Political Economy of World-Systems 2002 Conference

Riverside, California

Abstract

Lamb, Rice and Hegemonic Decline: The Mongol Empire in the 14th Century

E. N. Anderson
Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of California, Riverside
gene@ucrac1.ucr.edu

    After the spectacular conquest of China and most of the rest of the known world, the Mongols settled down to rule the empire they had won. In China, this was not an easy or rewarding endeavor. Fierce local resistance gave way to resignation, but full tranquility was difficult to win. Shaky administration, thanks in part to the excessive fondness of the Mongol elite for alcohol and feasting, led to inexorable decline in the mid-14th century. By 1368, the strange, brilliant, and slightly mad Zhu Yuanzhang could unite China against the Mongols. Zhu founded the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Mongols moved back to the steppes with evident signs of relief. Their empire continued to flourish there, remaining a formidable threat to China for another century.

    An odd insight into the times is provided by two cookbooks. In 1330, Hu Sihui, court nutritionist and almost certainly of Chinese Turkic origin, compiled a great work of nutritional medicine, cooking, and food science: The Yinshan Zhengyao ("Necessary Knowledge for Drinking and Feasting"). This cookbook is international, with a Central Asian focus; most of the recipes are Near Eastern or Central Asian, and most of them involve lamb. Very few include rice, that characteristic Chinese food. Around 1400, Jia , a centenarian of eastern China, was prevailed on by the Ming court to write up his secrets for long life. His book reflects a totally different culinary world. Ming China turned against lamb and back to rice. The internationalization of Mongol times had changed; links across Asia declined, while attention to eastern and coastal resources rose. Blocked by the Mongols from focusing on central Asia, the Ming expanded their sea trade, until that too declined after 1430.

27th Annual Conference of the Political Economy of World-Systems Spring

Hosted by the Institute for Research on World-Systems at the University of California, Riverside