Examining Prejudice in Ancient China

A few months ago I taught a week long lesson on contextualizing prejudice in ancient civilizations, with a focus on ancient China during the Han Dynasty. As part of the lesson, I wrote four character sketches portraying prejudices of rich against poor (rulers against farmers), poor against poor (farmers against mountain dwellers), and powerful against powerful (a Chinese general against his nomadic enemies, and the Xiongnu nomadic federation against the Chinese).  Knowing that students often consider farmers and peasants unintelligent - even while rooting for them - I sought to portray their keen intelligence and agency. 

For the information on the Xiongnu, I used UC Berkeley's world history textbook, "Traditions and Encounters".  Information on the farmers and mountain dwellers comes from James Scott's influential "The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia", which has contributed to recent reassessments of how civilization functioned and who participated and why.  For other parts of the lesson I utilized information from the book "Enemies of Civilization", which compares prejudices in ancient China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. 

HAN DYNASTY RULER

Imagine you are one of the rulers of the Han Dynasty…

As a ruler of the Han Dynasty, you need to make sure that enough food is grown to support the cities.  Most people who live in the cities do not grow their own food.  The farms that surround the city must support the merchants, craftsmen, servants, and politicians who live there.  Because most fruits and vegetables will rot quickly, the Chinese, like other civilizations, encourage people to grow grain, which can be stored for a long time. 

Grain is also very important for the army: the army traveled long distances for long periods of time, and fruits and vegetables would rot.  Because of this, the army carried cartloads of grain wherever it went.  As the army went farther from the big cities where grain was stored, they would stop by farms to gather more grain.  When the grain was ready to be harvested, farmers always knew there was a chance of the army stopping by to take it.  This made the farmers angry and scared, but from your perspective, farmers who hid grain from the army were making the Han Dynasty weak.  They were traitors.    

There are even more reasons why, as a ruler, you insist that farmers grow grain: if people grow grain, that means they have large fields to take care of.  Because of this, farmers cannot move around freely.  People who have farms must stay in one place, and so they are easy for the government to keep track of.  If the army needs more recruits, they can always go to the farmers and force their sons into the army.  For this reason, you have people working for you who keep track of how many sons work on the farms.  They also keep track of how much grain is grown, so the government knows how much it can take to be stored in the cities, and how much can be given to the military.   

FARMER/MOUNTAIN DWELLER

Imagine that you were once a farmer in the Han Dynasty.  However, you and your community fled up into the mountains. 

You live in a village high up in the mountains in the Han Dynasty.  Generations ago, your ancestors lived down in the valleys, where the farms are.  Many of the rulers and city dwellers thought the farmers were ignorant – anyone who worked on a farm must not be very smart.   However, they also knew that the farmers were an important part of the Han Dynasty.  Everyone knew that without the farmers, the cities and military could not exist, because they depended on the farmers for food.  Even though the farmers were always afraid that the rulers or army would take away its grain, they were proud that their work made the Han Dynasty strong. 

However, you prefer to not have to worry about the government taking your grain or forcing your young men into the army.  You have chosen to give up growing large fields of crops and to live in the mountains because that way, you cannot be found, and you have freedom.  The Han dynasty cannot send the military to take your rice and your young men, because without fields of crops to care for, you can move and escape.  Also, the mountains are difficult for an army to travel in.  Where you live, there are no roads.  The military needs to follow roads, especially because they have to pull wagons full of food and supplies. 

Of course, you need food.  For tens of thousands of years before civilizations started, people had no problem getting food, and neither do you.  Instead of growing fields of rice, you spread your crops all throughout the forest.  You grow many vegetables that grow underground, such as potatoes and carrots.  These crops cannot be found.  You also hunt and gather just as people in the past did.

Many farmers hate mountain dwellers.  They call people like you uncivilized.  Farmers think that the mountain dwellers are like animals – they don’t eat grain like people should, or dress like people should, or live in the right kind of houses.  They are upset with farmers who escape into the mountains, because they cause the government to be suspicious of farmers.  However, you consider your community to be very smart: it is the farmers who are acting foolishly. 

HAN DYNASTY GENERAL

Imagine you are a general in the Han military… 

As a general, one of your tasks is to protect the Han dynasty’s frontier from invasions.  The largest threat is the nomadic Xiongnu.  Because of their superior horseback riding, they are difficult to catch.  Even worse, however, is that they are nomadic.  This means that they are always on the move.  Because they live by herding sheep over thousands of square miles, you never know where they will be.  Because of this, they are very hard to control: this makes you angry, and causes you to despise them even more. 

The Xiongnu frustrate you.  Like many Chinese of the Han period, you believe they are everything the Chinese are not.  In fact, you think they are like animals: they move about like the animals, going wherever they please.  They do not have permanent homes.  Unlike decent people, they do not farm.  Instead, they mostly eat meat.  They even look like animals because they wear the skins and furs of animals: civilized people like the Chinese wore silk, or if they are poor, clothes made of plant fibers.  Some people even say that they honor only the young strong warriors, and despise their elders who have grown weak.  From your perspective, they are truly uncivilized.

XIONGNU NOMAD 

Imagine you are a member of the Xiongnu…

By the time of the Han Dynasty, your people have been living a nomadic life in central and northern Asia for a thousand years.  This land is known as the steppes – a word that means a dry grassland or prairie.  Because the steppes are difficult to farm on, your culture relies on herding animals across the plains, and on long distance trade.  Many people rely on the Xiongnu and other nomads to bring their trade across the long stretches of dry land in between China and other civilizations.  

Your people have been in conflict with the Chinese since the period of the Warring States, when Chinese states began moving into your steppe land to graze their horses.  They built massive walls to show that it was now their territory.  In response, the many different nomadic tribes became united under the Xiongnu.  Soon, the armies of the Han dynasty could not beat the Xiongnu, and the Chinese were forced to send them gifts of gold, silk, and even Han princesses in order to keep the peace.  Not only this, but the Chinese emperor agreed to recognize the leader of the Xiongnu as his equal – they even called each other “brother.”  Despite the fact that your people are powerful, the Chinese consider you uncivilized.