Liu Wei
The trade in Eastern and Western ceramics in the interior of Asia and Europe began at the end of the 12th century, when porcelain from the Jingdezhen kiln, Dingyao kiln and Yaozhou kiln reached the territory of the Western Liao and Western Qarakhanid dynasties in Central Asia through the Border Fields of song, Jin and Western Xia and Uighur merchants. The Mongol conquest of Eurasia stimulated land traffic between East and West, but it was not until the fall of the Chagatai Khanate in 1323 that land traffic between the Yuan Dynasty and the Chagatai Khanate, the Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate was unimpeded. In 1346, the Chagatai Khanate was divided, and in 1351, the southern war of the Yuan Dynasty caused another interruption in the overland trade channels of Chinese ceramics. The large number of Jingdezhen kilns and Longquan kiln porcelain and a small number of Cizhou kiln type ceramics found in Central Asia and Eastern Europe in the early and mid-14th century are the result of a brief boom in inland trade between Asia and Europe during this period. Although the duration was short, Chinese ceramics could reach as far as western Russia through land trade, providing the necessary conditions for exploring the architecture of the ceramic trade at that time. There are two main factors affecting the composition of the Eurasian inland ceramic trading system: on the one hand, the control role of regional central cities in the scope of the trade circle; On the other hand, it is the shaping effect of the production and marketing competition of low-end ceramics on the connotation of the trade circle. The three regional central cities that controlled the inland ceramic trade in Asia and Europe were the Yuan Capital, the Chagatai Khanate capital Alimali, and the Golden Horde capital Saray. Alimari is the intermediate node of the Eurasian inland ceramic trading system, and the kilns in northern China and the glazed pottery of Central Asia and Eastern Europe are distributed in all directions from east to west. This formed two trade circles, east and west centered on the Yuan Dynasty and the Golden Horde, respectively, high-grade porcelain was a cross-trade circle commodity, while low-end ceramics were more limited to circulation within the circle.
Since archaeological excavations have been carried out at sites such as Fustat in Egypt, Samarra in Iraq, and Siraf in Iran, sea traffic from the South China Sea to the Western Indian Ocean has become the main clue to explore the export of Chinese ceramics in the 8th and 15th centuries. In recent years, the study of Trade between the East and the West in the Middle Ages from the perspective of global history has not only continued to focus on the Indian Ocean Rim region, but also explored the vast inland of Asia and Europe. However, as far as the ceramic trade is concerned, the archaeological materials accumulated over the years still lack cross-regional concatenation, and the land trade reflected in the excavation of Chinese porcelain has not yet been highlighted. In view of this, this paper collects the ceramic data of the Song and Yuan dynasties excavated from the sites of major towns in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, takes the archaeological discoveries of Chinese ceramics in the same period as a reference, and combines Chinese and Western literature records to preliminarily discuss the time period, route and system of the inland ceramic trade in Asia and Europe.
A departure from Samarkand
When did the Eurasian inland ceramics trade begin? Traditional belief is that Tang Dynasty ceramics found in Central Asia and the interior of Iran came by land. However, this question also needs to be based on specific archaeological material. In 1979, G. Ashkina V. Shishkina) revealed a white porcelain bowl with a lip jade foot found in the western part of the site of The Afrasiab in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the ground layer is believed to belong to the mid-10th century. Previously, similar white porcelain was also unearthed in Nishapur, Iran, accompanied by Yue kiln jade bi foot celadon bowl, Changsha kiln blue glaze brown color pot, northern kiln field white glaze green color vessel and so on. In 1973, Charles K. Wilkinson, introducing and analyzing the artifacts, pointed out that glazed pottery from Iraq and the river region had also been found in the area, indicating that Chinese ceramics could either come through the river through the Silk Road and continue west to Rayy, or that they could first reach Iraq, the center of the Islamic world, by sea, and then by land to Dani Shapur. When Axelle Rougeulle considered the origin of the white porcelain bowl in Samarkand, he had a similar view to Wilkinson, believing that it was possible to first arrive by sea in the Persian Gulf port of Basra or Cherov, then from Baghdad, Rey and Nishapur via Khorasan Road, or by Shiraz, Istakhr and Nishapur via the desert road, or from northern China via the Silk Road. It now appears that due to the discovery of similar artifact combinations in the Indonesian Blackstone, which sank later in the second year of the Baoli calendar (826), it is known on the one hand that these ceramics were produced in the early 9th century, and on the other hand, it is confirmed that the speculation of sea-land relay transport should be more realistic.
[Figure 1] Song gold porcelain unearthed from Samarkand
Although the late Tang Dynasty white porcelain found in Samarkand was transmitted through successive land routes along the Maritime Silk Road, there are other archaeological materials in the area that can provide clues to the inland ceramic trade in Asia and Europe. Shishkina also introduces a kiln-printed white porcelain bowl unearthed from a 12th-century pile at the site of Afrassy abbey (Fig. 1:1). Coincidentally, in 1980-1982, excavation area No. 44 near the Friday Mosque in the north of the city unearthed a white porcelain plate printed with a fixed kiln, accompanied by two Jingdezhen kiln scratched blue and white porcelain bowls [Fig. 1: 2-4], which belong to the stratigraphic unit dating is speculated to be the late 12th century. Two other pieces of Longquan kiln celadon were unearthed on the surface of the excavation area, one is a chrysanthemum petal plate with a flower mouth folded along the mouth, and the other is a high-foot bowl with a mouth to draw flowers [Fig. 2: 1, 2], both dated to the early to mid-14th century. According to Theojichi of Bow Field, in 1972, a remnant of a blue and white porcelain eight-sided vase (or pot) of Jingdezhen kiln was unearthed in the inner city of Timur in Samarkand [Figure 2:3], which also belonged to this period.
