ^abBook of Han,with commentary by Yan ShiguOriginal text:Ô tôn với Tây Vực chư nhung này hình nhất dị. Nay chi người Hồ coi trọng, xích cần, trạng loại di hầu giả, bổn này loại cũng.
  24. ^Yu, Taishan.A Study of Saka History,(1998) pp. 141-142. Sino-Platonic Papers, Number 80. University of Pennsylvania.
  25. ^Book of Han,vol. 96bArchivedMarch 17, 2008, at theWayback Machine
  26. ^Atwood, Christopher P. (2015)."The Qai, the Khongai, and the Names of the Xiōngnú".International Journal of Eurasian Studies. 2: p. 62 of 35–63.
  27. ^Song, Mengyuan; Wang, Zefei; Lyu, Qiang; Ying, Jun; Wu, Qian; Jiang, Lanrui; Wang, Fei; Zhou, Yuxiang; Song, Feng; Luo, Haibo; Hou, Yiping; Song, Xingbo; Ying, Binwu (2022-11-01)."Paternal genetic structure of the Qiang ethnic group in China revealed by high-resolution Y-chromosome STRs and SNPs".Forensic Science International: Genetics.61:102774.doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2022.102774.ISSN1872-4973.PMID36156385.S2CID252254620.Furthermore, ancient DNA revealed genetic connections between early Di-Qiang (Di and Qiang were historically combined to be one group) and Han Chinese [5], [6].
  28. ^Li, Jiawei; Zeng, Wen; Zhang, Ye; Ko, Albert Min-Shan; Li, Chunxiang; Zhu, Hong; Fu, Qiaomei; Zhou, Hui (2017-12-04)."Ancient DNA reveals genetic connections between early Di-Qiang and Han Chinese".BMC Evolutionary Biology.17(1): 239.Bibcode:2017BMCEE..17..239L.doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1082-0.ISSN1471-2148.PMC5716020.PMID29202706.We identified Mogou to be the earliest ~4000 yr. BP Di-Qiang population, and genetically related to Taojiazhai in sharing up to 100% paternal (O3a) and ~60% maternal (D4, M10, F, Z) haplogroups.

Sources[edit]

  • (in Chinese)"Exploring the roots of the Qin".
  • (in Chinese)Ming Dynasty Record of 1574.Zhonghua Publishing. 1993.ISBN7-101-00607-8.
  • Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise.7 volumes. Instituts Ricci (Paris – Taipei). Desclée de Brouwer. 2001. Vol. III, p. 555.
  • A Hypothesis about the Source of the Sai Tribes.Taishan Yu. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 106. September, 2000. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
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