This paper discusses the history of agricultural and pastoral development on the Loess Plateau by the Qin-Han Empire in ancient China and its relationship with global climate change. Section 1 examines the pastoralization of the Loess Plateau through the establishment and transformation of the Han Dynasty’s ranch-stable pastoral system, which was originally completed under the Qin during the Warring States period. Section 2 explores the expansion of agricultural land on the Loess Plateau during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han, focusing on the New Frontier (Xin Qinzhong) projects and their failure in the Hetao Plain. This failure triggered by flooding in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, ultimately led to a shift toward oasis development in the Hexi Corridor. Section 3 examines the development of agricultural lands on the Qinghai Plateau during the Eastern Han period, the pastoralization of the northern Loess Plateau because Qiang and Xiongnu migration, and the expansion of agricultural lands in the Wuding River basin. This indicates that the proximity of agricultural and pastoral settlements was one of the factors in 2nd century AD rebellions and conflicts. Section 5 presents a model of the relationship between the development of the Loess Plateau and climatic change in the following four phases: 1) The hypsithermal interval (5000 BC–3000 BC) and the 4.2 ka climate event (2400 BC–1800 BC); 2) a drying climate and the social changes from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period and the establishment of the Qin Empire (BC 5C–BC 3C); 3) a warm and humid climate and the expansion of the Han Empire (BC 2C–AD 1C); and finally, 4) cold weather and the fall of the Han Empire (AD 2C–).

View full abstract

The wang 王 (king) mentioned in the Chunqiu 春秋 (Spring and Autumn Annals), on which the Lu 魯 chronicles are supposedly based, all refer to wang of the Zhou 周 dynasty who reigned at the same time as the monarch of Lu, and no other wang are mentioned. For Lu historians, it was self-evident that simply writing the word wang meant the king of Zhou, and this was established as a historical record of Lu. We have examined wang in the Zuozhuan 左伝 on the assumption that the original source material of the Zuozhuan was written in this way, and also with reference to the classification of the Zuozhuan by Yoshihiko Ogura. As a result, it became clear that in the case of the Zuozhuan, wang is always used to refer to the king of Zhou, and conversely, when the king of Chu 楚, Wu 呉 or Yue 越 is referred to as wang, the state’s name is always mentioned somewhere in the relevant entry. However, for lords who were enfeoffed by the Zhou dynasty, wang refers to the king of Zhou, and it is not possible to specify which state is being recorded. Therefore, we analyzed the state names in the entries where wang is mentioned, and found that Lu is a state whose name is almost never mentioned. From this, it is thought that at least the entries containing the word wang are based on the records of Lu. If Lu’s records are used in the Zuozhuan, then, as with the entries in the Chunqiu 春秋, there is a possibility that they are contemporaneous sources. If the original sources include contemporaneous materials, the Zuozhuan could be a useful source for the study of the history of the Spring and Autumn period.

View full abstract

This paper focuses on thirteen merchants who bore the title of khawājā, as recorded by Ibn al-ʻAjamī, a unique civil historian who made his living as a weigher. Thus, it attempts to clarify the historical realities and characteristics of wealthy merchants based in Ottoman Cairo around the turn of the 17th century. These merchants were diverse in family origin, and their merchandises included Egyptian agricultural products and agro-processed goods, as well as coffee, spices, and textiles. Delving fully into the inner workings of their commercial operations or details of the commercial partnerships they formed is difficult, because of the nature of narrative history. However, the cases discussed in this paper shed new light on various aspects of khawājā merchants in the largest trading city in the Ottoman Arab world, such as their charitable activities, their relationships with other influential urban people, the confiscation of their estates, their movements and expulsions, and the incidents caused by the domestic slaves they owned.

View full abstract

This article examines how shoe leather—the primary material used in the shoe manufacturing industry— was supplied and distributed to shoemakers in eighteenth-century Istanbul, and what roles long-distance merchants and urban wholesalers played in that process. Based primarily on Istanbul court registers, it clarifies the following points: 1) the production areas and supply volume of shoe leather and the methods of supply and distribution; 2) the residential locations of long-distance merchants in Istanbul and their stock and goods; 3) the organization, institutions, and officers of the shoe leather merchants’ guild; and 4) shoe leather merchants’ relationships with long-distance merchants and shoemakers. In addition, the shoe leather shortage in the late eighteenth century and the anti-monopoly order of 1789 are examined.

View full abstract