[Fig. 2] Yuan Dynasty porcelain unearthed from Samarkand
In this way, the Song and Yuan porcelain unearthed in Samarkand can be divided into two groups with different eras: one is the combination of white porcelain of the Jin Dynasty Ding kiln and the blue and white porcelain of the Jingdezhen kiln of the Southern Song Dynasty; The second is the combination of Longquan kiln celadon and Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty. This is where the discussion about the trade in inland ceramics between Asia and Europe began.
2. Song and Yuan ceramics excavated from Central Asia and Eastern Europe
[Fig. 3] Porcelain excavated from the Bilovatskoye site
[Fig. 4] Porcelain excavated from the site of Krasnaya-Lecheka
Song-Jin ceramics found in the interior of Eurasia are less common and concentrated in Central Asia, with the exception of Samarkand, all unearthed in the Seven Rivers region. Back in the 1940s, A. Bernstam The Shemilech archaeological team led by N. Bernshtam found Songjin porcelain in the investigation excavations of the Chu River Basin in Kyrgyzstan. The remnants of a celadon bowl excavated at the belovodskoe site, 40 kilometers west of Bishkek,40 km away [Picture 3], mistakenly believed to belong to the Longquan kiln, but were actually Yaozhou kiln products. Thereafter, the site of Krasnaya Rechka (fig. 4) 30 km east of Bishkek, the site of Ken-Bulun 40 km east (fig. 5), the site of Burana,10 km south of Tokmok (i.e., the western Liao capital of Hussihu, also known as Ba lasagon) [fig. 6], and the site of Talgar 20 km east of Almaty, Kazakhstan [fig. 7]., Both excavated kiln printed white porcelain bowls and Jingdezhen kiln scratched blue and white porcelain bowls. In addition, the National Museum of Kyrgyzstan also has a jingdezhen kiln scratched blue and white porcelain vase excavation [Figure 8]. These utensils are quite close to the appearance of the kiln products, and the age should also be the same. Yaozhou kiln celadon with similar shapes and ornaments is found in the site of the late Jin Dynasty, and white porcelain printed in the kiln is found in tombs, cellars and chronological impressions from the late 12th century to the early 13th century; The same ornamentation, pedicure and firing process of Jingdezhen rowing blue and white porcelain bowls can be found in the Late 12th century Nanhai I shipwreck. The dating of artifacts found in Central Asia should also be within this range.
[Fig. 5] Porcelain excavated from the Kembrunn site
[Fig. 6] Porcelain excavated from the site of Branagh
[Fig. 7] Porcelain excavated from the site of Targar
[Figure 8] The National Museum of Kyrgyzstan holds porcelain
The number of ceramics in the Yuan Dynasty is large, and the distribution range is also wide, which has been found in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, most of which are located in important cities on the east-west transportation line at that time, and the following four regions are listed from east to west.
(1) The seven rivers, the Syr Darya river, and the Amu Darya region
The site of almaliq in China, the capital of the Chagatai Khanate, is located in the eastern part of the Qihe region, and has unearthed Longquan kiln celadon porcelain, Jingdezhen kiln egg white porcelain, blue and white porcelain, jun glazed porcelain and so on. The site of Otrar in Kazakhstan, namely Otrar and Wuti laer, is located in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya River, and longquan kiln celadon and Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain have been excavated [Figure 9]. The site of Kunya-Urgench in Turkmenistan [Figure 10:1, 3-4], the old capital of Huarazimo, is located in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River, and longquan kiln celadon has been excavated from its site of Shemakha-Kala in Uzbekistan, 50 km west of Uzbekistan (Fig. 10:2).
[Fig. 9] Porcelain excavated from the site of Otrar
Porcelain excavated from the sites of Cunha-Urgench and Shemaha-Kara
(2) The middle and lower reaches of the Volga River and the northern shore of the Caspian Sea
[Fig. 11] Porcelain excavated from the site of The city of Sarechuk
[Fig. 12] Porcelain excavated from the site of the city of Shelit Liannoye
[Fig. 13] Porcelain excavated from the site of Tsarevskoye
The site of Saraichik, 50 kilometers north of Atyrau, Kazakhstan, meaning Little Sarai, was located on the south bank of the Ural River, and was excavated from longquan kiln celadon and Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain and egg white porcelain [Figure 11]. The site of the city of Selitrennoe, 100 km north of Astrakhan, Russia [figure XII], is considered to be the capital of the early Golden Horde, Sarai Batu, and the site of Tsarevskoe, 60 km east of Volgograd (fig. XIII), which is considered to be the continuing capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai Berke, both located in the lower volga River, excavated Longquan kiln celadon and Jingdezhen kiln celadon porcelain. Egg white porcelain, blue and white porcelain and Cizhou kiln type white ground black flower porcelain. The site of Bolgar, 90 km south of Kazan, or Briar, is located in the middle reaches of the Volga River and unearthed Longquan kiln celadon porcelain, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain, blue and white porcelain and Cizhou kiln type white ground black flower porcelain [Figure 14, Figure 15]. At the site of Toretskoye, 80 kilometers east of it, Longquan kiln celadon and Cizhou kiln type white ground black flower porcelain have been excavated. Kazan Kremlin, excavated Longquan kiln celadon porcelain.
