Horses and Resources

The one thing that really stood out of this week's assigned chapter reading was the importance that the Chinese Han court apparently placed on accumulating a variety of resources and goods from their enemies and subjects in order to advance their own culture, technology and civilization in general.

China actually apparently found itself at the mercy of some of its enemies, notably the Xiongnu tribals - so much to the extent that the Chinese found themselves giving them 'gifts' (as opposed to the term 'tribute').  Still, China itself received its own degree of resources as gifts/tributes from other peoples.  In this way, the Han court found itself in command of a variety of important resources.

Perhaps the most notable 'resource' that the Chinese acquired was the Heavenly Horses from Yuan.  I found it interesting that these horses were the main reason that the Chinese declared a four-year long invasion against the Yuan in order to acquire these horses - undoubtedly a massive military campaign.  Still, as the chapter later discusses, these horses - renowned for their 'bloody sweat' - were the perfect addition to compliment China's already relatively powerful army.  Given the advantage that their calvary units have them against marauding tribes and invaders, it would appear that the horses were a worthwhile acquisition.  Even after their loss of 6,000 of their horses, the Yuan were forced to deliver a yearly tribute of two new horses to the Han court, given the difficulty that the Chinese encountered when attempting to breed them.  Again, this just goes to show the importance that lay behind diplomacy and the tribute system in aiding the Chinese empire to strengthen its power.

Another interesting aspect behind diplomacy was the idea of hostages and matrimonial alliances - of which can be seen in European history as well.  It seemed to me that daughters, or princesses, were a valuable 'commodity' if you will, in that they were useful in sealing alliances between various groups.  Now whether this is 'morally correct' by today's standards is irrelevant (although I would argue it's a practise still played out in some parts of the world), but it is interesting to see the different manners by which alliances were forged and broken, with both these matrimonial alliances and the idea of taking and holding hostages - often princes from a court.