CrossroadsPub Date : 2024-06-10DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10022
Ronald C. Po
{"title":"The Dunn Map: An American and a Long-Forgotten Curio from Nineteenth-Century China","authors":"Ronald C. Po","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10022","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Rediscovered in 2011 within the collection of the Library of Congress, the Fusheng quantu 福省全圖 (Complete Map of Fuzhou), a delicate nineteenth-century Chinese map, had lain unnoticed for over a century. Its anonymous creator and lack of dating impede a direct tracing of its origins, and it is only known to have arrived through a donation of manuscripts by the American businessman and diplomat Thomas Dunn. The map, with its artistic qualities, provides a window into the seascape of Fuzhou and the Qing dynasty’s coastal defences and maritime strategies. This study transcends the map’s physicality, delving into its associated life histories, including Dunn’s, and the broader context of China’s coerced entry into global trade and diplomacy during the age of high imperialism (c.1850–1900). More than a long-forgotten illustrative account, the map is a piece of evidence that reveals much about the times and places in which it was drawn and viewed.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":" 837","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141364112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2024-06-10DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10021
Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann
{"title":"Reformatting a Traditional Image of the Qing Imperial Realm According to Modern Western Cartography","authors":"Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10021","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Göttingen State and University Library in Germany possesses the only surviving copy of a general map of the Qing empire, which until early 2014 was considered to be lost. The map is a middle-format hand-coloured block print. All the place names and other textual elements in the map are given exclusively in Chinese. The map is authored by a known Chinese scholar, Li Mingche 李明徹 (1751–1832), but is undated. Yet the time of its creation can be reliably approximated to the mid-1820s, most likely 1825–1826. The map exhibits a clear stamp of Western mapmaking, primarily that of French cartography of the eighteenth century, yet its fine fusion with the system of traditional Chinese cartographic conventions and aesthetic preferences makes it an interesting hybrid cartographic specimen. This article proposes an initial analysis of the map providing a basis for future more detailed study.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":" 42","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141364552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2024-06-03DOI: 10.1163/26662523-20240014
Gal Gvili
{"title":"Zhongguo yu Yazhou wenhua jiaoliu zhi 中國與南亞 文化交流志 (Records of Cultural Exchanges between China and South Asia), written by Xue Keqiao","authors":"Gal Gvili","doi":"10.1163/26662523-20240014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-20240014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"25 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141271795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2024-03-14DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10019
Hiroyuki Nagamine
{"title":"Where Was Sarai, the “Capital” of the Jochid Ulus? Some Perspectives for Research on Sarai","authors":"Hiroyuki Nagamine","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10019","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Regarding Sarai – the “capital” of the Jochid ulus (Golden Horde) and the “metropolis of the Qipchaq Steppe” – it is the established theory that Old Sarai was located at the Selitrennoe site, and New Sarai at the Tsarevskoe site, both on the Akhtuba River. However, new theories that disagree with this have emerged: these theories claim that there was only one Sarai, or that Sarai was located at different places. First, I examine these new theories, and show that, indeed, there may have been two Sarais, old and new. Next, I argue the following possibilities: the lower Volga valley between Sarai–Hajji Tarkhan as winter camp and Ukek–Bulgar as summer camp was the “capital region” of the early Jochid ulus; Saraijuq has been discussed as being the khans’ burial grounds (qoruq), however, from archaeological surveys and the “[dynasty] table” (jadwal) in the Paris manuscript of Muntakhab al-Tawārīkh-i Muʿīnī, Sarai (and its suburbs) also assumed that role.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"3 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140242818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2024-03-14DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10020
Stefanos Kordosis
{"title":"The Western Mongol World in the Early Eighteenth Century: Kalmyks and Oirats in Vasilis Vatatzēs’s Periēgētikon and His 1732 Map of Central Asia","authors":"Stefanos Kordosis","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10020","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The article revolves around the information on the Kalmyks and Oirats contained in Vasilis Vatatzēs’s Periēgētikon (Voyages). Vatatzēs, a Greek-Ottoman merchant who travelled in Central Asia in the first half of the eighteenth century, supplemented his text with a map (engraved and published in 1732 in London) and produced a biography of Shah Nader of Persia, the founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. Vatatzēs travelled along the caravan routes connecting the cities of southern Siberia with the Khanates of Central Asia, as demonstrated by a reconstruction of his itineraries, reaching as far as Bukhara. Focusing on the nations of Central Asia, Vatatzēs’s accounts and map provide much information regarding western Mongolic nations, starting with the Kalmyks in the Volga region and reaching as far as the Oirats, to the NW of China.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140243737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2023-11-20DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10018
Yoichi Isahaya