[Fig. 14] Porcelain excavated from the site of Borgarh Longquan kiln
[Figure 14] Porcelain excavated from the borgar city site Left: Jingdezhen kiln Right: Cizhou kiln
[Fig. 15] Porcelain excavated from the site of Borgar
(iii) The North Caucasus, Crimea and the Black Sea coast
[Fig. 16] Porcelain excavated from the site of the city of Gelbent
[Fig. 17] Porcelain excavated from the site of Magal
[Figure 18] Ceramics excavated from the site of Azak City Left: Longquan Kiln Top Right: Jingdezhen Kiln Bottom Right: Cizhou Kiln, Jiangsu Kiln Field
The site of the Russian city of Derbent, that is, Tarban, guarded the north and south passes of the Caucasus Mountains on the west bank of the Caspian Sea, and excavated Longquan kiln celadon [Figure 16]. At the site of Majar on the outskirts of Budyonovsk, Longquan kiln celadon porcelain, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain, egg white porcelain, blue and white porcelain, Cizhou kiln type white ground black flower porcelain, black glazed porcelain [Figure 17] were excavated. The site of Azak, or Tana, is located at the mouth of the Don River at the eastern end of the Sea of Azov, and has unearthed Longquan kiln celadon porcelain, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain, egg white porcelain, blue and white porcelain, Cizhou kiln type white ground black flower porcelain, and Jiangsu kiln sauce glazed pottery [Figure 18]. The site of Tsarino, on the northern outskirts of Slavyansk, Ukraine, on the south bank of the Donets River, unearthed jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain. The site of Bolshie Kuchugury, 30 kilometers south of Zaporozhye, is located in the Kakhovka Reservoir, originally on the east bank of the Dnieper River, and excavated Longquan kiln celadon porcelain, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain, and blue-ground white-flowered porcelain [Figure 19]. The site of Belgorod-Dniestrovsky, located at the mouth of the Transnistria River on the north bank of the Black Sea, was excavated from the Longquan kiln celadon porcelain. The site of Mangup, south of Bakhchisa, located in the southwest of the Crimean Peninsula, unearthed Longquan kiln celadon [Fig. 20]. The site of Sudak, also known as Sudakhei, is located on the southeast coast of the Crimean Peninsula and has been excavated from longquan kiln celadon porcelain. The site of Bokatash on the outskirts of old Crimean in the northeast has also unearthed Longquan kiln celadon porcelain.
[Fig. 19] Porcelain excavated from the site of the city of Dakuchuguri
[Fig. 20] Porcelain excavated from the site of Mangup City
(4) Russia and the western region of Ukraine
Longquan kiln celadons excavated from the Moscow Kremlin In Russia [figure 21] and Baicheng, both belong to the Upper Volga River in Velikiy Novgorod [Fig. 22], Tver, Kolomna, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Kiev, Chernigov, Lutsk, and Vladimir-Volensky in Ukraine.
[Fig. 21] Porcelain excavated from the Moscow Kremlin
[Fig. 22] Porcelain excavated from the Kremlin palace in Velikiy Novgorod
Although the Yuan Dynasty ceramics excavated from the above sites are numerous and widely distributed, their appearance is close to each other, and the age span is small. Judging from the types of utensils, shapes and ornaments: most of them are similar to the porcelain excavated from the cellars of Gao'an in Jiangxi and Jining Road in Inner Mongolia formed by the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty in the 1350s, in addition to the so-called positive blue and white porcelain, the Large Bowl of Appliquéd Chrysanthemum Petal Pattern in the Longquan Kiln produced by Geerbint, the Large Bowl of Extravagant Mouth Circle Foot From the Longquan Kiln from Dakuqiu Guli, and the Four Series of Bottles of White Ground Black Flowers from the Cizhou Kiln produced by Tsarevskoye all show the characteristics of the late Yuan Dynasty. A small part is similar to the porcelain excavated from the H43 site of the Old Drum Tower in Chongqing in the 1310s, the porcelain from the water of the Xin'an shipwreck in South Korea in the 1320s, and the longquan kiln printing bowls produced by Borgar and Moscow are all shown as features of the middle Yuan Dynasty. No examples of the early Yuan Dynasty Longquan kiln celadons excavated from the tomb of Zhang Hongluo in the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (1295), the ruins of the present-day Xiaoluxi in Japan in the late 13th century, and the site of the Old Hormuz (i.e., kuri mold and kuru moth) in Iran, which featured narrow lotus petal patterns as a prominent feature, have not been found. Therefore, the age of this batch of ceramics as a whole can be presumed to be the early to mid-14th century (about 1310-1350).
