[snowybeagle]

[A General History of China, Volume 4: Wei-Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, ISBN 981-00-6288-5]

Besides confrontation and warfare between the "north" and the "south" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties era, there were also periods of peaceful dealings between the two sides.

Diplomatic relationship were established by exchanges of envoys - this was termed as Jiao Pin.

In AD 483, the Qi dynasty in the south appointed Liu Zuan (刘缵) to visit the Northern Wei. Upon arrival in the capital Píngchéng, he was received by Emperor XiaoWen and Empress Dowager Feng (冯太后).

Li AnShi (李安世), the liaison officer of Northern Wei, accompanied Liu Zuan to tour the market place. The Northern Wei had deliberately planted some jewelries of gold and jade from the palace to the merchants to be put up on sale cheap in Liu Zuan's presence.

Unaware of the trick, Liu Zuan thought of buying more to bring home, and commented that given the low prices, the items would probably be local products.

Li AnShi responded by saying, "Our state attaches little value to gold and jade, and hence they're as cheap as stone tiles."

Liu Zuan realized he made a very inappropriate comment (for his position) and was very embarrassed.


Glossary

Southern and Northern Dynasties era - 南北朝, AD 420-589.

Jiao Pin - (交聘), diplomatic exchanges between northern dynasties and southern dynasties

(Southern) Qi Dynasty - (齐朝), AD 479-502, founded by Xiao DaoCheng (蕭道成).

Northern Wei Dynasty - (北魏), AD 386-534, founded by TuoBa Gui (拓拔珪), Xiānbēi (鮮卑) tribe.

Píngchéng - (平城), present day city of DàTóng (大同) in the province of ShanXi (山西).

Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Yuan Hong - (孝文帝, 元宏), reigned AD 471-499, changed the family from TuoBa to Yuan (元).

[snowybeagle]

Jiao Pin was in fact a diplomatic contest, with each side trying to outdo the other through words.

When Empress Dowager Feng of Northern Wei passed away, Pei ZhaoMing (裴昭明) was appointed to represent (Southern) Qi Dynasty for the funeral. Pei ZhaoMing wanted to present himself to the Northern Wei emperor in his official court attire. The choice was opposed by the liaison officer of Northern Wei. Both sides quoted the classics for their arguments. Pei ZhaoMing eventually conceded and changed his attire before meeting the Northern Wei emperor.

Li Biao of Northern Wei went to (Southern) Qi Dynasty 6 times as an envoy. Emperor Wu of Qi was impressed by his diplomacy. When Li Biao was returning home, the emperor personally send him off and ordered his ministers to compose poems to eulogize Li Biao.

In both northern and southern dynasties, the selection of envoys was a weighty decision. Generally, only those of presentable appearances, eminent backgrounds and consummate with words were chosen.

The arrival of an envoy of the (Southern) Liang Dynasty in Ye Cheng, capital of Eastern Wei, caused a sensation among the nobles and officials. The locality of the envoy's residence bustled like a marketplace.


Glossary

Emperor Wu of Qi, Xiao Zhe - (齐武帝, 蕭賾), reigned AD 483-493,

(Southern) Liang Dynasty - (梁朝 ), AD 502-557/87, established by Xiao Yan (蕭衍).

Ye Cheng - (邺城), present day AnYang in province of HeNan (河南安阳)

Eastern Wei Dynasty - (东魏), AD 534-550, one of two successor states to Northern Wei, established by Yuan ShanJian (元善见) under kingmaker Gao Huan (高欢).

[snowybeagle]

Another form of peaceful exchange between the north and south was through trade. Organised by the respective Imperial Courts, a mutual market or hu shi (互市) was formed. Examples of merchandise traded : The north got feathers and leather from the south, and the south got horses from the north. Trading took place at mutually designated market locations.

In hu shi, luxurious items traded include gold, silver, jewelries, silk brocades, etc for use by royalties, nobilities and senior officials. These goods were often part of shopping lists of envoys travelling between north and south.

Due to frequent conflicts in the north-south relationships, hu shi get disrupted often. A more commonly-used alternative was smuggling. Smuggling involved not just the commoners, but often civil officials and military officers at the border regions who used their positions to make a quick fortune.

The economic exchange between the north and south stimulated industrial growth on both sides.

For example, traditionally, the south was more advanced in porcelain manufacturing. However, archaeological finds of Northern Dynasties indicate a fairly developed ceramic making craft there as well.

Under special circumstances, there were large-scale economic exchanges between the north and south.

Northern Qi, Su Qiong (苏琼) was prefectural governor of Xu Zhou (徐州) when natural calamities struck Huai Nan (淮南) and Huai Bei (淮北).

The Northern Qi emperor gave special permission for his citizens to go south to purchase food. This brought for a time great circulation of goods between north and south, using both land and water transportation, as far north as HeBei (河北).


Glossary

Northern Qi - (北齐), AD 550-559, founded by Gao Yang (高洋).

[shawn]

Could anyone give any links on trade between the Northern ans Southern dynasties?

[A General History of China, Volume 4: Wei-Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, ISBN 981-00-6288-5]

Besides confrontation and warfare between the "north" and the "south" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties era, there were also periods of peaceful dealings between the two sides.

Diplomatic relationship were established by exchanges of envoys - this was termed as Jiao Pin.

In AD 483, the Qi dynasty in the south appointed Liu Zuan (刘缵) to visit the Northern Wei. Upon arrival in the capital Píngchéng, he was received by Emperor XiaoWen and Empress Dowager Feng (冯太å�Ž).

Li AnShi (�安世), the liaison officer of Northern Wei, accompanied Liu Zuan to tour the market place. The Northern Wei had deliberately planted some jewelries of gold and jade from the palace to the merchants to be put up on sale cheap in Liu Zuan's presence.

Unaware of the trick, Liu Zuan thought of buying more to bring home, and commented that given the low prices, the items would probably be local products.

Li AnShi responded by saying, "Our state attaches little value to gold and jade, and hence they're as cheap as stone tiles."

Liu Zuan realized he made a very inappropriate comment (for his position) and was very embarrassed.

Snowubeagle, what was the trick about?

This post has been edited by shawn: 21 April 2007 - 09:43 AM