Chinese Scholars on Inner Asia.

• Author: Drompp, Michael R.
• Position: Book review

Chinese Scholars on Inner Asia. Edited by Luo XIN. Translation edited by ROGER COVEY. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 174. Bloomington: INDIANA UNIVERSITY SINOR RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR INNER ASIAN STUDIES, 2012. Pp. xxiii + 707, 4 maps. $55.

This hefty volume contains fifteen articles by leading Chinese scholars of Inner Asia. Its purpose, according to the editors, is to make important sample works by those scholars, most of whose work is published in Chinese, available to a broader scholarly audience in order to draw attention to the depth and breadth of the work that has been done and is being done by Chinese scholars in the field. In this it is successful. The editor's choice of articles reflects that goal. Rather than focus on a specific period or subject, the book's essays cover a wide range of topics with not only a long chronological reach, from the Xiongnu era to that of the Manchus, but also a significant span of time in terms of the articles' initial appearance. Publication dates of the Chinese originals range from 1962 to 2008.

All of the articles are on important and interesting topics. It should be noted at the outset that many--indeed most--of these translations represent revisions and/or expansions of the originals, and therefore differ, sometimes significantly, from them. This of course adds to the book's interest and value; for those authors who have modified their articles for this book, the translated versions represent their latest findings on the topics under consideration. For purposes of comparison, the book includes publication information for the Chinese originals (although information for the article by the editor Luo Xin is omitted). There are useful maps as well as a composite bibliography and index.

Space does not permit a lengthy description of each article, but I will note a few salient points about each one so that the reader can gain a sense of the book's overall contents and scholarly contributions. As the essays are presented (with one significant exception) in chronological sequence based on subject, I will consider them in that order here.

Luo Xin's "Reflections on the Appellations of Xiongnu Shanyu Titles" is the aforementioned exception. I can fathom no reason for not placing this article first, rather than near the end of the book, except perhaps the modesty of the author, who is also the book's editor. Luo has published extensively on the titles used by various Inner Asian peoples. In this article his examination of the various formal titles employed by Xiongnu rulers is not intended to determine their meanings (which would be a daunting task since so little is known about the Xiongnu language) but rather to consider the function of those titles, and particularly to suggest links to Chinese imperial practices. Perhaps his most intriguing conclusion is that while the titles of independent Xiongnu shanyus (also written chanyu) were taken or bestowed at the time of enthronement, those of the shanyus of the Southern Xiongnu, who were politically linked to China, were posthumous titles influenced by the imperial traditions of the Eastern Han dynasty. This finding leads the author to conclude that this practice caused the decline in the use of the term shanyu in Inner Asia; weakened by a type of "sinicization," it was ultimately replaced by the term qaghan.

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