3. East-West transportation in the inland of Asia and Europe
The Song and Yuan ceramics unearthed in Central Asia and Eastern Europe can be divided into two groups with different eras, and the ceramic trade networks and transportation routes behind them are also very different, which are discussed below.
(i) The end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century
Although Islamic glassware and metal objects from overland were found in Liao Dynasty tombs and towers from the mid-10th to mid-11th centuries, the evidence of Chinese porcelain passing west through the Liao territory in the same period is not accurate. The western limit of the known northern Song Dynasty porcelain circulation range only reaches the junction of Xinjiang and Qinghai. The simultaneous appearance of Hebei Dingyao kiln and Jiangxi Jingdezhen kiln porcelain produced in the late 12th and early 13th centuries in Central Asia indicates that by this period, inland international transportation did indeed include ceramic trade activities, which were mainly achieved through the transfer between song, Jin, and Xia and Uighur merchants.
The Jin Song Dynasty was first placed in the second year of the imperial unification (1142), and the fourth year of Zhenglong (1159) was abolished. In the fourth year of Dading (1164), Si, Shou, Cai, Tang, Deng, Ying, Mi, Fengxiang, Qin, Gong, and Tao were reset. In the seventeenth year of Dading (1177), the Song people communicated with the Western Liao, and only one place in Qinzhou was left in Yanbian, Shaanxi, and in the eighth year of Taihe (1208), it was restored to Qin and Feng. Judging from archaeological findings, in the late Liao Dynasty, Jingdezhen qingbai porcelain imported a large number from the Song Dynasty, and suddenly decreased in the Jin Dynasty. In addition to the abundant coastal sites such as Jiaozhou Banqiao Town and Kenli Haibei, there are not many found in North China, Northeast China, and Northwest China, and the age is concentrated in the late 12th century to the early 13th century, which should be after Dading entered the Golden Realm through the trade of the Yuchang.
Before the Mongol conquest, the Seven Rivers region belonged to the western Liao rule, and the western Qarakhanid dynasty in the middle of the river became its vassal, and in the early 13th century (1210-1220), it switched to the Khwarazm Dynasty and was immediately occupied by it, and was attacked by the Mongols within a few years. The Jin Dynasty initially had no direct connection with the Western Liao. According to the "Biography of Jin Shi Sticky Han Nu": "In the fourth year of the imperial reign (1144), Hui Sent envoys to pay tribute, saying that Dashi was adjacent to his country, and Dashi was dead. He sent Han Nu to his envoys, and because of the customs of his country, he added General Wuyi and sent him to Dashi. Han Nu didn't ask any more questions after he left. "Prior to this, Uighur merchants could already trade through the Western Xia. The Song dynasty Hong Hao stayed in Jindi from the third year of Jianyan (1129) to the thirteenth year of Shaoxing (1143), recorded what he saw, saying that the Uighurs were "mostly merchants and merchants in Yan, carrying camels, passing through the summer land, and the Xia people rate ten and point to one, and they will get their highest quality." The Biography of Han Nu also states: "In Dading, Hui Qi moved three people to the southwest to solicit trade, and said to himself: 'In his own country, Hui Qi Zou included Fanbu, and the city where he lived was named Si LuDuo, who had no weapons, and who took the field as his profession, and won one-tenth of the officials lost.' This happened in the fifteenth year of Dading (1175), and the place of trade was about the jinxia Dongshengzhou yuchang. This was a possible route for porcelain to enter Central Asia.
The Jinxia Pavilion was opened in the first year of the imperial rule (1141). The ruins of Heicheng in Inner Mongolia have unearthed a set of trade documents inscribed on the third year of Daqing (1142), which are numbered Russian Инв. No.313 "Collecting Ginger Pepper Silk and Other Documents" lists the number of imported goods with the words "甆椀一伯對", which shows that porcelain can indeed flow into the summer realm through the trade of the field. These documents are the reports of the envoys of the southern border of The Western Xia to report the value and tax amount of imported goods to the superiors, corresponding to the Jinxia Lanzhou Farms. However, between the twelfth year of Dading (1172) and the second year of Cheng'an (1197), the Lanzhou Yuchang was dismissed, and in the twenty-first year of Dading (1181), the Huanzhou Yuchang was set up, and it was necessary to detour the Lingzhou Road and then go to Hexi. In the fourteenth year of the Mongol Taizu (1219), Genghis Khan used his army in Central Asia, accompanied by Yelü Chucai, and remembered that the city of Ban (present-day Balkh, Afghanistan) "and the west of the city is also magnificent." There are many lacquerware in the city, all of which are Chang'an inscriptions." Chang'an lacquerware was borrowed from Lanzhou or Huanzhou to enter the summer and traded through the Hexi Corridor. This is another possible way for Song and Gold porcelain to enter Central Asia.
