The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757

by Thomas J. Barfield

Around 800 BC, the Eurasian steppe underwent a profound cultural transformation that was to shape world history for the next 2,500 years: the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Asia invented cavalry which, with the use of the compound bow, gave them the means to terrorize first their neighbors and ultimately, under Chingis Khan and his descendants, the whole of Asia and Europe. Why and how they did so and to what effect are the themes of this history of the nomadic tribes of Inner Asia - the Mongols, Turks, Uighurs and others, collectively dubbed the Barbarians by the Chinese and the Europeans. This two-thousand year history of the nomadic tribes is drawn from a wide range of sources and told with unprecedented clarity and pace. The author shows that to describe the tribes as barbaric is seriously to underestimate their complexity and underlying social stability. He argues that their relationship with the Chinese was as much symbiotic as parasitic and that they understood their dependence on a strong and settled Chinese state. He makes sense of the apparently random rise and fall of these mysterious, obscure and fascinating nomad confederacies.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Asia, Ancient History, World History, Military History

348 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1989

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed yet enjoyable history of the relations between China and her nomadic neighbors to the north, a theme that runs like a red thread through pre-modern Chinese and Inner Asian history. While these "barbarians" would occasionally conquer China, what they really preferred was to carry out a few raids on Chinese territory, and then coerce the Chinese government into paying tribute in money and gifts (up to and including Imperial princesses) or granting the nomads trading privileges on or near the frontier. These nomads were the culture that invented cavalry - since riding and shooting were part of the nomadic skill set - so it was difficult and very expensive for the larger and slower Chinese armies to catch and defeat the nomads, who could simply move out of the way. Hence, the two cultures mostly coexisted, aside from an occasional Mongol or Manchu conquest and dynasty. Professor Barfield covers this historically long and geographically vast story with aplomb, even including some entertaining stories to season the broth.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a must-read since it came out, because it's a book with a theory. Whether you are convinced or unconvinced by the theory of steppe history here, you have to engage with this one. As a matter of fact I'm largely unconvinced, and yet this is a terrific book for me. I thought it best on: the Hsiung-nu or Huns - can't say enough about his account of Hun history; on the Turks and Tang China; and on Chinggis Khan, particulary on his politics which went against tribal conventions - on his innovations.

It's brilliant on the culture of geography: on the great cultural divide between the steppe and China. From the introduction on 'The Steppe Nomadic World': Inner Asia was a zone of long-term interaction between two opposing cultures with powerfully fixed ideas of themselves and others. For more than 2000 years the nomadic peoples of the steppe confronted the world's largest agrarian state without being politically incorporated by it or adopting its culture... Throughout East Asia even fiercely independent neighbors adopted Chinese models of state organisation and foreign relations, ideographic literacy, cuisine, clothes and calendars. All of East Asia that is except for China's great opponents on the steppelands in the north. There horse-riding nomads not only rejected Chinese culture and ideology, worse, they obstinately refused to see any value in it except in terms of the material goods the Chinese could offer.

How's that for a battlecry? He starts out from this observation, and studies nomad-Chinese interactions - in terms of nomads' exploitation of China for those material goods, while they go on standing aloof from the culture (or trying to). It's fascinating, it's important, and covers the entire history of the steppe. You needn't believe his interpretations in every case. I still five-starred, no question.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the steppe cultures that influenced China. Many of us who "read" Chinese history have omitted half the story from our education--that of the non-Chinese steppe cultures that have all left their mark on Chinese culture. If the names Xiong-nu, Jurchen, Liao, Yuezhi, Uyghur, Mongol, Manchu are only names to you without context; read this book.

That said, this is not a book for those new to Chinese history. It is best read when one has a framework into which one can insert these excellent short histories to understand better the interplay that existed between them--the thrust and retreats, the advances and withdrawals.

The first 28 pages are an excellent introduction to the steppe nomadic world that give one the framework to understand why they clashed so violently with the Chinese world, in whose view they were best kept 'behind walls' and controlled through the encouragement of intra-tribal warfare amongst themselves as tribute nations. Chapters then examine the various dynasties and groups as their moment in history made their names known to the rest of greater Asia.

There are good footnotes, glossaries of key names, some geneaological trees, and a bibliography (although not annotated).

The only irritating elements were (1) its use of Wade-Giles rather than Pinyin. I hope the next edition editor converts the transliterations for future generations, and (2) the lack of maps, which is essential when trying to understand steppe history. However, the quality of the research and information more than compensates and this is a volume I have returned to many times over the years since I first read it in 2009.

[Sergius Yurivich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best 60 euros I've ever spend. Opens up a rabbit hole into one of most intriguing and complex places. Describes the complex and multi layered relationships between China and North North Wester neighbors in a vivid way. After this I even want to know more about every tribe/people and empires that there have been.
One thing. I missed maps. Just maps of before period and after the period. If those maps where there. The books would have been perfect.

[Hunter Choy]

This frontier was perilous.

[Kenghis Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely one of those books I had been meaning to read for a long time but just never got around to. Every book that I've read on Inner Asia that's come out since "The Perilous Frontier" has cited it.