{"title":"Marāgha Ceased to Function: The Ṭūsī Family’s Intellectual Network and Īl-Khānid Political Itinerance","authors":"Yoichi Isahaya","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10018","url":null,"abstract":"While there is no consensus as to when the Marāgha observatory, centre of a Eurasian-scale intellectual network, ceased to function, given that no historical sources mention such a date, by focusing more on the Īl-Khānid political context than on the scientific activities at the observatory that have so far attracted scholarly attention, I argue that the termination of the observatory’s activity overlapped with the downfall of Aṣīl al-Dīn b. Naṣīr al-Dīn (d. ca. 1317) in 1309/10. Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (1201–1274) acquired the office of trustee of the waqf endowments for the observatory. This office was inherited after his death by his sons. However, the family property related to the religious endowments was targeted, which resulted in the family’s fall. Thereafter, the eighth īl-khān, Öljeitü (r.1304–1316), did not station his mobile court in Marāgha, which marked a shift of the intellectual centre of the Īl-Khānid dynasty away from the observatory.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139257112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2023-11-20DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10017
Valentina Bruccoleri
{"title":"Fragments of the Northern Routes: The Trade in Chinese Ceramics in the Golden Horde Territories","authors":"Valentina Bruccoleri","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10017","url":null,"abstract":"The role of Chinese ceramics in the interconnections of the Mongol khanates is not a new subject; however, most studies focus on the artistic exchanges between Yuan China and Ilkhanid Iran. Besides the well-known southern mainland route that linked these two regions, written sources and archaeological evidence also bear witness to intense commercial activity along the northern routes that passed over the Caspian Sea to the Caucasian region, relaying between the major cities of the Golden Horde khanate. The Chinese stoneware and porcelain excavated in some of these cities, including Saray, Saraijuk, Azov, Majar, and Bolgar, have been published among other materials in various excavations reports and articles covering these regions, but have never been considered as a whole. This article aims to provide an initial survey on the presence of fourteenth-century Chinese ceramics in the Golden Horde khanate, draw a preliminary picture of the typologies of the exported wares, and set the basis for further studies in the field.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"84 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139256593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2023-11-20DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10016
Riccardo Liberati
{"title":"Forging Bonds across Continents: Italian Merchants and Īl-Khānid Diplomacy","authors":"Riccardo Liberati","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10016","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses the Italian commercial presence in the Mongol Īl-Khānate in thirteenth-century Persia. Analysing source materials, the study focuses on the experiences of individuals and communities alike, showcasing a dual aspiration to economic gain and political status. The study examines mechanisms that facilitated merchants’ relationship with the Īl-Khānids, leading Italians to occupy significant positions at the Īl-Khānid court. It also explains how just a few individuals were instrumental in fostering diplomatic ties with Europe and enabling treaties that bolstered Genoese and Venetian communities in Tabriz and beyond. A subsequent phase marked a shift as Īl-Khānid rulers embraced Islam, causing relations with Europe to erode, thereby diminishing Italian influence. This intricate interplay between Italian merchants’ trade, diplomatic endeavours, and cultural exchanges highlights the multifaceted nature of historical interactions in this period.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"26 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139255448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2023-10-05DOI: 10.1163/26662523-bja10015
Nikolaos Vryzidis
{"title":"The Archaeology of Intermediation: Prolegomena on Mongol Elements in Later Byzantine Art and Material Culture","authors":"Nikolaos Vryzidis","doi":"10.1163/26662523-bja10015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-bja10015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Later Byzantine (1261–1453) diplomacy was generally characterised by pragmatism, especially in the empire’s choice of allies that could foster its political stability and mitigate its financial burdens. Among its more distant allies were the different Mongol polities that stretched from Central Asia up to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Despite not being immediate neighbours, the relationship between Byzantium and the Mongols was marked by intermediation, both in terms of the actors that functioned across the two realms and of the service the one could provide to the interests of the other. Within this frame, the following article will attempt a preliminary assessment of the Mongol element in later Byzantine art and material culture, and its possible use as a secondary source on this complex relationship. It will argue that while the Mongol contribution to Byzantine art and material culture was visible especially during the fourteenth century, there are instances which reveal a certain ambivalence towards it.","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135483661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CrossroadsPub Date : 2023-10-04DOI: 10.1163/26662523-20230011
Ákos Bertalan Apatóczky
{"title":"The Rise of the Mongols: Five Chinese Sources, edited and translated by Christopher P. Atwood","authors":"Ákos Bertalan Apatóczky","doi":"10.1163/26662523-20230011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26662523-20230011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":34828,"journal":{"name":"Crossroads","volume":"199 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135647478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}