Porcelain was imported into Central Asia, and clues can also be found in the Shiren Jixing text. In the sixteenth year of the Mongol Taizu (1221), Qiu Chuji was summoned by Genghis Khan to Visit Central Asia, and when he went to Samarkand, he saw that "all the people of the country use stone and copper as utensils, and use magnetism in between, and there are those who fix magnetism in the middle of the plains." In terms of shape, ornamentation, and color, Central Asian glazed pottery is very different from Chinese porcelain, and what Qiu Chuji saw is likely to be the kind of kiln white porcelain excavated from the site of Afrassi Abu. In fact, at that time, Qiu Zhiji entered the city from the Northeast Gate (China Gate), see "There are posts in the city, more than ten meters high, and the new palace of the Duan clan is counted." The Taishi lived first, in order to return to the difficult food, there were many thieves, afraid of their changes, out of the water north, the master lived in the palace." Archaeological excavations have been made at the KhwarazmEdan Mahabharata Palace, which is only half a mile away from the Excavation Area No. 44 where the porcelain was unearthed.
From the perspective of the setting and traffic routes of the Song Dynasty, starting from the Song Dynasty, the journey from Zhongdu to Dongsheng is relatively long, while it is relatively convenient to go to Lanzhou or Huanzhou via Chang'an. From the restoration of the Jinxia Farm in Lanzhou in the second year of Cheng'an (1197) to the return of the Uighurs of Xizhou (WeiwuerGuo) to Mongolia in the fourth year of the Mongol Taizu (1209), the most smooth period of trade routes from Chang'an to Samarkand was only more than ten years. During the period of the second year of the Kaixi Dynasty (1206), the Northern Expedition of the Southern Song Dynasty to the first year of Jiading (1208) song and jin peace negotiations shortened the period of export of Song porcelain. The Song and Gold porcelain seen in the territory of the Western Liao and Western Qarakhanid Dynasties is similar in appearance and single in type, the white porcelain in the kiln is printed, and the blue and white porcelain in Jingdezhen is all burned and scratched, which is exactly different from the situation that the former is more scratched and the latter is more burnt and printed in the territory of the Jin Dynasty, and the era is concentrated in the short interval from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, this batch of porcelain is likely to be the result of limited international trade activities in a special historical period.
(ii) Early to mid-14th century
The sites of origin of Yuan Dynasty porcelain from Central Asia to Eastern Europe, except for Alimari, Khotala, and Samarkand, which are located in the territory of the Chagatai Khanate, the rest of the places west of the Jade Dragon Jiechi belong to the Jurisdiction of the Golden Horde, including the Rus' Principalities under its control. The overland export of Chinese Jiangnan porcelain to Eastern Europe was an unprecedented trade activity and was clearly directly related to the large-scale expansion of Mongol influence.
The Mongol conquest of Eurasia in the 13th century stimulated east-west land traffic. At that time, the political center of Great Mongolia was Hala and Lin, so in 1246 and 1253 John of Plano Carpini and William of Rubruck came east, and in 1254 and 1259 Hethum I and Changde traveled westward, and the common route was the north bank of the Caspian Sea - the Seven Rivers Region - Mobei and Lin. The political significance of this route is far greater than that of commerce. In 1259, Möngke died violently, and Kublai Khan and Ali Buge competed for the Khan's throne, triggering a long war with the northwestern kings, and the inland transportation of Asia and Europe was greatly affected. In 1275 Rabban Sawma went from Tangoth via Loton = Khotan and Kashkar to Leluosi, and earlier Marco Polo from Badakchan via Kachgar and Khotan to Shangdu, all taking the Southern Silk Road. At that time, the western part of the Northern Silk Road was under the control of the Wokoutai Khanate, which was hostile to the Yuan Court. Therefore, in 1305, the priest John of Montecorvino sent a letter to Dadu describing the way to this road: "But the land road has been inextricable, and it has not been passed for a long time, and the Tatar kings have attacked each other. "However, it was also at this time that the situation in Central Asia underwent an important change. In the eighth year of Dade (1304), the Khanates and the Yuan Dynasty made peace with the strikers and envoys. Although there were repeated conflicts between them, first in the third year of the great year (1310) the Wokoutai Khanate chabaer fell, and then in the second year of the reign (1323) the Chagatai khanate fell timidly, and finally there was no major war in the northwest. Land traffic between the Yuan Dynasty and the Chagatai, Golden Horde, and the Three Khanates of Yili was unimpeded, which created the necessary conditions for the prosperity of inland commerce and trade in Asia and Europe.
