132
8 Transoceanic Trading in Two Oceans
That the Kuro Shio Current was the ocean route followed to America by Chinese
mariners as well as Spice Island explorers seems clear from the initial Chinese
impact on Mesoamerica and the spread of influence southwards to coastal Peru and
Ecuador. American diffusionists claim that there is archaeological and cultural evidence for persistent Chinese contact with America from 1450 BC to AD 900. The
one period in this span in which there appears to have been no Chinese contact is
a 600-year period which corresponds to the global cold period beginning in about
1000 BC [2]. In contrast, the archaeological evidence for Polynesian contact with
America that we considered in Chapter 6 minimally implies only three transoceanic
voyages – one first-wave voyage before 1000 BC and possibly two second-wave
voyages after AD 300. This sharp difference in voyaging frequency suggests that
Chinese mariners were far more likely to have traded American plants to India than
Spice Islanders.
However, if the influence that Chinese traders appear to have had on the high
civilizations of America is compared with the influence of Spice Island mariners on
southern Californian coastal communities, this conclusion can be challenged. It is
conceivable that Chinese traders may have been responsible for the rare plant trade
that Sorenson and Johannessen document. There is certainly a significant body of
evidence for a long continuity in Chinese contact with America, though because
we are dealing with the long-standing diffusionist/anti-diffusionist debate, even the
claim for a significant continuing prehistoric contact between China and America is
controversial. But it is clear too that the skills involved in accessing suitable plants
in America to match to appropriate environments in India presuppose a high degree
of horticultural experience and perhaps a long contact with India. Such skills suggest a level of horticultural expertise more likely to be found amongst Spice Island
horticulturalists and traders than amongst Chinese traders who seem primarily to
have influenced urban architecture and complex social structures and contributed
specific artistic styles and decorative techniques.
8.2 Chinese Contact with America
Even a brief consideration of the diffusionist literature draws attention to the differences between Chinese and Spice Island traders as likely candidates for trading
American plants to India. Stephen Jett [3] provides a clear and concise discussion
of the diffusionist case in a discussion that ranges from broad-scale comparisons of
contemporary Chinese and American civilizations to detailed comparisons of shared
artistic motifs. He ranges from descriptions of urban architectural similarities to the
discussion of the American adoption of Chinese place names. Just a few examples from Jett’s writing can suggest the nature and extent of Chinese influence in
the Americas which he is concerned to demonstrate and the kind of sophisticated
interaction between two cultural worlds that these examples imply. Jett’s examples highlight the differences between Chinese contact with the high civilizations
of America and Spice Island contact with the Chumash and Gabrielino of coastal
California described in the last chapter.
8 Transoceanic Trading in Two Oceans
That the Kuro Shio Current was the ocean route followed to America by Chinese
mariners as well as Spice Island explorers seems clear from the initial Chinese
impact on Mesoamerica and the spread of influence southwards to coastal Peru and
Ecuador. American diffusionists claim that there is archaeological and cultural evidence for persistent Chinese contact with America from 1450 BC to AD 900. The
one period in this span in which there appears to have been no Chinese contact is
a 600-year period which corresponds to the global cold period beginning in about
1000 BC [2]. In contrast, the archaeological evidence for Polynesian contact with
America that we considered in Chapter 6 minimally implies only three transoceanic
voyages – one first-wave voyage before 1000 BC and possibly two second-wave
voyages after AD 300. This sharp difference in voyaging frequency suggests that
Chinese mariners were far more likely to have traded American plants to India than
Spice Islanders.
However, if the influence that Chinese traders appear to have had on the high
civilizations of America is compared with the influence of Spice Island mariners on
southern Californian coastal communities, this conclusion can be challenged. It is
conceivable that Chinese traders may have been responsible for the rare plant trade
that Sorenson and Johannessen document. There is certainly a significant body of
evidence for a long continuity in Chinese contact with America, though because
we are dealing with the long-standing diffusionist/anti-diffusionist debate, even the
claim for a significant continuing prehistoric contact between China and America is
controversial. But it is clear too that the skills involved in accessing suitable plants
in America to match to appropriate environments in India presuppose a high degree
of horticultural experience and perhaps a long contact with India. Such skills suggest a level of horticultural expertise more likely to be found amongst Spice Island
horticulturalists and traders than amongst Chinese traders who seem primarily to
have influenced urban architecture and complex social structures and contributed
specific artistic styles and decorative techniques.
8.2 Chinese Contact with America
Even a brief consideration of the diffusionist literature draws attention to the differences between Chinese and Spice Island traders as likely candidates for trading
American plants to India. Stephen Jett [3] provides a clear and concise discussion
of the diffusionist case in a discussion that ranges from broad-scale comparisons of
contemporary Chinese and American civilizations to detailed comparisons of shared
artistic motifs. He ranges from descriptions of urban architectural similarities to the
discussion of the American adoption of Chinese place names. Just a few examples from Jett’s writing can suggest the nature and extent of Chinese influence in
the Americas which he is concerned to demonstrate and the kind of sophisticated
interaction between two cultural worlds that these examples imply. Jett’s examples highlight the differences between Chinese contact with the high civilizations
of America and Spice Island contact with the Chumash and Gabrielino of coastal
California described in the last chapter.