The term barbarian in Chinese history is readily apparent when discussing civilisations that surrounded the empire. This term, however, changes its meaning later in the country’s history. To demonstrate this, I will use excerpts from Sima Qian’s Shiji and Li Jing’s Yunan zhiliie in order to elaborate how this change occurred.
First I will look at Sima Qian’s Shiji 116: ‘The Account of the Southwestern Barbarians’ which talks about states which were invaded during the Han dynasty. In this chapter, Sima Qian mentions a barbarian chief in Julan who is afraid of leaving his territory during a distant expedition. The reason for this is the threat of neighbouring states who would ‘invade his territory and seize the old men and boys who had been left behind. He and his people therefore revolted and killed the Han envoys and governor of Jianwei.’[1] This ending sentence shows the drastic solution that the chief opted for but Sima Qian importantly gives context to why this occurred. Instead of writing of the heinous crimes of these barbarians, he instead writes how this was a compassionate measure taken by the chief due to the need to protect the young boys and old men in his own territory.
This recognition of compassion is certainly not as evident in Li Jing’s Yunan zhiliie. Li Jing was a native of the Hebei province and was said to have written the work in 1301 and then edited it in 1331.[2] The work focuses on territories outside of China in the South-west, specifically Yunan which was a province conquered by Mongol ruled China in 1253.[3] In this province, Li Jing focuses on the customs of various barbarians and I will exclusively focus on an excerpt describing the Luo Luo tribe. He describes the men of the tribe saying, ‘They carry two knives, one at each side, and enjoy fighting and killing. When a disagreement arises among fathers and sons and among brothers, they are known to attack each with military weapons.’[4] When comparing this to Sima Qian’s work, the dichotomy is clear. Li Jing is not appreciative of those outside of the Chinese empire but displays them as something completely ‘other’. By describing the willingness of the barbarians to commit crimes like patricide, it demonstrates an antithesis to the Confucian value of filial piety. The lack of a moral compass and love for violence shows a sharp distinction from civilised values present in China at the time and makes these barbarians seem almost ‘sub-human’.
When contrasted to Sima Qian, who wrote over a thousand years before Li Jing and suggests that the barbarians in the South-west can claim their heritage to ancient Chinese dynasties, there is a noticeable difference.[5] This is further explained when examining why Li Jing wrote Yunan zhiliie. The ethnographical work was written in context of 1274 when the emperor commissioned Sayyid ‘Ajall Shams al-Din to commence on a ‘civilising project’ of Yunan which aimed to assimilate inhabitants into the Chinese empire.[6] By distinguishing barbarians on a scale of civility from ‘raw’ to ‘cooked’, it is clear that by the time of the early 14th century, civility was a big concern throughout the empire. In contrast to Sima Qian’s description of barbarians that make them similar to many of those in Han China, Li Jing does the opposite with his descriptions of various states. This difference shows a wider change of perspective of barbarians throughout the period of Chinese history as rulers start to separate themselves from surrounding states. What it was to be Han Chinese and to live in Han culture becomes much more defined and this is demonstrated when comparing the differences of barbarian descriptions by Sima Qian and Li Jing.
[1] Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian of China Vol 1, trans WM. Theodore, ed. Burton Watson (Columbia, 1971) pp. 257
[2] Li Jing, ‘The Customs of Various Barbarians’ in Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese History, (eds.) Susan Mann and Yu-Yin Cheng (California, 2001) pp. 87
[3] Ibid pp. 86
[4] Ibid pp. 91
[5] Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, pp. 258
[6] Li Jing, Under Confucian Eyes pp. 86