In the 1330s, clergy and envoys traveled overland to and from the interior of Asia and Europe with many records. In 1333, Nicholas set out from Avignon at the papal order to replace the late Mangovino as archbishop and marched to Alimari. In 1334, the duo arrived in Avignon from Salle by land via Hungary, Austria, and Venice, and returned to Salai by land and sea via Constantinople. In 1336-1338, Andrew and others sent envoys to the Holy See on the orders of Emperor YuanShun, departing from Dadu and arriving in Avignon by land. In 1338, the pascal of Vittoria's letter stated that he had previously traveled from Avignon to Alimari via Venice, Constantinople, Sarria, Tana, Sarai, Sarechuk, and Jade Dragon Jechi. From 1339 to 1342, John de' Marignolli returned to the Yuan Dynasty on the orders of the Pope, departing from Avignon and arriving in Dadu via Napoli, Constantinople, Kafa, Salai, and Alimari. It was on the basis of such frequent inland personnel exchanges between Asia and Europe that the Francis Balducci Pegolotti's Guide to Commerce gave a specific description of the trade routes between the Golden Horde and the Yuan Dynasty during this period:
From Tana to Gintarchan (Astracan) it takes 25 days by ox cart and about 10 or 12 days by horse-drawn carriage. There are quite a few bandits on the way. From Jingtachang to Sara, there is a river channel, which can be reached in one day by boat. It is an eight-day boat ride from Saracanco from Sarrey. Not by waterway, but also by land. However, by the waterway, the freight of goods is quite small also. From Sarakonko to Organci, you can reach it by camel car for 20 days. If you carry the goods, you will be profitable. Jade Dragon Jiechi business is prosperous, and the goods can be consumed when they arrive. From Jade Dragon Jechi to Oltrarre, by camel car, it can be reached from 35 to 40 days. If there is no cargo to accompany, it can be carried from Saracenko to Thérole, only fifty calendar ears. It is more convenient than going around to the Jade Dragon Jiechi. The donkey and the goods were brought by Theraal, and the forty-fifth day could be reached in Alimari. There are many bandits on the way, and they can be encountered almost every day. A donkey ride from Alimari can be reached in Ganzhou in 70 days. Riding from Ganzhou forty-five days to a big river name... It returns from the river to the Kyoshi. It is the most prosperous in terms of commerce. ...... Thirty schedules from Kyoshi to Khan Bali Wang.
Marinori remained in the Capital for several years, returning to Avignon by sea in Quanzhou in 1346 or 1347. According to him, "In the beginning, when I left the Great Khan, I received a great deal of gifts and travel expenses from him. Because of the war, the land route is blocked and the brigade is wrapped up. Therefore, it is proposed to take the road to the west of India". In 1346, Ghazan Suanduan Khan was killed and the Chagatai Khanate split, which was the time when The War of the Northwest mentioned that the war in the northwest led to the closure of the land route. Later, in the thirteenth year of Zhizheng (1353), the history books recorded the tribute of the Golden Horde Khan Zhanibei, and it can be seen that land communication between Salai and Dadu was restored. However, in the eleventh year of Zhizheng (1351), the Jianghuai War had already broken out, and by the seventeenth year of Zhengzheng (1357), the war spread to north China, thus cutting off the last possibility of exporting Jiangnan porcelain to the north.
IV. The ceramic trading system in the interior of Asia and Europe
What kind of trading system does southern Chinese porcelain reflect when it is exported overland to Central Asia and even Eastern Europe? This is a problem that needs to be considered after sorting out the flow of Song and Yuan porcelain in the inland of Asia and Europe and the traffic conditions between the east and the west that restrict it.
The discussion of the long-distance trading system in the Middle Ages was centered on the Indian Ocean. The two intermediate nodes in maritime trade between China and the Islamic world in the Middle East are the Strait of Malacca and the South India region. The Southern Song Dynasty Zhou Went non-"Lingwai Dai Answer" described: "The Three Buddhas and the State of Qi, in the South China Sea, the water channels of zhufan should be rushed. From the kingdoms of Jinbo in the east to the kingdoms of The Great Eaters in the west, and from the kingdoms of the west, all of them enter China from their own circumstances. "When the great food country comes, it will travel south in a small boat, and it will go east to the country of the ancient country, and it will return to China as the Three Buddhas and the Kingdom of Qi." "If chinese merchants want to eat big food, they will go in a small boat from their old age, although the south wind will come to it in January, but after two years of round-trip travel." Srivijaya and the Old Presence are where the above two nodes are located. In 1985, K. Chowdhury N. Chaudhuri) distinguishes maritime trade in the Indian Ocean into two modes of navigation, one is a direct voyage between China and the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and the other is a segmented voyage between major ports, the former being replaced by the latter between about 950-1000. As a result, east-west maritime trade was divided into three overlapping rings, and the port city at the middle node of the shipping route was placed above the circumference. Although some researchers have pointed out through literature analysis that it is an oversimplification to distinguish between two modes of navigation that are actually long-term parallel in the morning and evening, the three-link analysis of the Indian Ocean trade circle has been retained. In 1989, Janet L. Abu-Lughod built on this: "In the 13th century and long before, Asian maritime trade across the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea was divided into three tightly interlocking loops, each under the joint 'domination' of a group of political and economic actors." "The chief basis for these divisions is geographical factors, although these areas, which are divided by geographical conditions, tend to be transformed into different cultural zones". She further placed the three Indian Ocean trade circles in the entire Asian-African-European world system of eight interconnected subsystems from 1250 to 1350. These "subsysemptions (defined by language, religion, and empire) were controlled by capitals or core cities, establishing links through trade between regions." However, due to the relatively backward transportation technology in the early days, the world cities in the two sections of the system rarely conduct direct business transactions. Since the itinerary is geographically blocked, the hub between the two flanks acts as a 'distribution' and trading place for goods in the process of transporting goods to more distant markets."