By and large, the book is definitely worth your time. Not only is it educational, but its scope is immense. The author surveys the entirety of China's northern frontier diplomacy from the birth of Chinese civilization until the birth of the Manchu Chi'ing dynasty and the fall of Zhungaria. Barfield was originally an ethnographer working on nomadic tribes in Afghanistan. As such, one can expect him to be conversant in the relationships between these pastoral tribes and their sedentary neighbors. The book demonstrates Barfield's success in stringing together a cogent narrative and a workable framework for understanding relations between China and its northern neighbors. His paradigm of a parasitic nomadic empire co-evolving with a powerful Chinese state is convincing. Yet what is most amazing about this work is that despite his background, Barfield was apparently not trained to read Chinese and sites few Persian primary sources, translated or not. The book demonstrates that a historian can rely on translations and secondary sources to form broad, coherent theories of a region that is not their specialty. In that sense, this work is both highly engaging and very inspiring. The sheer wealth of information, its synthetic nature, and the scope of the work make it a valuable reference for students of this region.

Unfortunately, the work is not without its faults. These are primarily stylistic. Barfield's prose has a monotone rhythm to it, and at times his paragraphs read like time-tables. Moreover, while one can get the jist of his argument in any given section of the book, he peppers his writing with at best unfriendly and at worst vacuous statements. For instance: "The reasons for the more intense sinification of the Jurchen are complex, but the growth of Chinese influence was intimately connected to their political development." There are many sentences like these which lead the reader in one direction and all of a suddent ask them to start thinking about a new concept. These could have used the help of an editor. One also gets the impressions that Barfield's monotonic prose stems from an editor or himself chopping up what were originally long sentences. At other times Barfield tries to cram too many ideas into his sentences which require frequent re-reading. However, he also places periods at awkward points. The combined effect of all of this was that it took me about three and a half weeks to get through his book, despite it being only 300 pages long.

Still, don't let these detractions scare you away from it. This work is destined to be a classic. Defintely worth your time. Four thumbs up.

[David Usharauli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. It explores how imperial China managed its northern nomadic neighbors—starting with the Xiongnu around 200 BC during the Han dynasty and ending in the 18th century with the defeat of the Dzungars, the last major Mongol confederation, under the Qing dynasty (itself established by the Manchus, a more “civilized” northeastern frontier people).

The book’s core argument challenges the common belief that the rise of nomadic empires caused the fall of Chinese dynasties. Instead, it reveals a pattern: the fortunes of nomadic powers often rose and fell in tandem with Chinese dynasties, which actively subsidized them to preserve peace along the frontier. Crucially, most Chinese dynastic collapses were not caused by external invasions but by internal rebellions or political decay. In the aftermath, northeastern frontier groups, especially the Manchus (also known historically as Jurchens) often filled the void by founding their own “Sinicized” dynasties. These foreign-led regimes not only stabilized China but also proactively suppressed the formation of new nomadic coalitions.

However, when these foreign dynasties were eventually overthrown by native Chinese powers such as the Tang the cycle would reset. The new Chinese regime would again turn to subsidizing nomadic powers like the Turkic Khaganates or later the Yugurs to maintain peace. The Mongols were a major exception to this pattern: instead of engaging in tributary diplomacy or 'peaceful' coexistence, they opted for full-scale conquest.

It is noteworthy to observe historical parallels with the Roman and Byzantine experiences along their northern frontiers, offering a broader reflection on how civilizations have managed persistent external threats.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barfield reads Inner Asian history through the lens of political anthropology of steppe societies. This allows for fascinating theories about Chinese-steppe interactions. Rather than present a simplistic steppe and sown narrative, Barfield reveals two types of steppe strategies against China (outer and inner frontier policies) and shows how Manchurian groups diverged drastically from either Chinese or steppe political formations. Manchurian groups (Manchu, Khitan, Jurchen, among others) were able to use a system of dual administration, and shrewd political maneuvering to both directly rule Chinese subjects, and pacify or divide the steppe.

Barfield has been accused for forcing history to meet his theory. He appears to be making a great deal of interpretation here. And he mostly seem to rely on the official Dynastic histories of China that have been translated into English. So he basically takes his fieldwork experience among Afghan pastoralists and tries to imagine what 2000 years of tribes may have been thinking. I would find this extremely difficult to by if the final book didn't read so plausibly. So I still like it, with reservations.

[Zekeriya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good survey of Northern Chinese- Inner Asian Nomadic interaction. Not sold by the theory, though. Not that I have a better idea or theory, but I don't really think nomadic state-formation was entirely dependent on the extortion of a sedentary civilization, which acted as a stabilizer on the steppe.

Thomas Barfield is a pretty smart guy. He knows his stuff, but you can't make such immense presumptions based on cross-cultural analyses.

Definitely will allow future scholars the ability to build knowledge about state-formation on the Inner Asian periphery(ies).

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been a major fan of histories of steppe cultures and the steppe frontier. This is a fine account of interactions along the grassland frontiers of the Chinese west and northwest--- a history that's been neglected by Western scholars for far too long.

[Carrie Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way cool. I dig it.

[Zeitgeist · Rating 4 out of 5]

习惯了中原视角下的编年，不妨从草原视角看北方通史，囊括匈奴、鲜卑、柔然、突厥、回纥、契丹、女真、蒙古以及准噶尔。

[Dan Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relations between nomads and China, concentrating on the nomads.