These studies do provide a valuable reference for analyzing the ceramic trading system. However, it should also be recognized that the study of the world system or trade circle in the general sense is mainly based on the comprehensive regional division and interval interaction relationship discussion after integrating many factors such as transportation, people, commodities, and international relations from the literature. Under such a theoretical framework, all kinds of commodity trade are included in the category of holistic interpretation, thus ignoring the differences between different types of commodity trade. Therefore, considering that ceramics are only one of the components of trade activities that are conducive to presenting with archaeological materials, it is difficult to say whether it is to apply a macroscopic world system or trade circle theory to directly explain the distribution of trade ceramics, or to try to use the particularity of the latter phenomenon to question the rationality of the former theory.
The position held in this paper is that the discussion of the ceramic trading system should start from archaeological materials, take the accurate determination of the age and place of origin of ceramic products as the premise, and analyze the synchronic spatial structure and diachronic structural process of the trade system by comparing the spatio-temporal relationship between the circulation range of different kiln ceramic product types. In this way, archaeological observations of the ceramic trade are not reduced to a thematic version of the world system or trade circle theory.
Taking the eurasian inland in the early and mid-14th century as an example, the specific questions to be considered are: from Longquan and Jingdezhen in southeast China to the consumption area of Danovogorod in northwestern Russia, the total journey is more than 10,000 kilometers, and the sea distance between Quanzhou and the Persian Gulf is roughly equivalent. How to judge the structural status of the ceramic trading system under conditions such as the Indian Ocean, which can distinguish navigation loops according to the natural geography of the monsoon, and the lack of real-time information on the state of trade such as shipwrecks?
The basic combination of Chinese ceramics circulating in Eastern Europe is composed of Longquan kilns in the south, Jingdezhen kilns and Cizhou kilns in the north, indicating that the general source of trade in the east is North China rather than Jiangnan, and the most suitable transportation node city is the Yuan Capital where "business is the most prosperous, merchants from all over the world are here, and department stores are gathered". Recent archaeological discoveries have shown that there is a very important distribution center for porcelain in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty in Fancunjing, Taicang, Jiangsu Province. Longquan kiln and Jingdezhen kiln porcelain can be easily transported to Dadu by waterway, where it merges with Cizhou kiln type ceramics. It is worth noting that at the site of Azak City at the eastern end of the Sea of Azov, in addition to the Cizhou kiln type utensils, it was also found that there were four series of sauce-glazed pottery bottles produced by the Jiangsu kiln farm, which supported the inference that Jiangnan porcelain was once distributed by Jiangsu for land export.
However, the ceramics that converged in the Yuan Capital and sold to the peripheral areas were not limited to Longquan kiln celadon, Jingdezhen kiln blue and white porcelain, egg white porcelain, blue and white porcelain, and Cizhou kiln type white black flower porcelain and black glazed porcelain seen in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. For example, the Yuan Dynasty ceramics unearthed in mobei Hala and Lin are more colorful, in addition to the above categories, the number of larger are the northern kiln field jun glazed porcelain, coarse white porcelain, red and green color porcelain, stranded tire porcelain, Cuilan glazed pottery, sancai pottery and other categories. The ancient city of Aolun Sumu Dening Road in Inner Mongolia, the black city of Yiji Nai Road and the nearby ruins, the excavation situation is also similar. It can be seen that in the inland cities under the control of the Yuan Dynasty, the proportion of low-grade ceramics in the northern kiln farms has a high proportion, but this is a situation that is completely absent in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Even if a small number of Cizhou kiln type utensils appear in the latter, they are also storage devices such as cans and bottles rather than tableware such as bowls and plates, which may only be transmitted as transport utensils, and are not high-end commodities with the same nature as Longquan kiln and Jingdezhen kiln porcelain. How can this be explained? I am afraid that it is related to the various types of glazed pottery that are popular in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Samarkand, Jade Dragon Jechi, the lower Volga River, Crimea and other places are the main glazed pottery production areas, and the adjacent Byzantium, Transcaucasia, Iran and other places of glazed pottery also transmitted to the north. In the mid-14th century, when Chinese porcelain was sold in large quantities to Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the colorful monochrome glazes, colorful glazes, and underglaze painted pottery in the Territory of the Golden Horde formed a competitive and mutually exclusive relationship with similar northern Chinese ceramics.
Thus, two main factors can be obtained that affect the composition of the inland ceramic trading system in Asia and Europe: on the one hand, the control role of regional central cities in the scope of the trade circle; On the other hand, it is the shaping effect of the production and marketing competition of low-end ceramics on the connotation of the trade circle.
There were three regional central cities that controlled the inland ceramic trade in Asia and Europe, namely the Yuan Capital and the Chagatai Khanate capital Alimali, and the Golden Horde capital Ofs, Salei.
The Arab Ibn Battuta traveled to the Golden Horde in the 1330s, during the heyday of inland trade between Asia and Europe, described Sarai, the center of trade in Eastern Europe, as "one of the most beautiful cities, with flat terrain, a huge area, many inhabitants, wide streets and prosperous markets." ...... The city is also inhabited by people of various nationalities, including Mongols, who are natives and Sultan nobles, some of whom are Muslims; There are also the Arasu people, who are Muslims; There are also Chincha, Kyrgyz, Russians and Roma, all of whom are Catholics. Each ethnic group lives in an area with its own market. Areas inhabited by expatriates and merchants from Iraq, Egypt and Sharm are also walled to protect their money from doing business". Based on Sarai, in its southwestern direction of the North Caucasus, Crimea and the northern shore of the Black Sea, there are sudak, Kafa, Azak, Magal and other cities as trade intermediaries with southern Europe and North Africa; To its northwest, in the western part of Russia and Ukraine, there were trade exchanges between the Rus' principalities and the Golden Horde. To the east from Sarai, the two important trading cities in Central Asia were Jade Dragon Jechi at the eastern end of the Golden Horde and Alimari in the eastern chagatai Khanate, which became key hubs for trade to the Yuan Dynasty. Although Samarkand in the river region has always been a key node of the Silk Road due to its location at the crossroads of traffic in China, India, West Asia and Eastern Europe, it was at a historical trough after the Mongol conquest and before the rise of Timur, and its status has been replaced by Alimari. This is also the point of many negligences in the treatises that analyze the world system of this period.
As the intermediate node of the Inland Ceramic Trading System in Asia and Europe, Alimari pottery is distributed in all directions from east to west with the glazed pottery of Central Asia and Eastern Europe in northern China. In this trade circle, the high-grade porcelain produced by Jiangnan Kiln Farm is transferred by waterway to the regional central city of YuanDadu, and merged with the low-grade ceramics of north China kiln field to sell to northwest inland cities such as Alimari, Heicheng, Hala and Lin. In this trade circle, the high-grade Chinese porcelain with Longquan kiln and Jingdezhen kiln as the main body comes through Alimari, and the self-produced glazed pottery from Hualazimo, the lower Volga River, Crimea and other places imported glazed pottery from Various places of origin and cross-regional flow, and a variety of ceramics are transmitted to Rus.
If we start from the overall observation of the world ceramic trading system, when the penetration of the inland ceramic trade in Asia and Europe in the early to mid-14th century supported the integrity of the system over a short period of time, what kind of synchronic spatial structure can be obtained? As mentioned above, with Alimari as the node, the interior of Asia and Europe formed two trade circles, east and west centered on the yuan dynasty and the golden horde, respectively. Correspondingly, the Asian and African seas form a set of three-link core trade circles along the South China Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf-Red Sea. On its outskirts, it is connected by the East China Sea, the Swahili coast and the Mediterranean-Black Sea as sub-trade circles. The western end of the European interior was the only region in the world trading system at that time that was not fully covered by Chinese ceramics. The structural level of this series of marine ceramic trade circles, how the historical changes are, and the problems are far more complex than the inland trade circles maintained for a short period of time, which need to be further discussed in the future. At present, it can be clearly stated that compared with the Indian Ocean trade being decomposed into three consecutive trade circles by natural geographical conditions such as monsoons, although the inland trade in Asia and Europe has to cross the three countries of Yuan, Chagatai and Golden Horde, only the intermediate node city of Alimari is the boundary to form the east and west rings, and there is no clear intermediate circle between them. However, the two trading systems, land and sea, clearly have commonalities. Whether it is the Middle Loop of the Indian Ocean, South India-Sri Lanka or Alimari, the middle node of the Interior of Asia, it is the role of trade transit points rather than major market terminals. The trade network between the east and west ends of the sea and land is far more developed than the middle belt, as is the area around the South China Sea and the Western Indian Ocean, as well as in North China and Eastern Europe. Both the sea and land trade systems also choose high-grade porcelain as cross-trade circle commodities, while low-end ceramics are more limited to circulation in the circle. Northern kiln products face north China, northeast and northwest inland, Fujian kiln products face Southeast Asia and Japan, only Longquan kiln, Jingdezhen kiln porcelain through the east and west, covering the entire trade system.
As for the boundary between the inland trade circle and the maritime trade circle, what is the boundary? The question seems to return to the discussion at the beginning of the article about the route of late Tang white porcelain unearthed in Samarkand. The two have actually shown a trend of mutual trade-off and mutual retreat in different eras, but it is more manifested in the expansion from the ocean to the inland. Only in the special period of the early and mid-14th century, the inland trade and maritime trade between Asia and Europe formed two sets of east-west series and north-south parallel links, thus achieving a balance in the situation. The northern boundary of the marine ceramics trading circle is roughly in the Khorasan region adjacent to the Ilkhanate and the Chagatai Khanate and the Transcaucasia region adjacent to the Golden Horde. From south Turkmenistan in the east, Iran in the northeast, to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the west, most of the Chinese ceramics seen in the ruins of this period should be imported by sea like the white porcelain of the late Tang Dynasty in Samarkand and then transported by land.
(The author of this article is affiliated with the Research Center for Chinese Archaeology of Peking University and the School of Archaeology and Archaeology of Peking University, the original title is "Research on Song and Yuan Ceramics Excavated in Central Asia and Eastern Europe", the full text was originally published in the Journal of the Palace Museum, No. 6, 2022, and the notes were not included when the surging news was transferred with the author's authorization.) ）
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